In reviewing my post history, I realized that I’ve never once posted an annual summary of my Lo-Buy / No-Buy accountability.
And I think I know why… because I’m a sneaky cheat! 😛
Accountability Summary (+ Makeup Inventory)
stash
Massive Purge
You may recall that the primary objective of this blog originally was to reduce my beauty stash. 
I had a three-pronged plan:
A) Stop buying more (No-Buy / Low-Buy)
B) Use up what I have (empties aka Trash Stash)
C) Get rid of items that I no longer use (Purges / declutters)
This post is focused on plan of attack C! I’ve been meaning to post this since early 2017 for “Spring cleaning”, but never got my act together to gather all of the items. No time like now, right? 😉 This post will mainly consist of photos and product names listed out. It would take too long to provide a description of every single item with an explanation why it is being decluttered. Just look:
Hold onto your hats!
Lip Product Purge of 2016
For someone who’s a self-professed NON-lipstick junkie… I seem to own a lot of lip products. And we all know that lipsticks don’t have a long lifespan – really, one should be tossing lip products about 18 months after opening. I’m guilty of keeping mine for MUCH longer than 18 months! (but let’s be reasonable here, common sense should prevail – if the lip product doesn’t have a funky smell or a weird texture, it’s probably ok). All that said, I need to get rid of a whack of stuff that I hardly ever reach for – some have gone bad, and others are just taking up precious space:
Foundation and Concealer Purge of 2016
This has been a long time coming. I just needed to set some time aside and be in the right mood to be serious about getting rid of some items from my stash. Sometimes I feel a bit attached to items due to nostalgia and I talk myself into keeping stuff I really shouldn’t. I think I did well:
Since I’ve been hauling like a madwoman, it’s only fair to purge some stuff too! Tomorrow I’ll be purging some lip products. Let’s have a closer look at the foundation and concealer purge pile:
Where was it made?
On this Labour Day holiday, I thought I would examine where in the world our cosmetics are made. It’s something that I always take note whenever I buy a product – I like to turn over the compact or box to find that fine print: made in xx / fabriqué au xx. For me personally, of the typical cosmetics producing countries, here’s how I rank them in terms of quality, from high to low: Disclaimer: this post in no way is a reflection of all qualities of products made in each country. I understand that there are high and low quality products made in every country. This is a generalized overview, and as such, there will be exceptions.
France – most notable for perfumes and skincare. Certain brands exclusively produce in France, staying true to their origin, such as Guerlain, Chanel, and Bourjois. I feel that these brands focus on controlling both the heritage and integrity of their products. There are also excellent pharmacy skincare brands like Nuxe, Avene and Bioderma – luckily in Canada we have easy access to these brands!
Interestingly, I noticed that my Benefit Boxed Powder Blush changed from “Made in USA” (in the shade Dallas) to “Made in France” (Hervana) and 4g less product!
Blotting paper stash
I write this post a bit tongue-in-cheek because who the heck has a stash of blotting papers? ME, that’s who:
I love picking up random blotting papers here and then and then forgetting about all the ones I’ve already got, and then buying more. I mean, they don’t expire, so why not?
Foundation, Powder, Concealer Stash
Most people have maybe 1 or 2 foundations (perhaps a winter shade and one for summer), a couple of concealers (under eye dark circles vs covering blemishes), and a face powder. That’s normal. Why I have amassed this many foundations / powders / concealers (or as I call them, base products), I have no excuse for. I couldn’t even fit everything I own into one frame so here’s a portion of what I’ll be showing today:
I figure I would just lump all my base products including highlighters and bronzers into one post instead of them separating out.
Remember, this is a no judgement zone. 😉
July beauty favourites and 200 Days of No-Buy
I’ve never done a monthly favourites because I fear that my picks will become too repetitive month after month, since my favourites don’t change drastically. Maybe it won’t be a monthly affair but let’s see how it goes. Before I get to my July favourites, I just want to acknowledge that today is my 200 day of No-Buy (aside from my birthday purchases, which is completely pardoned in No-Buy-land) – yay:
Onto the July favourites:
150 Day No-Buy and YDSMBSM
Weird title for a post, huh.
Firstly: yay, it’s Day 150 of my No-Buy! Only 186 more days to go… (for those of you who don’t know, I’m on a yearlong No-Buy, but I had to restart it in Jan because I broke my No-Buy with a Target haul. My No-Buy ends on Dec 31st.)
Now, what does YDSMBSM mean? It stands for:
You Don’t Save Money By Spending Money.
It’s something my frugal bf says to me in response to when I try to justify my latest purchase, “I got such a good deal on it, it was 50% off!” To which he’d say, “You Don’t Save Money By Spending Money. You still spent money to save that 50%. If you didn’t buy it at all, then you would have saved 100%.” Party pooper. But he did have a point. 😛
Here’s a bunch of crap deals that I bought last year because I found them in the clearance section:
What did I need an orange eye shadow for? And a hot pink lipstick? I’ve NEVER EVER even worn that lipstick!
Back-up Worthy Items
After being burned one too many times with discontinued or limited edition items that I LOVE, I decided to take matters into my own hands and purchased back-ups of certain products for insurance purposes. Here are some items I have unopened in my stash:
Anna Sui Dolly Girl Lipstick in Natasha 003 – $25
I’ve already used up an entire tube of this – this is my second tube, plus I have another unopened one in my stash. It’s a gorgeous sheer coral shade with tiny shimmers that’s very hydrating. I use this as a tinted lip balm and it goes with any makeup I’m wearing. The pretty packaging and bullet design are just added bonus! This was a limited edition item from 2011.
stash matters 