May 2014 No/Low Buy: Support, Hugs, Commiseration, and Confessional

Current body
shop deals on amazon
Jeffreestar cosmetics
Advertise with us
Makeuptalk.com forums

Help Support Makeuptalk.com forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Freaked out about lack of money all week....then randomly used my 25% off ipsy code to order the May rainbow honey mytstery box. Gah! No buisness doing that! Partly mad at myself and partly so giddy waiting for it...

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Just checking in to keep myself accountable - I've been keeping an exact list so I know what I've spent, because part of my problem is that I spend a few dollars here or there and don't really think about how it all adds up. So far in May, I've spent $43.70 on beauty-related purchases (including shipping for a couple of trades), BUT I have a "positive beauty balance" of $44.84 due to returns/refunds and selling a couple of things. Which means overall I'm coming out $1.14 ahead so far! So overall, I'm doing okay - I'd be doing better if I hadn't accidentally spent $20 on Julep - and I'm doing awesome if you think about all the stuff I've gotten for that price. (That's the price out of pocket; I've also bought some things using points on birchbox and using $10 Target and $25 Kohl's gift cards.) 

 
Right now I'm in the process of interviewing for a new job, which will require me to move to a different country. The pay isn't great, but almost all of my basic expenses are paid for (housing, utilities, and food) but I would like extra on hand money. So I'll have to save up for not only the plane ticket but for visa fees and whatever else is necessary. I've unsubbed to a lot of boxes, only keeping Birchbox as a permanent until I move.

 
badtothebronze said:
Someone tell me I don't need the Lorac Afterglo palette :-/. ... Please?
Click to expand...
Well you don't NEED it...but if you're going to splurge, it is a good one. And only $24, cheap as palettes go. Although some of the colors don't perform quite as well as the others, so I guess it depends on which colors appeal to you the most. I put swatches on my blog if you want to see, but the glittery gold and the purple are a bit disappointing. 

I don't know how helpful that was...!

 
I just caved and ordered a Glossybox after browsing the Bergdorf Goodman website....oh well, it's not a bad splurge, I don't think, seeing as how I get the box AND something from BG with the gift card! But yeah, I'm not doing so well with the low-buy...I have now spent over $60 on beauty this month so far...

 
chibimorph said:
I don't own any of their products and I'm extremely glad that I feel underwhelmed by this collection... otherwise I would be sending you empathetic vibes over the interwebs.

I told myself that I'm going to allow myself to buy 1 lipstick and maybe 1 eyeshadow from Alluring Aquatic in June (if not for myself, I can at least buy a lipstick for my mom to feel less guilty... and I'm not gonna lie, I only want it for the packaging).
Click to expand...
I was good! I am a giant disney person, but the collection itself is underwhelming - the only thing I looked at was the lipstick, but I rarely wear reds, so it seems like it would be a waste for me to get.  Alluring aquatic is beautiful! At least the packaging. The purply lipstick is also gorgeous, and their eyeshadows, blushes and highlighters (bronzers???) seem nice. I don't know that I'd buy the whole collection, though... an eyeshadow at most, I think. 

saku said:
i've been eyeing the other collection with the water droplets on the packaging...but then they announced a simpsons collection in the fall!!!!! so i'm holding out for that!
Click to expand...
The packaging is very pretty!

I was never into the simpsons...I mean, I watched a few episodes and I'm familiar with the characters, but never watched it religiously. 

----

Still doing OK!!! As I was falling asleep yesterday I was thinking about my last birthday, which then reminded me of the rather expensive gifts my husband gave me -- a tom ford palette, nars and god created the woman, an illamasqua blush, and a tom ford blush................ and then I remembered, I wore my TF palette shadows once, on my birthday day, have only used the nars palette 3 times in 5 months, and the only ones that have gotten more use are the TF blush and my illamasqua blush for a total of like.....6-10 wears.

That made me feel so awful, considering my husband spent all that $$$$ to indulge me and make me happy with pretty makeup, and I haven't worn it much. So I'm going to be making a point to dust those off and start playing with them next week, because of all the things I own, those and a $2 dollar bottle of nailpolish he bought (picked it out by himself and everything) are my most prized makeup bits, and it feels like I'm not giving them the love they so rightfully deserve.

Definitely an incentive to stop buying makeup and use what I HAVE! Especially when they were gifted to me.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I bought this yesterday: http://www.express.com/clothing/floral+cotton+sateen+strapless+fit+and+flare+dress/pro/7821787/cat2002

IN MY DEFENSE- I had to return a shirt that I had and I had to buy something with it immediately.  They would not let me keep the store credit.  So I had $20 off of it, I paid about $35 for the dress.  Now I'm determined to dress it in a way that I can wear it all the time.  It's SO PRETTY.

I also made a $30 Ulta order for restocking purposes.. and I got two Nyx lipsticks for $5.  No more Macaron lipsticks for me.

 
elizabethrose said:
I bought this yesterday: http://www.express.com/clothing/floral+cotton+sateen+strapless+fit+and+flare+dress/pro/7821787/cat2002

IN MY DEFENSE- I had to return a shirt that I had and I had to buy something with it immediately.  They would not let me keep the store credit.  So I had $20 off of it, I paid about $35 for the dress.  Now I'm determined to dress it in a way that I can wear it all the time.  It's SO PRETTY.

I also made a $30 Ulta order for restocking purposes.. and I got two Nyx lipsticks for $5.  No more Macaron lipsticks for me.
Click to expand...
IT IS TOO PRETTY!!!!! great find!

 
saku said:
IT IS TOO PRETTY!!!!! great find!
Click to expand...
RIGHT?!  My roommate told me that I'm not ever going to be able to wear it because it's too dressy.  I think I'm just.. gonna wear it anyways.  IT'S SO PRETTY.  I feel so pretty in it.  I think I'm gonna throw my leather jacket on top of it with some black wedges.  Edge it up a bit.

 
still haven't spent anything on beauty-related stuff this month... but i've been spending a lot on things around the apartment! yesterday, we got our gardening done! we went to home depot to get a bunch of plants and seeds, and cleaning supplies. also got some heavy duty rugs for our kitchen (we get serious around the kitchen, and have been constantly replacing rugs. the conventional cloth ones just wouldn't work!) that was $100, but i'm so happy that my money is going to more important stuff. we also went to the grocery, got gas, etc the other day, and spent $300 in one day (we bought steaks, shrimp, and LOTS of grocery!). now the fridge/pantry is busting out, and we just need to do some cleaning around the apartment! i do want to turn in a draft of my proposal to my advisor by friday, so i'm thinking get everything around here done by today, so i can focus on working on my paper the next few days.

 
elizabethrose said:
RIGHT?!  My roommate told me that I'm not ever going to be able to wear it because it's too dressy.  I think I'm just.. gonna wear it anyways.  IT'S SO PRETTY.  I feel so pretty in it.  I think I'm gonna throw my leather jacket on top of it with some black wedges.  Edge it up a bit.
Click to expand...
i think it can both be dressy and casual! i really do love it!!!

 
jaylilee said:
I was good! I am a giant disney person, but the collection itself is underwhelming - the only thing I looked at was the lipstick, but I rarely wear reds, so it seems like it would be a waste for me to get.  Alluring aquatic is beautiful! At least the packaging. The purply lipstick is also gorgeous, and their eyeshadows, blushes and highlighters (bronzers???) seem nice. I don't know that I'd buy the whole collection, though... an eyeshadow at most, I think. 
Click to expand...
I think people have mentioned that a lot of the colors in the collection are pretty much already in their regular line (or can be found elsewhere)... so my mental circuitry begins to think about packaging, which is pretty underwhelming for the price in my opinion. It's too blatantly commercial for my tastes... if they just had the wing design on it or a dragon design then I would probably be tempted. But as it is, I'm glad I don't feel the urge to buy anything from the collection :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

And also I think the Tom Ford palettes come with a lot of eyeshadow! I read somewhere that the price/oz is reasonable, it's just that they give you so much eyeshadow that it jacks up the overall price. So you should definitely use it! :D /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
I'm doing crappy on not eating out, but awesome not buying makeup. I've spent $5 on some ELF brushes to tide me over until I can afford to buy a nice brush set. It's sort of cheating that I find the no makeup thing so easy, since I'm pretty preoccupied with upcoming baby at this point. Definitely dropped last night, so the pressure is making walking difficult, so I'm sure from this point on, I'll be too lazy to go to any physical stores, just need to stay off internet. C section was scheduled for June 3rd, but my blood sugars are out of control and baby is 7lbs 9oz already at 35 1/2 weeks, so date may be moved. I could be looking at baby coming in 2-2 1/2 weeks instead of 3 1/2 weeks, so I feel so behind on things I needed to get done before baby comes. Hopefully this doesn't lead to an organizational spending trip. I need to just get rid of things I have no room for. I wanted to have a garage sale, but no energy, so now I need to list on online garage sale sites. Maybe I can make enough money to get a little ahead. Hubby broke his phone the other day, but took scrap metal in, so that covered it. These days are flying by so fast!

 
chibimorph said:
I think people have mentioned that a lot of the colors in the collection are pretty much already in their regular line (or can be found elsewhere)... so my mental circuitry begins to think about packaging, which is pretty underwhelming for the price in my opinion. It's too blatantly commercial for my tastes... if they just had the wing design on it or a dragon design then I would probably be tempted. But as it is, I'm glad I don't feel the urge to buy anything from the collection :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

And also I think the Tom Ford palettes come with a lot of eyeshadow! I read somewhere that the price/oz is reasonable, it's just that they give you so much eyeshadow that it jacks up the overall price. So you should definitely use it! :D /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
Click to expand...
Indeed! I did the math on the TF eyeshadow quads and broke it down per gram (on my tumblr blog that I have since deleted because makeup is a hobby and I don't want to give myself more crap to do), so at $78 for a quad of 10gr total, you're paying $7.8 per 1gr, versus a mac shadow single at $10 per gram (shadows are 1.5 grams, and single in a pot is $15), or $6.67/gr if you buy a refill (for which you need to have a palette, which I haven't included a price for here). So it's still.... relatively similar in price. 

Say you're buying mac's shadows to get 10 grams of product, you'd need to buy 7 (6.6...really) shadows - you'd be spending $70 bucks in refills or $105 if singles... up side is you get more color choices in 7 mac vs a TF quad, down side is you're still paying the same or more money for equal amounts of product, gram wise, and pitting a TF shadow vs a MAC shadow is like trying to run a car race in a honda civic against a lamborghini quality wise (at least in my very humble opinion).

Grams and cash aside, and even quality (I still love my mac, mug, and inglot shadows), my one and only TF palette is the crown of my collection just on the fact that it was a present from my hubby anyways.

... Man, if they had taught me math in school when in relation to things I lem for, I would have graduated with a PhD xD (I don't consider myself a math person... though my mother is...ms. Master's degree in mathematics >_>)

edited: for math accuracy

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm doing pretty terrible at a no-buy, and yet so much better than the last few weeks. Spending on food-wise, I've been completely terrible and not following my goal at all. So that needs a lot of work. Makeup-wise, I did make an allowance for the Allure Summer Beauty Box and some more of those Bergdorfs Glossyboxes. I had 3 other purchases (which is way less than what I've been doing lately!) and they were all really good deals. One was at Julep... I used a half off intro box code and got four polishes (Denver, Tatum, Goldie, Missy), Nail Therapy, an emery board, and the cuticle softener/remover all for $23. I also gifted myself a 3 month Birchbox sub so I could get the free Kate Spade necklace. And I bought the Tarte Maracuja concealer on Beauty Brands so I could get the amazing GWP bag. I only have one allowance left and that's the Sephora Sun Safety Kit which I'm waiting to go on sale online. Other than that, I'm taking my no-buy seriously from now on. The rest of my money is going towards necessities like gas, my vacation, and my credit card bills.

 
I'm headed to Crafty Wonderland shortly, and I know I will be almost definitely buying a whole bunch of goodies not on my Allowed list, BUT.  I have a savings account specifically dedicated to fun stuff like cons, vacations, and perfume oil, and I keep forgetting it exists, so it has a few hundred dollars in it.  I don't want to use all of it since Rose City Comic Con will be here before I know it even though it's not for another four months (that's no time at all when you're trying to save up as much as possible for it!), but I have dipped into it for CW.  I have the cash in hand already.  That is all I can spend today on anything other than groceries.  My rule for anything at a convention center (comic cons, bazaars, chocolate fairs, whatever) is that I must use cash only. 

My specific plans for the day to keep spending under control are basically:

  • Drive to transit center
  • Take MAX (light rail) to convention center
  • Go to Crafty Wonderland and remember that whatever I buy has to be carried back on MAX
  • Take MAX back to car
  • Go to Trader Joe's for groceries
  • Maybe stop by Big-Ass Sandwich for a big-ass sandwich (depends on time.  Sometimes they sell out *super* early, especially on spring weekends)
  • Come back home
  • Clean clean clean!

AND THAT IS ALL.  I'm trying to be strict on this structure for the day because that will cut my "oh, as long as I'm out, I might as well go to Sock Dreams!  Oh, I should stop by three different Fred Meyers and see if they have new essence collections!" tendencies that come out when I'm running errands on Saturdays.   I really want to get back home and clean (interspersed with viewings of random things on Hulu/Netflix.  One episode of something that has lots of podcasts followed by cleaning while listening to a podcast about that episode and repeat for the rest of the day/weekend)!  That was actually my original plan for today until I found out CW was happening today.  Next weekend will definitely be a stay-home-and-clean weekend, and then I can feel free to spend the following Saturday (Memorial Day weekend already!) seeing _Days of Future Past_ and running all over town and playing!

 
Sigh, part of my low buy success is that conventions and indie artists will never go to where I live (waaaaaay in the country) to sell me pretties! Please drool over the Shiro Cosmetics for me!

 
Mehhhh ok so I went shopping. But I won money at the casino! So it wasn't really my money and I wanted to buy fun stuff.

 

Latest posts

Back
Top