Resolution "LOW-BUY" 2014! Who wants to play?

[Ndpendent Hussy]

I'm SO in. Until October, I bought far less this year than I did in 2012 (when I essentially purged my entire makeup collection and started from scratch). I'm embarrassed to see that I easily hit Rouge this year at Sephora. That's ridiculous. Beyond that, I've had my fill of MAC and their business practices and I have no desire to incent them continuing to operate the way they do. I went on a binge in October, tried out a bunch of new brands, and deliberately bought pretty much everything I'd need over the coming year. I did that to take advantage of reasonably priced holiday packs or Sephora savings (Ocho Loco 2, MAC CSGs, Ambient Palette and powders, Laura Mercier Artist Palette, Naked 2 and 3, 2 Inglot Freedom palettes while in NY) and because I knew my husband was leaving his job this month. I've put some aside for Christmas and birthday (January) gifts from others and have all I need for the forseeable future. I do still like MAC lippies, but I'll continue to BTM for those.

I love the Inglot shadows I got, so what did I just do (over the phone)? Order another 10 palette from Montreal. The shadows are gorgeous, but I only have two eyes.I have three b/u lippies and TEN l/g or CSGs in the fridge unopened. What am I thinking?

I'm sure I'll need to buy certain replacement items (skincare, perhaps foundation although I'm going to try to get through the four open bottles I have), but beyond that there isn't one reason why I need to buy a darned thing. I just bought FIVE large eyeshadow palettes. FIVE. How many did I need. ZERO.

I'm going to go well past 'three per collection'. I'm going to try for...hm....no more than 8-10 items in the entire year, including BTM lippies and replacement items like foundation. That means I can buy a very few items that I absolutely love, but nothing else. I need to work through my stash.

Great idea, Pixie. We need to keep each other strong.

I am convincing myself that I too need to commit to a no buy challenge. It's a great idea. Then I saw this! You can finally order inglot eyeshadows in Canada!?

I have 22 days to commit.

 

[PixieDancer]

I LOVE that you're all here! I def agree w Audrey C that those email subscriptions and "deals" are a HUGE part of the issue apart from the Specktra enabling. So thanks for that helpful pointer girl! I'm doing this now myself! See.... Already getting on the right track. Get this last few weeks out of your systems cause we are going into 2014 LOW-BUY strong!!! Remember... the key is to anti-enable. Suggest dupes and more personalized recommendations. Ideas on how we can shop our stashes. Maybe by the end of the year we'll know each other so well we could even do a thread swap! Getting rid of stuff we know doesn't work for us that might be perfect for another member here! That way we are re-distributing rather than just endlessly purchasing! Let's get the ideas rolling in now on how to proceed in this thread so we don't get off track. I love this thread more already!!

 

[Odelia]

I'll definitely be hanging out in this thread in the new year. I need some de-enabling in 2014!

I've pretty much got everything that I could possibly need makeup wise. Now it's time to use up and refine my collection.

I'm sooo over impulse/hyped up buying.
Also, if I can't see myself wearing a product often throughout the week - then it's a no buy! Time to buy stuff that suits me and will get used.
Skin care and foundation I will still splurge on when it needs restocking but I'm going to be a lot more stricter when it comes to makeup.

I'm loving this thread already, Pixie!

*Looks away from Inglot Canada posts*

 

[Audrey C]

I'll definitely be hanging out in this thread in the new year. I need some de-enabling in 2014!

I've pretty much got everything that I could possibly need makeup wise. Now it's time to use up and refine my collection.

I'm sooo over impulse/hyped up buying.
Also, if I can't see myself wearing a product often throughout the week - then it's a no buy! Time to buy stuff that suits me and will get used.
Skin care and foundation I will still splurge on when it needs restocking but I'm going to be a lot more stricter when it comes to makeup.

I'm loving this thread already, Pixie!

*Looks away from Inglot Canada posts*

Sorry, sorry! It was an admission of guilt, not encouragement for others to do it. NO buying. NO.

(Someone needed to do this to me a few hours ago so I could have dodged the order).

 

[taylorjane]

I'm definitely in! I need to do a little bit of "shopping my own collection" this next year!

I'm going to try to limit myself to one or two items a month.

 

[Baby1black]

Defintely in.

 

[Knope2012]

I'll definitely be hanging out in this thread in the new year. I need some de-enabling in 2014!

I've pretty much got everything that I could possibly need makeup wise. Now it's time to use up and refine my collection.

I'm sooo over impulse/hyped up buying.
Also, if I can't see myself wearing a product often throughout the week - then it's a no buy! Time to buy stuff that suits me and will get used.
Skin care and foundation I will still splurge on when it needs restocking but I'm going to be a lot more stricter when it comes to makeup.

I'm loving this thread already, Pixie!

*Looks away from Inglot Canada posts*

I'm going to try to buy only products I'll wear often too. I have two orange blushes and about six or seven bright pink ones, and they're often too "much" to wear often. I also have a lot of bright eyeshadows that are too much work for every day. Skin care and foundation are definitely worth splurging on! I've bought a lot of products in the last few months and I'm looking forward to focusing on them. I got a new blush from Sephora in the mail today (from the gift card sale) and it's perfect because it's soft and easy to wear.

Quote: Originally Posted by PixieDancer

I LOVE that you're all here! I def agree w Audrey C that those email subscriptions and "deals" are a HUGE part of the issue apart from the Specktra enabling. So thanks for that helpful pointer girl! I'm doing this now myself! See.... Already getting on the right track.
Get this last few weeks out of your systems cause we are going into 2014 LOW-BUY strong!!!
Remember... the key is to anti-enable. Suggest dupes and more personalized recommendations. Ideas on how we can shop our stashes. Maybe by the end of the year we'll know each other so well we could even do a thread swap! Getting rid of stuff we know doesn't work for us that might be perfect for another member here! That way we are re-distributing rather than just endlessly purchasing!
Let's get the ideas rolling in now on how to proceed in this thread so we don't get off track.
I love this thread more already!!

Wonderful idea! I love the idea of focusing on our stashes and anti-enabling. I've always loved the collection threads here, but it's only a week and we're on to the next buys. I might even do some more purging before I move, because I know there are a lot of things I love that I've forgotten about and a lot of only okay things that I won't use again.

 

[ma146rina]

I love the low-buy resolution is a lot more realistic than non-buy(which i never succeed). 3 items of a collection is a reasonable goal. My lipstick collection got out of control this year so i really need to take wiser decisions from now on.I also NEED to stop buying foundations,i have 8 in rotation with 6 of them being practically new and i don't even wear makeup every day. Now what about other brands,what do you girls think?i'm thinking of allowing myself one item per month.The good thing is that without the limited edition craze one can have a list and indulge slowly.

 

[shellygrrl]

I think the idea of a low-buy, combined with shopping one's stash, is much more reasonable than a no-buy. So yay to Pixie for starting this thread! :hug: Personally, I don't buy a ton from LE collections at the moment, though I will say one of the upcoming NARS collections has me seriously tempted to buy more than I should and can afford. So for one, I'm going to hope that the items in it are going to be permanent and not LE, so I can delay said urges. Actually, that could be a good idea. Focus on items that are permanently available at any time instead of all the LE stuff! I also love Knope's idea of focusing on tools and not colours. On the other hand that could be an Achilles heel for a brush junkie. :nods: * * * So for myself... Where to stop: pre-made eyeshadow palettes (I've got five -- three UD and two Sleek -- palettes to get through!), mascara (I've probably got enough to last till summer), eye liner (which will be easy, I think, as I don't use many non-neutral colours), lipstick (got enough colours for now), lipgloss (ditto), foundation (for now), concealer Where to slow down: lip liner (I've recently ordered another one after adding two to my stash; I've probably got enough for the moment!), single eyeshadows (I've got loads to get through; will buy only if it's a super-unique colour or something I consider an essential), brushes (will buy only to replace), blushes And I've got a box of stuff that I want to get rid of that I'm not going to use or finish. My collection is pretty modest compared to a lot of yours, but even I could stand to use more of the products I already own. :nods:

 

[SleepingBeauty]

Thanks for telling me about this thread, PixieDancer!

This is definitely what I need for 2014, LOL.

I tried to do a low-buy this year, but I failed miserably. The thing is that sometimes I don't buy anything in, like, 2 or 3 weeks and I'm completely happy with it. However, most of the time I get frustrated and unhappy if I can't buy anything (mainly because I'm usually broke

) and this is what really frightens me. A few weeks ago I didn't have any money left for makeup, so I hadn't bought anything in 3 weeks, and I became really frustrated and angry. It got better when I got to MAC and bought a lipstick (that I didn't really need, let's be honest). I definitely need to work on that. I'd be kidding if I thought I could do a 360 and change completely; that's not even what I want. I just want to buy less makeup and focus more on clothing and, if it has to be makeup, high end and not drugstore makeup (which does nothing for me; I'll just use it for a couple of times and then forget about it). I want to spend my money on high quality clothes and shoes - currently I'm saving money for a Michael Kors handbag - most of his bags are not that expensive but nevertheless I need to save a decent amount of money.
Anyway - I don't want to buy any more eyeshadows and I need to stop hoarding lipsticks asap! I don't know what happended to me - I've always been a lipgloss-kind-of-girl but over the past few years lipsticks have slowly become my favourite. I'm only going to buy one if I'm sure I will wear it on a regular basis (That's why I haven't bought Rebel yet. I'm so in love with the colour, yet I don't know if I can pull it off and if I'll even wear it at all.). I also should stop buying blushes and nail polish, even though I'm not a nail polish hoarder. I've problably got about 20-25 nail polishes which is enough for me. The same goes for skincare. No problem there. Only with makeup.
As I said; I don't want to stop buying completely (wouldn't work anyway, LOL) - I just need to buy less.

I'm thinking about setting up a drawer or something where I can put my makeup in and change the products on a weekly basis because I've got so many products that I haven't used in weeks or even months and that needs to change.

Well, I'll be rooting for you, ladies, and I'm pretty sure you can do it!

PS: Excuse any mistakes or confusing sentence structure; I really need to go to bed now.

 

[PixieDancer]

Thanks for telling me about this thread, PixieDancer!

This is definitely what I need for 2014, LOL.

I tried to do a low-buy this year, but I failed miserably. The thing is that sometimes I don't buy anything in, like, 2 or 3 weeks and I'm completely happy with it. However, most of the time I get frustrated and unhappy if I can't buy anything (mainly because I'm usually broke

) and this is what really frightens me. A few weeks ago I didn't have any money left for makeup, so I hadn't bought anything in 3 weeks, and I became really frustrated and angry. It got better when I got to MAC and bought a lipstick (that I didn't really need, let's be honest). I definitely need to work on that. I'd be kidding if I thought I could do a 360 and change completely; that's not even what I want. I just want to buy less makeup and focus more on clothing and, if it has to be makeup, high end and not drugstore makeup (which does nothing for me; I'll just use it for a couple of times and then forget about it). I want to spend my money on high quality clothes and shoes - currently I'm saving money for a Michael Kors handbag - most of his bags are not that expensive but nevertheless I need to save a decent amount of money.
Anyway - I don't want to buy any more eyeshadows and I need to stop hoarding lipsticks asap! I don't know what happended to me - I've always been a lipgloss-kind-of-girl but over the past few years lipsticks have slowly become my favourite. I'm only going to buy one if I'm sure I will wear it on a regular basis (That's why I haven't bought Rebel yet. I'm so in love with the colour, yet I don't know if I can pull it off and if I'll even wear it at all.). I also should stop buying blushes and nail polish, even though I'm not a nail polish hoarder. I've problably got about 20-25 nail polishes which is enough for me. The same goes for skincare. No problem there. Only with makeup.
As I said; I don't want to stop buying completely (wouldn't work anyway, LOL) - I just need to buy less.

I'm thinking about setting up a drawer or something where I can put my makeup in and change the products on a weekly basis because I've got so many products that I haven't used in weeks or even months and that needs to change.

Well, I'll be rooting for you, ladies, and I'm pretty sure you can do it!

PS: Excuse any mistakes or confusing sentence structure; I really need to go to bed now.

Welcome hun! Your idea of setting up a drawer and cycle out the selections is a great way to shop your stash and get your products in rotation. Medgal does that on the Theme Makeup thread. Each month we choose a "theme" and then she'll pull products that fit that theme so more of her collection gets used and loved. So that's been a super helpful idea for me too.

I'm also going to start a box of items I seem to use but not completely love. With everything I have, and will probably purchase in the future, I don't feel I should have to keep trying SO HARD to make items "work" on me. This way, I won't keep putting it back in with the rest of my collection. I'll try it a few more times (maybe in a different season or with a different look) just to MAKE SURE I can live without it, then at the end of the year I'll swap it away if it hasn't been successful! I'm tired of holding onto an item just because it's LE or was hard to obtain. Especially when there's probably someone out there that loves it or missed out! (This sparked my thread-swap idea for the end of the year!)

I'm going to do the same project in reverse for SUPER LOVED items. I don't know about all of you, but when I discover a product I LOVE... I neglect a lot of my stash and even skip getting around to trying new things I've bought because I want to keep using this ONE thing! What sense does that make!? So, I will try to limit how many times I reach for those items or limit them to special occasions when I know I want to bring out my heavy hitters! I think this will also curb my back up dilemma. I won't worry about using up something I love if I'm not reaching for it multiple times a week. Hence... (hopefully) eliminating the need/desire for backups!

I'm feeling so inspired! WooHoo!

 

[Audrey C]

I'm with you on this! I always see people set themselves on no-buys, then they have a moment of weakness and they throw the whole goal out the window. That's why I think setting a personal goal (being it a certain number allowed or only certain types of makeup or colors, etc.) will be more realistic for most of us. Let's be honest, we wouldn't probably be in this thread at all if we weren't looking for an answer to our over-indulgence. And we wouldn't be on Specktra if we didn't LOVE to indulge. So, I wanted to have a place to go where I could still enjoy hauling (a little) without feeling overwhelmed and over enabled!


Welcome hun! Your idea of setting up a drawer and cycle out the selections is a great way to shop your stash and get your products in rotation. Medgal does that on the Theme Makeup thread. Each month we choose a "theme" and then she'll pull products that fit that theme so more of her collection gets used and loved. So that's been a super helpful idea for me too.

I'm also going to start a box of items I seem to use but not completely love. With everything I have, and will probably purchase in the future, I don't feel I should have to keep trying SO HARD to make items "work" on me. This way, I won't keep putting it back in with the rest of my collection. I'll try it a few more times (maybe in a different season or with a different look) just to MAKE SURE I can live without it, then at the end of the year I'll swap it away if it hasn't been successful! I'm tired of holding onto an item just because it's LE or was hard to obtain. Especially when there's probably someone out there that loves it or missed out! (This sparked my thread-swap idea for the end of the year!)

I'm going to do the same project in reverse for SUPER LOVED items. I don't know about all of you, but when I discover a product I LOVE... I neglect a lot of my stash and even skip getting around to trying new things I've bought because I want to keep using this ONE thing! What sense does that make!? So, I will try to limit how many times I reach for those items or limit them to special occasions when I know I want to bring out my heavy hitters! I think this will also curb my back up dilemma. I won't worry about using up something I love if I'm not reaching for it multiple times a week. Hence... (hopefully) eliminating the need/desire for backups!

I'm feeling so inspired! WooHoo!

I think I'll start a 'not for me' stash. Until now, I've given them away or even BTM'd almost new products. I have several almost new products that just don't do it for me, but I'm sure they would for someone else. A swap later in the year would be fun.

 

[PixieDancer]

I think I'll start a 'not for me' stash. Until now, I've given them away or even BTM'd almost new products. I have several almost new products that just don't do it for me, but I'm sure they would for someone else. A swap later in the year would be fun.

I think so too! Towards the end of the year we could list what's in our "not for me" stash and swap with each other if we want!!!

 

[Audrey C]

I think so too! Towards the end of the year we could list what's in our "not for me" stash and swap with each other if we want!!!

I'd feel better about finding a good home for products that I know others really enjoy (like Sun Dipped, Redhead, etc.) but that just don't do it for me. Some of my products have been used once or twice and I just hated to toss them out.

 

[NaomiH]

I just talked myself out of am impulse buy!!!! :-D

 

[shellygrrl]

I just talked myself out of am impulse buy!!!! :-D

:cheer:

 

[PixieDancer]

I just talked myself out of am impulse buy!!!! :-D

I think we both did! Wink wink! Yay us! It feels good to stay strong! We are ready 2014!!

 

[MsKb]

Quote: Originally Posted by PixieDancer

Welcome hun! Your idea of setting up a drawer and cycle out the selections is a great way to shop your stash and get your products in rotation. Medgal does that on the Theme Makeup thread. Each month we choose a "theme" and then she'll pull products that fit that theme so more of her collection gets used and loved. So that's been a super helpful idea for me too.





^^ I love this idea. I'll definitely give it a try.

and i'm def in for this "Low-Buy". it really is so much more realistic than a no-buy.

This year i've been better able to contain myself with regards to cheek products. I've stopped buying just for buying's sake or to appease my inner collector. Also i've given up on MB and MSFs as they may or may not cause minor breakouts. This is great for me though because it's these products that always tempt me.

However, lipsticks are my weakness so i'm hoping to get better at resisting them because although I love the bright standout colours which make up the majority of what I buy, I don't get to wear them as often because of the profession i'm entering into. Hopefully this thread will help with that.

With respect to Lipglass, although I always buy one or two from collections I even think I need to cut this down as I really don't wear lip glass often due to their stickiness which my hair always seems to get caught in.

I also hope to slow down on the fluidlines because I feel the need to buy every single one that is launched if I don't already have it. Most times the glittery ones aren't that great and end up unused. Luckily MAC doesn't really release that many of them but still, I can afford to be more discerning.

With regards to mascara, I'm going to try and use out the many many many that I have and then the sample sizes that i have before I buy or repurchase any.

Most of the items I spoke about are MAC because only MAC and a limited range of Estee Lauder and Clinique are available in my country. I do shop online often but customs charges quite a bit so many times I stick to MAC or similarly priced brands bearing in mind the conversion rate,shipping charges, duty and taxes.

Just reading over what I typed here has made me realise that this is the first time i've actually properly expressed why I need to reduce my buying. This is great for me.

Anyway I look forward to participating in this thread.

 

[Deneb]

Quote: Originally Posted by PixieDancer

I'm going to do the same project in reverse for SUPER LOVED items. I don't know about all of you, but when I discover a product I LOVE... I neglect a lot of my stash and even skip getting around to trying new things I've bought because I want to keep using this ONE thing! What sense does that make!? So, I will try to limit how many times I reach for those items or limit them to special occasions when I know I want to bring out my heavy hitters! I think this will also curb my back up dilemma. I won't worry about using up something I love if I'm not reaching for it multiple times a week. Hence... (hopefully) eliminating the need/desire for backups!


Sooo right ! Thank you for writting down the words I did not manage to put on my thoughts !!!
Lately I've been crazy in love with Lavish Living MB and Chanel Accent blush. I was even considering BU's for them.
But you are right. I must use my other cheek products, and keep my beloved ones for special occasions. This will also help me to sort out what products I don't like anymore !

 

[PixieDancer]

MsKb & Deneb... I'm glad I started this thread because it's helped me evaluate what I need to do! And it looks like you ladies are on the right track too! I think we'll all welcome having a place to go that supports our "addictive" love for makeup while still trying to have a goal to keep it under control & in perspective! I'm so happy you ladies chose to join our resolution! I look forward to any more ideas you ladies have to share & updates on how you're doing!