Whimsy of Things

I want to go over some of my other "essentials" in the miscellaneous category, but today I want to talk about a foundation project that I am doing this January.  I have a large number of foundations, most of which I bought based on recommendations of Taylor Wynn , who has an amazing YouTube channel.  I love watching her videos and I like her personality a lot.  She has a great series called 15 Days of Foundation and she regularly does Foundation Fridays where she reviews single foundations.  Her skin looks amazing! She is beautiful! The sad fact of the matter is, my skin does not like the same foundations her skin likes.  Let's keep in mind that I am probably a solid 25+ years older than her and we live in completely different climates.  I also think she tends to prefer a higher coverage foundation than I do.  One of the things that got me into the idea of doing a replacement only no-buy was the fact that I would run out and buy nearly any foundation...

To expand on the Makeup Essentials that I posted about the other day, here are the Skincare Essentials that I will reference after no-buy January.   I will use the same color coding as on my last post: Green I am allowed to repurchase this item and I don't have a specific replacement I need to buy Blue I am allowed to repurchase this item, but I have to get a specific replacement Grey I am not allowed to repurchase or buy anything new in this category if I happen to run out Skincare Essentials: Morning Routine: Acid Toner: This is a relatively new addition to my skincare routine and yes, I know I probably shouldn't do this step in the morning, but it has worked well for me for a while. I used up a bottle of P50 a few months ago, and I really loved that stuff. It is expensive, but it takes a while to go through, so the cost per month wasn't really that high.  I have a couple of other acid toners to go through, but when I am done with those, I will repurchase t...

After I make it through my no buy January, I will be transitioning into a replacement only no-buy for makeup, skincare, stationery, and body care products.  That being said, I need to record what categories I consider something that needs to be replaced.  I have color coded the headers as follows: Green I am allowed to repurchase this item and I don't have a specific replacement I need to buy Blue I am allowed to repurchase this item, but I have to get a specific replacement Grey I am not allowed to repurchase or buy anything new in this category if I happen to run out Here are the essential makeup products that I use on a regular basis: Primer: I use primer because I seem to constantly get samples and I like to go through them, but I don't know if this is a category that I will replace if I use up all of my current stash.  There is a very small chance that this will happen this year because I have quite a bit to go through currently. I don't feel like primer re...

December was a light month for empties for a couple of reasons.  First, I tried using some face wash that my Dermatologist had prescribed and it did a number on my moisture barrier. I spend about two weeks of December sticking to the very basics and so I did not make any progress on serums or actives in December.  The second reason is that I went into work less. I do my skin care routine (more or less) every day, but I don't generally wear makeup products if I am not leaving the house. I had 3 Full sized empties, 4 sample sized empties and used 3 foil pouch products. I had one declutter/expiration. Full Sized Products: 1. FineVine Tea Tree Body and Foot Wash I like having a strong tea tree wash for my feet in the shower. I don't generally use this anywhere else on my body. I tend to try to use very moisturizing body washes, sometimes even body oils, and I like having stronger soap for my feet.  This soap was fine. I don't feel like it was super strongly scented...

Before we start - Some Clarification Yesterday I laid out the rules for my financial project for this year and mentioned that I would touch on each category and go over why they are problem areas for me.  I did want to mention that I didn't say what would happen with any budgeted money that I have set aside each month as the month changes. I will be rolling any unused portion of my budget over into the next month. This will allow me to save up for bigger purchases if needed. I cannot, however, borrow money from my future budget for a current purchase. One other rule I forgot to mention is that any money from items I sell that I already own can be put into my makeup/stationery/clothing budget. This is to encourage me to get off my butt and finally list/post some items I have been hanging on to for a while that I want to sell instead of donate. I want this stuff out of my house and the financial incentive for selling it would be nice. My Problem Categories Skin Care and Makeu...

Its 2020! Today starts the budgeting and no buy rules that I set out for myself earlier last week.  For those interested, here are my rules: My 2020 Budgeting and Spending Rules January is a no buy month. This includes replacements. I have enough products and backups to cover anything I may run out of.  This does not include groceries (see budget below) or the dinner we have reservations for on the 4th for my husband's birthday. It also does not include normal utility bills, the $13.00 for an annual Birchbox subscription that I signed up for last year, the dog's annual vet visit or the registration fees I am going to have to pay for my son's school and summer camp.  It does mean that there will be no trips to the drug store, no eating out, no morning Starbucks runs (though I do have some money on my account which I can use). It means no random Amazon orders.  If I run out of something and do not have a replacement that I can use, I am going to have to do wit...

Recap Last year at this time, I didn't take the time to reflect on the previous year, and I didn't do a good job of planning out my upcoming year.  Because of this, I feel like I spent the first part of the year being inefficient.  I spent too much time on each class in school, I didn't get started on any sort of fitness goals until over halfway into the year and my house went from being super organized for my brother's visit for Christmas to a chaotic mess again. What Went Right Clothing For the first time in my life, I have a wardrobe that works. For every occasion that happened last year I had the right clothes to wear available and that I felt good in. I have to credit a lot of that comfortable feeling to the fact that I obsessively track my wardrobe in Airtable. Airtable is a freemium platform that allows you to better visualize spreadsheets. I have every wardrobe item entered in this platform with a picture, description, pricing and category.  As I wea...