Earlier this month I challenged myself to use-up all the odds and ends of cosmetics and skincare products that I have on my dressing table rather than spending more money that I don’t have on the current ‘essential’ products. When I buy moisturiser, I know full well that I already have pots and tubes of the same kinda thing at home, but I just can’t stop myself from thinking that ‘this will be the one product to change my life’ and reaching for my purse. I wrote all about it in my use-up challenge blog post and here’s a little update on how I’m getting on.
First of all, I have managed to stop myself spending on make-up and skincare, despite a couple of shopping trips to my favorite high street pharmacies. While my little sister & my friends bought a couple of bits here and there, I simply sampled the make up on the back of my hand and made of note of what I would like to add to my birthday list instead of making the purchase. I accidentally picked up a Revlon nail polish in the pound store, but that’s just one quid spent after maybe 15 pounds were saved, so I feel pretty smug about that and I think I deserved that treat. What am I saying? This is exactly how I manage to convince myself that I need to buy make-up all the time in the first place. I need to give myself a stern talking-to and not buy the polish next time.
One other purchase was the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle, my absolute favorite hair-care product, that I have nearly run out of and it was on special offer. I know that if I hadn’t bought it this week, I would have finished my current bottle next week and it’d be back up to full price by then. Anyway, the challenge isn’t about going without, it’s about using up what I already have before I buy a new product. Another poor excuse, but technically I’m saving money…
Anyway, the positive thing that I’ve dont this week is sort out my mineral make-up. I was getting pretty low on my normal foundation and I knew that I had lots of odds-and-ends of mineral make-up powders in my ‘face’ make-up bag (yes, I have three – eyes, lips and face). So I got them all out and set about mixing up my own mineral foundation.
I had two nearly-finished pots of my usual base colour, so I combined the two in a bigger pot and added the end of a pot of my ‘warm’ summer foundation. To make the color a little lighter I mixed in some of the mineral concealer powder and some finishing powder. I also had a few sachets of mineral powder samples, so I added them too. A quick shake with the lid on was all that was needed to thoroughly mix all the shades of foundation together and I ended up with a color that was perfect for me. A whole tub of it! Plus I cleared out all these pots from my make-up bag and now I’ve got a go-to foundation that I can use-up during this challenge. I would have usually just gone out and bought a new off-the-peg mineral foundation but now I’ve got a ‘custom-blended’ foundation without spending anything. This feels as good as shopping for it anyway!
I think I might carry on mixing my own mineral foundation in the future, because it’s difficult to find a shade that matches my pale skin perfectly. However, if anyone knows of a mineral make-up brand that does good ivory/porcelain/cream shades, let me know and I’ll give it a try once my use-up challenge is over! Tweet me @Cassiefairy and let me know what you’re using up!
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