Enough is enough. Over the last year I have had various beauty subscriptions and have enthusiastically purchased cosmetics and beauty items - now I have an accumulation that is excessive.
Today I spent a bunch of time organizing my cosmetics which is something most girls would have fun doing. Though I found this depressing.
I have at least sixteen sample sized tubes of mascara, unopened. I have lots of perfume, bars of soap, body wash, body butter, body lotion, and hand lotion. Five tubes of unopened full-sized tubes of mascara. An assortment of roughy 24 full-sized blushes. There is also lots of eye shadow. More than I could use in two years if I wore it every day. There are several unopened moisturizer and serum samples from various gifts with cosmetics purchases. The complexion products are in the range of normal. I have six or so tubes of concealer. Two are unopened. Two bb cream - one unopened, two cc cream - one unopened. All lip products together including stains, lipstick, lip pencil, lip crayon, lip gloss, lip balm, et al - I counted over 100 and at least a dozen are unused and still in their original packaging. Some of the lip products are full-size and some are samples. Regardless, there are too many lip products. I also have several dozen tubes of nail polish. I have three tubes of liquid eyeliner in various colours - all opened. Several eye liner pencils that I rarely use and have accumulated because I subscribed to various beauty boxes. Some things like the complexion products exist in reasonable quantities. Others like like mascara, lip products, blush, and eye shadow are out of control. So, its safe to say that this girl most definitely has a problem!
Unopened items I have zero intentions of using ever are going to a women's shelter. I have a box of old clothes I intend to drop off early next week so these items will be gone shortly. Since holding onto things you won't use makes no sense. So, I tossed products I tried and disliked then tossed products that have been open for a while and I suspect are expired or are due to expire shortly.
Effective immediately - no more blush, no more eye shadow, no more mascara, no more nail polish, and no more lip products for the foreseeable future.
On an as-needed basis - or if there is a REALLY good sale, I will buy face cleanser, shampoo, body wash, liquid eyeliner (one every three months), complexion products, soap, and hand/body butter/lotion.
Currently, I subscribe to Topbox, Ipsy, and Lip Factory - truth be told I quite enjoy all three of them. Though I am not ready to decide which sub(s) to cancel it is probably best for me to stick to one beauty sub per month for the time being - and that even seems kind of silly all things considered. I will likely hold onto my Topbox sub since I like trying new things and Topboxes typically contain good quality products. Topbox is the sub I like the most and it is the least expensive of the bunch.
As far as cosmetics purchases are concerned - I am going to give myself a budget. I am allowing myself to spend up to $100 to spend every three months and that seems like a normal, acceptable amount of money for any woman to spend on cosmetics she will actually use and enjoy. All in the spirit of keeping things honest I don't think I have the discipline to do a strict no-buy so keeping my spending within a reasonable budget is going to be the most realistic approach.
At least every six months I intend to purge items I have used and dislike or are expired or close to expire. Though I tend to toss mascara and liquid eyeliner after three months of use because it seems like the way to go. Unless I am ill I will wear makeup because having it and not wearing it is silly. I am going to build a small kit of essentials including a few brushes, makeup wipes, makeup remover, and of course makeup to take to work so I can touchup mid-day or on an as-needed basis. As time passes, I will keep posting on my progress and keep track of empty containers on a monthly basis. It feels good having said this!!!
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