A Mini No Buy

I have spent over $150 on beauty products (makeup, hair, and nails) since the start of October. Over $90 of that was spent in the last week.

I've posted here about the fact that I own too much lipstick, and I'd already come up with a few plans to curb my lipstick spending. In particular, at the start of November, I made a list of 6 lip products (either specific shades of specific products or fairly strict criteria) that I had had as a "wish list" for some time. I set a rule that I can buy any product on this list and then cross it off the list. I can also buy any other lip product, but if I do so, I must remove two products from my list. When the list is empty, I can't buy any more lip products until November 2020. It's a little convoluted, but it seems to be a doable low buy that discourages impulse buys.

Of course, the problem with having strict rules for only one category is that there are a lot of other categories out there. I thought I was doing okay with the various Black Friday-adjacent sales (and in fact most of my spending went to two of the lip products on my list), but then I decided to stop in Sephora on my way home this evening, nominally to just swatch foundations, and suddenly I was hit by the magical Sephora effect where anything under $30 seems like a good deal. I left $50 poorer with a hair gel and highlighter palette, both of which I will have fun using but neither of which I need.

While I don't exactly regret my purchases, I think it's pretty clear that I need to stop this from spiraling. Money is something of an issue (haven't spent "beyond my means" yet, but I do live in an expensive city on a grad student stipend), but more notably, I have more makeup than I can possibly use up as someone who goes bare-faced more days than not and wears a full face once a week at most. I don't trust myself to do a year-long no buy, but since my birthday's in April, I'd like to do a no buy until the end of March and see if I can get some use out of my current items.

Specific rules until April 2020:

- No purchases of makeup whatsoever, unless I have already completely run out of a staple category (mascara, brow gel, foundation, concealer, eye primer) and have no backups in stock. I do not anticipate needing replacements. After April, my lipstick low buy rules remain in place.

- No nail polish (or other nail art) purchases unless my top coat is used up or becomes unusably thick, in which case I can replace it. I may also replace my cuticle oil if I use it up or my nail clippers/file if they get lost or broken.

- I may replace my HG curl cream when I inevitably use it up. No other hair styling products may be bought during the no buy period. Drugstore shampoo and conditioner may be replaced as needed.

- Drugstore-priced skincare, body products, hygiene products, lip balms, and other beauty products not mentioned in the makeup/nail/hair categories above are unrestricted (allowing me to buy backups, try new things if my current isn't working, etc). However, excluding replacements listed in previous categories, no mid-to-high-range beauty products may be bought

Submitted December 04, 2019 at 07:37AM by queergirlhacker https://ift.tt/2sIGIr2