Can’t stop buying & hoarding beauty treats? You’re in good company here!

[Experiment627]

Welcome to our little corner of beauty bliss! If you can’t resist trying the latest beauty launches or your shelves are bursting with favourites, you’ve found your tribe. This is the place to chat, share reviews, swap tips, and celebrate all things beauty — from budget gems to luxury treats.
This thread has been around for ages, and many of us have even tamed our beauty-buying habits thanks to the wisdom and support shared here. We post our empties and chucks, helping each other make smarter, more satisfying choices next time we shop.
All beauty product addicts welcome!

Welcome, welcome back @BeckyBloom @WinterBerry40

Hope you are all better now @LightandBreezy

I have some empties/chicks to report:

• A silicone ear bud thing - these are fab (only this one broke in half!). I have replaced already. Saves me a tonne of cachinga in not having to but cotton buds and I think is a more sustainable way to go...
• Wild fresh cotton & sea salt deodorant refill: love this and keeps me pongey free all day
• Habitual lavender oil: staple to have a lavender oil on the go as helps with congestion/coughing but I am not loyal to a particular one
• Ouai detox shampoo: this is very clarifying, a bit too stripping if I use every wash but find for every once in a while. Love the smell - reminds me of the late 80s...

I bought the Mylee "Let's face it" mini wax kit - definitely going help me tackle the forest on my face.

May have bought some things in Lush as I was getting stocking fillers... but what is a girl to do?

Hope you all enjoy your advents! Cannot believe that one year I had 5!!!! No wonder I had such a massive stash!

Another couple of empties to report:

Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic - this was fine, nothing special. I have 4 toners on the go and another 7 in the stash, so I wont be buying any more for a while.

Super Facialist Skin Perfecting Primer - I liked this, but again, I have others and cheaper ones too.

Hugo Boss Woman EDP - I like this fragrance on me but I have loads of others to use up first.

I cant upload photos. Hopeless!

I'm beginning to think my beauty/skincare addition is threefold:

1. The shopping by itself is a lot of fun and the dopamine gets me right in the chops.

2. The owning of beautiful products, more usually cosmetics and fragrance but some skincare products have gorgeous packaging. I'm a little Gollum when I'm unboxing online orders and arranging my preciousssss.

3. The using of the products... now by this stage, I feel the dopamine has worn off and I've come back down to earth. I'm more likely to be slightly (!) overwhelmed by my purchases or not know if I should try that gorgeous new lip gloss or keep it unopened so I can finish ones I already have, but then if I do that, I get bored and end up going back to....

4. yay giddy shopping adventure!

5. my precious!!!!

6. oh no.

Does anyone relate? I think the only way to stop the cycle is a firm no buy for 2026 until i have a normal level of products. How do I do that? I was meant to be on a low buy this month and yesterday I finally caved under the onslaught of BF emails and bought:

9 Skincare products
3 Fragrance testers
9 Cosmetic products (including blushes and lip products when I have never panned any in all of my fortycough years on this planet)
6 Haircare products

November:
27 products in (sigh).
23 products out. Hey, that's almost reasonable. Okay. I'm gonna need a spreadsheet.

@DidILeaveTheGasOn I'm in the exact same cycle. I'm getting so overwhelmed with the purchases and now it's ac opening time, I've no where to put anything 🙈 we need to have at least a no buy for Jan to march 🤞 I'm going to try to focus more on the empties thread rather than the buying thread 🤣 I'm just so easily influenced.

I've just refreshed my inventory / things to come spreadsheet and have 151 items! (not including my 2nd Boots skin care calendar advent which I will return as soon as it arrives!) unless someone else here wants it for £70 plus postage

I'm going to pull out a load of stuff I know I won't use and take to a foodbank for christmas parcels or the drop off point for kids/teens that someone posted l

100/100

111 Skin hyalauronic acid aqua booster. Not convinced this did much for me. Lasted ages

zelens 3T complex anti-aging cream - thick, lovely absorption, suits me well for winter

Trish McEvoy high volume mascara - my first tubing mascara and an absolute revelation not to have panda eyes or have to rub my eyelashes off to remove a mascara.

Snap @wheresmyshoe! I have a couple more empties, including a Zelens 3T. I also liked it's rich texture, my skin got really dehydrated recently and this has helped a bit. It has a slightly odd chemical smell but not strong enough to be unpleasant really. The conditioner wasn't great for me but that's my fault as it's not really right for my hair type - I have an awful lot of very very fine hair, which needs moisture but I felt like this added oil. The castings sachet is a bit random - I don't use box dye anymore but I was tidying (ok, ransacking my house looking for a lost key 😅) and I found a couple of boxes, must have been leftover from a 3 for 2 offer I reckon, so I'm just using up the conditioner sachets.

Has anyone had anything from 111 Skin they actually rated? I've had the Y Theorem serum and it just felt ( and tasted, I got some on my lip by mistake) like glycerin and did nothing. The rose gold serum stuff also did nothing other than have some cosmetic iridescent stuff in. I think I liked one of their sheet masks though. Luckily these were all things in GWP's so no wasted money, but it's definitely a brand that puts me off if I see it in an edit or a GWP.

I like the masks but nothing else I've tried. I think it's a way overpriced brand and even though I like the masks you can get great K beauty ones much cheaper.

I like the 111Skin masks, but i would never actually buy them. I also think they are overpriced. Im using some sort of nightcream/mask by them atm, its okay but probably not worth the price they will charging for it.

I really like 111skin, I get quite excited if I see their stuff in a gwp or edit. I've tried all the sheet masks, my favourite is the blue depuffing mask, I think it's brilliant and I've rebought those 😍 I've also tried the repair serum and the black diamond essence, I liked them both and would rebuy if they were cheaper 😕

How do I get myself to use face oils? I have three and I'm slightly scared of them. My skin is changing from kinda oily but low maintenance, to needing lots of moisture some of the time. This is the first time in my life that I've moisturised legs, arms, shoulders, neck and face every night.

Maybe I'll just keep the face oils slightly separate to everything else...

@paristotokyo I forgot to mention that the HaruHaru Wonder sunscreen in the yellow tube is also very nice for parched skin.
@DidILeaveTheGasOn Have you tried mixing a couple of drops in with your moisturiser to give it a boost when your skin is feeling all wintered out?

@Francesteinwill see if I can test it in store. Thanks!

@JoRaRaRa - yes I definitely need to avoid the bargains thread! I’m definitely on a no buy next year until I’ve used categories up. I have kept all my recent acquisitions separate to my normal stash and am working on the older stuff first. I think I’ll need a spreadsheet for sure.

@DidILeaveTheGasOn - yes adding a couple of drops to your moisturiser is a great way to use facial oils. I often just use an oil at night after cleansing if I’m too tired to do much else. They are also lovely to use on the décolletage and neck area if you are worried about them breaking you out. Although they shouldn’t really.

My NY resolution is to not purchase any makeup in 2026 (except for mascara, foundation or concealer which will be purchased when I run out or it gets manky - I wear mascara every day.)
I will use up all my skincare and only buy staple products that I will happily use up. I am going to stick to cleansing balm, cleanser, toner to suit the season, moisturiser & sunscreen. I would add lip balm into this category too as I have a million Laneige Lip Sleeping Masks to finish.
To help with this insane situation, I am going to delete “influencer” subscriptions and only check in when I know I am going to need something. I am not going to justify buying anything new before NY so that I can be pious.
Let’s see how I go!

Thank you @Francestein and @Peridot1, I'm going to try this from tonight. I might add the oils to body moisturiser as well, my shins are thirsty little buggers.

@Francestein I'm inspired but also feel a bit hopeless after my shopping on the weekend. I wonder if we need a no buy support thread with sponsors and that sort of thing.

November empties: 23 in total.

Cosmetics:
Benefit brow gel, already replaced.

Haircare:
Herbal Essences Rose water shampoo and conditioner. Love this stuff. We couldn't afford HB when I was a kid so I get a little boost every time I buy some.
Kerasilk hair mask that came free with an order: Lovely and clean and comforting. I've just repurchased it because I'd forgotten about it, shit I'm meant to be on a no buy. I'm hopeless.
Morrocan Oil Hair spray: I feel like this cost an arm and a leg and then sat clumped on my head like melted cheese. It was sticky, unfriendly and lasted way too long.

Skincare:
Sure antipersperant: Staple.
Ameliorate softening bath milk oil x 2: Obsessed with this. Will RP forever.
Clarins Body scrub: Really nice! Smelled a bit weird but didn't put me off.
Clarins Mutli active night cream: Not particularly thick, worked really well during spring/summer. Lovely smell. This is one of the first proper skincare products I bought myself in April this year. Oh how things have escalated.
The Ordinary Retinol in Squalene. Does anyone else sing Squalene a la Jolene when they apply it? Jo-leeeeene. Anyway, this stuff turned my face into a log flume. It WOULD NOT sink in. I used it on my thirsty shins instead, they loved it. I tend not to let my shins dictate my purchasing activities so won't be RP.
Neal's Yard Vitamin C: I really liked this. I'm not sure vitamin C does anything for me so I'm not sure if I'll rp.
Nip + Fab Glycolic exfoliating pads. XXL, apparently. Seemed the normal size to me. Won't RP anyway.
Tatcha The Matcha Cleanse: Nah.
Caudalie Vinopure moisturiser: Lovely and light for summer. Kept in my bag for after swimming, the kids put up with it as well so it must be good. Might RP.
Aveeno Calm & Restore gel moisturiser: I really liked this. Bought it for my daughter as she has sensitive skin, we both liked it. Will RP.
Erborian Red pepper paste mask: This is awesome and I need to RP. I had too much wine the night before an important event and dimly remember applying this with gusto to mine visage, and the next day I looked GREAT. Magic stuff.
Elemis frangipani shower cream: Aw. I really wanted to love this but it smells like icing.
Skin + Me: Good stuff. Seems to help my skin behave, especially ahead of events (especially ahead of events where I get very drunk the night before!)

Candles:
Devonwick Sticky dates: To die for. Will RP.
Incienso Disciple: Wax smelled nice and then I lit it and it didn't smell of anything. What a shame.

Bonus slightly threatening penguin

Oh, missed off Rare Beauty exfoliating scrub samples x 2: Smelled nice but not very scrubby.

Brazilian bum bum cream - it’s ok, getting bored of it now.

Moroccan oil perfume - meh, I’m not that bothered by the scent. Oil is good tho.

Laniege water bank - actually quite liked it. Used it with my Urban Decay foundation to thin it out a bit.

Glow Recipe toner - also nice, although I don’t really need a toner, I don’t think.

Got 2 be dry shampoo - very good. I am currently using a much more expensive Moroccan oil one and actually prefer this.

Bunch of samples from Clarins, Benefit and Chanel. All nice to try.