My No-Buy 2015

In order to buy me Christmas presents and not run the risk of duplicating, my husband put me on a no-buy starting on November 1.  I have been allowed to purchase some replacements of key items, but that was it.

It has been SO hard.

I had to pass up all of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals, at least when it came to purchasing for myself.  That’s how I got some great products last year!  I had to skip the Sephora VIB sale this year.  I’ve had to skip all kinds of great sales and bargains, and more seem to be happening every day.

And then there are the new releases this holiday season.  I haven’t necessarily been interested in every holiday set, but there have been some sets that have caught my interest.  Things like minis of a collection grouped into a single palette, so you can try, say, 6 colors for the price of less than 2.

I will admit, I haven’t been perfect.  I have had a few slip ups.  Most were very inexpensive drugstore products, like those from Elf, in order to try out a brow powder when I had left my brow pencil at home that day. 

There were a few items, however, that I picked up for myself while ordering replacement items or gifts for others.  I usually justified those purchases to myself by saying “I need to buy them in order to qualify for free shipping/gift with purchase/discount/they’re limited edition/etc.”  Those items, I’ve set to the side to save until after Christmas, just in case.  (I haven’t even swatched them yet!)

The no-buy has helped me come to a few realizations.

1.       I have SO MUCH makeup and skin care.
2.       I have purchased SO MUCH in the past year.
3.       Even though I have a lot, I do rotate through my makeup. (verified on my makeup log spreadsheet)
4.       The no-buy has helped me actually thin out my collection.

a.       I sorted through my makeup and got rid of a lot that was the wrong shade, duplicates, or things I will just never use.

b.      I have sorted through my skincare and have a huge pile that can be donated.

c.       For the makeup and higher-end skincare items, I set up a box at work.  My coworkers can take whatever they like.  We often get into discussions about what might look best on them, how a product works, etc.  It’s another way to the fun of makeup besides the blog.