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

[veronikawithak]

Oh absolutely! I have had a lifetime of amazing experiences and memories! I have been extremely blessed!
I'm just proud to know that along with my growing collection came a growing knowledge of products and how to use them! The education I gained allowed me to do something I never would have had the confidence to do more than 10 years ago when I first started on my journey. I'm grateful for that, and it helps me be at peace with the past decisions I've made that probably weren't always great in terms of buying and collecting... But now I need to understand that I need to move forward. That the makeup is nice, but feeling unburdened by STUFF is a much nicer feeling than HAVING unnecessary stuff!

And thank you very much for the kind words!

I totally understand. I've learned SO much about makeup just from playing around and watching YouTube..My face has definitely improved over the years lol. I can't even imagine how amazing working with top makeup artists for so long has been like. I'm glad you've been able to realize when it's time to let go though. I'm working on letting go of allll of the compulsions in my life, whether that's buying too much makeup or eating too much junk food or owning too many kinds of tea (true story). If I feel like I "need" it, the addiction has set in which means that inanimate item now has control over my behavior.. And I'm not having that. Haha.

 

[SweetSweetIrony]

I'm in the process of working through all my samples. Holy hell do I have a lot. I had to look up some of them, because I couldn't remember/didn't know what they actually were. But now they're all organized and I can start actually using them. Although I have more coming with my Sephora order tomorrow, jeez. I have about 8 mini eye primer samples from various brands alone.


At least I'll de-clutter my drawer eventually and maybe find a new HG product. Fresh's Lotus Preserve cream seems rather lovely.

 

[LinenWhite7]

I'm in the process of working through all my samples. Holy hell do I have a lot. I had to look up some of them, because I couldn't remember/didn't know what they actually were. But now they're all organized and I can start actually using them. Although I have more coming with my Sephora order tomorrow, jeez. I have about 8 mini eye primer samples from various brands alone. At least I'll de-clutter my drawer eventually and maybe find a new HG product. Fresh's Lotus Preserve cream seems rather lovely.

I had a sample of Fresh's Black Tea moisturizer and it was amazing, but I looked it up and it was $95! Um, no.

 

[LinenWhite7]

I asked this in Fantasy of Flowers, but the enablers over there are gonna give me different answers than my Team Low-Buy ladies, I'm sure! I've got Adored MSF (peachy pink), Fairly Precious EDSF (peachy rosy gold), the Becca Rose Gold highlighter (rosy gold), Mary Loumanizer from theBalm (champagne), and the NARS one from the Guy Bourdin palette (whitish champagne). Do I need to even consider Stereo Rose and/or Perfect Topping? I'm NW15-20 and I wear highlighter whenever I wear makeup. I just got into MAC last year so I haven't seen these MSFs before.

 

[lipstickaddict]

I've got Adored MSF (peachy pink), Fairly Precious EDSF (peachy rosy gold), the Becca Rose Gold highlighter (rosy gold), Mary Loumanizer from theBalm (champagne), and the NARS one from the Guy Bourdin palette (whitish champagne). Do I need to even consider Stereo Rose and/or Perfect Topping? I'm NW15-20 and I wear highlighter whenever I wear makeup. I just got into MAC last year so I haven't seen these MSFs before.

I have all of the above along with stereo rose, and I would say that stereo rose is definitely more coral and pigmented than any of the MSF's in your collection. If anything, you could probably skip Perfect Topping because it is a lot lighter and may not be significantly different. And of course, you could also skip stereo rose! My suggestion is to see both in person and swatch them. The other thing to consider is that you will likely wear stereo rose as a blush more than a highlight since it has good pigment and gives a coral flush (much more than Adored and FP). A Perfect Topping would definitely be worn more as a highlight. I hope that this helps a bit!

 

[Glitteryvegas]

THANK YOU soooo much girlie! I am SO ready for SPRING! I wanted to change my avi to one from my recent photoshoot that's being published in March.... I'm pretty proud of the accomplishment after all the years I've been in the business! The magazine's last covergirl was a former Playboy Playmate that's 10 years younger than me!! Not too shabby for a veteran! HeeHee

I also wanted to show an example of what I HAVE taken away from years of collecting... This shoot was the first I ever did my own makeup! NO major magazine will allow that sort of thing. But I told them to trust me and save the money. They were thrilled with the result, and now I have a magazine credit as the model AND the MUA / Wardrobe Stylist... for my OWN shoot! So I look at that as a positive result of this overwhelming obsession that I have! But I can DEFINITELY slow down now! I don't think there are enough photoshoots in the WORLDDDD! LOL

Good on ya girlie! You look amazing. I showed my hubs some of your pics and we were chatting about how gorgeous you are. Congrats on taking those risks with doing your own makeup and styling - it's clearly working!

 

[LinenWhite7]

I have all of the above along with stereo rose, and I would say that stereo rose is definitely more coral and pigmented than any of the MSF's in your collection. If anything, you could probably skip Perfect Topping because it is a lot lighter and may not be significantly different. And of course, you could also skip stereo rose! My suggestion is to see both in person and swatch them. The other thing to consider is that you will likely wear stereo rose as a blush more than a highlight since it has good pigment and gives a coral flush (much more than Adored and FP). A Perfect Topping would definitely be worn more as a highlight. I hope that this helps a bit!

Thank you!

 

[lipstickaddict]

Can't believe it took me this long to find this thread! Team low buy is a fantastic idea and I am definitely on board!

 

[LouGarner]

Can't believe it took me this long to find this thread! Team low buy is a fantastic idea and I am definitely on board!

welcome to the team.

 

[PixieDancer]

Can't believe it took me this long to find this thread! Team low buy is a fantastic idea and I am definitely on board!

YAY!!! More love for Team Low Buy! Glad you're here hun!

 

[PixieDancer]

Good on ya girlie! You look amazing. I showed my hubs some of your pics and we were chatting about how gorgeous you are. Congrats on taking those risks with doing your own makeup and styling - it's clearly working!

You're making me blush!!!

What nice things to say! Thank your hubs for me too.... He's one lucky guy!!!

 

[IHughes]

Terrible, I finally caved and got NARSissist, feeling quite guilty about it, but at least there isn't anything else tempting me so hopefully I'll steer away from purchases after this...

 

[veronikawithak]

Terrible, I finally caved and got NARSissist, feeling quite guilty about it, but at least there isn't anything else tempting me so hopefully I'll steer away from purchases after this...

What do you think? If you love/use it lots you don't need to feel too guilty.

 

[charlotte366]

Quote:Originally Posted by PixieDancer

Skip it. The quality just isn't there IMO. Not worth the money or the hype. Enjoy all your existing neutrals... sounds like you have a great selection!
And btw... NOTHING is "the matter with you"... we all understand where you're coming from. It's the mindset of a makeup lover/addict. You are in the right place to try to keep it under control and in perspective. 
 
Oh trust me, I know how hard it is to let things go. Especially if it's a LE item that was hard to obtain and others are loving. You go through that period where you just think YOU'RE the problem. That you aren't applying it right, or need a different liner or brush to make it work... all the little things we tell ourselves when we are trying to justify keeping something that (let's face it) just isn't right for you. That's the whole point of having different finishes, shades, undertones, etc. Not every beautiful LE item will work on everyone. So even though it's hard, let it go. Swap it, sell it, B2M it, return it... whatever you need to do. Don't save a place for it in your collection. Your pretty face deserves your nicest makeup! use it. Enjoy it. Figuring out what looks best on us is the first step at curbing overspending. You'll never figure that out if your forcing products on yourself that don't work. Go rock all your BEST makeup hun!!
 
 
I agree!! Skip, skip, skip!



Thank you Pixiedancer! I think i may have managed to get over my lemmings for the NARS Palette, I very nearly fell off the band wagon this month on a couple of occassion, which is what I did last Decmeber/January!. For some reason I buy loads normally pre Chrismas and in the January sales and this thread is helping a lot! I have good and bad days with my collection, some days I love playing with it and other times it scares the hell out of me! I think because I work in a professional environment I tend to wear a more neutral focused look, but how many neutrals so I actually need! My collection is scarying me at the moment and I found it really overwhelming this morning to choose something to wear. I have sold several things already this year on evil bay, I disposed of my MSF collection as I don't use them and 4 of my 6 tarte blushes as those ones were not being used along with other bits and pieces. I think I need to look at my collection again and identify some more bits that don't work.get used or get shown no love and just sell them and move on without replacing them. I might go back a few pages in this thread tonight and find that youtube link for the person who slimmed their collection down. I got my foundation collection out on Friday night and stood them all upright. Now they have been standing for a few hours I can see that a couple of bottles don't have that much left in them so I think I might concentrate on those to see if I can finish them off. i am close to finishing several things aside from foundation, so I think I might try to extend my no-buy from January into February in an attempt to finish up some items. I sometimes wonder how nice it would be to have just 1 of everything......

 

[veronikawithak]

[@]charlotte366[/@] Here's the link to one of my favorite videos of hers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvlb8TGhGJk&feature=youtube_gdata_player I also love her declutter series and makeup inventory!

 

[charlotte366]

Quote:Originally Posted by veronikawithak

@charlotte366 Here's the link to one of my favorite videos of hers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvlb8TGhGJk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I also love her declutter series and makeup inventory!


THANK YOU!!!! I just read yesterdays posts as I was a day out of date, feeling a little bit better now, but definately more determined to do a full stash assessment and clear out. I don't want this noose round my neck anymore, I love make up, it is my creative outlet, i just need to be slim down the volume. I am going to give myself an extra goal of getting the collection down to a reasonable level by the end of march. I don't yet know what that will be, I think I may perform a full inventory and then, remove anything that remains brand new never used and then access how far to slim it down from there. I am scared about a full inventory but maybe it is the final shock I need to stop buying more without really considering it. I love this thread, I haven't ventured in anything but this and operation use it up since the new year. I have no idea what it is coming out next month and i want it to stay that way!

 

[kanne]

I really liked the suggestion somebody made about having weekly picks of products and wearing that look for a week...great suggestion to get stuck into those things that get forgotten about. I also think great storage helps if products get forgotten about, and I find reorganising/cleaning/sorting through my makeup just as much fun as shopping.

 

[veronikawithak]

I also love her declutter series and makeup inventory!

THANK YOU!!!!

I just read yesterdays posts as I was a day out of date, feeling a little bit better now, but definately more determined to do a full stash assessment and clear out. I don't want this noose round my neck anymore, I love make up, it is my creative outlet, i just need to be slim down the volume.

I am going to give myself an extra goal of getting the collection down to a reasonable level by the end of march. I don't yet know what that will be, I think I may perform a full inventory and then, remove anything that remains brand new never used and then access how far to slim it down from there.

I am scared about a full inventory but maybe it is the final shock I need to stop buying more without really considering it.

I love this thread, I haven't ventured in anything but this and operation use it up since the new year. I have no idea what it is coming out next month and i want it to stay that way!

I'm a huge fan of the inventory.. haha. It was what really pushed me over the edge. When you see just how many shimmery peachy-pink blushes you actually have that look almost exactly the same on your face, it's a wake up call. And when you realize even if you completely stopped buying makeup it would still take you into the decades to use it all? Assuming that the product actually holds up that long which it probably won't..

Worth overcoming the fear IMO. Good luck with clearing out your stash!! I hope it leads to a more fun makeup lifestyle for you.

Bewareeee the collection threads if you're not on solid ground with your low-buy yet. Everything in there seems to be a "must-have" to people. I constantly have to remind myself that I'm only allowed 12 items for the entire 365 days (including staples!). If I blow my entire budget on spring/summer collections, it'll be a long, cold winter! Lol. And that pink lippie I just had to have? Probably won't look so hot on my blotchy naked face when I can't buy foundation near the end of the year!

 

[charlotte366]

Quote:Originally Posted by veronikawithak

I'm a huge fan of the inventory.. haha. It was what really pushed me over the edge. When you see just how many shimmery peachy-pink blushes you actually have that look almost exactly the same on your face, it's a wake up call. And when you realize even if you completely stopped buying makeup it would still take you into the decades to use it all? Assuming that the product actually holds up that long which it probably won't..

Worth overcoming the fear IMO. Good luck with clearing out your stash!! I hope it leads to a more fun makeup lifestyle for you.
 
Bewareeee the collection threads if you're not on solid ground with your low-buy yet. Everything in there seems to be a "must-have" to people. I constantly have to remind myself that I'm only allowed 12 items for the entire 365 days (including staples!). If I blow my entire budget on spring/summer collections, it'll be a long, cold winter! Lol. And that pink lippie I just had to have? Probably won't look so hot on my blotchy naked face when I can't buy foundation near the end of the year!



thats very true! You seem to be the voice of reason right now, I am starting my inventory tonight, hoping to get through it all in one evening and will post the results when I am done! Staying well clear of collection threads, but they it wasn't Mac that got me last year, I bought like 4 mac things, it was other brands, i bought LM, Hourglass, Becca and Nars killed me with the holiday collection!

 

[lyseD]

Just looked at the product photos from Fantasy of Flowers collection and I think I'll be okay.

I can easily pass on anything mineralized, I don't use the fluidlines and pigments that I have so I certainly don't need more. That just leaves lipsticks and glosses and I'm pretty sure I can limit myself to two.