February No/Low-Buy 2014

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Hi everyone! Since the Jan thread is now abandoned I just wanted to check in with everyone (esp since I never got around to replying to those other PMs yet. Sorry @usofjessamerica !! I still will!)

So I ended up going to China, in a belated rushed kind of way. I only spent 10 days there, but I'm really glad I did end up going back because my grandmother passed away today. Grief is such a funny thing -- one minute you think you're going to be okay and you've accepted it, then next you're crying into your eggs or while you're brushing your teeth. :C But yeah. Sigh.

Anyway, I just started my new job too, and that's been going well! Pay day is only 7 business days away now! Also, I have all the documents I need to finally file my taxes so that's probably a thousand plus coming back my way. XD I haven't gotten a proper paycheck since like new year, and even though my relatives decided to kindly give me back the money for me going to china this time (and then buy me lots of stuff so I basically came out with positive change wtf), I'm still not really in the mood to buy makeup.

Probably going to build my wardrobe because my work actually seems semi-strict about the "Business casual" work clothing thing. u____u i guess we'll have to see how far i can push the nail color thing. I tend to like mostly work-safe type polishes anyway, but I love duochromes and like there's not really much of a place for me to wear those except friday + the weekend for strict "business casual" workplaces I think

I hope everyone is doing well on their no/low buy goals. :3 æ–°å¹´å¿«ä¹ï¼

 
Quote: Originally Posted by Kyuu /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  Hi everyone! Since the Jan thread is now abandoned I just wanted to check in with everyone (esp since I never got around to replying to those other PMs yet. Sorry @usofjessamerica !! I still will!)

So I ended up going to China, in a belated rushed kind of way. I only spent 10 days there, but I'm really glad I did end up going back because my grandmother passed away today. Grief is such a funny thing -- one minute you think you're going to be okay and you've accepted it, then next you're crying into your eggs or while you're brushing your teeth. :C But yeah. Sigh.
i'm sorry to hear about your grandmama. :( /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> grief is indeed funny, but we all need it in order to heal.

congrats on the job!

and yes -- doing something else usually will cure the urge! for me, it's reading, but often times i have no time for it :( /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> and lunch time online browsing at work is dangerous. i've been doing well, though... got some shadows from Makeupgeek, mostly neutrals...god I have so many neutrals... but I kept hearing some rave reviews on these so I got a 'starter' set kind -- which for me is all matte neutrals and that black one that everyone says is the blackest of blacks. I'm in @missionista 's place: I have enough neutrals to last me a lifetime. I wish I was more skilled at incorporating color into "daytime" looks that wouldn't look horrendous so I could give those a go and wear them to work.. but I'm not that talented. 

 
I'm super pissed right now. I went to go pay my credit card bill and noticed it was an outrageous amount. Well apparently, Barkbox has renewed my subscription ($114!) and they didn't even send any sort of email telling me so. I do not want this sub anymore! 

 
Quote: Originally Posted by jaylilee /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  i'm sorry to hear about your grandmama. :( /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> grief is indeed funny, but we all need it in order to heal.

congrats on the job!

and yes -- doing something else usually will cure the urge! for me, it's reading, but often times i have no time for it :( /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> and lunch time online browsing at work is dangerous. i've been doing well, though... got some shadows from Makeupgeek, mostly neutrals...god I have so many neutrals... but I kept hearing some rave reviews on these so I got a 'starter' set kind -- which for me is all matte neutrals and that black one that everyone says is the blackest of blacks. I'm in @missionista 's place: I have enough neutrals to last me a lifetime. I wish I was more skilled at incorporating color into "daytime" looks that wouldn't look horrendous so I could give those a go and wear them to work.. but I'm not that talented. 
I incorporate pops of color in a neutral eye by lining my upper lashline.  It's enough to satisfy my urge for color without being in your face. 





 
Quote: Originally Posted by Lulubelle107 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  I incorporate pops of color in a neutral eye by lining my upper lashline.  It's enough to satisfy my urge for color without being in your face. 




This is a good idea! I might try it once I start getting into summer, when it seems more "acceptable" around the office to wear outrageously bright colored clothing and stuff lol. I have this one bright blue eyeshadow that's GORGEOUS and I want to wear it somehow. I might get inglot's mixing medium so I can use it as eyeliner. 

 
Quote: Originally Posted by Sheeeeeelby /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  I'm super pissed right now. I went to go pay my credit card bill and noticed it was an outrageous amount. Well apparently, Barkbox has renewed my subscription ($114!) and they didn't even send any sort of email telling me so. I do not want this sub anymore! 
ohhh eek! call them?

 
Hi everyone! Since the Jan thread is now abandoned I just wanted to check in with everyone (esp since I never got around to replying to those other PMs yet. Sorry @usofjessamerica  !! I still will!) So I ended up going to China, in a belated rushed kind of way. I only spent 10 days there, but I'm really glad I did end up going back because my grandmother passed away today. Grief is such a funny thing -- one minute you think you're going to be okay and you've accepted it, then next you're crying into your eggs or while you're brushing your teeth. :C But yeah. Sigh. Anyway, I just started my new job too, and that's been going well! Pay day is only 7 business days away now! Also, I have all the documents I need to finally file my taxes so that's probably a thousand plus coming back my way. XD I haven't gotten a proper paycheck since like new year, and even though my relatives decided to kindly give me back the money for me going to china this time (and then buy me lots of stuff so I basically came out with positive change wtf), I'm still not really in the mood to buy makeup. Probably going to build my wardrobe because my work actually seems semi-strict about the "Business casual" work clothing thing. u____u i guess we'll have to see how far i can push the nail color thing. I tend to like mostly work-safe type polishes anyway, but I love duochromes and like there's not really much of a place for me to wear those except friday + the weekend for strict "business casual" workplaces I think I hope everyone is doing well on their no/low buy goals. :3 æ–°å¹´å¿«ä¹ï¼
Click to expand...
so sorry to hear about your grandma.
 
Quote: Originally Posted by jaylilee /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  ohhh eek! call them?
you may also be able to get your CC company to reverse the charges if calling them fails.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by jaylilee /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  ohhh eek! call them?


Quote: Originally Posted by tulosai /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  you may also be able to get your CC company to reverse the charges if calling them fails.

Barkbox said they would cancel it & refund me. WHEW! I was like wtfff omg $114! 

 
Yay, I snagged the GCC Sherlock tin when it went back on sale twenty minutes ago!  It's still available as of this moment, BTW, in case anyone else wanted to jump on it.  And I also picked up the Jan/Feb/Mar 2013 GDE OTM pigments, which were not *quite* officially on my low-buy plan, but GDE LE stuff in general is on there, and these were a clearing-out-the-old-stock sort of thing, and they complete my 2013 collection, *and* I had enough money in PayPal to cover them, not to mention the 40% off discount code, so I'm not going to consider this a low-buy fail, especially since I had promised myself I would grab at least dreamboat. if it ever came back up in this sort of situation.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by JuliaGhostx3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  I almost caved twice today. But instead, I exited out of Freagrancenet and Beauty.com
I didn't realise It would be THIS hard!
What tips do you guys have to avoid spending?

Good job! I'm in the same boat. Really want to get some of the Lavanila perfume during Sephora's 3x points on fragrance.... but I don't need it because I have tons of other perfumes, and they aren't even really having any cool other offers- none of the free samples are ones I am interested in, none of the point rewards are good for me, the only deal they're having is a perfume sampler bag, but I really don't need more perfume.  So I guess it's a skip for me even though I really want that perfume.... right? Eugh, it is really, really hard!

I don't know what to do. Here's the thing: If I buy the perfume I may love it, BUT I will have failed my no-buy for this month. If I don't buy it, I could always get it again later sans triple points, but at least I wouldn't be breaking my no buy. Keeping on my no-buy will help me flex those willpower muscles, which I really, really need to do right now. Plus, honestly, I haven't even smelled the perfume, I've just read about it and I feel like it'll be perfect for me and attractive to men as well, so that's the only real reason I want it. But my husband may not even like it... soooooo, I guess I'm just trying to tell myself I should not get it. It's hard when it's a deal, especially when it's a deal! But you just have to realize it's not a deal unless you NEED it.

EUGHHH HARD HARD I can't do this, YES I CAN, no I can't, YES I CAN! Hahaha, I feel like a psychopath!

Edited to add:

Hey everyone, we only have 21 days left in this month, we can do it!!!!

 
@eastofthesun Yes! only 21 days!
I was just thinking about the whole triple point thing, and I LOVE perfume, so that whole promo really tempts me, but at the same time the point rewards are never that good, so I usually skip over all of them anyway! I'm going to look through the thread for companies that give free samples. I'll feel totally okay with getting samples. I really enjoy trying new things (and getting mail), and I won't feel the urge to shop if I'm busy sending out emails! ^_^ /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
Quote: Originally Posted by JuliaGhostx3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  @eastofthesun Yes! only 21 days!
I was just thinking about the whole triple point thing, and I LOVE perfume, so that whole promo really tempts me, but at the same time the point rewards are never that good, so I usually skip over all of them anyway! I'm going to look through the thread for companies that give free samples. I'll feel totally okay with getting samples. I really enjoy trying new things (and getting mail), and I won't feel the urge to shop if I'm busy sending out emails! ^_^ /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
Great idea to try getting free samples! That could really work! You'd not only get new products to try out, but new packages in the mail too, which is probably a lot of the fun too!

I want to try that as well!

 
I went to Sephora to get a new Clarisonic brush head and saw a Boscia try-it kit with a DS black mask and three pore strips in the sale section. I kind of feel bad for getting it, but honestly 1) my face could use it right now way more than usual, 2) I was very curious about trying it anyway, and 3) I told myself that necessary skin care is the focus this year (as opposed to color cosmetics or hoarding unnecessary skin care). Actually, even after two days of scrubbing my nose with a washcloth and cleanser, I can FEEL all the pores while I'm typing this. So I'm going to go ahead and call this a necessary skincare purchase.

 
To everyone who's had a rocky start in February, my sincerest condolences. You guys are in my thoughts and prayers. I'm so sorry for all of your losses. 

A few days ago I went to redeem my B2M product and then I went on to Sephora to return even more stuff that didn't work out for me. Instead of marching straight to the counter I wafted around the aisles because I need to get another concealer as mine is starting to look a bit light for me, though it's perfect underneath the eyes. In any event I ended up finding nothing of interest which was super exciting until I chanced upon the display of my favorite lipstick brand ever and they had just come out with new summer shades. I am SUCH a sucker for bright summer lipsticks as evidenced by the thirty thousand oranges, orange-reds, watermelon reds, and corals I have in my stash. I swatched two of them and thought they were stunning but those shades always look great on my skin tone. In the end I walked out of the store empty-handed--well, not totally empty-handed, I did get my concealer though it was like I got it free since I just exchanged a product I had for it. I felt proud of my willpower at the time but ugh, I can't stop thinking about those lipsticks. I go back and forth over staring at my lipstick stash and reminding myself that I do have many, many similar shades but then I convince myself that I don't have that particular finish (these are matte lipsticks...all the other finishes in my stash are creamy). To add insult to injury, these are LE shades so I feel extremely compelled to get them before they're gone, though to be fair to this brand they aren't like MAC and LE shades do stick around a while.

It's really taking every ounce of strength I have to not go down to Sephora today :/ if only to just swatch all of the similar shades that I own in store and see if the lipsticks I want are really unique enough to warrant a purchase. I'm kinda kicking myself in the head for not doing that the first time around so I could put this obsession to rest. At the same time it's the 8th and we only have 20 more days to go and I want to prove to myself that I can get through at least one month, a short month at that, without binging on crap I don't need. 

I guess I just feel like I'm never going to break free of this constant consumption cycle sometimes, guys, and it's both disheartening and frightening.

 
I might have placed an order at fortune cookie soap late last night. But at least it was filled with one item I needed. And two types of items I've never tried before so I don't have anything like them. Also my cart is full is at Julep. And if I'm being truly honest- the moment my husband leaves the room I am bolting for my credit card.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by loftmane /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I guess I just feel like I'm never going to break free of this constant consumption cycle sometimes, guys, and it's both disheartening and frightening.

When it comes to cravings, which is what I think I'm hearing you describe, one of the recommendations is to find ways to distract yourself until the craving subsides.  Swatching your existing lipsticks does sound like a good strategy.  Creating an inventory list of them on a spreadsheet (if you haven't already one that) might be another.  Sometimes seeing the hard reality that you own 10 different lipsticks in varying shades of coral can snap you back to reality
smile.gif
.  And even if you don't have the exact colors of the new LE lipsticks, could you mix some of the ones you do have to match a color?

One of my mantra's when I see new makeup that tempts me is "I don't need it", which is working so far.  It also helps that I've got a date set when I can buy a few items from my wishlist.  Knowing that I'm not cut off forever is helping me practice delayed gratification.   

 
When it comes to cravings, which is what I think I'm hearing you describe, one of the recommendations is to find ways to distract yourself until the craving subsides.  Swatching your existing lipsticks does sound like a good strategy.  Creating an inventory list of them on a spreadsheet (if you haven't already one that) might be another.  Sometimes seeing the hard reality that you own 10 different lipsticks in varying shades of coral can snap you back to reality :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> .  And even if you don't have the exact colors of the new LE lipsticks, could you mix some of the ones you do have to match a color? One of my mantra's when I see new makeup that tempts me is "I don't need it", which is working so far.  It also helps that I've got a date set when I can buy a few items from my wishlist.  Knowing that I'm not cut off forever is helping me practice delayed gratification.   
Click to expand...
That is what is helping me. I have given myself a April 1st date. On April 1st I can go and buy anything on my wish list. So I know then I can get what I want.
 
I have a feeling a lot of people will be cutting down on subs next year:  There was something on a news site I stumbled across last night that said that *all* credit cards in the US are going to be replaced next year with European-style chip-and-pin cards to reduce fraud because those are much, *much* more secure than the US-style cards with magnetic strips.  I just got a new card due to fraud, and I'm going through updating all of the CC info on my subs, and I'm realizing just how many I have!  Yikes!  I think it took an hour to get everything updated that I could take care of online, and there are still two companies that I'll have to call on Monday.

And, argh, the third snowstorm in three days is starting.  I'm so sick of the contents of my cupboards (I was supposed to go grocery shopping last night so I had something other than mac'n'cheese and beans, but *that* wasn't happening due to the weather) that I don't even *care* that there's a foot of snow at the bottom of my stairs covering the last two steps and that I don't have warm snow boots.  If the pizza place is open today, I'm getting a pizza even if I have to dip into the Comic Con fund and become a walking snow cone, damn it.  EVEN IF THE SNOW CONTINUES TO BLAST SIDEWAYS LIKE IT'S DOING RIGHT NOW.  (But this area is so ill-equipped to deal with snow that even the neighborhood bars that cater to the locals who walk there regardless of the weather are probably going to be closed, so I might end up pizza-less.)

 

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