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

[aradhana]

Thanks! I went through lipsticks too. I wasn't as successful but I have a nice size pile. High end

Most of them are in the swap thread. Except the Chanel la'doree. I have the receipt to that and I'm returning it. So pretty, just not for me That's really it for me besides palettes which I don't know if I can part with. I have way too many and so many not used but that's a lot harder lol

Do you absolutely need to purge the palettes? Maybe you can do it gradually so it's less painful?

I purged some cream blushes this weekend which looked rough in the pots, a lot of them were well loved drugstore so I didn't feel to bad. I thought if I really miss one in the summer I can purchase a fresh one, but I don't think I will need one, I might try to use concentrate on my other cream blushes as I don't show them as much love as powder ones. I also went through my lip draws and swatched every lipstick on my lips. I wasn't wearing much make up yesterday just tinted moisturiser, mascara and a neutral blush, so I thought it was an ideal time to see which formulas and colours looked best on my skin tone and get rid of any that didn't look so great. I managed to get rid of quite a few concealer style nudes which really look awful on me, I discovered that bright lips look pretty good! My Viva Glam Cyndi appears to have a tiny bit of snow, I have read the thread linked a page or so back but whats the general consenus? Wipe down and try to use up or throw in the back to MAC pile? I like the colour, but i wouldn't cry if it has to go back to mac, I only have 2 mac lipsticks now, Viva Glam Cyndi and To Swoon for from a 2008 holiday collection. Currently they are still in the Lip Draw but they both should prob be in the back to MAC bag. I have enought B2M for 2 lipsticks nearly but I have no idea which formulas and colours to try.....I haven't looked at MAC lipsticks for ages.....I have been using other brands. I am going to hold off until summer and see if I can use up a few other lipsticks and try to cull the number in my stash a little more before I indulge.

I heard the snow is not bad. One time I was going to b2m a lipstick I thought had spoilt, but the mua told me to just wipe off the snow...it's due to temp fluctuations. It wasn't a question of her trying to stop me from b2m...but she figured if I like the lipstick and it's still good no point in tossing it out!

 

[Kaori]

Just one is in the get rid of pile. I grabbed the wrong one at sephora. Someone put it in wrong row and I didn't check. I tried it and didn't like it. Lost receipt so got stuck with it.

It depends if sales person is in good mood or not, but Sephora(not those in jcpenney) lets you return/exchange stuff without box and without receipt Though the one I was at last time let me return like this only the thing they carried in that store and not what they carry in online store =/ So I'm stuck with too light mineral foundation =.=

 

[myfavoritePA]

I went through all the threads and a lot of the stuff coming out for summer doesn't call out to me since in the summer I minimize my makeup (so it doesn't melt in the typical 90 degree ny summer) so I feel confident. Ready to take on new things. Have all my spring staples ready... I'm not looking to get rid of anything but that can change after my depot party lol

Congrats on the new job and for coming to the realizations you did about your makeup and low buy goals!

I also have news on the job front -- I received an excellent offer today and am happy to say that I will only be out of work 2 days after I am laid off and then I'll be starting my new job.

 

[mosha010]

Congrats on the new job and for coming to the realizations you did about your makeup and low buy goals! I also have news on the job front -- I received an excellent offer today and am happy to say that I will only be out of work 2 days after I am laid off and then I'll be starting my new job.  :fluffy:

Yayyyyyyyy!!!! Congrats!!!!!!! Way to go!!!! And thank u I'm glad I came to my senses and got back on low buy track

 

[NaomiH]

Congrats on the new job, @mosha010!

 

[mosha010]

Congrats on the new job, @mosha010!

Ty love!!!!!

 

[User38]

Congrats to all who have new jobs!! .. it's always great to get a fresh start!

In my trench, I am looking to finalize a few sales of assets as well as half of my business -- and liquidate liquidate liquidate.. lol. I am on the last stretch of enjoying life and I want to do it on my own terms.

on the Bert front

... he just left my house and cut my hair. The lovely haircut, was lovely for all of two days. I swim each morning, and today my hair was all tangled up and sticking up/out/all over my cap -- a few of the strands kept getting stuck on my water goggles.. so, I asked Bert to cut it ha. A HUGE savings.. and he is quite experienced with scalpels so what the heck. He did a great job too... I now have a short pixie (think C. Theron's short short one) and it's frankly so much better for me now, at this time in my life. I just need to keep up the eye/lips routine and heels.. lol.

I managed to trash some more lippies/ DS comps which I had purchased long ago to work with/from .. and they just hung around taking up space.

time, space, money -- all seem to be coming together for me.

 

[PixieDancer]

Congrats to all who have new jobs!! .. it's always great to get a fresh start!

In my trench, I am looking to finalize a few sales of assets as well as half of my business -- and liquidate liquidate liquidate.. lol. I am on the last stretch of enjoying life and I want to do it on my own terms.

on the Bert front

... he just left my house and cut my hair. The lovely haircut, was lovely for all of two days. I swim each morning, and today my hair was all tangled up and sticking up/out/all over my cap -- a few of the strands kept getting stuck on my water goggles.. so, I asked Bert to cut it ha. A HUGE savings.. and he is quite experienced with scalpels so what the heck. He did a great job too... I now have a short pixie (think C. Theron's short short one) and it's frankly so much better for me now, at this time in my life. I just need to keep up the eye/lips routine and heels.. lol.

I managed to trash some more lippies/ DS comps which I had purchased long ago to work with/from .. and they just hung around taking up space.

time, space, money -- all seem to be coming together for me.

GREAT JOB! SO glad to hear your''re kicking ass and taking names! NOW we have to see the new haircut!!

I'm THRILLED with all the success and new job stories! GO GIRLS! How exciting for everyone! It's like a brand new life is unfolding! What a wonderful new year this is turning out to be!!!

 

[shellygrrl]

I can only imagine how much more we all would have bought this year if this thread was not around...

Indeed. :nods: Seeing some of you go through and catalogue/photograph your stuff -- particularly the products that represent your biggest weaknesses -- makes me want to be a little more vigorous in some categories. Like, I need to go through my lipsticks again, as well as my brushes. Actually, I really should photograph my full collection. (I've photo'ed my storage in the past, but not what items I have at the moment.)

 

[Starlight77]

Do you absolutely need to purge the palettes? Maybe you can do it gradually so it's less painful?

I'm just going to go through them and offer ones I will not use or don't like to friends and family. There's only 1 or 2. The rest I'm going to see what I use in 6 months and purge again. I'll do this every 6 months as my low buy isn't due to financial it's trying to stop me from getting an out of control collection. I'll be happy as long as I use everything I have at least once every few months. This way it leaves room for newer more exciting palettes I don't need LOL I just wanted to slow down the lipsticks and stop the glosses. I've realized through all of this which formulas and brands I prefer. I can easily monitor my purchases now. My collection went from 2 lipsticks and one eyeshadow duo to 37+ palettes, 60+ lipsticks and too much blush in under 2 years. I bought too much to fast without experimenting. I'm confident now as I am where I would like to be and I have all of you ladies to thank for it. I will still (and always) remain on a low buy as practically makes me happier than quantity. So thank you all!!

 

[Starlight77]

Congrats to all those with new jobs!

 

[lilinah]

Quote: Originally Posted by MissTania
I can only imagine how much more we all would have bought this year if this thread was not around...


Indeed.

Seeing some of you go through and catalogue/photograph your stuff -- particularly the products that represent your biggest weaknesses -- makes me want to be a little more vigorous in some categories. Like, I need to go through my lipsticks again, as well as my brushes. Actually, I really should photograph my full collection. (I've photo'ed my storage in the past, but not what items I have at the moment.)

If i hadn't laid out all my blushes and highlighters i might have gotten one or two more from Fantasy of Flowers. So it really helped me.

The irony of my recent blush stash post is that i rarely wear blush, although i usually wear highlighter. I have rosacea now - i didn't when i was young, so i often wore blush then, hence all the late 60s thru 80s blushes. Not quite sure when the rosacea started, in the 90s i think. But i love *colors* - just looking at them, even. My largest stash is eyeshadows and liners, which i just started photographing this AM.

I finished photographing my all lip stuff today, minus about three that had gone walkabout in the house - found one in my purse and one in a purse i haven't used for months, now to find the 3rd... I did throw out a few things. Next I need to go back through all the lip stuff and throw away the obvious stuff: rancid lipsticks & fruit-scented glosses. The hard part will be deciding what to get rid of from the stuff that's good.

For someone who only wears a few dark reds (Deeply Adored, Rocker, Studded Kiss), i discovered i had a surprising number of red lipsticks - more than 12 (my boyfriend seems to *like* bright red lipstick on me, while i think i look ridiculous in it). At least 1/3 are drugstore reds, which were reviewed as "suitable for every skin tone" and looking good on everyone... except maybe me... so not an extreme expense. I did coo and shed a tear over my favorite red ever, which was discontinued at least 10 years ago. If it were still made, i wouldn't own any other red lipstick: Revlon Velvet Touch Lipstick in Moonlit Wine. It's a plum red with gold shimmer, so it is both cool and warm at the same time, which is good for my skin tone. And it's matte with shimmer, so straddles the "finish" line (joke, joke) - not deadening matte 'cuz of the shimmer, and not too silly shimmery 'cuz of the matte base.

Purging eye shadows will be hardest because odd colors of shadows are more wearable than unsuitable lipsticks or blushes. And i just love looking at colors, as i said. When i was little, i had a HUGE collection of single color paint "chips", and i'd play with them like some kids play with dolls - i organized them into families and into different kinds of families on different days. Different colors had different voices and personalities...

 

[lilinah]

Quote: Originally Posted by veronikawithak It's not easy being neutral..




I'm pretty light/neutral as well.. although I have the slightest cool undertone on some parts of my face. Wearing a neutral foundation I can pull off either slight warm or cool, but no brights and no super saturated darks. I have blonde-brown hair though and blue-grey eyes which fits well with Summer. You might be both a Deep Soft Winter and Deep Soft Summer? Both can pull off the muted and saturated colors but not brights. And being neutral would cover the slight warm/cool variations. I also liked this post on counterpoint seasons: http://diaryofacolouraddict.blogspot.ca/2013/07/counterpoint-seasons-freedom-of-choice.html



Thanks for the link and the suggestions. I enjoyed reading the article and i even saved it!

I *think* i have a good handle on what colors look good on me. My mother - who was an artist - for some reason liked dressing me in navy, which makes me look sallow and blah, i think because that's what she frequently wore with a white shirt. Her coloring was completely different from mine, which is like my father's. She never liked it when i wore colors that *she* didn't look good in, even if they were actually fine on me. I haven't owned anything navy in decades, heck, scores of years, but i recently bought a "navy" cardigan, because it is isn't true navy, it's a slightly cooler blue, so it's OK on me. And I definitely like some colors that aren't the best on me, but i find ways to wear them so they are not unflattering by combining them with other colors that are flattering, and makeup

 

[Naynadine]

I'm happy to hear everyone is making progress, not only regarding their low-buy, but in life in general. I'm working on that as well, not so much luck thus far.

I did have a bit of luck in a Shiseido giveaway though! Two e/s palettes and a cream e/s. Most of the colours aren't really wearable for me, so I'll probably try to swap those; I think I'll keep just one of the palettes. It's from last years Spring collection, which was my favorite makeup collection ever, I think. I now have both palettes, plus a BU of the Beach Grass one (I would LOVE to rave about it and enable everyone, lol) and both blushes. I'm still contemplating BUs of those as well...

Oh, and Clinique sent me another email, now they want me to send the blush back (err, I already did that days ago). So it takes them several days to reply to an email in the first place, then I get two different replies days apart. Weird. My first experience with them and it wasn't a pleasant one.

 

[NewChick10]

I went through my stash and I had to throw away a large percent of my cream eye shadows because they dried out. I am so mad because I didn’t get to test or use them I just stored them as if they were going to live forever. This has made me cut back on cream purchases. If I don’t think I can use them up quickly enough I will not be purchasing a large supply.

 

[charlotte366]

Quote:Originally Posted by NewChick10

I went through my stash and I had to throw away a large percent of my cream eye shadows because they dried out. I am so mad because I didn’t get to test or use them I just stored them as if they were going to live forever. This has made me cut back on cream purchases. If I don’t think I can use them up quickly enough I will not be purchasing a large supply.


this is one of my issues, I went through my cream blushes at the weekend and throw away several, I am now trying to use up the rest and I think I will only repurchase one to keep in my stash when all the others are gone. I have the same worries about my cream eyeshadows, I am purging my maybelline colour tattoos as I just don't use them enough, I am concentrating on using up my Bare Escentuals tubes, although I think creams keep better in tubes than jars. I also am concentrating on using up my LM cavier sticks. Again I think I will just repurchase/keep one or 2 key shades once I have finished using up, simply because of shelf life issues, powders keep longer than creams but even powders don't last forever. I can't wait to get my collection down to a useable size, I am now really enjoying purging and working out what works for me. I worked on my clothes this weekend, I sorted out a large bag for the charity shops and listed some pieces on ebay. Going to do some more this weekend too. I am also working on wearing up some of my knitwear as its beginning to look past its best, I figured it was better to wear it up now and throw it away at the end of the winter and buy some new pieces next year rather than store it through the summer. Like others have mentioned, I am feeling lighter and more positive. I can see my bedroom floor again, my vanity has space to do my make up and hair, I can reach my make up and open my wardrobe again to choose clothes! I am also openly questioning my wishlist and not just buying to make myself feel better. With the profits from my sales I am tempted to purchase a handbag....just debating the pros and cons first rather than rushing in there! Next stop is to revist all my eyeshadows again! I still don't appear to be reaching for my MAC shadows so I am going to down size to the 15 pan palette and see if I use that, I suspect I really don't love the majority of the shadows in my 30 pan palette, so I am going to look at the wear levels and keep those that obviously have been used and loved. Store the rest and see if I miss them. I think that maybe my naked palettes have displace the mac shadows, but them I can'r remember the last time I used naked 1 & 2 ekk! This area of my stash is definitely a work in progress still.

 

[Ajigglin]

Congrats on the new job and for coming to the realizations you did about your makeup and low buy goals! I also have news on the job front -- I received an excellent offer today and am happy to say that I will only be out of work 2 days after I am laid off and then I'll be starting my new job.  :fluffy:

That's awesome. I hope I have that same luck.

 

[veronikawithak]

I went through my stash and I had to throw away a large percent of my cream eye shadows because they dried out. I am so mad because I didn’t get to test or use them I just stored them as if they were going to live forever. This has made me cut back on cream purchases. If I don’t think I can use them up quickly enough I will not be purchasing a large supply.

this is one of my issues, I went through my cream blushes at the weekend and throw away several, I am now trying to use up the rest and I think I will only repurchase one to keep in my stash when all the others are gone.

I have the same worries about my cream eyeshadows, I am purging my maybelline colour tattoos as I just don't use them enough, I am concentrating on using up my Bare Escentuals tubes, although I think creams keep better in tubes than jars. I also am concentrating on using up my LM cavier sticks.

Again I think I will just repurchase/keep one or 2 key shades once I have finished using up, simply because of shelf life issues, powders keep longer than creams but even powders don't last forever.

I can't wait to get my collection down to a useable size, I am now really enjoying purging and working out what works for me.

I worked on my clothes this weekend, I sorted out a large bag for the charity shops and listed some pieces on ebay.

Going to do some more this weekend too. I am also working on wearing up some of my knitwear as its beginning to look past its best, I figured it was better to wear it up now and throw it away at the end of the winter and buy some new pieces next year rather than store it through the summer.

Like others have mentioned, I am feeling lighter and more positive. I can see my bedroom floor again, my vanity has space to do my make up and hair, I can reach my make up and open my wardrobe again to choose clothes! I am also openly questioning my wishlist and not just buying to make myself feel better.

With the profits from my sales I am tempted to purchase a handbag....just debating the pros and cons first rather than rushing in there!

Next stop is to revist all my eyeshadows again!
I still don't appear to be reaching for my MAC shadows so I am going to down size to the 15 pan palette and see if I use that, I suspect I really don't love the majority of the shadows in my 30 pan palette, so I am going to look at the wear levels and keep those that obviously have been used and loved. Store the rest and see if I miss them. I think that maybe my naked palettes have displace the mac shadows, but them I can'r remember the last time I used naked 1 & 2 ekk! This area of my stash is definitely a work in progress still.

I got rid of about 5 cream eyeshadows last year and currently only have 2 on the go which I'm happy with.. I think my absolute max would be 3, but I'm trying to stay with 2 for now. My Painterly which I've hit serious pan and am trying to use up so I can start a fresh one, and Stormy Pink which I got this year to go with my more cool toned smoky purple-pink eyeshadows that I love.

My problem areas are powder blush and eyeshadow right now.. I always like to get new ones but I know they take the longest to use up. Working on trying to finish at least 1 of each this year.

 

[shellygrrl]

Oh, and Clinique sent me another email, now they want me to send the blush back (err, I already did that days ago). So it takes them several days to reply to an email in the first place, then I get two different replies days apart. Weird. My first experience with them and it wasn't a pleasant one. 

Oh, Clinique. *shakes head* Sucks that you've had a bad experience with them.

 

[User38]

I got rid of about 5 cream eyeshadows last year and currently only have 2 on the go which I'm happy with.. I think my absolute max would be 3, but I'm trying to stay with 2 for now. My Painterly which I've hit serious pan and am trying to use up so I can start a fresh one, and Stormy Pink which I got this year to go with my more cool toned smoky purple-pink eyeshadows that I love.

My problem areas are powder blush and eyeshadow right now.. I always like to get new ones but I know they take the longest to use up. Working on trying to finish at least 1 of each this year.

oh dear.. my downfall in the last few years has been cream es, paint pots, IDOs, anything which sets and won't come off when I cry.. and these have worked well for me. I have about 30 if not more.. and those are my personal stash -- I have about 200 which have been tested in the past 18 mos. Many do not make it to market.. lol, but I get to keep them. These are cluttering up my existence.