#lowbuy

Pretty sure I hadn't posted about these, even though I bought them in October.

I don't really count underwear when counting clothes and new purchases, but socks are a bit trickier. I do sometimes need new socks as they do wear out, sometimes pretty fast too. On the other hand, I have a lot of cute/cool/pretty socks I don't wear. Like, at all. I am too careful with them, oops. Buying cute socks when available like this is fine an sich, but I've noticed I avoid them when picking socks to wear. So while I put them (all but the ghosties one) with my regular socks, I still don't treat them that way...

Items I have a problem with: clothes, books

Items I don’t have a problem with: makeup, skincare

RULES:

If it’s a clothing item that isn’t for working out, for an event, or underwear, it must be on my wishlist for at least a month.

Strict no buy: jeans, plain/basic t shirts, lipsticks, books, vitamin c serums

Allowed to use rewards, gift cards, and codes that work like gift cards.

Must stick to $83.33/ month fun budget ($1000 total for the year). Whatever isn’t used for that month will rollover to the next month allowing me to save up for bigger ticket items.

For clothes, one in, at least 3 items out

For makeup/skincare, only buy things that can be finished/well-used before it expires.

Necessary items such as body wash, body lotion, shampoo, conditioner, cleanser, basic face lotion, and sunscreen do not have to be taken out of the fun budget if they are not expensive and if they are to replace an item and not stock up.

GOALS/ WHY?

I want to be more self-disciplined. I want to be able to control my wants and stick to my monthly and yearly fun budget.

I want to want less things. I want to become less obsessive about items.

I want to be influenced less. I don’t want to feel like this one item will be what makes me look better, feel better.

I need to save up money. I will most likely need to buy a car this year. I also really want to get Invisalign. Both of these need a lot of money and if I hadn’t wasted so much money on clothing, I could’ve probably had one of these already.

I want to have a 3-6 month emergency fund. I have a $1000 emergency fund but I want to feel more stable.

I want to travel. I would like to pay for a trip out of pocket and not on credit.

Eu cresci junto com o Youtube. Acompanhei todas as fases, tendências, atualizações da plataforma, a compra pela Google, quando os vídeos tinham no máximo 2 minutos (fizemos o Ouroboros completo agora com os reels do Instagram e os vídeos do Tiktok?), e o surgimento dos vídeos de 1, 2, 3, 10 horas, como é hoje.

O Youtube foi a única rede que nos permitia abrir a câmera e gravar o que quiséssemos, sem sermos obrigados a aceitar as demandas malucas de um algoritmo que muda todo dia e um bombardeio de publicidades.

Não que tenha algo errado com as publis, mas estamos todos exaustos da quantidade, frequência e do fato de que quase não conseguimos mais consumir conteúdo (lembra quando nós somente dizíamos que assistíamos a vídeos?) que não esteja ligado a... Consumo.

Por um lado, a nostalgia é uma prisão, porque nunca nada vai ser como já foi um dia (citação acidental, juro). Mas também pode ser a cura pra nossa saturação de publicidade. Pra que possamos voltar a nos expressar livremente, postar vídeos sem se importar tanto com a duração, uma espécie de respiro digital, pra quando finalmente fizermos uma publi, nosso público não se sentir usado como massa de manobra pra consumir sem parar.

Due to my New Years’ resolution/challenge I really wanted to devote some time to go through my makeup to categorise and evaluate what I have.

I also wanted to highlight the items that I will probably need to replace due to using them up.

I will also highlight items that I will probably get rid of.

Primers

1. NYX Bare with me Hydrating Jelly Primer - I enjoyed this primer, it really softened the skin and gave a smooth base. I believe NYX discontinued production of this product, so I will have no chance of repurchasing.

2. Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched face base - Surprisingly, this product did not give me a result that I really liked. It also caused small breakouts, so once I used it up, I will not buy it again.

3. NYX Honey dew me up primer - Best of the best, this is the primer for me, so I will repurchase once I will use up all the others.

4. NYX Hydro Touch Primer - Second best primer I have, but I like a bit of stickiness on my skin after using a primer and this does not work the way I would like it to.

5. NYX MarshMellow Primer - This is not bad either, however it is smelling too heavy. Not gonna repurchase.

Foundations

1. Chanel Vitalumière Aqua - Well, actually not my favourite one for some reason, although I did not give it enough chance yet. I will need to keep using it and later evaluate.

2. Dior Forever Skin Glow - Like this foundation, probably will need to repurchase later during the year.

3. Chanel Les Beiges - Ultimate favourite, no question about this one.

4. It Cosmetics CC Cream - Will need to repurchase very soon, because it has a very small amount in it already.

5. Erborian CC Red correct - This one, I want to repurchase, because I really like it when I need only just a hint of coverage, I like to use it at home as well.

6. Erborian Super BB - No, this one I do not like, it causes horrible breakouts, so I am thinking of tossing it.

Concealers

I think I am still searching for ‘the concealer’, but until I will use these up, I won’t buy any new ones.

1. Catrice Liquid Camouflage (015 Honey) - Use this for concealing breakouts, because it is the same shade as my skin.

2. Catrice Liquid Camouflage (005 Light Natural) - Use this for under eye, but not a favourite

3. Maybelline Instant anti age eraser - Use this for under eye again, I like this a little bit more than number 2 because it does not set into the fine lines

4. It Cosmetics Bye Bye under eye - disappointment, the cream consistency is just too heavy, and it cannot be blended properly. I would like to sell this one, it is just not for me.

Eyeshadow Primers

1. NYX Glitter Primer - Having this for obvious reasons, will replace if I use this up.

2. NYX Ultimate Base - Not my favourite, I will not repurchase.

3. Mac Painterly Paint pot - Yes, yes and yes, will probably not need to repurchase this year, but will do once it runs out.

Powders

1. Maybelline FaceStudio setting powder - I am not a powder girly, if I will use this up or it will expire, I will not buy this product or any products like this again. Not because it is unsatisfactory, but I simply do not need it.

2. Mac Mineralize Skin Finish - This is a great product, but again, not sure if I really need this to be honest. I will probably not repurchase it.

Contours

1. Mac Studio Fix Contour palette - The best contour palette I tried, would buy again if I needed to.

2. - 4. NYX Wondersticks - They are just great, easy to blend sticks, the light medium color however just looking a bit orange on me when I have no tan, so I like number 3 and 4 way more. Fortunately, I do not think I need to buy anything in this category during 2025.

Blushes

I just have too many blushes it seems, so I would like to get rid of a few. As they are quite old items, I will get rid of number 2 and 10. I am very likely to get rid of number 4 as well, it is just not my vibe.

Highlighter

I only have this one highlighter, apart from the ones that are included in palettes. That is Why I do not need more.

Bronzer

1. Catrice Sun Glow - This is an old item, I will get rid of this, because it is already expired.

2. Estèe Lauder Bronze Goddess - Favourite bronzer, if I would not have purchased the others, I would only use this one.

3. NYX Matte Bronzer - Really nice bronzer as well, but I just recently realized that I like bronzers with a little bit of shimmer in them.

4. Revolution Blush Palette - Although it should be a blush palette, it is more f a bronzer, blusher, highlighter palette. It is very versatile, with really nice colors, but would not repurchase it.

Mascaras

Apart from the SkyHigh and Lash Princess mascaras, the other 3 were basically purchased for only trying them, so once they will run out, I will not repurchase them.

Brow Products

I just have too many prow products as well, but there is basically no products here that I would not like particularly. Almost each piece has different colors, so until I use them up, I won't buy another one.

Eye Pencils and Eye Liners

I like using different colors of eye pencils, what I will need to be more careful about in the future is trying to avoid buying duplicates. I currently have duplicates of dark blue and dark brown eyeliners, and the reason for that was me thinking I have lost them.

The same happened to the brown NYX Eyeliner as well.

Lip Liners and Glosses

I will need to declutter my lip liner "collection" - there are too many of nude lipliners, although I do not really like to use them to be honest.

Lip glosses - I prefer natural colored lip glosses. I rarely touch the Essence lip glosses (number 5-6) - they are too sparkly for my taste so I will probably toss them.

Lipsticks

Although I am not really a lipstick girl, I have quite a few in my collection. I mostly love using nude colors - light and dark versions as well. I will get rid of number 4, 5 and 6 (The NYX Long Lasting Lipsticks) because they are just too matte for my taste.

I have the following MAC Lipstick colors :

Modesty

Creme in your coffee

Media

Brave

Amorous

On Hold

Verve

Eye Palettes

Lastly, my eye palettes. These are the eye palettes which remained in my possession after decluttering a much bigger collection - I owned almost the double of the below, which was to be honest ... crazy. If I were a makeup artist (which I am not) the below collection could even be called crazy. I am expecting to get rid of 2 or 3 in the next couple of months, so it is unlikely that I will purchase an eye palette in the near future.