My “No Buy/Low Buy” Journey – Jan to April 2020 - Plus Product Empties!!
Life is pretty strange at the moment (understatement of the century), and makeup and beauty is sort of taking a backseat in my mind and probably yours too. Makeup and beauty products are my escape and I hope maybe this blog post can give you an escape for just a few minutes at least.
All that being said, at the start of the year I decided to curb my spending. I buy way too many skincare and makeup products and not enough of them are used up. I started taking monthly pictures of what I buy and the items I’ve used up – this blog post is the first of three this year that will hopefully stop me spending so much.
January 2020
January didn’t get off to a great start. The boots sale kicked it all off with the Pixi set reduced to £10 and then it was a quick shop in Primark. I didn’t need 3 lip liners in the same colour, but seeing an orange one for £1 – I couldn’t resist!
The liquid eyeshadows were used in a review I did a few months ago (here) and the NYX foundation was an impulse buy while buying vitamins. I regret buying the Physician’s Formula eyeshadow as they are now not Cruelty Free!
There should also be a The Ordinary moisturiser on this picture, but I completely forgot. You can find the review for that, here.
February 2020
And… February was even worse. Yes, that is another Primark lip liner as I finally managed to find the shade “Toast”. Four eyeshadow palettes is completely insane and I didn’t need any of them.
The Vivid eyeshadow palettes are by W7 and look to be a dupe for the Huda Beauty Neon palettes. I would also have liked the orange one but they didn’t have it in stock (which is probably a good thing).
Only thing I really needed was the nail files, and I was NOT happy with the amount of plastic packaging on them!
March 2020
This is when lockdown really hit. Worried about the world, the last time I went out shopping, all I bought was a Face Halo. The Ordinary box set and gel polishes were both bought online. The Mylee gels are really good for a fantastic price, I have the shades “I’m In The Spotlight” and “Gold Digger”. I got them from Amazon for around £13.
April 2020
April was a month of no going out, no shopping and my buys this month show it.
I was buying vitamins on Boots online and decided it was probably best to stock up on some micellar water to get me through these months of isolation. Botanics is now leaping bunny accredited and these micellar cleanser were on a buy one get one half price offer. The Sanctuary Spa one is a travel size for me to try it out before committing to a full size. Finally, the Nip+Fab Salicylic Tonic was on a two for £12 offer so I got one and so did my sister.
My Beauty Empties
I used up 4 beauty products over the past few months, not many, but there are plenty more only a few uses from being done. Hopefully by the end of the year, I will see some of my stash finished. We buy all these products, it seems a shame to have them stashed in drawers, not used until the day they go bad.
A trusty favourite was one of my first empties of the year, the Superdrug Vitamin E Micellar Solution. They last months and are so kind and gentle on the skin with a great smell. I have a small amount of a bottle left and will buy more the next time I can go to a Superdrug (whenever that is🤷♀️).
Another everyday item I love. This was the third tube I’ve used up and I had three more in my stash because I just can’t live without it. It’s vegan, really cheap (usually about £1), and is the only thing to help with the eczema on my hands.
I will be buying more when they next have it in stock online.
This stuff is magic. Comes in a glass bottle and works so well on my oily skin. It contains Glycolic Acid, Salicylic Acid, Gluconolactone, Witch Hazel and Lactic Acid. I’m already part way through my second bottle and I wish they made it in a bigger size.
Lastly, I finished one of my Superdrug shower gels. Although I mainly focus this blog on skincare and makeup, I included this to my empties list to motivate me into finishing the smallish collection of shower gels I have. I’m not on board with the plastic waste anymore and I want clear this out of my life and move on to more eco friendly bar soap.
And that’s it, January through April of my Low Buy/No Buy and beauty use up. Hopefully, this time in four months I will have plenty more empty items and a lot less new things I’ve bought.
I’m already guessing I’m going to fail!
Sophie x
This post has been re-uploaded and edited from its original posting on the 21st May 2020.