Mindful consumption

Hi everyone,

Feels like the January went way too fast this year. I have been dragging this cold throughout most of it. I inevitably got into extra reading, being cozy at home and drinking lots of tea while snuggling our doggos. I got into organizing and sorting and that got me thinking about the input and output of make up for the previous year. I have written about the yearly empties in my last blog, so I had a good idea of what I have used up, the number of products and overall retail value.

I have counted the makeup I have brought in 2022, while being on a low buy/replacement items buy. I have brought 25 new products into my collection.

I did get some products that I just couldn’t resist, like Lisa Eldridge liquid eyeshadows. She always hits the home run with her products. She is very intentional with her formulas, performance of them and the design. She always has her customers in mind and it really shows in the products. I have been very good about eyeshadow palettes. Only two entered my collection. First one was Natasha Denona mini Zendo as it was on my wish list for a very very long time. The second one was Sigma mini enchanted. The color story of the full sized palette was always interesting with that one, plus I heard great things about the formula. When they got the mini version out, I was hoping to get on some sort of sale, which happened on Black Friday. I needed to get a new foundation, so I decided to get Patrick Ta. It was a bit of a splurge to begin with (even with a Sephora’s biannual sale). However, the powder side of the foundation got cracked in the mail (and I will need to travel with it this year), Sephora kindly sent a replacement. So, technically I got two foundations for one. The broken foundation will be for non-travel purposes, and the new one will be if and when we travel. These two foundations will probably have me covered (pun intended!) for the whole of the year. I also have a mini of Pur foundation, as I wanted to have a powder foundation option for the extra humid part of the year.

Bite beauty went out of business, so I wanted to get one of their lipsticks before they close down. I got it in the shade Praline and I like it. NYX has very nice eyeliners and I wanted to have some options, so I bought 3 of them when they had buy 2 get I free at Ulta in the spring. Ilia Mascara and a lip gloss were a birthday present from Sephora last year and the other Ilia mascara was (I think) point perk. I heard people talk and talk about Tower 28 blushes, so I bought it on sale when they had a duo with a lip gloss option. Tower 28 mascara was also a long awaited purchase, and also on sale. Even the essence blush was a purchase on a sale and it cost me about 3$. Charlotte Tilbury setting spray was a replacement for a used up spray, and also a discounted purchase. Too faced lip gloss was from Ulta 21 days of beauty. So, come to think of it Lisa Eldridge, Urban Decay single shadow, Bare minerals concealer and eye shadow base from About face were the only full price purchases out of all these. Everything else was purchased on some sort of discount or a point perk. I do like to save especially when I buy for myself and especially since these are not essential products in life, but fun things to play with.

Anyway, the retail price of these 26 products (forgot to add NYX setting spray in the second photo too) that have found their way to my collection is about 538$. I have paid a little over 342$ for them using the discounts and perk points. Still, that it overall a lot of money to spend on a make up in a year for one person. I am glad that the amount of products that I have used up exceeded the amount of products that have entered my collection. I am happy that the overall value of the products I have bought is less than the value of the products I have used up. It is satisfying to realize that I have a healthy view of the consumption.  I am on the good path to continue downsizing my make up collection, using up what I have, while still having fun and a variety of products to play with and not get bored.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Talk to you soon! XOXO, Iva