November 2017 No-Buy-Low-Buy Accountability

~ stashy

It’s been a while since I last did an update on my shopping accountability – the last one was way back in August, actually!  That was to cover June and July spending, so that means I haven’t talked about how August to October went. Those 3 months were my No-Buys months, in preparation for Holiday spending.  I’m pleased to report that those 3 months I was too busy to think about makeup.  At first I was missing the shopping but I got used to it – I even went to a L’Oreal warehouse and walked away with just bar soap:

I got 4 bars of the Kiehl’s Gently Exfoliating Body Scrub Soap in Coriander. It’s the Limited edition by Kate Moross, which is from this year, it seems? One is already in use, as you can see. I paid $8 each for these.

So a pat on the back for me! 😀  But, we’re here to talk about November!  I essentially did all of my shopping concentrated between the Sephora sale and Black Friday.  In addition, I picked up random bits. A LOT of random bits:

There were just so many deals to be had… how could I resist? 😇

Sephora Fall Sale:


Read details here.
$100.  I only count the Surratt brush toward my total as the other items (deodorant, brush heads, and sponges) are replenishment.

Black Friday:


Read details here.
$140.50. I did not count any of the replenishment items from The Face Shop and Kiehl’s.

Optimum Points Redemption:


Read details here.
Zilch. Got these on points!

Random:

The Ordinary

No discount on these items but I’ve been wanting to try this line for ages and finally I had a need to replenish my vitamin C serum. They are so reasonably priced anyway.

• The Ordinary Serum Foundation in 2.0N – $6.70
• The Ordinary Ascorbyl Glucoside Solution 12% (vitamin C) – $12.90
• The Ordinary Resveratrol 3% + Ferulic Acid 3% – $7.90
I will be mixing the ferulic acid with the vitamin C to make my own Skinceuticals C E Ferulic concoction…

And, how cute is this. The liner at the bottom of the Deciem shopping bag:

“Turn me”

😀

Well.ca was doing a bunch of deals in the week leading up to Black Friday and I bought some vitamins and added this to my cart:

• Maybelline SuperStay Better Skin Concealer in Light / Medium – $6.59
I really like the corresponding foundation so I hope the concealer is good too.

Rexall was clearing a bunch of Milani items from their display so I suspect they might be downsizing the space to make room for something else.

• Absolute Length & Curl Mascara x3 $5.00 each
• Milani Eye Tech Perfection Liquid Liner in Black – $7.06
• Milani Baked Blush in Corallina – $6.16
I’ve had that Absolute mascara before, it makes a fantastic mascara topper to keep smudges at bay.

Toronto Barber & Beauty Supply (TBBS) is my go-to local store for the latest nail polish collections so when I caught wind of the Essie Winter collection online, I had to run out to grab the star shade… but of course I walked out with more stuff:

• Essie Social-Lights – $7.99
• China Glaze Sin-Derella – $2.99
The Essie Social-Lights was the main polish that I was after but when I rummaged through their sale bin, I found the China Glaze polish in Sin-Derella from the Halloween collection!  I’ve been wanting to get my hands on it ever since I saw it on fivezero’s blog!  Here’s how the 2 compare side by side – they both are grey base with flashes of colour:

Essie Social-Lights is a darker grey with coppery shift, whereas China Glaze Sin-Derella is a lighter grey with a pink shift. Both very pretty!

• China Glaze Slay Bell Rings – $2.99
• China Glaze Queen Please! – $2.99
The Slay Bell Rings is actually a brand new release from CG for the holidays but I found it in the sale bin – score!

• OPI DS Reflection – $5.99
• OPI Gimme A Lido Kiss – $5.99
Found these at Winners while shopping for gifts ( 😛 ) – Winners has been a bit of a miss for me but I was happy to find these.

In the bottle, the shade Gimme A Lido Kiss (on the right) might have some pink shimmers?

• OPI Turn on the Northern Lights – $5.99
I saw this shade on Maaike of Floating in Dreams’ blog and I had to hunt it down!  I managed to find this at Marshalls. These types of polishes with the contrasting flashes of shimmer always gets me excited!

• Nailtiques Formula 2 – $24.25 for 15ml
Since I finished my Orly Nailtrition last month, I needed a replacement for a nail treatment and the Nailtiques has been on my to-try list for years. I was reminded of this product again on Short Nail Swatcher’s blog and decided to give it a whirl. I ordered this off NailPolishCanada.com

• Tweezerman ProMaster Lash Curler – $10
I found this at a Zwilling J.A. Henckles store – I see that Sephora sells this for $28.  I’m always curious about eye lash curlers and I placed this against my favourite eyelash curler from Surratt and it’s a very similar shape.

I caught wind that the FTBbeauty.ca site was clearing out ALL of their remaining inventory at 80% off:

So I went nuts:

Stock photo since I didn’t feel like setting mine up, but if you want to see my old one in action, see here.  I dropped that one and the base plates broke and is poorly held together by crazy glue.

• Benjabelle Brush Tree Original – $44.99   $9
• Benjabelle Brush Tree Spinner – $14.99   $3

• Color Switch Proband – $29.99   $6

Includes a double ended brush.

Set includes 787 Duet Fiber Large Tapered Blending, 942 Slanted Contour, 959 Powder Blending, 934 Precision Concealer, and 778 Large Shadow

• Bdellium Tools Green Bambu Mineral 5 Piece Brush Set – $44.99   $9

• Bdellium Tools Green Bambu 710 Eye Liner – $8.99   $1.80
• Bdellium Tools Green Bambu 708 Bent Eyeliner – $8.99   $1.80
• Bdellium Tools Green Bambu 769 Angled Contour – $22.49  $4.50
• Bdellium Tools Green Bambu 936 Concealer – $9.99  $2
• Bdellium Tools Green Bambu 953 Duet Fiber Foundation – $15.49  $3.10
• Bdellium Tools Green Bambu 955 Duet Fiber Finishing – $16.99  $3.40

• Bdellium Tools 959 Studio Powder Blending – $18.50 $3.70
• Bdellium Tools 991 Studio Fan Brush – $29.99  $6
• Bdellium Tools 764 Studio Bold Angled Brow – $10.99  $2.20
• E.L.F. Essential Smudge Eye Sponge x2 – $3.98 $0.80

• Wet n Wild Color Icon Eye Shadow Single Cheeky – $4.99  $1
• Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Singles Kitten – $4.99  $1
• Wet n Wild Color Icon Eye Shadow Palette The Naked Truth – $7.99  $1.60
• NYX Dark Circle Concealer Light – $7.99  $1.60

This loot was worth $329.80 but I paid only $66! 😉 And it was free shipping!

I had a $300 budget to work with for November and even without tallying, I can tell you that it has been completely blown!  But for the sake of transparency, let’s crunch the math.

If I tallied up everything I bought in November beauty-wise, it would be $773.34. 😳  I’ve highlighted the items that I’m counting toward my November accountability total (I excluded replenishment skincare, mascaras, sponges, and body care).  My total came to $377.94, so I was $77.94 over my budget. 😮 But you can’t deny that I got some amazing deals this month! How was your spending in November?

53 thoughts on “November 2017 No-Buy-Low-Buy Accountability”

  2. I moved so I went ham! I ordered from Sephora, got the Zoeva Opulence set during Black Friday and ordered the Urban Decay Heavy Metals palette.

    I almost got that Essie polish but I decided against it in the end. I just haven’t been wearing nail polish and so I couldn’t justify it for myself.

    And thanks for the mention. 😉

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      1. I now have an office, but it doubles as my wardrobe (it came with a built-in walk-in closet) and beautyroom. I put in a double desk so I can use one side for doing makeup and the other for writing blog posts/ working from home days.

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  4. Stashy, you have been on fire lately with your hauls!! 🔥🔥🔥

    I want to ask – how does this no-buy-low-buy accountability thing work? You don’t spend for a few months, and then when you do, you do it sensibly when some things are on special offers/sale? (Sorry if this is an incredibly dull question but I might keep this in mind for my spending next year. XD)

    I have been looking at the bdellium tools brushes that you told me about and added some to my shopping cart. 😛 However, for the sake of having some money left over for Christmas (*cough* gifts…can’t forget them) I’ll buy it after. The brushes look really professional for the price.

    The Deciem bag is super cute! They really know how to interact with their customers – they’re really good on Instagram too. 🙂

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    1. Hauls as far as the eye can see! 😆 I’ve put a pause for now – I know there will be some sweet deals on Boxing day so I will be “good” now.

      The No Buy / Low Buy is just meant to regulate my annual beauty spending. I try to allocate according to my typical spending patterns (I’ve found over the years that I don’t tend to shop as much during the summer months, hence why I made those No Buy months). During the Low Buy months – and I use the word “Low”, loosely – I just try to spend within the predetermined amount. I don’t necessarily try to get a good deal or spend wisely – heck, if I wanted to blow my whole budget on ONE item, I could.

      Deciem definitely knows that customers are savvy! I find Glossier to be quite in tuned with customers too. 🙂

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  7. Girl gone cray-cray! 😂

    I’m actually wearing that Sin-Derella polish right now. Queen Please is an excellent topper over darker cream polish shades.

    I have a few Bdellium Tools brushes and LOVE them. I plan on eventually getting more. They sometimes have really good sales on their site.

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    1. I caved on the Queen Please polish. I’d already bought Hay Girl Hay which is similar. But I think Queen Please is a more refined looking shimmer.

      I had a few Bdellium Tools brushes before this haul and I’ve been impressed. Getting these for such a low price is really icing on the top!

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    1. I’ve worn the Serum Foundation just once so far and I have mixed initial thoughts. It applies really easily and looks very natural (even though the shade I got is slightly too dark for me, it blends out fine). BUT, I find the foundation rubs off / disappears about half way through the day especially on my chin and nose. I’m going to test primers with it to see how it fares.
      How do you like the Coverage one?

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      1. I’ve tried it twice so far. I think it works pretty well and doesn’t feel heavy. It did rub off a bit when I blew my nose (that’s one reason I prefer not to wear foundation because it tends to do that every time). I should experiment using it with different primers too.

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  9. Okay, $77 over budget is not bad at all! $773 total is rather painful, though, haha!

    I really want to try The Ordinary but I find all the chemically names a bit intimidating. I guess I just have to do some research on what I need for my skin before buying anything. Plus it totally weirds me out how inexpensive their products are, when I know it shouldn’t…like how are they charging ~$10 dollars for their products when other companies are charging $50+??

    Girl, you found some AMAZING steals on those Bdellium brushes! I am legitimately shocked, haha.

    As usual, your polish choices are on point! I’m glad you got your hands on Sin-derella, I saw it on Amy from Makeupcase17’s Instagram and it’s beeeeeautiful.

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    1. Well, I figured that since I stocked up, I should get the benefit of not having to shop next year AT ALL. LMAO. Yeah right. 😆

      I understand your concern about The Ordinary! The names ARE super confusing and I’m still not entirely sure about what each of them do – that is why I’m dipping my toes in cautiously. And on the surface, it seems that they’re inexpensive but when you look at the fact that each product they offer only contain ONE active ingredient, whereas most other treatments from other companies combine a few together, it’s not that much of a savings. If you want to get a well rounded routine to address multiple skin concerns, you’d need to combine a few active ingredients from The Ordinary which adds up to $30+ Another example, the BHA they offer is only 15ml and when I compare to CosRX, it’s actually more expensive.

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  10. Hope the Maybelline concealer is as good as the foundation! 🙂

    The liner of that bag is so cute, I love when brands put in effort like that. Small gestures go a long way.

    Corallina looks beautiful!

    You are the nail polish QUEEN! The greys and shimmers are all so pretty. I considered getting a nice sparkly red for Christmas but I wouldn’t know where to start looking and I don’t know how often I’d wear the shade when it wasn’t Christmas 😛

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    1. Fingers crossed about that Maybelline concealer – seems like some people love it while others hate it!

      I have way too many nail polishes now. I surprised myself when I recently looked at my tracking spreadsheet… it shows that I have 805 nail polishes now! 😮 I need to purge a lot of them. I’m hoping to bring that number down by half!

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  11. You got such great hauls for such good deals! I admire you for the no buy/low buy. It is hard especially this time of year! Though I did do pretty well in November despite all the sales! And aside from Sephora I shopped only on small business Saturday. ❤

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    1. I think half the battle is being aware how the little bits here and there add up. I used to buy something literally every single day. Just $10 here, $20 there adds up! The other time of the year that’s dangerous for me is coming up: Boxing day sales and January clearance sales! o_O

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      1. That is so true! I always cringe when I make a big purchase but as you said it really is the 10 here 20 there that add up. Haha oh my gosh those are so bad! BUT I do justify it because I usually start shopping for next year lol. 💗

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  13. I love how you were able to have so much self control during your no-buy months and then once it was time to shop again, all hell broke loose! XD You got some amazing deals though and I can just imagine the urge to shop haha. And really, you didn’t go that much over budget when you’re not counting replenishments!

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    1. Haha, I know… when the flood gates open, I can’t stop myself from shopping! The sales are all too good to pass up on! There are always special ways we try to justify spending… 😛

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  14. You definitely could not pass up these beautifully brushes!!! 😀 I would forget about my no buy too! 😂 – the shopaholic in me speaking here. BTW how is the Ordinary foundation? I want to try it out but I am not too sure.

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    1. Yes, you NEED Sin-Derella! I am a sucker for all those flashes of contrasting colours.
      I’ve been really impressed with Bdellium brushes – not a lot of people talk about them but I like them better than Sigma brushes and they’re cheaper too.

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      1. Sigma is really expensive here and I haven’t tried any at that price point I could get a real techniques set which I’ve never had any issues with so haven’t bothered, bdellium I have one brush from which I got at the beauty bay event last year but I’ve never actually seen or paid attention to them on their site either way they’re not a very prevalent brand here.
        Fine if you’re telling me I need it I guess I’ll have to order it. Off to track it down now

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      1. yes, been seeing them lately but never thought of getting one. Just like Sukin before been seeing them a lot and when it’s time for me to get one I can hardly find them. LOL

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  19. And this is the last bookmarked post I wanted to comment on…

    The only reason you’re over your budget is the Surratt brush. But I think you should give yourself a pass because it was a single item and not a number of random products that fill up your stash!

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