Monday, November 22, 2010

cartes sur table

Following blogs like give me back my five bucks and the everyday minimalist motivates me to be more savvy and organized. I hope it is not a fad of mine. yesterday I decided to be honest with myself and my skin care clutter. I counted-all used:

-5 opened shampoo bottles (i use them according to my moods, some more than others or not at all) +2 conditioners
-5-6 face masks (it was 8..2 i'm done using, they were lush fresh face mask)
-5 face creams
-4 face cleansers
-1 exfoliant and my expensive clarisonic brush that I have not used for 3 weeks now..
-3 different soaps
-4 kind of skin oil: argan, camellia, jojoba, ylang ylang in a base oil
-1 concealer undereye
-1 eye cream
-8 lips balm
-4 acne fighting cream
-3 toners but i am using only one
-4 body creams
-4 lush massage bars which i use as body moisturisers/creams

I will spare you the numbers for my perfume-which i no longer wear as much-, and lip glosses.

It made me wonder if I am really ONE entity. For sure I am on my quest for the holy grail skin care that will help me for my oily-break out prone skin but do I even need that MANY skin care products. Lately I've been trying the oil cleansing method . I switched sunflower oil for jojoba and noted an improvement and then suddenly my blackhead came back. I guess it's due to stress and lack of sleep. I've been trying to put the least amount of shit on my face

am: jojoba oil+nuxe anti-perfections cream to mattify+concealer
pm: face oil (any of the above) with neem/tea tree oil alternated with lancome blanc expert face cream (crossing fingers it'll help lighten my past acne scars)
treatment: mario badescu drying cream (love it!!), buffering lotion, lush tea tree toner, bp sometimes

what has been gathering dust and I feel guilty about: decleor ylang ylang baume de nuit, mario badescu buttermilk moisturiser, oil of olay classic (from uk and much better than its american counterpart-mine is 80% used), lancome blanc expert line travel size set, nuxe exfoliating cream, epidermx ii, fruit and passion carrot body cream, dreamcream from lush, body shop blueberries body cream and god knows..and believe me these products are not cheap>20 cnd each except for the oil of olay.

I don't know what to do with all that skin care. I've made a simple rule which is to buy only when finished instead of stocking over as from now and it helps me use my shampoo and not buy any until the bottle is f*cking empty!! I used to stock on stuffs I like and then along the way, my taste changed or I got bored of the scent and ended up with things I am not using. Being an impulsive shopper is terrible for the wallet.

At least with us renting I'll be forced to control my expenses. Like my parents and Jguy said, I've no notion of the value of money because I spend it as I want and live on my paycheck..Time to grow up now and save since the place we'll be renting + transport will eat up 1/2 of my monthly paycheck :/ i want to cry but at least i'll buy when i need than want and then end up having to find ways to get rid of my clutter..Even selling is hard nowadays :/

I want to do as Give me back my five bucks: list all my expenses but then I feel so exposed doing that..Maybe the guilt will help me control my purchases impulse esp that I'm an emotional buyer *face palm

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the link to EM!!

    You know, (This is EM as well by the way), if you keep switching products and not giving them a 6-week time frame to let your skin and face adjust to them, you're causing more harm than good :)

    Couple of other notes.. face masques apparently don't work :( I tried googling it, but the less you do to your skin, the better.

    I find that eating better (fruits veggies, less oils, fats and butters) REALLY improved my skin. I can tell when I've been eating badly -- my whole face breaks out.

    Exfoliants work to some extent, but a gentle washcloth is always better.. I tried using that sample from Origins -- that scrub? It totally ruined my skin.

    Acne fighting -- benzoyl peroxide and proactiv's sulfur are incredible as per my medicine cabinet post.

    Toners don't do much for my skin either.. it's just another layer of stuff for it to get mad about.

    Body creams - this is where I'd go nuts. My skin gets so dry, but I usually use one bottle and then buy another once it's gone

    Slowly but surely! put yourself on a ban for all the products above, and start using them up :) In a year you should be done.

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