10 Things Thursday: Going Without Beauty & Hair Products {Day 16}

10 Things I’ve learned about Beauty Maintenance this Year

1. I can go wayyyy longer in between highlights than I thought. 

I used to get my hair highlighted every 6-8 weeks. For the spending fast, I allotted my 2013 Christmas money-- $250- to be used for the entire year for highlights and they usually run me $80-$150 per visit. My parents are part of a barter system (mydad owns a store and trades services via a national network) that includes a salon. LUCKY ME! So as long as I schedule my hair appointments when I am visiting them in Chicago, I just pay the tip. I have enough money for only one more appointment and am going to go darker than my usual blonde to help me make it to January without any touch-ups.

2. Suave Sucks.

My rule for the year was, “If I run out of something, I have to buy the cheapest.” And it is killing my hair! I’m working with straw here people! Thankfully, I mistakenly signed up for a monthly shipment of WEN conditioner (have you seen the infomercials? Chaz Dean?) last year so that has helped balance out this rubbing alcohol I’m applying every time I shampoo. ALSO, get this: my kids dumped my beloved Pureology Shampoo down the bath-tub drain early this Spring. Y’all, it was two-thirds full. They got ahead of me when it was time for baths (rookie mistake) while I was cleaning something in the kitchen and I could smell its sweet scent from the top of the stairs and started running towards the bathroom like there was a fire. I literally cried. Like a baby. This was surely the lowest point of my fast.

3. Cheap make-up totally works. 

I love you E.L.F. This $3 baby is one of my favorite products I got when I ran out of bronzer (that was the rule, I could buy something if I had completely run out; but again, it had to be the cheapest option)

4. Nobody cares how I look. I am a stay at home mom with boogers on my shirt.

5. I can get by a WHOLE YEAR (it’s happening people) using up the old make up and hair goop I have under my sink. 

Using beauty products until they’re absolutely gone is an actual thing. I am the queen of using a product until it’s almost gone, buying a new one, but keeping the old container with the itty bit left to use up during this time called LATER. LATER never comes and when it’s time to move yet again, I fill up multiple garbage bags with almost empty shampoo bottles.

All these products are basically used up, and guess what? I'm still not throwing them out. I am finishing this post and then putting them right back under my sink where they belong! 

6. Gift cards can get ya through. 

Here are the gift cards I had this year and what I bought with them:

a.       Sephora: liquid eye-liner and lipstick

b.      Ulta: NYX (new discovery, this brand is so cheap and amazing) concealer

c.       Target: Rimmel lash accelerator mascara (this is my fav drugstore brand)

d.      Amazon: I wrote a post on this, but using our Amazon points I got a Bare Minerals start up kit and a new eyelash curler

7. Unconventional Methods are Totally Appropriate:

I started cutting my own bangs, and when we joined our fancy gym instead of using the credit they give you for signing-up towards extra Pilates classes, I used it all to get my eyebrows waxed in the spa and my first haircut of the year. I felt like a kid at Christmas!

8. This is obvious-- but I use less of the products I love most to make them last longer. 

It isn’t a free for all anymore when I’m applying loose powder, I actually care if I'm spilling it everywhere.

These are my favorite beauty products that have been with me since January 1^st thanks to how sparingly I use them:

Estee Lauder Dual Concealer

Benefit Highlighting Stick

Too Face Eye Shadow Pallet

Philosophy's 'The Present' primer

9. Instead of buying a new product I've gotten better at using the products I have.

I love beauty blogs. At least I did when I had time to read them. One of my favorites is Maskcara.com. Her before and after’s are amazing and she is seems wonderful as a person. Her tutorials are great for everyday make-up. This is a fun way to get better at using the products you already have to achieve a different look. Just don’t get sucked into thinking you have to buy everything she recommends! Her lists of products are one of the reasons I had to start a spending fast in the first place, I am a sucker for new make-up!

10. It helps if the people you love send you make-up.

 My best friend Katie sent me Younique 3D Mascara for my birthday and I loved it so much I start selling it! My Aunt Diane is wonderful, and she is a manager for Origins at a Macy’s store in Wisconsin. For Mother’s Day this year she sent me a huge stash of samples and a new make-up bag! 

What products are hiding under your sink? Do you struggle with using things up completely? This hording tendency has really come in handy during the spending fast. I have barely had to buy anything. But beauty lesson learned: if you do a fast yourself, don't include eye-brow waxes-- ain't nobody got time for all that plucking!