When I shared with you my goal of finding more balance in my life a couple of weeks ago I touched briefly on what it meant to me regarding beauty. Today I want to explore the rules I’ve given me since to ensure my collection gets the love it deserves and at the same time doesn’t grow out of control, telling you why I chose them and what they mean to me. Hope I can give you some ideas too!
First, let’s talk about how I want to make better use of my beauty stash.
1. Reorganize, gift and toss
This one is maybe the most obvious and one I’m sure everyone follows, but it’s worth remembering. Every once in a while is useful to go thorough our collections to see what’s just sitting there collecting dust, and find a better home for it. Be it a spot on the first line to get used more, a better home if we realize someone would use it more than us or simply the bin if it’s too old to be used.
2. Rotate regularly
It goes hand in hand with the first one, but when we have far more than the bare necessities it’s so easy to forget about products. Rotating the things we use daily regularly ensures everything gets enough love, and we might even rediscover some hidden gems!
3. Experiment
I know what I like, and what suits me. But I also know I’ve found it experimenting day after day, year after year, and I might just find something even better if I keep experimenting! I used to be a nude lipstick wearer only and now those shades barely though my lips anymore. I need to remind that and try something new once in a while!
4. Don’t be lazy
Following the previous rule, I have to avoid being lazy. Be it with wearing eyeshadow, exfoliating my body more often or rotate my products, there’s no room for laziness! I have to remember it because as it is with everything as soon as I get up and start doing something I know I enjoy it.
5. Stick to a routine if it works
It might seem to go against what I previously said, but I mean it more about skincare than anything else. Sometimes I’m guilty of switching up my skincare too often, and while I’m not so bad at sticking to a routine I have room for improvement. But I could also try to stick to a foundation routine I like or avoid switching up staples like brow pencil or concealer too much… Than would be actually mean finishing some makeup for once!
6. Wear nail polish
I love nail polish. I love wearing it and enjoy the process of painting my nails. Sometimes though I just can’t be bothered, and whilst a break for the nails can be good I know I regret it when I don’t wear it for too many days. My nail polish collection deserves more love!
7. Wear eyeshadow everyday
I’m being good at this lately. But I really need to stick to it, otherwise all my lovely palettes keep sitting in the drawer without getting the love they deserve! A simple wash of shadow with some definition in the crease doesn’t take me more than 5 minutes and can add variety to my otherwise pretty similar everyday look of liner and mascara.
8. Keep the lipstick of the day in my bag and reapply it
I wear lipstick or some kind of lip product everyday that I wear makeup but I’the worst at reapplying it because I leave it at home without fail. I need to start carrying them around while remembering to put them back when I get home, this way the day I will see the end of a lipstick will probably come.
9. Take care of the skin of my body too
I really, really need to get better at this. When I have time I happily slather my body with lotions, but as soon as I’m a little bit in a rush I simply skip it. I never fail to regret it though, so I have to tell myself to just do it, It only takes a coupe of minutes!
10. Be less of a saver with products
I know this might seem strange, but I’m literally the biggest saver when it comes to actually using products. Sure, it makes me get my money’s worth and it’s useful especially with expensive skincare, but I can really use my products more liberally. I won’t be wasting my products either but if that little bit more makes my skin even softer or my shampoo lather a tad more it can only be good!
But, more importantly, what are the rules I set myself regarding new purchases?
11. Ask for samples, and use them
I started doing this a while ago (and I got to try gorgeous new foundation launches that way), but I need to keep doing it and getting better at it. Be it skincare or foundations (those are the easiest ones to get samples of) I can get a better idea of the products before making a purchase and it can really save me some money. Let’s not address the fact that I could probably live on foundations samples only given how many I love to try…
12. Wait for discounts
I’m quite good at this - Sephora 20% off how I love you! -, but there’s always room for improvement. I need to get over the fear of missing on products, especially when they’re not limited editions, and since that gorgeous Sephora discount comes roughly every three months I can survive without buying more than a couple of things without it.
13. Avoid the drugstore
This might seem a strange one since we all like to have great things while saving money, but I learnt the hard way that it’s not how I work. It might be because every time I clear my stash I find myself getting rid of mostly drugstore products since I paid less for them, but I really need to think about it more before making impulse buys because of the low price. There are a few drugstore brands and products I really love (and the new H&M Beauty range is amazing), but I need to think a hundred times before buying something only because it might be good and it’s cheaper, because I might just end up using it less and wasting my money.
14. Try to buy no more than one item from each category each season
Let’s notice the fact that this rule comes with “try” at the beginning. I have set this rule to attempt actually using up products, and I think this could be a reasonable amount of products to add to avoid going on a spending ban or being too strict. Let’s say I can choose one foundation, one primer, one concealer, one eyeshadow, one palette, one blush, one lipstick… Only one of each for each season. Sounds pretty reasonable, right? Well, I have to admit I already broke that rule in this first month of 2016, but in my defence it was before deciding to give it a try. So, trying to avoid buying things I already got one till March and then a lot of thought about all the new things that will be around. Luckily the news about new launches always come early!
15. Treat myself
Let’s end on a positive note. I need to remember that sometimes I can get myself something nice because I deserve it, and not think too much about it. One thing I’m thinking of doing is giving myself a prize for every kg lost, as I’m slowly but surely getting those few extra kilos off and a little incentive could only be nice. Let’s see how that goes!
I’m really positive about actually following this and being satisfied with my approach to beauty: I want to enjoy it without feeling guilty for not doing the best I can and I think these rules are really going to help.
What do you think of these beauty rules? Have you got some suggestions? Tell me in the comments!
