What do you do when a beloved beauty product is discontinued?

How many times have you fallen in love with the perfect nude lipstick, or a signature fragrance, only to find it has been discontinued? When Khloé Kardashian heard in 2016 that her beloved Giorgio Armani Face Fabric Foundation was facing the chop, she posted on her blog: “Kendall and I heard it was going to be discontinued and I bought, like, 20 on Amazon. I literally have so many.”

It appears that Khloé and her millions of social media followers, plus the united power of the consumer voice on Twitter, were major factors in the matte foundation being brought back two years later.

Social researcher Claire Madden says the power of social media has definitely created a shift in how brands determine which products to stock.

“In the past, brands would have been limited to their market research testing,” she says. “But now social media feedback educates brands about products that might not be big money earners, but are ‘a point of connection’.”

There have been other successful resurrections, such as cult favourites Lancôme Juicy Tubes lip gloss and Revlon’s Skinlights illuminator. Due to customer demand, M.A.C launched its #Throwbacks Collection of lipsticks and eyeshadows from the ’90s – a standout was M.A.C Lipstick in Marrakesh $34.

Urban Decay’s 2010 Naked Smoky Eyeshadow Palette is a collector’s item (thank god I still have one) with 12 shades that are all eminently wearable. The latest incarnation includes 12 smoky neutrals, including three from the past, but that’s as good as you’ll get. Sadly, other much-loved products are lost forever. Or are they?

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Beauty behemoth Estée Lauder – which also owns brands such as Bobbi Brown, Clinique, M.A.C and Tom Ford Beauty – has a Gone But Not Forgotten program in the UK where they scramble through their archives to recover products that have been discontinued in the past two years.

Locally, try reaching out to brands via social media to see if they might be willing to restock your favourite products or to see if they have any stockpiles. You can also search on sites such as BeautyEncounter.com and BuyMeBeauty.com, or be like Khloé and buy up big at e-tailers like eBay or Amazon.