No Buy

Chatter: Why My No Buy

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why my no buy

Call it what you will: a no buy is just another phrase to describe a spending restriction. This might be in a particular area, like mine is for beauty products, or it might be for everything. It might be out of financial necessity, to encourage savings, or merely to prevent the accumulation of more things/clutter. Since my April blunder, I’ve adhered.

Why my no buy?

My no buy why is a mixed bag.

SPACE. I have drunk deeply of the Marie Kondo kool-aid and although I have yet to Kondo my home, I’m trying to apply some of her school of thought to things I own. Even after paring down, I still own more makeup than I need. Because my tastes are what they are, my collection has a good bit of overlap. I don’t want to add to my collection (okay, I do want to add an Hourglass ALB. And some of those shockingly-good, <$5 WnW palettes); I have extremely finite storage space and am committed to not having that space expand. Period.

I also just need to use up what I have. Every time I buy, say, a new palette I end up giving it priority. Logically, this makes no sense. I don’t dislike my other palettes, damn it. I need to Project Pan something.

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Cool Beauty Products I’ve Seen Lately

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Being a blogger on a no buy is a challenging position to be in. I ought to remain at least vaguely aware of wtf is happening (ABH Subculture) and what cool beauty products are launching. ALl oh this, of course, without becoming tempted enough to make purchases.

You are cordially invited to join me in marveling at my first world problems.

Anyway, as a result of

  • trying to stay at least semi-abreast of what is coming out or
  • shopping for other things and seeing ads or seeing unrelated albeit interesting search results and
  • occasionally tagging along with a coworker to Ulta during lunch to help her with product recommendations
–I’ve seen some cool beauty products lately! I haven’t purchased any of these items, but I wanted to share what caught my eye.

Cool Beauty Products I've Seen Lately - Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Mini

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Mini

I’ve tried an Hourglass mini before, but ultimately invested in the full sized product because, well, the product is fantastic. I imagine that’s no different with the Ambient Lighting Blushes, but let’s say you’re gift shopping and have a limit of $25-30. This little one, currently only available in Mood Exposure, runs $24.

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Mario Badescu Buffering Lotion

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Mario Badescu Buffering LotionMario Badescu Buffering Lotion, $19

I broke my No Buy again. Just days before the weekend-long event that caused me to miss a few posts, I had a cystic blemish begin to form (thanks, cycle). This was perhaps the most painful one I’d ever experienced and I decided I could.not.take.it.

But What to Do?

Fortunately, my wax specialist happened to mention recent success with Mario Badescu Buffering Lotion for this purpose. She suffers cystic blemishes too and reported that this stuff is nigh-miraculous. Recalling this conversation, I consulted the internet – her experience isn’t unique. The next day, I stopped in Ulta and grabbed a bottle of it and used some of my reward points to soften the blow of the infraction.

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No Buy Oops – What I Bought

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I broke my no buy by getting a disappointing manicure. Fortunately, the pedicure I got with it was decent, but dear heavens is it difficult to get a manicure that doesn’t suck.

I learned my lesson – I DIY for a reason!

Anyway, while we’re at it – when I was planning, I failed to recognize that Ulta was going to release a 20% Platinum Perk and that Sephora was going to have its coveted BI sale smack in the middle of my attempted limited consumerism.

Oops.

It’s not all bad. I didn’t go crazy. I bought:

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Back on a No Buy / March Haul

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no buy

I’ve accomplished and purchased the things I wanted to do and more without going overboard. My rules are a little different this time, though, based on what I reasonably expect to need to restock.

The Rules

No…

  • Makeup, brushes, storage, or tools
  • Hair products or tools
  • Nail products or tools
  • Fragrance purchases
  • Skincare
  • Beauty services (hair, nails, brows)

E-mail won’t be auto-deleted, but I won’t go browsing just for mindless amusement.

Exceptions to the No Buy

  • If MUJI drawers go on sale for $10 again, I’m going for it.
  • If I break a jaw clip (lazy hair days), I will replace it.
  • Obviously if I run out of my facial cleanser, I will repurchase. To me, this is more of a hygiene non-negotiable; plus, my cleanser is drugstore.

My March Haul

  • Replacement Gimme Brow.
  • Essence Make Me Brow – a <$5 alternative to Gimme Brow…for science.
  • Sally Beauty’s GVP version of Clairol Shimmer Lights Shampoo. I’m almost out of my Blond Brilliance purple conditioner, and I read shampoo is better-suited to this task.
  • Tarte’s Airbuki brush to use with my Amazonian Clay powder foundation (reviews on both coming soon) during Macy’s VIP Sale, man. Got it cheap!
  • Tarte Shape Tape Concealer.
  • Radiance brush heads for my Clarisonic…also 20% off at Ulta.

I’m Stocked Up On…

  • Concealer. I have concealer FOR. DAYS. Between my drugstore holy grail, MAC Pro Longwear, NARS Radiant Creamy, and now Tarte Shape Tape…yeah. I’m good. I probably need to extend a concealer No Buy past the duration of this one.
  • Missha Perfect Cover – when I realized I liked it, I bought a backup tube, so I have enough to last me quite a while. Even a shade that I can mix when I start self tanning/accidentally get natural color in spite of my sunscreen.
  • Mascara is good, too – I just opened a new L’Oreal Telescopic Carbon Black, and I have an unopened one.
  • Brow products.

Are you considering a no buy soon?

No Buy Check In

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There’s strength in numbers – so I thought I’d share my, “progress,” in case anyone else is on a No Buy. My No Buy ran from Christmas to February 25. I am granting myself a brief reprieve, then resuming.

Incredibly, I’ve managed to not buy a single beauty product during that window. It hasn’t been without temptation.

The Rules

  • No new makeup, brushes, storage, or other tools
  • No new hair products or tools
  • No new nail products or tools
  • No fragrance purchases
  • No new skincare (but replenishment of facial cleanser and body lotion OK as realistically needed)
  • No purchases of beauty services (nail, hair, etc)

During my no buy, I setup rules to auto-delete my e-mails from Sephora, Ulta, Tarte, and MAC (that’s all I’m subscribed to) without reading them. I avoided the beauty section of YouTube for the most part. If I didn’t have something, I had to do without.

What Almost Got Me

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