My “No Buy/Low Buy” Journey – May to August 2020 - Plus Product Empties!!
I’ve said it once and I’ll stay it again, 2020 has been a very strange year - but those four months went by in a flash. Warning before we get into this, I bought a lot and didn’t use half as much as I would have liked (It seems to be the way things go around here!) but the first part to all this is acknowledging how much I’m buying and realising that I already have way too much.
Firstly, here’s what I bought:
May 2020
I bought a lot in May, waaaay too much! Three pictures worth of stuff and some of it I haven’t even got around to using yet - four months later!
The e.l.f order came from their own website as it was the only way I could get the hydrating Camo Concealer in my shade - “Fair Rose”. The Bite Size eyeshadows are also hard to get hold of. My love for orange lipstick is still going strong and at only £3.00 each, they are amazing. The brushes came free with the order.
The second picture is a mixture of items from Superdrug and one from Amazon (the only place I could find the last of the W7 Vivid Palettes). Didn’t need any of these items and I regret buying the Revolution Pro Lip Gloss as it contains Collagen making it not even vegetarian.
The last picture was purchased purely because I love Disney movies and Mulan is one of my favourites. The palette is pretty and the brushes are fantastic quality - unfortunately the lip balm contains beeswax. The hair clips are just so pretty!
June 2020
Another 3 picture month for June.
Bought a lot of XXRevolution when it was released at Boots on 3for2. Not the greatest experience as THREE items came damaged - and once of the replacements was also damaged. All products seem nice and I am considering doing a Blog post review sometime in the future.
Next came the Marks & Spencer’s beauty bag. I gave away the none Cruelty Free items/things I wouldn’t use and kept what what’s in picture 2. I’d been desperate to try the REN Ready Steady Glow AHA Tonic for a while and was pleased to get a mini before purchasing the full size. Pixi eyeliner is always a win, and I was happy to be able to try something from their Vegan Pure range.
Finally, a small haul from Superdrug, consisting of Duo Glue for the e.l.f eyelashes from last month, my usual Vitamin E Eye Cream while they had it in stock (buy 1 get 1 half price) and their hand cream in the pink packaging. They appear to have discontinued the red packaging one so I’m looking at what other option will suit me best. The Stargazer eye powders came from Pretty Little Thing, never heard of the brand before but neon colours always sucker me in!
July 2020
July is how I would like every month to look - one picture and not too much stuff (It’s still a lot but much better). The hand cream and night cream are a Sainsbury’s own range and are actually both really good. I could see the hand cream becoming my go to replacement for the discontinued Superdrug one.
Mylee as always is a great brand and I got this whole set for 10% off when I signed up for the emails. The three colours are all nice and you will probably see picture of me wearing them on Insta at some point or another. Base and top coats are both usual quality although I think I prefer the No Wipe version I previously had.
Hated the Magic Gel Remover first time I used it, but slowly starting to find it easier to use. You have to leave it on a good six minutes and it stings like hell if you get it on your skin, but it does work. Not sure it’s worth the £10 price tag but it does save a lot of waste from cotton pads.
August 2020
And finally August. Another three picture month that started with the two Sensationail products in the first picture. They were on sale as Special Buys at Aldi, and while I really really didn’t need any more gel nail polish - I have been looking at the Brights Collection since Christmas, and the essentials kit was a steal at 15 pounds. The Barry M items came from a Boots order, I love anything neon and these really caught my eye. Superdrug discontinued my usual moisturiser (They’ve been doing that a lot lately) so I’m trying the e.l.f one as a replacement.
The Anastasia Beverley Hills Modern Renaissance Palette Was from Selfridges and cost me £29. Still a crazy amount for one item, but a good saving. I got the Huda Beauty X Kayali Boots Exclusive Kit with my Boots points I’ve collected over the year, so essentially I got it for free. Unfortunately neither the ABH palette or the bullet lipstick from the Huda Beauty Kit are Vegan - Something I completely forgot about until after I bought them.
Finally, I used my voucher from the M&S Beauty Bag to buy the REN items in the last picture. The AHA Tonic is a full size of the one I got in the beauty bag, the Glow One Step Further kit is a collection of 3 minis to try and see if I like, and the Evercalm Gentle Cleansing Milk was free when you bought two items. All together, not a bad little haul.
My Beauty Empties
Another five empty products used this time. My aim is to use about £100 worth of stuff this year, but at just £28.42 so far, it might be a bit of a pipe dream.
Another empty of my favourite - now discontinued - hand cream. One of the only ones I’ve found that work on my dry hands I’ll be really sad when I finish the last of these in my stash. They last a good few months of daily use and are a permanent fixture of my routine.
And I also used another shower gel from my stash, this time in Orange and Satsuma. Going through my full stash, I was horrified to see just how many shower and bath products I have - and they’re not all from Superdrug! Hoping to get at least another one of these empty by the next update, maybe two!
First empty Lip Balm of the year and it’s my favourite! It’s hard to find a good Vegan lip balm but this one is so nice - you can also get it in a two pack, which is great for saving money. It lasted months of daily use and has the same fragrance as there rest of the Vitamin E range. I’m going to be using my NYX lip balm next, which I got in last years advent calendar.
Another hand cream and this one wasn’t that great. I got it in an advent calendar a few years ago and decided to use it before it went off. It’s £5 for 30ml and is very oily when applying - I use this at bedtime and lying on my hands to sleep this definitely caused me some breakouts. It’s very highly perfumed and honestly it just cost too much for regular use. I love The Body Shop, but this product is a no from me.
I’ve been on the hunt for a good natural deodorant for a while now, since my trusty Sukin one seems to be out of stock everywhere. I bought this one and a Salt of the Earth one from Holland and Barrett earlier this year. They cost a lot at £6 (they seems to be on offer quite a lot), but I found the actual product very very good. I will be buying again!
And that’s it, another four months of buys and empties. I did hope to be much further on than I am right now, and I know I can buy a lot less. Right now I’m thinking not having three pictures of stuff I’ve bought a month would be a great start!
If you would like to check out Part 1, you can find it here.