Elle's On A No Buy

 It's only been two days since I officially started my no buy.

I have been on the Sephora website three times. Watched about 10 makeup hauls. And read countless reviews on products I have no interest in purchasing.

WHY?

I have enough makeup. No amount of makeup is going to make me feel better about myself.
I'm not going to look like a Supermodel because I buy a new foundation. A new eyeshadow palette is not going to make my eyes larger. A new lipstick isn't going to make my teeth straight.

So why do I want to believe it will? That I will find the perfect products and my life will be forever changed?

There is no hair product that will give me thicker hair.

                                            Have you seen my Influenster unboxing? 

There is no skin product that will thin my face. No brow product to give me flawless eyebrows.

So many of us search for these 'unicorn' products to change our world. No product can do that. But we can change ourselves. We can change our attitudes and behaviors and begin to believe in ourselves.

So that's it for now. I'm beginning to believe.

Attempting a No Buy (for real this time!)

I need to do a no buy.

A real no buy. Not one where I keep making excuses and find reasons to buy new items. But a financially motivated no buy with real, firm goals in place.

Financially, I need to take a purchasing hiatus. I am still on maternity leave, which means my pay is currently less than half of what it normally is, and will be until I return to work in September.

I have a large furniture payment due in September.

And...Wait for it... I'm going to IMATS in Toronto, which is October 1-2.

So buying things I don't REALLY need, like the Sweet Peach palette above, has to stop.

And I am prepared to do so.

So starting now, the month of my birthday, and after a few 'treat yo self' treats from Sephora. I vow to begin my Beauty No Buy.

Wish me luck!

Makeup Inventory 2016

Tallying up all the products in your makeup stash can be terrifying- truly.

It can be easy to deny the amount you have ("it's not that much!") when you are an addict. And there are always excuses.

But when you sit down and surround yourself with nearly 200 lipsticks, over 20 liquid foundations, almost 50 powder blushes...Well, things become a lot more clear.

My name is Elle, and I'm a Makeup Addict.

Here are my numbers...

Project Pan: Back-to-MAC edition!

I like having goals to work towards.

I shop at Sephora for the points, instead of searching somewhere else to buy beauty products. I like seeing that one thing leads to another.

And when doing Project Pans, there is no goal of more stuff. The goal is to downsize! And that doesn't always work for me.

Few stores (that I know of anyway) have programs where you can trade in packaging for new products. Lush does this (5 containers= 1 free face mask). And MAC does. 7 products (note: I was told 7 by a MAC employee, but others have told me that you only need 6 products!) that fall under the specifications can be returned for a lipstick (or an eyeshadow or lip glass in-store).7 products go out, 1 goes in. That sounds pretty good to me! If Sephora offered something like that I feel like my panning would increase.

I like to try new things, but I don't want to have so many products sitting around that will eventually become expired.

Check out my intro video with five MAC products.

And don't forget to subscribe to follow me on my panning journey!

A brief intro + Project Pan (Lip Product edition)!

Hello everyone! This is the Beauty Blog for YouTube user ShadowSmoked (aka Elle S). 

Suggestions are very much welcome for what you’d like to see here. Leave a comment with any ideas, comments, and/or criticism. 

I’m going to start this blog with something that’s been on my to-do list for a while- Project Pan.

Although I’m doing my PP a little differently. I’m starting off first with only lip products. I must finish all of my chosen 7 before I’m allowed to purchase anymore lip products (and even then, I might try to do a second round). 

My lucky 7 are: