Since restarting on January 19th with my No-Buy 2015, today is my real 28 days of no shopping.  It has been good for the most part. It was initially difficult to resist all the typical clearance sales in January. I used to spend my lunch hour browsing through shops, so I had to change how I spend my free time (mostly a lot of window shopping now). Weekends were the most difficult. I typically check the drugstore flyers on Saturday mornings and then hit up a few stores for deals.  And I would go to Winners (Canadian version of TJMaxx) or Marshalls at least once a week to see what new things they got in.  I still go to Winners to check out what they have about once a week (it’s on my way home from work) but luckily for me, January and February have been a dry spell there in terms of cosmetics stock.  I’m pretty shocked that I’ve bought absolutely nothing from Winners in 2015.

I did purchase a few items of significance during this time:

1) This Quo Mineral eye shadow palette in Downtown Brown, but for my sister!

I already own this palette and when my sister asked me what was a good quality every day eye shadow palette from the drugstore, this was my immediate recommendation. The colours are all fantastic, and the pigmentation and staying powder rival that of department store brands. I also like that this one palette can create a full eye look. The packaging is top notch – it’s quite similar to that of the Hourglass Visionaire Eye Shadow Duo, but this one only costs $20 and you get 4 eye shadows plus a powder liner.

2) This LeSportsac tote bag on ebay:

I have been wanting this bag for at least the last 10 years – no exaggeration.  I used to collect LeSportsac bags (I’ll probably devote a post to them!) and this print was always the one that got away from me.  It’s a print of a Fair Isle knitted pattern released in 2002 – and since I’m a knitter – I wanted to use this to carry my knitting projects.  It’s been a while since I’ve bought a LeSportsac but I had put an alert on ebay years ago to advise me if this print came up for auction.  Stars and moons aligned and this tote bag is now mine!

3) Replacement HG under eye concealer (plus 1 sneak):

I ran out of my Maybelline Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Treatment Concealer in #130 Medium back in December.  I didn’t immediately replace it because I wanted to use up some of the other concealers in my stash… but nothing else covered my under eye circles as well.  I realized that I just couldn’t live without it! And it was BOGO 50% off at the drugstore so I also picked up the new Maybelline Face Studio Master Conceal in #30 Light/Medium to test out (based on the rave review by prolific blogger, Bree).

A real temptation for me was the announcement of Black Friday-like liquidation sales at Target starting on February 5th.  My mantra for that day: “I will not go to Target to check out the sales.  I will NOT go to Target to check out the sales.  I WILL NOT GO TO TARGET TO CHECK OUT THE SALES!” My friend went to check it out and reported that the makeup was only 10% off.  Phew.  I’ve been able to avoid going to Target since.

And of course, I’m filling my free time with blogging now, which I’m quite enjoying.  Granted, I will say that the weather has been pretty crappy here lately (it was -25°C yesterday – bloody cold!) so it has been easier to stay home and hibernate – my hope is that by the time nicer weather rolls around, I won’t be as tempted to walk around and shop!