Every year, countless beauty products are discontinued. There are any number of reasons - declining sales, or the company simply wants to make room for something new. Whatever the reason, women can be desperate to find their favorite product

Perfume, lipstick, eye shadow, blush and foundation you go to the store and suddenly you can't find your favorite one. MAC Cosmetics Vancouver Senior Artist Caitlin Calahan understands.

"I totally understand how disappointing it can be because my favourite colours get discontinued too," she says. "We try to keep our old favourites around as long as possible. That's really our foundation our skin care, our loyalty items. But colours come and go constantly as fast as fashions change."

Consumer Reports ShopSmart's Lisa Lee Freeman says just because a product is off store shelves doesn't mean you're out of luck.

"Many companies offer their discontinued beauty products to consumers. What you need to do is call the customer-service department or visit the company's web site," she suggests.

For instance, Est�e Lauder sells discontinued products for many companies, including Clinique, MAC and Origins.

"We also have a 1-800 number that's called gone but not forgotten and people can call that number and it's at our MAC head office in Toronto and they'll keep back stock of discontinued products," explains Caitlin.

Looking for an Almay, Revlon, or Ultima ii product? Consumer Reports ShopSmart says try cosmeticsandmore.com.

Then there's beautyencounter.com, which proclaims you can call off the search party if you're looking for hard-to-find products, including ones from Max Factor and Neutrogena.

If all else fails, try threecustom.com. The site has 9,000 different makeup shades, some dating back to the 1930s.

"You can also use the site's custom blending service. Simply send in your old discontinued makeup and they'll reproduce it for you," suggests Freeman.

Another option, ask a makeup artist like Caitlin to help

"Maybe it's also a sign to switch it up and it's time for a change," she suggests.

You'll also see loads of discontinued cosmetics on eBay, Amazon, and overstock.com just to name three. But here's a caution. Because these usually come from a third party, there's no way to know if the product has been stored properly. And opened products can go bad.

With a report by CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen