Beauty Diet: The Update

At the beginning of this year, I got rid of a huge portion of my beauty collection.

Like, really huge.

I talk about practicing mindfulness all the time and at the beginning of this year, I’ve decided to start practicing it also when it comes to spending money.

This isn’t something I only started to exercise in the beauty department, though. I did the same thing with my closet; I never realized I had so many clothes- some of which have been sitting in my closet, still with tags, for years.

So, where am I today? Well… I may never be a beauty/makeup minimalist, but I’ve definitely become more mindful. I no longer buy things on an impulse. I no longer buy products just because they’re surrounded by hype or because they look pretty. I do my best to use things up and rotate as much as I can, to make sure that I actually use everything I have.

I’ve cut my beauty spending by probably around 70% and you know what? Even though I’m a huge beauty junkie, I really don’t feel like I’m missing out on much.

Sticking to my goals

One of my goals for this year was to surround myself with less “stuff”. The beauty department was where I really needed help. Back in March, I wrote a post about Spring Cleaning Your Beauty Stash. In it, I talked about how embarrassed I felt, after seeing how much skincare, body care and makeup products I had, just sitting around. Products that have expired, products I never even opened, products I only used once.

I mean, talk about being wasteful. That moment, when I was sitting on my bathroom floor, with two bags full of products I was getting rid of, was a wake-up call for me. During my huge clean-out sessions, I only kept products I knew I’ll use and up and continue to reach for. As far as my makeup collection goes, I try my best to keep most of my products visible, so that I actually use them. I rotate them and try to switch things up.

Another thing that I’m keeping a better eye on? Expiration dates (most of your beauty products should have a “use by” date somewhere on the bottle/jar, if you can’t find it, try to locate this little icon that displays a number of months for which is safe to use the product after opening it). I hope to never again end up with hundreds of dollars worth of unused but expired products.

Spending the big bucks

Just because I’m on a beauty diet, doesn’t mean I don’t allow myself an occasional splurge purchase.

Like a good foundation, a $56 eyeliner or a $78 makeup brush, which, I absolutely felt was overpriced, but decided to buy it anyway (this beauty dieting is much more difficult when it comes to LE products!). Truth is, a lot of high-end makeup and skincare (especially) products are over-hyped and not worth their price tag. I will not spend money on overpriced skincare that’s filled with basic ingredients or heavy fragrance, just because it comes in a pretty jar. At the same time though, there are SO many products that are absolutely worth the splurge. So, while I still splurge, I do it differently than I used to.

I don’t buy what I don’t want. I don’t know how many of you can relate, but I almost never bought “just one thing” when shopping for beauty products. I do most of my beauty shopping online because, you know, I don’t do malls, stores or shopping centers. So, it was nearly impossible for me to buy only a new mascara or a lipstick, or a backup of my favorite foundation. I mean, if I’m going to place an order, might as well add a few more products and qualify for free shipping right? Or place an order, just so I can get my hands on that GWP or that cute point reward. Yes, that kind of mindless spending doesn’t happen anymore.

Now, I am completely fine with buying only what I need (or want) without adding 7 other things to my cart. If I can’t decide whether I want to spend money on something, I put it in my cart, but don’t buy it right away. If I still feel the “need” for it the next day, I’ll get it. I don’t do impulse buying any more- and that seems to have been my biggest problem.

But it’s so pretty!

Every beauty lover out there loves pretty packaging- amirite? If you’re a blogger you know that pretty products also make for good photo props. I mean, I am literally surrounded by lipsticks, pretty lotion bottles, powders, beauty tools- so, it only makes sense that I use them as props in my photos, no?

When you spend a small fortune on beauty products and you don’t end up using every single one of them, there becomes a time when you gotta take a step back. For me, this happened when I noticed that I bought something just because “it’s pretty” or because it will look nice in pictures. I mean, it’s pretty stupid, if you ask me.

In the blogging and Instagram world, it’s easy to get lost sometimes and look at your beauty spending as an “investment” in your blog. Of course, this absolutely is the case for people who blog strictly about beauty. BUT, as someone who once used to spend a small fortune on photo props every couple of weeks, only to recycle/get rid of them months later, I gotta say that you need to work with what you’ve got. You don’t need to have a huge collection of high-end makeup, a white marble vanity, and a perfectly bright setting to create beautiful blog photos. Wasting money on things you don’t have any need or use for, certainly isn’t the answer (that’s actually something I’ll be discussing in an upcoming photography post).

While I still own over 20 nude lipsticks and my beauty collection might seem, to some, a bit (or, a lot) excessive, I’ve made a lot of changes this year. I still hear “do you actually use all of this?!” whenever someone sees my beauty stash or walks into my room. Now, I can honestly say that I do.

Curbing my beauty appetite was surprisingly easy, too and I definitely wouldn’t call it “a struggle”. All it took was some mindfulness.