This happened quite a few months ago, but it's something that keeps popping up in my mind every so often, so I thought I'd share.

I was following a few big Youtube "beauty gurus" (<- picture Dr Evil quoting that) on Youtube, as well as Snapchat. There was some big makeup product launch, I don't even know what company it was now, and there were probably 50-100 Youtube gurus at this event, one being Nikkietutorials. She snapped the entire event, you know how they go, food, drinks, music. Then they all gathered together cause the company was going to show their new product and give one to everyone. Well, they all started screaming in excitement, but then started pushing their way forward, shoving others out of the way, all I could hear was Nikkie shouting "Me! Me! Me!" with grabby hands and I was instantly repulsed by all those people there. Like a switch, it was actually kind of fascinating how quickly it happened.

I thought "You guys all have more crap than 100 people could use in their life, you get 99% of it for free, and you're screaming and shoving over some crappy product that's going to used 5 times, declared 'the most amazing ___ ever' then tossed aside and never seen again until you do a declutter video." It was disgusting. I stopped watching at that snap, unfollowed her, unfollowed several others, unsubscribed from several on Youtube and began really questioning what I wanted out of my makeup collection. Now I only follow a few who show more techniques than products or are realistic about their product use.

I've been on a project pan journey this year and it's taught me so much about what i do and don't like, what suits me and what doesn't. In many ways it's great having everything i need to make any conceivable look I'm curious to try but on the other hand i have just SO MUCH stuff i won't ever use because it will never look good on me.

I've been trying to use cheap palettes i bought during the lockdowns when all i had to cheer me up was complicated full faces of makeup that I'd wash off at the end of the day without anyone even seeing me.

I fell in love with makeup again after not wearing it for nearly 5 years - not for any strong reason, i just decluttered all my makeup when i moved to another country. I only took a small bag with me and somehow forgot to repurchase makeup once my small collection ran out.

But then the pandemic happened and only supermarkets and drugstores were open and when I felt really low and isolated the only thing i had to look forward to was a trip to rossmann to buy skincare or makeup and my collection exploded. Thankfully I've fully used up my skincare backups and i buy and use 1 product at a time, but makeup is slow to use up. I've decluttered my massive collection several times now, throwing out anything that I truly hate or that's gone bad. Luckily most of it is drugstore makeup so most of it is cheap, but I still spent good money on it!

One palette that haunts me i bought purely for one purpleish blueish shimmer which is genuinely unique and I've hit pan on it but almost every other shade in the palette is warm toned and matte and remains untouched because it just doesn't suit me. Many the reviews of this palette praise how versatile the shade range is but all i can think is that there are so many shades all over the color spectrum i cannot imagine who would suit say, jeweltones AND mustard yellow, AND burgundy and, AND light purple, AND several shades of orange. I feel like I've been so brainwashed to want palettes because oooh i don't have those colors, without really thinking if those colors suit me or whether, say i need a whole palette of jeweltones or shimmers that I realistically don't go out enough at night to justify adding it to my collection.

I recently started following the makeup for your contrast level trend and did the "Italian makeup" look (for high contrast), which is a brown smoky eye, blush and reddish lipstick and it looked so flattering and natural and perfect. I personally welcome that we are becoming more focused on color analysis and so on because it encourages people to find what suits them and accept that certain trending looks, products, or techniques just won't work. Just because you don't have a color doesn't mean you need it or that it will even look good on you.

Maybe this is reflecting my age. That as a result of all my experimentation I've found what works.

In recent months I’ve had a really hard time dealing with my makeup shopping addiction and after literally having no money and feeling genuinely overwhelmed, inadequate and depressed around this I have decided I never want to feel like that again.

It happened multiple times, I’d be on a high of serotonin, waiting for my next purchase so I could feel a little bit of joy.

I swore so many times to myself that the beauty YouTubers I watched didn’t trigger my shopping addiction. They did, not their fault and I’m not blaming them but anytime someone said they loved something sometimes I just bought it without thinking.

I’ve been learning about branding and the power brands have over us at college and more and more have been applying this information to my own life. I realised that I have created emotional connections and trust with YouTubers. Even though they aren’t brands they still get sent PR etc so I think this counts.

I would buy a product just because they enjoyed it and I wanted to enjoy something too, I wanted to have something in common with them product wise. This feels really embarrassing to write about to me because I never felt that I had an emotional connection to beauty YouTubers I watched until I really dug deep into it.

Payday was recently and I didn’t buy any makeup. The only thing I bought was body care because I ran out of my lotion, shower gel and body scrub at the same time. I’m really proud of myself for this.

I did enter a store and pick up two lipsticks, I just stared at them but then realised it would be more depressing to come home and add two more lipsticks to my pile. I wasn’t really in the mood to dwell on my purchases and feel horrible about myself so I didn’t and I’m happy that I didn’t spend my money on makeup I don’t need.

For a long-time I liked to think that I wasn’t easily influenced by brands or people but I was and I still am and that is why I will be staying away from anything that is titled something like “New Makeup” I can’t mentally deal with it because my impulse control is horrible at the moments

This post is a bit mumble jumble apologies! ❤️

And nearly passed away. 1,411. That included foundations, concealers, glowy primers, primers, bronzer, blush, eye shadow. That does not include mascaras, lip liners, gloss, or setting sprays.. that’s also not including the makeup I bought in the past and got rid of.

What bothers me is, I don’t even hardly use it. I maybe use makeup twice a month… uh if that.

I’m so upset with myself. 2025 here comes my NO BUY.

I'm back here after some recent ridiculous purchases. I'm looking back at my habits in my 20+ years of borderline obsessive consumption and I'm noticing a trend that I'm not sure if anyone relates to. I tend to get into fits of buying several of the same type of product, looking for the perfect one that I would intend to use all the time and just repurchase it exclusively. Unfortunately I never seem to find perfect.

Most recently, I purchased a Glossier Black Cherry BDC and absolutely fell in love with the shade. It was a sheer, dark red that was subtle. Anyone familiar with BDC knows that it just doesn't last. I wanted something in exactly that shade that would last. I should buy a stain. So I bought one from Etude House, which was wayy too pigmented and bright. Asked a subreddit for help and bought three of their suggestions one by one. All too bright or pigmented and didn't last. I'm now convinced that the product I'm seeking doesn't exist despite the beauty industry being endless these days.

I spent my teens searching for the perfect mascara. I eventually found it, but the formula changed and transfers like crazy. I've tried to find the perfect foundation and I don't think that exists either. I found other items that I thought were perfect at first but stopped working for me a few weeks or months later. I'm getting sick of the endless searches like I'm dedicating my life searching for lost treasure on Oak Island. Maybe there isn't the perfect product after all.

I'm talking about the amount of makeup you put on your face, not the number of products (though you don't need that many products either!)

I had curated/decluttered my 250+ makeup products to around 177 in 2024, and was determined to pan as many of them as humanly possible (only discard if expired) and have been on a no-buy since.

Been slowly using up my makeup and realized that you really don't need to apply as much foundation/powders/lip products/etc in order to achieve a full face. In fact, using a tiny amount at a time with a light hand made my makeup look more natural, and not clump up or separate as much at the end of the day.

(Obviously I can't assume that for all skin types, but I feel like this would be the case for many unless you have a serious condition)

Just to say that we really don't need that many number of products, because we can use less than we think we should and achieve good results, which makes a little go a long way!

(For the record I only used up like, 3 products since my initial curating. I am well aware I have a long road ahead of me!)

Today I finally worked up the courage to declutter 2 products: a liquid blush and a colored lip balm. The liquid blush was patchy and added a good 5 minutes to my routine just trying to make it work. The colored lip balm just flew off my lips the minute I walked out the door. Phewww, they're gone!

This is more along the lines of the straw that broke the camel's back. I've been feeling less interested in beauty youtube and beauty spaces for a while now because 1) I feel bored of the same old thing and 2) Everyone's trying to sell me something. But recently I saw two TikToks within days of each other that’s made me reflect on makeup culture.

The first was this video by @promise_elisa that currently has over 10 million views. It’s saying that women who don’t wear makeup simply can’t apply makeup. It frames it as a “I’m not like other girls” thing and yeah, there are people, teenagers in particular, who do think not wearing makeup makes them “not like other girls” but more often than I hear the accusation that women who don’t wear makeup think that way, not them actually acting that way. (Btw the whole “I’m not like other girls thing, especially in relation to makeup is because the media doesn’t like to portray teenage girls aa anything other than the dumb, vain blonde or the angsty I’m not like other girls girl)

Then I saw this tiktok of NikkiTutorials using another audio clip that's apparently been going around tiktok. (I don’t even have tiktok and that’s two instances of bullshit that have made their way towards me!) In it, Nikki first portrays a straw woman simply stating that she doesn’t have time for makeup, she does it in 10 and Nikki’s all oranged up like a damn Oompa Loompa and then we cut to Nikki all glam saying “We know, Karen”

Firstly, there’s nothing negative about only taking ten minutes (or none!) to do makeup. Getting offended by such a simple statement screams insecurity actually. A lot of people who love makeup take it as a personal insult when another woman says she doesn't care about makeup/couldn't be bothered with all that effort. They immediately jump on the defense. I honestly think it stems from insecurity. One of the common retorts is along the lines of 'so you think you're better than me for nothing wearing makeup' and nobody ever says that, but go ahead and tell on yourself.

Why are we shaming women for not being interested, not having the time, or not investing enough time into makeup? Marketing and society pushes a certain look on us all the time and now people have absorbed it so much they’re regurgitating it and spitting it back at others.

And then there’s the whole Karen aspect. I hate the Karen shit. Somebody calls a woman a Karen and were suddenly supposed to dismiss her and mock her. Where was the ‘Karen’ in that tiktok? All the (not real! Made up! You could’ve made her an asshole if you wanted to)! woman said was that she doesn’t spend a lot of time on her makeup and suddenly she’s a Karen and also, she’s ugly cos she can’t do makeup? Karen just means woman I hate and think society should hate too.

I just think makeup culture is so toxic. And it’s not just the top, but down to the bottom. It’s not just the brands and marketers telling me to buy product, it’s the fans and the entire culture telling me I’m some pick-me if I don’t buy product, I’m a Karen if I don’t invest enough time into the product, and I’m just not good enough at it if I don’t partake.

This mindset just makes me want to separate from makeup culture. No youtube, insta, no checking beautybay’s new releases. I don’t want my life influenced by this anymore.

I was doing a big declutter of some products (don’t worry - lightly used products going to friends and family not the trash) and I realized I have so much Charlotte Tilbury stuff that I legitimately don’t like. I realized I was only buying her products because everyone on social media was obsessed with her and it kinda made me too? But after decluttering, I realized there’s only two products from her I like enough to use regularly.

Disliked: Beautiful skin concealer- incredibly patchy when trying to blend and why is there glitter???

Eyeshadow palette (12 pan)- no pigment to matte shades and shimmer underwhelming

Glow wands - the sponge packaging alone stresses me out and it’s unhygienic but even worse the product picks up my foundation, is super patchy, and clings to the barest hint of dry skin. Didn’t matter how I applied

Nudegasm palette: imo the contour/bronzer shades are too different to be useful for the same person, and I found both a little too cool and muddy for my skin tone. The pink ‘blush’ is more of a highlighter but idk turned a strange shade on my skin. Simultaneously had too much gold glitter undertone for a blush and no pink but too much pink for a highlighter. The gold highlighter was fine, but one out of four for a $75 palette? Hard pass

Pillowtalk collagen lip bath- I may get shade for this but it’s so drying

Just okay: Limited edition single highlighters (dream light and romance light) - fine, but highlighters are hard to mess up. Still overpriced

Contour wand- blends away into almost nothing and again the packaging is terrible but it’s a nice color and didn’t ruin my foundation

Good: Hollywood filter- this I legit liked and use every time I do my makeup but prob not worth the price and I don’t know how much it truly adds to my Fenty skin tint

Hollywood cream bronzer- this slaps it’s a great neutral cream bronzer and huge pan

Essentially I have been disillusioned and will no longer be buying from Miss charlotte because all the TikTok/Instagram girlies tell me too. Thank god too because she’s a pretty penny!

Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels this way lol

I had a cart ready to go, I added a bunch of lipsticks...I talked myself out of them and closed the app. I went to the other app "just to look" (I know lol) and found one I loved - but the app was super broken so I realized impulse buying was a bad idea anyway and closed it down. Ordered nothing at all, went to bed happy. I don't feel regret at all today, I feel good.

It all started because I'm running low on 2! Lip liners. But the deal wasn't good enough to justify the cart. So I'll wait until I'm out out and the deal is better for just what I need.

I hope you all survived unscathed too! Or with minimal damage.

A new neutral palette came out. I at first was not interested because it's just another neutral palette. But then I started reading comments saying how great of a staple that palette is, it looks basic but it would be a great companion palette, etc. etc. that got me thinking that maybe I do need this palette. It's also a small palette so it doesn't take up much room.

I kept going back and forth on the palette until I eventually decided to shop my stash first. And whaddaya know? I can dupe the palette from colors I already have in a small palette with removable pans that fits in the palm of my hand.

I wanted that palette for 2 reasons: it has a good gradient of shades from light to dark and its compact size.

The palette I have at home satisfies those 2 reasons, so I don't need the new palette. I just forgot I had it.

So this takeaway is always worth repeating: shop your stash first if a new release catches your eye!

This literally happened 10 minutes ago. I kept convincing myself all day that I needed a different shade of pink blush to go with my burgundy lipstick??

So I hopped on to Cult Beauty and ordered a Patrick Ta one without thinking and then cancelled it immediately.

Because first of all I don’t want my products to go mouldy but second of all I don’t need it.

Anyways insane, I think I need to completely delete YouTube shorts as well because too many ads on that as well.

I am kinda proud of myself for cancelling the order because I felt the guilt creep up on me rather quick (glad it did)

But honestly my phone I wish I could throw it away sometimes because I’m too glued to my screen and I consume too much content.

This subreddit is the best place I could think of where to post this since I will think long and hard before I buy from Colourpop again which is good for Makeup Rehab purposes. I'm not a low or no buy. I'm just on a "think about purchases and decide if you really need them" place.

​

I placed an order from CP and one of my items did not arrive. It was an eyeliner. I emailed them about it. Instead of refunding me, they gave me a code for the pre-sales tax price of the eyeliner in which I only had 3 months to use it. I emailed them back and said no thanks, I would like a refund for the cost plus a refund of the sales tax.

​

They emailed me back and gave me my refund but here's the problem. They called it a "courtesy refund". It's not a courtesy. According to FTC laws, I am legally entitled to the product or refund within 30 days. There is no courtesy. It's a consumer right in the US. I actually wrote back and nicely explained this and forwarded them the link to the FTC site and requested a change in their scripted language because it's a right, not a courtesy. I explained to the rep that this email isn't negative towards them and I requested they forward it to supervisors because I completely understand they have ZERO say in having to write that and are bound by stupid policies but since this is the only way I know how to contact CP that I had to do it via that email. I even included the link to the Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule link for them.

​

For some reason they enrages me. Don't try to say it's a courtesy when it's a consumer right. It's just shady to me. So, next time I want some CP, I am going to stop and think so that will help me in my makeup rehab journey.

basically just the title. as much as i click my tongue at the sephora ten-year-olds on the internet and in stores, i have to (shamefully) admit that i was pretty much one of them—maybe not a ten-year-old, per se, but i was maybe a sephora fourteen-year-old, if you want to be pedantic. i bought a LOT of makeup over the course of a few years, and i asked for pretty much nothing but makeup for birthdays, christmas, etc.

i've since whittled my collection down by buying less, giving unopened products away, etc. etc., but i still have so much, and while i'm still making progress with things like project pan, just seeing how much i still have is a little disheartening, especially seeing the ten or so red lipsticks in the exact same shade (i'm not even exaggerating that much—i've swatched and compared hex codes) i have lying around, and then seeing the dozens of red lipsticks i have in various other virtually-identical shades of red. this isn't even counting the blushes, bronzers, and foundations i have, most of which don't even suit me.

the story of how i got here is pretty standard-issue, too, which is the part that honestly makes me pretty sad. it's the whole thing of "little girls being sold solutions to imaginary problems at a laughably young age" we've all seen a million times.

anyway, there's not much else i can do at this point except continuing to buy less and using what i have, that much i know. just wanted to get this off my chest :')

I had to buy luxury makeup today, or at least I had never bought a makeup product that expensive before.

At the beginning of the year I bought a rice facial mask from a Korean mask, for context I work from home and only wear makeup when I'm out to hangout with friends, and it worked pretty well... actually maybe too well since both my foundation and concealer stopped being a good match, which was half sad half happy the skincare actually did something and wasn't a placebo effect. Anyway, I went to the drugstore and bought a concealer from the same line I used just different shade, came back home and tried it... it was off as well and my next thought was "well I'll have to go back and buy a new one" but I realized it was the same old story from always "buy buy buy buy" so I decided to go to mac and get a trained person to find my shade rather than spend as much or more blindly guessing at the store... and it worked! The lady found a great match and for the first time in my life I was told my subtone was cool and olive... but the foundation was 40 usa dollars 😭 and I know I won't be finishing it in like a year or so bc it's massive (30 ml) and I go out once or twice a month so... it's fine but damn... my face was way more expensive than I'd like (I'm low key ashamed for having paid so much in something I'd wash at the end of the day, but oh well).

Still I wondered... how much I'd had to pay to find a nice shade in a drugstore without testers myself 🧐 so I guess it was worth it.

Post data: I'll mix the wronged foundation and concealers with red eyeshadow or pink lipstick to make them Franken blushes since I feel bad of just throwing them away.

I have been shopping at Sephora since you came to the US. One of the highlights of my trip to Paris was visiting the mothership on the Champs-Elysées. I have an original Beauty Insider card. I was in love.

There was a time when I was VIB Rouge, then I fell to VIB, and as of Jan 1, 2019 I will be BI. I only have to spend $26 before then to keep my VIB status. Thanks but no thanks.

It started when I turned 50 last January and became completely invisible to your store employees. I am tired of seeing sales associates walk away from me when I ask for help and seek out younger customers to ask if they need anything.

There is a Saks three doors down from you in the mall where I shop. I would rather go there to get the same products at the same price with much better service. Bobbi Brown foundation isn't that hard to find.

Then there's Ulta. You have really stepped up your game. Your rewards program is undeniably better than Sephora and I can get my beloved NARS Dolce Vita and Afghan Red lipsticks there. Bless you.

Ulta, when you add more MAC to your stores in 2019, I won't have any reason to go anywhere else. I will be able to get my MAC Twig lipstick, MAC eye shadows, Cetaphil moisturizer, and L'Oreal mascara in the same place.

We had a good run, Sephora, but it's time for me to move on.

Edited for readability

$18.

I have only fully used 5 makeup products. A total of 111 makeup products in my collection. That's less than 5%.

Puts it in perspective how long makeup lasts when you've got multiple of the same types of products! It looks like it's gonna be a makeup no-buy for me for a while haha 😅

Has anyone else calculated their makeup stashes? If so, I would love to hear about them because I can't be the one that was curious about the sheer amount of makeup in their collection lol

So recently I have realised when I go into shops I do still want to look at the makeup section. However, I don’t go through with buying anything, I look at the packaging and then put it down.

I’ve started actually thinking about “Would this fill in a gap that I’m missing in my current collection?” no lol I feel like I have everything I need and whenever I think about buying something the thought of buying something I don’t need makes me depressed so I close the page if it’s online and walk away in person.

This feels like I’m just writing a bunch of crap but I hope to whoever reads this you guys can relate too! ❤️

Content overwritten by author.

Posting for accountability and support. I went very hard during BF and recognized I really don’t like how much I look to makeup for that dopamine hit. So I decided “okay yeah, I’ll do a low-buy in the new year!” Cue additional “binging” impulse spending to stock up before my low-buy (similar enough to binging on food before the Monday start diet). Anyone have a more successful balanced approach? Would love any and all guidance.

This past year has been revolutionary for me. One of the things I always put lots of money into was foundation. I was always trying to get the right texture, colour, and finish. Especially in my acne teens, I wouldn’t be caught dead leaving the house without it.

But as I’ve gotten older, and I’ve taken better care of my skin, I noticed earlier this year that I was adding in an extra 30-45 mins just to get my skin looking perfect with makeup. Only thing is...my skin would look the same after doing my full makeup look.

I would lay my skin with all this foundation, and then I would spend so much time adding colour back to my skin with strategically placed blush and contour so it didn’t look plastic and flat (aka like I was obviously wearing makeup).

But I would get disappointed when I looked in the mirror because I looked pretty much the same after all that effort. In fact, it would often times make my skin look WORSE as throughout the day I sweat and the foundation shifted.

I realized that my skin wasn’t really a problem area for me anymore. While it’s not perfect, I came to the conclusion that the change foundation gave my skin wasn’t dramatic enough to justify spending so much time on it day in and day out.

As a result, I’ve stopped wearing foundation on a daily basis and I feel so free! Not to mention that I’ve saved myself 50-100 bucks a month on just this piece of makeup.

It’s also made me realize that there are so many women out there who have good skin, but get sucked into the makeup marketing, and feel they need to do three layers of face makeup for their look to be “complete”.

I just want women to know, that you don’t have to do everything beauty gurus do to have a complete look. Thick brows? You can skip the pencil! Full lips? Don’t worry about overdrawing them! Short forehead? No need to contour it smaller! They want us all do subscribe to this one size fits all method of makeup, because it includes every product they want to sell us! Not only will you look better for it, you’ll also save money!

In December I finished year long no buy. I went through a major mindset shift. Thought that was it, but it is still evolving.

During the no buy I learned how to stop when I need something and critically evaluate what I already have to see if there is something that serves the same purpose. I am now actively using once neglected products. And it brings me so much joy. What was once a burden now is a special little treat. Concretely, I mean very expensive products I was debating about trashing.

But there is one interestenig thing I wanted to share. I had this eyecream and face oilI that I wanted to use up, but it was such a chore. Then, I got a sample of a quite expensive face cream (35 euros, for me that is crazy) that I loved so so much. I was debating about buying it, and decided not to. Let´s use the oil instead. After a month I gave in and bought it, but there was a little voice in my head telling me I am slowly starting to go my old way, buying products for the thrill just to forget about them soon after. But, no! I now look forward to doing my skincare. I am so happy I treated myself to this little luxury. Every time I use it I feel like I am nurturing my skin, and myself. And I use the face oil for my neck, and the eyecream is almost finished.

Sometimes you need that spark joy product! It is a fine line between this feeling and trying to replicate it with mindless shoping.

I am not sure if what I wanted to say is presented clearly, but the point was it is so easy to start depraving yourself while trying to beat shopping addiction. I am learning now how to find the balance. Sorry for my english.

First victory - didn't buy ANYTHING during Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales.

Saw an ad on Instagram where an eyeshadow palette that released this year plus its corresponding lip gloss are 50% off.

I almost pulled the trigger last night because of the sale, but then I reminded myself why I didn't buy the palette at full price - the shades are similar to a palette I already own except for a couple pops of color. The lip gloss is one of those lip plumping glosses, which I don't like.

So I closed my browser and went to bed.

I woke up this morning still thinking about it, but I'm reminding myself that if I wouldn't buy that palette at full price, then I shouldn't buy it on sale either.

I will repeat this mantra until I eventually stop thinking about it.

Girl. What was past me thinking? I'm sitting in front of my acrylic organizer right now questioning why I have a concealer that's orange and too dark for me.... and why I have any concealer at all! I have never worn foundation or concealer, so why do I have concealer? I have never worn red lipstick, so why do I have red lipstick? I have never curled my eyelashes... so why do I have an eyelash curler?

From now on, I'm not going to buy products that I won't use. WHY do I have liquid products when they will give me splotchy red itchy spots? When they will cling to the dry patches in my skin caused by eczema? I've also never worn brown eyeshadow, so again, why????

A list of products I'm refusing to buy: 1. Eyeliners. Ma'am, you have never been good at liquid eyeliner, and every gel liner pencil thing you try rubs off. You have dark eyeshadows to use as liner!!! 2. Liquid products. Hello, dry patches, I'm talking to you! 3. Lip glosses. Why do I bother to try finding lip glosses I like? They end up coming off every time I sip my coffee and then I need to reapply them. The two that I have, I will try to finish, and then only use them again if I get gifted some. 4. Lip oils. Again, they disappear. What's the point in applying something that ghosts me immediately? 5. Face products. It causes an immediate rash that takes days and days of eczema repair cream and hydrocortisone to fix... not having dark circles and hiding some blemishes is NOT worth it!! The only exception to this is blush, which again, I have enough of. Also, where did these setting powders come from? 6. Bobby pins. Unfortunately these disappear into the matrix, along with Lip balms and pens and socks, but they're also always turning up. I have a whole container of them.... and unopened ones in my closet. 7. Eyeshadows... for now. The rest of these I intend on never buying again, but eyeshadows, when I finish enough of the ones I currently have, I will buy some again.

My current beauty inventory that I use: (To be compared at the end of the year. These numbers are as of January 1) • Lip balm: 8 (finished one a few days ago, now 7) • Lip gloss: 2 • Lip oil: 1 • Lip stick: 8 • Mascara: 3 (2 unopened) • Blush: 6 • Highlighter: 4 • Eyeshadow pans: 40 • Eyeshadow palettes: 5 • Setting powder: 2 • Nail polish: 7 • Lotion: 3 • Hand salve: 3 • Perfume: 8 (6 minis) • Vaseline: 2 (1 mini)

For me, this is insane. I don't need 7 nail polishes when the work I do doesn't allow nail polishes on my fingers. I only need one blush and one highlighter. Please, girl, use these things this year.

Get your stuff together please. Love, Me

A thing is not automatically empowering all women because a woman chose to do it. And choices we make because of our shopping addiction are not as freely made as we'd like to believe. We are still slaves. But rather than being slaves to our own self imposed rules, we are slaves to our momentary impulses.

Our own dopamine addiction drives us to respond in a hostile manner when someone threatens our fragile self by implying that what makes us momentarily feel good may not actually be good for us in the long run.

Like for example "nooooo I CHOOSE to overspend because of sales!! Don't you know I made a choice as a woman??? This feminist inflooencer bought this too!! Even tho I obsessively check the website and can't break free from the cycle....."

We are either a slave to our impulses or a slave to more rigid self control. And true freedom is to be able to sit back, think, and do what is actually good for us in the long run.

Stay strong sisters, I have not impulsively bought skincare I don't need in months. We are all going to get through this! 💪