February 2016 Low-Buy Accountability

~ stashy

This is the first check-in for my 2016 Low-Buy.  For February, I allocated $50 to spend on makeup.  I managed to stay within my budget! 😀
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My first makeup purchase of February was in my LUSH haul at the beginning of the month where I bought the Sophisticated Cream Eyeshadow for $19.95
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I had $30.05 left after that.

Then I participated in the $20 Makeup Challenge:
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I got ALL this makeup for around $20 (I went over by $0.81) so my balance for the month came to $9.24.  And that’s it! That’s all the makeup I bought for February.  BUT, that doesn’t mean I didn’t acquire other makeup in February.  There was the Optimum Points Redemption event:
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And I received an unexpected gift from fivezero!
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So I have $9.24 to roll over to March (yes, I decided to roll over the unused amount!), for a monthly budget of $59.24 to spend this month. 🙂

I did buy a couple of non-makeup items that fall under beauty – I found both of these at Winners:

Paul & Joe Body Powder
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I spotted a whole bunch of Paul & Joe skincare at the Winners store near me, I was in complete shock! Most of the items didn’t interest me (serums that contain alcohol as the 2nd ingredient, body oil, body milk) but I loved the look of this body powder.
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I’ll likely never open the interior case to use the powder but I can admire the packaging and the scent (it’s a soft floral) – the packaging of P&J gets me every time!

Too Cool for School Egg Mousse Pack
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Again, I was surprised to see this at the Winners near my work – there were 3 bottles of these just sitting there among no-name brands of skincare. At $17 it wasn’t a huge savings (reg $24) but I’d been curious about this mousse face mask.  It just looks really fun! I also saw a ton of sheet masks (I’m not exagerrating, a entire section of sheet masks) by Holika Holika, BRTC and other Asian brands I’m not familiar with. I was tempted by a 10 pack of BRTC masks for $16 but I wasn’t sure if I should commit to 10 masks without having tried them before.

Last week I also received a few items in the mail from January purchases which I’ll post about soon! 😉 How’s your Low-Buy going? 🙂

52 thoughts on “February 2016 Low-Buy Accountability”

  2. Ooo! Great buys !!! 😊I have yet to see the 20 dollar makeup challenge lol, I’ll shall check it out now 🙂 even though you set a budget, you really got a heck of a lot of items!!:) steaaaal!

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    1. I suppose one could say I “wasted” my $20 for that challenge but to discover that W7 foundation was totally worth it to me! I’d pay $20 JUST for that foundation, honestly! I don’t even have any makeup items I want to buy right now. I’ve got SO many new things from the last 2 months to try still. 😛

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      1. LMAOOOOO!!! YES you went crazy shopping! But HEY! you so deserve it 😉 with that no buy .. damm I applaud you 💪💪 I think I should do a no buy just so I can go crazy shopping afterwards lol 😛 I think in all honesty we probably all have done the 20 dollar makeup challenge in a sense that we all buy random drugstore makeup to try and it’s either a hit or miss lol I know it’s happened to me plenty of times !:P

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  7. Nicely done! *round of applause*
    The packaging on the Paul & Joe powder is way too adorable…but what IS a body powder?
    I haven’t decided whether to roll my low-buy balances forward yet! It would be more of a challenge if I didn’t, I suppose. Also, do you exclude the use of gift cards from your low-buy amount?

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    1. Body powder is basically talc / baby powder. It’s kind of an old fashion concept – it used to be a lot more popular. It’s supposed to help you be less sweaty / smelly. 😛
      You should roll your balances – at first I wasn’t going to, but I think it’s only fair since some months might be less / more – it all evens out. I would say that gift cards should NOT count toward the low-buy amount since they were gifts, not out of your own funds. 🙂

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      1. Oh okay! Had a feeling body powder = baby powder, but like you said, it’s not that popular nowadays!

        Good point on both rolling the balances…although I’m half tempted to see how long I can last with $10/month haha. Good point on the gift cards as well! Whoo hoo, I have some Cadillac Fairview gift cards that are just waiting to be spent on makeup 😉

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  9. Paul & Joe at Winners!!!! Why don’t I ever see anything that good at Winners??? Oh, maybe because I’m rarely by the downtown locations 😦

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    1. Yeah isn’t it crazy? I was shocked! But good thing there weren’t a lot of stuff I wanted – just this powder. I got this at the Bloor location and haven’t seen it elsewhere.

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    1. Thanks! With Winners, I think the trick is just be constantly checking. I know some people say certain days to go is best but I haven’t found any pattern. I try to stop by a couple of the locations once a week on the way home. I’d say my hit rate is probably 20% success. 😛

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    1. Thank you! Yes, it’s a challenge. I waiver between buying drugstore stuff and getting a lot of items OR buying just one higher end product with my money. Sometimes I’ve been so impressed with inexpensive items – like that W7 foundation, for example. Only $5!

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    1. I hear ya, I got so much from Christmas and January hauling that I haven’t even OPENED, it’s a bit embarrassing actually. I like to spread out opening new products – I can’t handle using something new just for one day, I like to have at least a week to try it out in different ways. Plus, my skin will freak out if I use too many different items all at once.

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    1. That’s a good plan – in the long run, with higher end products you tend to need less product per application so they last longer. Packaging is also a consideration – higher end typically have better packaging and less prone to breaking!

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  16. I have a sort of major haul planned this weekend but then I’m going on a no buy for the rest of March. I’m considering doing an every other month no buy but I haven’t completely decided yet. I think it could be kind of fun though 🙂

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    1. That’s a good plan. I get really gung-ho about not buying makeup at the beginning of March but then as the month goes on, I get more and more tempted. I don’t even have a set plan, just wanting to pick up random crap! 😛

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      1. Me too!! It always surprises me to realize that committing to something like a no-buy isn’t just deciding once that you’ll go all month without making a purchase, it’s making that decision multiple times. In my case, every time I drive by a Walgreens 😀 so far so good though!

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  17. Great job on the low-buy – though it helps to get some nice freebies, too 😀 The P&J powder is adorable!

    I’ve been pretty good with not buying much makeup (I got some–OK a lot–of cheap nail polish and a Clinique foundation + GWP, plus of course the goodies I won from you!) which is great b/c I have to pay off my new handbags. LOL.

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    1. When I saw your Winners haul, I was wondering if you’d come across these items as well. So hit & miss at any given Winners locations though.
      Haha about the new handbags. It’s odd, I haven’t had ANY desire to buy new clothes or accessories… I see Spring stuff popping up lately but I’m really uninterested!

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    1. I wasn’t going to roll over the money but fivezero recommended that I do, as an incentive to spend less and have more to play with later on. I’m glad I did because I think April will be a doozy!

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  20. I’ve just received 3 Sephora orders & one from MAC !!! Hummmm! my low-buy is going GREAT 😀
    Did you reviewed the Lush Sophisticated eyeshadow ? It looks like Josie Maran Coconut Watercolour eyeshadow …

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    1. Hehe I see you’re getting caught up on everything – you must feel like a new person! 🙂 Can’t wait to see your orders!!!
      I haven’t reviewed the Lush Sophisticated eye shadow yet, it’s in my draft folder. I have to test it out more before I weigh in!

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