So I posted my 2017 goals for the new year, but I also wanted to do a beauty goals kind of thing. About half-way through 2016, I looked at my makeup collection and realized how much money I was spending and not using the products I bought. I became a lot more interested in slowly working toward minimalism and I had a crazy amount of beauty products that I hated to throw away but things were years old and had never been touched. This year, I plan to overhaul my whole beauty collection from skin care to nail care and everything in between.
- Avoid buying foundations at all costs until at least 4 are finished. There’s always so many new foundations that come out and I just look at reviews, sitting there like the heart-eye emoji. I admit, I’m a foundation junkie. I think I have somewhere between 9 and 12 foundations now and that is so unnecessary. I love having a lot of makeup because it’s kind of like a hobby for me but double digits is crossing a line. I definitely have enough foundation to last me at least a year so I hope to not buy any but you never know what circumstances may arise. I just bought one more but I’ve decided that I’m done buying foundation for a long time.
- Actually throw out mascaras after 3 months. It’s horrible realizing that my eyes have itched because of the 6-month-old mascara I’ve been coating on every day. It’s so unsanitary and I really need to start writing the date on the tubes to keep me in check. I just realized that my Too Faced Better Than Sex mini has been open for at least 6 months… ew.
- Finish a blush. I have so many blushes, so many that I’ve had to expand the blush section of my drawer. The goal is to finish Tarte Thrilled which is a travel sized cool-toned blush that I will definitely use every day. These products are just getting old sitting in my drawer and I only really reach for one or two so I want to just work one old one down so I can use other shades.
- Paint my nails twice a month. This is for two reasons: 1. I have taken up biting my nails again this year which I hate and painting my nails keeps me from it, and 2. I have a whole drawer of nail polish that I either need to throw out, sell, or start using and I’d really rather not throw more out. I’ve already started this and it’s working beautifully.
- Start thinking about being more eco-friendly with my beauty habits. Once I finish my current shampoo, I am switching to a Lush shampoo bar and hopefully never turning back. This is one tiny step toward being less wasteful but it is a step in the right direction.
- Use lotion every single day. Between Birchboxes, Bath and Body Works sales, and every other way I’ve managed to accumulate about 15 lotions, I have enough to moisturize my whole family for the whole year. I need to start getting in the habit of using lotion after showers and before bed.
- Use a face mask once a week. Face masks are so nice because they kind of force me to relax and they do great things for my skin. Again, I have a million and one minis and 4 full-sized masks so I hope to finish all the minis and 2 of the full-sized this year. Otherwise, my family loves masks so I should start handing them out.
- Wear lip colors again. I kind of stopped wearing lip colors regularly when I realized how annoying it is to go fix lipstick at meals. I think what I need is a serious downsize of my lip color collection so I don’t have too many shades that it makes it a pain to choose one.
In general, the theme is owning less and using what I have. After I started reading minimalist blogs and watching minimalism YouTubers, I realized that all my extra stuff was really just a bunch of extra stress. When I think about it, I’ve spent hundreds on makeup and beauty stuff this year (Platinum at Ulta!) but I still reach for the same things most days and everything else goes unused. It makes me feel a little guilty and it stresses me out that I’m wasting all this money on stuff I don’t use instead of putting that toward a plane ticket. 2017 is going to be a year of de-stressing in every aspect of my life, focusing on not accumulating excess stuff and making use of the stuff I have and love.