No spend beauty 2019

[Bellsandwhistle]

So after Liberty and M and S advent calanders plus a few presents I’m gonna attempt a no beauty spend 2019. Will eventually need deodorant and shampoo I guess but will see how far I can get before spending....

Can’t say I have used anything up this week but I also haven’t bought anything! So not too bad. And I’ve walked through Boots, M&S and TK Maxx!

I did identify a lipstick yesterday that I don’t like so will bin that. Forgot at the time as was rushing out.

I have noticed that some of my socks are looking a bit worse for wear so they will need replacing. Hoping to get rest of this winter out of them though.

I used up a toner - 500ml! Absolutely enormous and I've been using it for about a year so even though it was very nice and fresh, I was sick of looking at it. Will not repurchase, I don't think I need one as I favour miceller waters anyway.

I also used up my shampoo but just bought a cheapie apple one in Aldi when doing the weekly shop. It's fine, I'm not picky about shampoo.

The only thing I really want in the beauty department is something to sort my dark circles. Either an eye cream or (cheap) eye mask patches from Korea or similar. But that can wait till March as I really don’t want to spend another penny this month.

Had a night away so used up a few minis! One of them being a Weleda wild rose body lotion which was lovely! & a mini dry shampoo which will need replacing for my hospital bag.

Also threw out a Topshop cream highlighter pot, half empty but I didn't actually like the product & hated having to put my finger in to get it.

This weekend I've only bought a £1 material tote bag & some maternity tights (needed as my others have holes in.)

Have used up a shower gel - bloody Ted Baker again! Very relieved to finally be done with it as it was crap and hard to squeeze out.

Will just be using DHs shower gel from now on, we don't need two. I also think fancy shower gel is madness as at the end of the day it's just detergent that you wash down the drain.

BTW this morning my tube of The Ordinary moisturiser refused to squeeze out any product. I started using that on the 9th Feb!

I cut it open and there's a couple of days use inside but I'm absolutely disgusted - it must have had feck all product inside. Thankfully it was a gift but I'm not impressed at all.

So that means I need to buy moisturiser out of the blue as that was my last one. Annoyed!

Used up a toothbrush. I am counting them because i have a ton. I'm afraid my stash is not very glamourous when it comes to the type of products i have. I supose this is good because i have mostly products that i go through frequently, so staples like soap, shampoo, leave in products for my hair that i use daily, hand wash, etc. Some of the most problematic and hard to use products are body lotion (i rarely use it in the summer), hair masks (i have enormous bottles and short hair), lipstick, lip balm ans hand lotions. Why oh why do people gift so much hans lotion to me? Lol

Down to 292

Just used up a Korres fig shower gel that I was given at Christmas time. Didn't like the smell much so glad to be rid of it. Will replace with a tropical Radox one.

Just opened a bar of soap. 291.

And a new pack of face wipes. 290

Used up a dove shower oil,I have 2 more of those and at least 8 other types to use up. I have been putting the cheaper ones in the bathroom for everyone to use up but keeping the luxury ones just for me.

I have bitten the bullet and given lots of stuff away. I am diligently using up products I know I will use, but other stuff I have decided to give to colleagues and friends. Stuff like a blusher I spent 54 quid on last summer (bought blind as a result of a radio feature which said the shade suited everybody, it doesn't, and I am a gullible idiot), and Hourglass and Chanel stuff. I was hanging onto them because I thought I should, they were expensive etc, but wrong for me. Lots of other stuff has gone too. It was the tip of an iceberg but already I feel lifted, organised, free.

Something has really shifted in my head recently. I am genuinely over stuff. I am a 53 year old woman, finally comfortable in my own slightly sweaty (menopausal) skin so why have I been following beauty journos, influencers and bloggers who are part of the system encouraging us to consume and always feel that we are wanting. I am now reading real books rather than online vanity pieces and I feel all the better for it.

I have also gone through my cupboards and wardrobes and have been ruthless. Some really good stuff for the charity shop. I still have more to do but not much. My place is looking so much better. I feel so much better.

Well done!

I feel much better too. Actually just getting rid of the mountain of nail polish was the best thing. Immensely freeing.

I am down to only one "thing" for pretty much everything other than make up. I am on my last soap, on my last shampoo and conditioner etc. The only problem is body lotion (3 big bottles) and honestly I'm thinking of binning the 2 I got for Christmas. Why am I keeping them?? I don't want them, I don't like the scent and I didn't choose them. Yes, I think I'll bin them today, fuck it.

I have a fraction of the eyeshadows I used to have and that feels great too.

I'm really starting to see the possibility of having one of those curated French-girl type of bathrooms. It's within reach!

I love reading The Top Shelf and fantasising about having a fabulous glamorous routine of just a few chosen perfect things. I think that's the goal, really.

intothegloss.com/categories/the-top-shelf/

Do bin or give away the lotion. Applying it would be the fluid equivalent of beating yourself with a stick. Just use up the one you have left and then buy a replacement when it runs out. That's normal right? That's what we used to do. Saturated with choices and a multitude of options has not brought any of us happiness.

I sometimes watch Trinny on Insta. The last one I saw (she is now unfollowed!) she was eulogising about Zara's Spring range. She was in one of their stores and her face was lit up like she was in a beautiful cathedral, so happy to be in there. She picked up a white jacket which she already owned and said she had two of them already (both in white) as she loved it so much she wanted a back up. Added to all the other rails of clothes and accessories she has, plus her convoluted hair and make up routines, it really is nausea inducing. She has the funds, the lifestyle and the room for excess but it still feels out of kilter with what a lot of people are doing now.

Laughing at Sarcelle and the blusher which will suit everyone. I do that too. Madness isn’t it?

I got an email from Cult Beauty yesterday about one of their boxes. Favourite products etc. Deleted it immediately. Previously I would have bought it as ‘useful for holidays’. Still have so much stuff from previous similar purchases, advent calendars etc.

I finished a moisturiser this morning - would have been from a similar box - Alpha H factor 50.

I’m away for a night next week I think so am going to sort some bits for that. And I have a long weekend away in March which should make a dent in my trial sizes. I’m going to bin anything I’m not taking as I suspect some of them are way past their best.

I may be some body lotions too. I have some that I don’t use as they take forever to sink in.

Bin some body lotions. I don’t aspire to be body lotions.

Oh yes, Trinny and her Zara addiction. I had to Unfollow too. She is a monster of consumerism. Zara isn't even any good anymore, quality has gone to shite!

The one lotion I actually had was a Mixa one that I really really enjoyed. It was the Soothing one, cheap, entirely unscented, sank in straight away, good pump. Everything I wanted in a lotion, basically.

And ever since Christmas I've been ignoring it cos I felt obligated to use these crappy gift set ones which were sticky and fragranced.

Madness! Why do we do this?!

Yesterday a dear friend came to stay a few days at my place and following what i had said about giving deodorant and a few other products to visitors, she is now the proud owner of a deodorant and a new body lotion.

288

I think we need to set out ground rules for Christmas already. No landfill gift sets. If you want to give a stocking filler buy a Waterstones or M & S gift voucher. I would rather a fiver gift card than a basket of Body Shop soaps or mini body butters in cloyingly sweet fragrances. And as for Baylis & Harding....

I would like to get to a no spend on presents at all - a night out or a great meal beforehand - but sadly I think I am in a minority of one.

I am very very late to this thread, but never to late to start I suppose.

So I will start from this week, except that last week I got a great deal on end of range body washes, hand lotions etc and so I bought to stock pile them. I have a shelf filled with them now . So i definatley will not be buying any soaps or hand creams for a long while.

I was having a look in my drawer and not sure why i have so many sample sizes of things I just havent used. Clarins and EL so decent makes. So i have already started using those up, as tbh I need the drawer space and cant bring myself to waste them.

So I will be joining in, I will be a March starter

I'm another late starter if that's ok?
I have several years worth of soap, body lotion, shampoo and conditioner. Brexit and 'prepping' is making me worse! Utterly irrational as if we're struggling with food supplies I'm sure I won't care about having enough La Roche Posay. Don't often wear makeup but love a nice shower/bath and face creams!

Sarcelle last year I didn’t buy an advent calendar at all. I think someone started a thread on here about the waste and packaging aspect which niggled my conscience. I bought one good night cream that I wanted instead which I am using.

I never buy gift sets for anyone. Don’t tend to receive them either really thankfully. I do get irritated seeing gift sets piled up in shops coming up to Christmas. And then reduced in the sales afterwards. The utter waste of packaging in this day and age is shocking.

Chickenvindesaag - I have to admit Brexit prepping is on my mind too. But I think I have enough stuff to keep me going anyway! I did stock up in toothpaste but I figure that’s a necessity.

I was coming at it from dropping hints to the people that buy gifts for us to not buy us these gift sets. Need to start the drip feed now!

The stuff left over in Boots this years was flabbergasting. Either a buyer had massively overordered (Soap & Glory and Jack Wills were piled up) or they are no longer popular as gifts. Hope its the latter!

I bought the M & S advent calendar the first year, but I never used up all the products or repeat bought any. Packing was lovely but ended up in the recycle bin. That was my one and only foray. Some of them are lovely but the concept doesn't sit right with me. It's adding another layer of consumerism into Christmas and using was was a religious item to boot. I am not religious at all but it does seem a bit odd/wrong.