Join me in a beauty product buying ban or come and give me moral support!

[listsandbudgets]

I can't do this alone folks. I've got TOO MUCH STUFF... I also have 2 beauty advent calendars

So I've set myself a challenge. Between now and June the 1st 2024 I will not buy any beauty products UNLESS I've run out of all of that particular type. If I've got a tiny sample bottle of shampoo or conditioner I'll use it all up. All those half used bottles of moisturiser, night cream, shower gel and toner and body lotion MUST GO... the mountain of soap must be surmounted.

My only concession is that I will not cancel the Liberty Beauty drop will get a couple of boxes to cheer me up

So if you want to join me make up your own rules and lets cull that stash

I cleared out some of my stash. It was very old and sitting around because either it didn’t suit me or wasn’t enjoyable. I got rid of two half used moisturizers, some cleansing gels and a really sticky serum. Of course that means I have done an order on Stylevana. It takes so long to arrive that I will undoubtedly be finished with what I am using now.

@Fraaahnces You've inspried me to get rid of a bottle of cheap Boots mosturiser that I bought in excess of 10 years ago. It smells a little bit odd!!

On another note I counted 14 bars of soap this morning and I think I have another 3 large ones in my stash I keep at my mum's... I'm doomed aren't I ?

@listsandbudgets Soap is my downfall too. I'm too easily tempted by pretty bars and lovely fragrances but they take forever to get through. We're currently looking at making a will and we're thinking that we might have to decide who gets the bar of soap, currently in our ensuite, that looks set to outlive us both (and we're only in our forties).

The soap could go in drawers unwrapped?

I use soap quite quickly

I was very impressed with Look Fantastic

Order came next day.

I think Beauty Boxes are the worst as you don't necessarily want half the stuff then it lingers

@listsandbudgets - I’m glad you binned your moisturizer before putting it on your face!!!
@greengreengrass25 - Try popping the soap in organza gift bags and wrapping your knitwear around it. Smells amazing and helps deter critters.

Sounds good 😀

Confession time. Yesterday, after being paid on Thursday, I spent £41 on stocking up mostly replacement toiletries for myself and ds, from Sephora and a collection from Latest in Beauty.

I 'saved' over £15 with discounts and a £5 off code that was going to expire this week, but I feel a bit guilty nevertheless because not all of it was strictly needed (e.g., a couple of makeup items in the LiB box and a new moisturiser I'm unlikely to open for months). But it could have been worse, I suppose.

For now, I have to stop online browsing again - that strategy was working very well for me earlier in the year. Out of sight, out of mind!

Hopefully the ££££ we're about to spend on flights to visit family in the USA this summer will knock some sense back into me.

Good luck all!

Checking in to (smugly) report that I've only bought a replacement night cream so far this year. Am working through my stash and steadily using things up. And so far am not really missing buying things!

I am currently being tempted by Yes Style who are offering me a 15% discount for my birthday. I'm regretting not ordering a second vitamin c essence with us order in waiting on but I should probably resist. There are always vouchers 10% or 12% so I should be able to get discounts anyway and I assume I can't use the birthday one on top of the normal one.

Edited to say I'm now down below 100 items in my stash so feeling quite proud of myself. That obviously doesn't include items on the go.

Blimey you have more willpower than me. How have you managed it; did you unsubscribe from all of those tempting emails?

Managed to use up a few annoying minis - a big bum bum and some smaller ones, I use these when I get out of the shower and go through them pretty quickly but I love the smell and it feels really nourishing. Have a big one and a medium one ready to crack on with.
Shampoo was lovely (think it came in a Liberty box at one point?) and I’ll be buying a full size one when I need new shampoo.
The Barbara sturm serum was meh, no interest in replacing it.
the Drunk Elephant was okay, I have a bigger one that I’m using up too but not really sure it has a place in my skincare routine.
The lanolips was really lovely, I have a thousand other lip products which do similar but if I had none I’d consider buying another.
I’m working hard at ploughing through what I’ve got but have made quite a few beauty related purchases recently.
Really want to get rid of all minis though; they’re annoying but I do appreciate them, I’ve gone on to buy so many things as a result of trying smaller versions received as GWPs.

Blimey you have more willpower than me. How have you managed it; did you unsubscribe from all of those tempting emails?

@Fairyliz yes, I've unsubscribed which has helped but I think the main thing that's helped is that I haven't really been into town and into many shops. Also am kind of enjoying the idea of using up and saving money and avoiding unnecessary purchases. I'm sure I'll cave at some point though!

@Fraaahnces and @OchonAgusOchonOh - a photo of my K Beauty haul. Had a nice wander around and picked what I wanted plus a couple of extras - the Dear Klairs Midnight Blue Youth Activating Drop in the black box. They didn’t have the Hada Lobo products but the lady in the Korean store was lovely and helpful and told me where I could get them in a Japanese store. She was impressed I knew a little about Korean skincare products and knew what I wanted.

That is definitely me done now for a while!

The spf is a necessity obviously so doesn’t count really. I was going to replace my Tatcha rice cleanser but the Centella one was less than half the price so I justified that pretty easily. I am almost out of my Hada Lobo brightening toner and spotted the lotion so got that too - I think I remember you saying it was good @Fraaahnces.

Very impressive @Peridot1 .

I ordered the cosryx snail mucin a few weeks ago and am really excited waiting for it.

I really like the sound of a rice cleanser. I

@Peridot1 That sunscreen is great! I’m sure you will love it. The cleansing foam is also good but you need the teeeeeeniest bit. (Smaller than a pea). You foam it up between your paws before you put it on your face. Let me know about the Dear Klairs blue stuff. I had the cream which wasn’t right for me.
@OchonAgusOchonOh There are some lovely rice cleansers. For super-gentle ones I love the Japanese ones.

Ladies you are inspiring me to use up all the random bits that I have bought from cheap brands and invest in proper products that work, even though they are pricier.

@Peridot1 I am extremely tempted now but I reckon I'm going to have to wait.

I got a small pot of Ouai body creme in a Liberty set last year. I've finally got round to use it and it was just so lovely - if it had been ice cream I'd have licked the pot and as it was I run my finger round looking for every last teeny tiny drop. Smells gorgeous. Left my legs feeling like silk and somehow even made my trousers feel comfier. This is absolutely going on my RP list if I ever get through my other million litres of body cream that is!! Shame it's really quite expensive

I'm almost 4 months into my buying ban and although I've opened the advent calandars which I already had and been given some things at Christmas the only things I've got for myself are a bottle of shampoo and conditioner because I'd run out at my mums and one Liberty beauty drop box. Normally I'd have got lots of stuff in the sales and then seen a nice GWP and got some more.

@Fraaahnces - I am already using the sunscreen back home which I bought in your recommendation previously. I knew I liked it and it was the only one they had that I recognised. The one back home is almost finished so I brought a Mecca one with me that I bought here last year. I have to say I find it heavier than the Centalla one so looking forward to getting back to it.

Will bear in mind the only using a pea size amount of the cleanser.

@OchonAgusOchonOh the Tatcha rice cleanser is lovely but quite expensive although lasts ages.

I will check it out @Fraaahnces . Thank you.

I was getting very tempted to buy one of the Liberty Kits but I've ordered myself a necklace instead. It's actually nice to buy things other than gloop as I've never really been much good at buying things like necklaces, bags etc. I also found I did have a bit extra in my savings account given it hasn't all been going on beauty stuff and it's not as if I don't have enough of those!

And referencing one of my other stashes - I'm about to run out of washing up liquid, I can't even remember the last time I came close - I'd usually have a bottle or two in hand

@SwordBilledHummingbird that gave me a good laugh. I too have a never ending soap that I think will outlive me too. It makes me feel like I never wash my hands as I doesn't seem to get any smaller. But I wash them a lot!

I crumbled folks. But this was a 'get it now or never' situation, and in my defence I have stuck to my no-buy rule this year. It is perfume. My absolute weakness. Yes I already have too many, but the two I bought are ones that are hard to find, and I don't have any of either. It was tempted to get more than two I have to say, so there is that.... I only got the two 😶 They are ex testers, so a fraction of the rrp price. I know they are not meant to be sold, but its Dune. And we can hardly get it here. And a Chanel. My first bottle of Dune I got in the 90s and I have vowed to myself that I would replace it one day... and now here is that day. And its my birthday month, and I do not have a SO to gift me anything, so its is a gift to myself hehe. (see how I am justifying my little splurge here ..)

@listsandbudgets jewellery is forever though. You can always pass on what you don't wear on years to come. As it happens I have also started to wear more of what I have lurking around, and currently am wearing a bracelet I have had for yonks and never wear. I almost feel a little bit more put together just for adding that small item.

@isthismylifenow I don't count perfume so I reckon you get a free pass on those :D

@isthismylifenow I love perfume too but when tempted I review my rather large selection and convince myself I've got enough to last a week year or two. However, don't blame you for crumbling if it was a hard to find.

I'm struggling a bit with some personal matters right now - what I'd really like to do right now is wander round the shops and top it all off with a pizza! However this will a) increase my stash b) increase my waistline c) decrease my bank account!

So on edge about so many things at the moment and feel like I've got very little control of any of them - And I got the electric bill this morning which just seems to get huger every time I blink... also about to get annual council tax bill and they've put it up 10% in this area along with massive cuts in services and threats of school strikes... not to add arrival of water bill which I've not even dared open yet. I'm lucky, we are in a position to cope quite well but it's still depressing

@listsandbudgets I am sorry you are having a crappy time.

How good are you at window shopping? To have a look but not actually buy.

It is awful to feel overwhelmed, and even smaller things adding to it does not help.

Be kind to yourself. Go and have the pizza. 💐