After last weeks evacuation I've been Thinking a lot. These aren't new thoughts, they're things that have been on my mind for a while, brewing away. 

I've known for a while that I don't value most of the things in our house. Most of it is just stuff. Stuff that I want to get rid of. What really struck me last week though is that I don't value most of my beauty collection. It used to be something that I loved and treasured. Last week I realised that I no longer treasure it. As I was packing I looked at everything and didn't chose to take anything other that my every day Makeup bag. The rest I was happy to leave behind. It's all just stuff. 

Stuff that sometimes feels like it's holding me back. Stuff that I don't want any more. I don't want the mess, I don't want the clutter, I just don't want so much stuff. 

At the end of last year I did another big clean up of the boys toy room. I've done it countless times before and every single time they've messed it up again within a few days. This time I got rid of almost everything. They barely play with their toys so I got rid of them. I got rid of all the books that they're too old for and a whole pile of rubbish that was floating around the room.

With the things that they wanted to keep I implemented a rule. If they don't play with it for four weeks then it's going. I'm only going to keep things that they play with. 

I need to do the same thing in my room, go through and have a big clean out. I have so much stuff in there and I don't need it all, it can go. 

Clutter annoys me. It makes me feel overwhelmed, frustrated and annoyed. The big problem we have with this house is that there is no storage so all the clutter is visible and I hate it. Plus, every thing in the house cost, so all the clutter is money we spent, money we worked for. Was it worth it?

I've been thinking a lot about my beauty collection and have come to realise that I don't love it any more. I don't get the fun and enjoyment out of it that I used to. It just feels like a habit or an obligation. In the past I loved playing around with my make-up. I had it all organised and would rotate through things as I tried out different looks. I don't have the time or the desire to do that any more.

There are a few things I'd like to normalise this year. I'd like to normalise showing used make-up online. Most the posts show brand new make-up which means that when people get something new they can't try it out until they've taken photos. Doing that means it takes all the excitement out of using a new product and puts the excitement on purchasing the product. To me that seems like a really big problem. If you only get excitement out of buying the product and not using it, then you constantly want to purchase new things. 

If you can use something as soon as you buy it then the excitement switches to being about the new product and you love using it for weeks or months. 

I'd like to normalise not buying all the latest releases. Let's face it, there's not much that we haven't seen before. It might have different packaging or a cool applicator, but chances are if you have a large collection you'll have something very similar already. We seem to be all about having the latest and greatest fad, but fads are so short, they come and go quickly. A few months ago it was Clinique Black Honey, now it's Revlon Glass Shine Rum and Raisin. They're nearly identical. And both of them are very similar to the Nivea lip balms in Blackberry and Pomegranate. 

Even if it is something new and different, will you really use it? I have a daily make-up bag with the products I use every day. They're the same. They've been the same for a long time. I always use the same or similar products so what's the point in having a large variety of products when I won't use them? Pre kids I'd do a different look every day. I don't do that any more and haven't for years, yet I still buy different products thinking I'll use them. If my make-up wearing habits have changed then my purchasing habits need to change too. 

 

I'd also like to normalise having the same favourites all the time. I stopped doing monthly favourites but I'm thinking about doing them again just to show what I'm using and loving. There might be a few changes when the seasons change, but most of the time it'll be the same reliable products. 

I'm not planning on doing a no buy or low buy this year. I'm not going to have a target of how many products I want to use up. I'm just going to use what I love, love what I have and seriously think about my purchasing habits. When I was thinking about what make-up I didn't want to lose it was my daily make-up bag, MAC Not Humble, Just Bragging lipstick and my Bobbi Brown Blue Raspberry lipstick. That's it. Sure, there are other products I'd miss but they can all be easily replaced. In fact, everything in my make-up bag could be easily replaced, it'd just be an inconvenience.

I'll do a post next week showing my every day make-up products. Whilst I don't always buy the same product, I use the same things every day.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Are you on a no buy or low buy or just trying to be a more conscious consumer? I'd love to hear your thoughts.