2016 Skincare No Buy and Make-up Low Buy Finale

Tsk tsk, I know - so very late of me to be posting the finale of my 2016 Skincare No Buy and Make-up Low Buy (click here for the Introduction post) in February of 2017. Nonetheless, given how much you guys enjoyed my updates on this project I embarked on last year, I thought I'd share one last post on how I was doing the final quarter of 2016, and my overall experience and thoughts on this volontary beauty shopping ban I subjected myself to.

In short, I didn't REALLY follow my skincare no buy and make-up low buy anymore from October til December of last year. I wasn't really beauty shopping a lot either, given that about 98% of my energies were focused on the tiny human who joined our family. To be completely honest, I couldn't really be bothered anymore to follow my strict self-imposed rules. So yeah, sometimes when I was slumped on the couch during one of Julian's naps and I needed a little pick me up, I'd go online beauty shopping - mostly at Ulta to be precise. I somehow managed to hit Platinum status there, but in my defence, a lot of the things I buy from there were for my husband or gifts for other family members, so I don't feel too guilty about that.

While I'm not going to hunt down every purchase and list it in this post (not just because I'm lazy - I also think that would be boring for you guys), here are some of the make-up things I bought that I can recall right now: 3 MLBB mauvey lipsticks, one cream finish and two mattes, because that's what I've been wanting to wear the most, one liquid pen eyeliner (as I had none in my collection and wanted to wear one again) and one waterline pencil liner (not satisfied with the longevity of the ones I own), one brow pencil I've had on my wishlist for over a year (so now I own 3 brow products total), one blush and a holiday set from Laura Geller including a blush (not sure how I feel about it, may give it away), a lipgloss and a face primer. I also purchased a liquid lipstick and a new foundation, but returned both - I'm now resigned to the fact that matte liquid lipsticks make my lips look dry and shrivelled up, and the foundation was a wrong shade and I thought made me look too oily in the T-zone halfway throughout the day. Looking at this list, definitely most of what I bought wasn't necessary, and I certainly surpassed my allowance of two products a month. But you bet it was fun and I am in fact using and enjoying my new pretties - the ones I felt iffy about went back immediately. Isn't that the whole point?

The other aspect I wanted to touch on is free gifts with purchase, which I somehow scored quite a lot of in 2016. I'll come clean with you - I really, really enjoy hunting down coupon codes or buying during retailers' special events to get freebies. So even if I'm not placing orders for myself or only purchasing replacements, I'll usually still receive extra products to add to my collection.  What can I say? I know it's a loop hole and if the GWP doesn't contain items I was going to buy anyway, there's no sense in striving to get one - so I do try to only go for the ones I'm genuinely interested in trying. Sometimes I will still receive something that I don't care for, or that doesn't work out when I do test it, and on such occasions I simply pass on the product, be it full size or deluxe sample, to someone else who may get more enjoyment out of it. The same applies to PR samples I'm occasionally sent for review.

In terms of skincare, I purchased two affordable products: a new cleansing balm (my current cleansing oil is half used up already) and exfoliating pads, which I'm already using as I managed to finish some other acid toners from my stash. I could have postponed these purchases until a bit later, say beginning of 2017, but I was placing an order for something else and wanted to get to free shipping (or a GWP, in all honesty), so that's what I opted to do. Again, I don't feel too guilty about breaking my no-buy: sure, I didn't absolutely need those products right away, but I am using or will shortly be using what I bought, so it's not a big deal really.

Back-up drawer as of last update, September 2016

Back-up drawer in January 2017

Throughout the last quarter of 2016, I did continue using up my back-up skincare as well as giving away products I realized I wouldn't use, and as a result I believe that my back-up drawer is looking much better - I even have some space in it now should the need arise to store a new purchase or a PR sample. My husband has also been using more skincare, so I have his help in getting through at least some categories of products, like face wash and facial oils.

Overall, I have to admit that I haven't had huge success with my limited shopping allowances in the last months of 2016 if you look at the number of products I purchased. However, I don't actually care about that and weirdly enough, I do feel succesful about this year-long project. The main reason is that I believe my mentality towards beauty shopping has in fact changed for good. Yes, I still love buying and trying out new make-up and skincare, but I don't go crazy purchasing every new release and most certainly I've stopped buying products which are not relevant to my preferences or lifestyle. I buy products that I enjoy and use consistently. Do I buy too many? Definitely - it's not like anyone NEEDS to own as many lipsticks or blushes as I do. I like having them though, and that's okay.

This is also how I feel about going on low buys or no buys in the future: I think I'm ready to move away from doing structured projects and instead just continue working on keeping a healthy balance between shopping and using what I already own. In the skincare category, I still want to continue using up my back-ups and ensure I'm not purchasing extra products that are not needed at the time. In terms of make-up, I do want to give myself leeway to get something I'm interested in if I believe I'm going to be able to enjoy it right away, but at the same time, I'd like to give some love and attention to the beautiful products already in my stash. If I happen upon something in my collection I don't like anymore, I will pass it on or throw it away with a clear conscience, but I don't really care about 'ideal numbers' or inventoring my make-up - as long as I enjoy everything I own, even if it's a lipstick I only wear a few times a year, I'm completely fine with 'having more than I need'.

I will also be working on actually using up some make-up products from my stash - and not just mascara - and I'll be documenting my progress on Instagram if you're curious to see it. Last year I managed to use up 23 make-up products (both full size and minis, which I counted as half of a product, so 2 make-up minis = 1 full empty), but I think this year I'm not going to have as much time to wear a full face, so I'm going to set my goal at 17 (17 in 2017, get it? Not an original idea by the way but I don't know who started these '16 in 2016' and other challenges so I'm sorry but can't give credit). Who knows, maybe I'll surprise myself and use up even more. Knowing myself, I know these products will mostly be of the cream and liquid variety and not pressed or loose powders, so for my eyeshadows, blushes and bronzers I would like to see some pan occasionally, but not at the expense of forcing myself to use one and the same product for months if I don't feel like it.

Whoa, now that was a long and rambly post to get through, wasn't it? I felt however that I needed to get some closure on this Skincare No Buy & Make-up Low Buy challenge, and wanted to share my current thoughts on the spending bans and panning projects (more ramblings on make-up panning can be found here, and my opinion still stands). Were you satisfied with the results of your limited spending projects in 2016? What are your plans going forward?

Make-up Inventory: What Would Be My Ideal Lipstick Collection?

When I first heard about counting all the make-up products in one's possession across different categories - in short, doing a make-up inventory - my first reaction was a major cringe. At the time, even with the mindset of wanting to only keep products I loved and was using, I just didn't see the point of inventories, other than a form of self-punishment for buying too much make-up that wasn't all going to be finished before expiring.

However, I've recently started looking at it a little bit differently. I still don't understand all that counting just for the sake of knowing the number (unless you're trying for a shock tactic to scare you off any more shopping) but I can see how listing and describing what you already own can give you a better understanding of your collection and hopefully help curate it according to your tastes and needs. This has led me straight to thinking about what I would like to see included in that ideal, well-rounded stash: which color families, undertones, finishes, product types. I've been doing a lot of panning and decluttering these past two years and my end goal would be to achieve that ideal edited stash tailored exactly to my personal preferences - my capsule collection. And since I'm a big lipstick junkie, why not start with the lip stash and talk you through my thought process?

I used to think it would be impossible to narrow down my lipstick collection to some arbitrary number. Last year, I owned two acrylic lipstick organizers for storing 24 lipsticks each. They were never full to capacity - hold your horses - but I do think I must have owned at least 40 lipsticks when my stash was at its largest. And that's counting only standard lipstick bullets; I also had a separate little drawer for my lipglosses, lip crayons and lip liners. Out of those I've had the most of those fat lip crayons/ pencils, and thankfully just a few (5 or so) of glosses and liners.

I reached a big milestone last year when I was able to get rid of one of those lipstick organizers. That was mostly due to doing several declutters rather than using things up, although I have mostly finished 4 lipsticks, 3 glosses and 1 crayon as well. Earlier this year, another big change I introduced to my make-up storage was emptying out my small lip drawer (shown in this vanity tour post) and consolidating all lip product storage is one space, using the remaining lipstick organizer for shorter, stubbier tubes of products and a longer box right next to it for longer tubes of lip gloss or pencils. It was the result of a lightbulb moment - I'm simply not into layering my lip products. I only ever wear a lipstick, or a gloss, or a lip crayon. And since I have multiple color choices across all three, how would I ever know if I had shade or functional dupes (products serving the same purpose) if they weren't all kept together? The separate storage was effectively causing me to reach for the glosses and crayons a lot less even though I had some lovely products in there that I wanted to wear more often. So this is what my current lip product storage looks like in my large vanity drawer, and I'm a lot happier with it.

I have started talking about functional dupes of products quite often in the past few months, and discussing my ideal lip product stash is the perfect place to elaborate on the concept. You know how the online blogosphere is obessed with finding cheaper drugstore dupes for high-end or limited edition products? Usually what is meant here is finding a product in a very similar or sometimes even identical shade - and while I don't wholeheartedly believe in duping because there are other factors than just shade to consider when making a purchase, I find the idea of a 'dupe' very helpful when trying to edit down one's stash. Because while colors, textures or finishes may be very different across all your different lip products, you would usually wear one or the other to suit a particular make-up look, a particular occasion, or a particular season. Obviously your individual decision process may be different, but I believe that's how most of us do it, and given these selection criteria, one could categorize their lipstick collection according to several factors: not just shade but even more importantly, function - or purpose. Do you wear only nudes and My Lips But Better (MLBB) shades to work or school? Do you wear corals or bright pinks only in the summer? Or maybe you like sheer finishes for daytime and fuller pigment lipsticks only for going out and/or weekends? Then there's your function for these product categories, and you can make your keep vs. get rid of choices for all of the lipsticks in that category, often regardless of the fact how similar or different the colors may look swatched on the back of your hand. I hope this theory makes some sense to you - but if it doesn't, here's how I applied these principles to my actual lip stash.

First, I took out all of my products and thought about which ones I wear the most and least often, which ones I like for specific seasons, and which ones I love to pull out for special events. I also reflected how my color preferences have changed somewhat throughout the years, and which of my products that used to wear constantly were not getting enough love in more recent times. I've actually kept these reflections in the back of my mind for a couple weeks, going back and re-evaluating, until I reached some conclusions about what I would realistically wear and want out of my existing collection. Some things I realized: I definitely prefer lipsticks or lip crayons over glosses, I like moisturizing lip products so matte finishes tend to be tricky, I currently like nudes and MLBBs for everyday because I tend to play up my eyes, and I'm not a big fan of classic red lipsticks.

I then looked at my stash, which is organized roughly according to color family, and thought about how many products I would be satisfied with per their respective function. For nudes and neutrals, which I wear often, I own 4 lipsticks - in different shades and formulas - and one lip gloss. I'm quite happy with that number, although I do think I don't need a nude gloss; pale shades in sheer formulas tend to wash me out too much, so once I use mine up (or simply decide to toss it), I won't be buying anything to replace it.

I reach for my MLBB shades even more frequently than the nudes, and I currently own 4 lipsticks, 2 lip crayons, 3 glosses (one unopened) and 2 lip liners in that category. I do think I have some overlap here in terms of similar enough shades and formulas, and would prefer to own a few less (maybe 3 lipsticks and 1 crayon? Just 2 lip glosses instead of 3?), but at the same time I'm not particularly motivated to get rid of anything at the moment. I'll try to rotate my wear of products in this category as much as I can within the next few months and at the end, re-evaluate again - maybe I'll finish some, maybe I'll pass some on to friends and family.

Now for my trouble area: brighter lip products in hot pink, fuschia, peach and coral shades. While I used to use them very frequently, I just haven't been inspired to wear them much this or last year. In the past, I would usually reach for them more in the summer months, and sometimes wear a bolder pink in the colder season. But right now,  I've come to the conclusion that I don't need or want to have a lot of variety here, and having just a few would suit me perfectly.

However, this realization is clearly not reflected in the state of my stash: I currently own 3 full-size bright pink lipsticks, 2 unopened (and slightly more muted/ easier to wear) pink lipstick minis, 2 reddish corals and one bright coral lip gloss. I also own two completely oddball bold shades: 1 sheer purple lipstick and 1 matte bright orange lip crayon. Uhm... surely that's too many for my needs. But for whatever reason, I'm having a hard time getting rid of any of them: they're mostly all high-end and fantastic formulas, and what if my preferences change again and I go back to wearing them a few times a week? I kinda feel like I should get rid of at least one, and some days I'm close to putting it in the declutter box, while other days I try it on and I can't find anything wrong with it. But in the future, I will not be purchasing any more bright shades without reducing what I already own in a significant way.

Moving on to reds and darker vampy shades, while I don't wear them daily - because hello, high maintenance - I still absolutely love, love these shades and will pull them out whenever I get a chance, meaning weekend and evening wear, or sometimes casually in the fall and winter. I don't like classic reds on me all that much and I've pretty much decluttered all of them at this point, but I enjoy the two slightly darker red options I have left. In addition to these 2 reds (1 lipstick and 1 crayon), I own 2 vampy wine lipsticks, and 1 bright berry lip crayon. I don't feel like this is excessive in any way, and I'm happy with what I have; even though I realize these products will probably never get completely finished, they will all be worn and loved quite regularly anyway.

That's it - that's my full lip product inventory and my reflections on what I would like my collection to look like going forward. At the moment of writing, I own 18 lipsticks (including three minis), 5 lip crayons (including 4 minis), 5 lip glosses (1 mini) and 3 lip liners (I didn't know where to include my clear one). However, it's a very fluid number - I feel like most of this year, it's been changing every few weeks both due to decluttering a few items here and there and adding in new PR samples or free Gift With Purchase minis (so far I have decluttered the two lipsticks I purchased myself this year). Overall I strive not to inflate my stash even more, so if I decide to keep something new, something older in my stash will usually have to go into the giveaway box; you know, trying to keep some balance in here :)

I don't think I want to put an ideal inventory number to my lipstick collection at this point, but I do know that I don't want to have any more lip products in my stash at any given time than what I already have, and if possible, I would like to reduce even further - especially when it comes to my MLBBs and brights. (Okay, so I've now gone and put that one sheer fuschia pink I was debating over in the giveaway pile, and swatched two of the unopened minis against my other shades. One of them turned out to be a rose pink MLBB very similar to what I already have, so it's also going. Are you proud of me? So I guess now I own 'only' 16 lipsticks ;). I don't really see any gaps in my stash either, but I would like to try a liquid lipstick in a cooler mauve MLBB shade this year, so that's something I've put on my wishlist for the Sephora November VIB sale. I'm also very nearly out of my clear lip liner and have recently tossed two old lip pencils in a red and a wine shade, and I would like to own one transparent lip liner in my collection for bolder shades of lipstick - so that's going on the list as well.

There you have it; I hope looking at what I own and my thought process with regards to my ideal lipstick stash was somewhat helpful and maybe inspired you to look through your own collection as well. I have not mentioned actual product brands and names here because I wanted this post to be more of a general reflection than a 'look what I have', but if you're interested in the specific products I currently own, let me know and I'll show you everything. What are your feelings on doing make-up inventories and working towards achieving goal numbers for certain products? Is this something that you're already doing to maintain a curated stash or do you think it's completely unnecessary? How would you go about creating your ideal lipstick collection?

My Nail Polish Collection and One Last Declutter

Uhm, well, at least I *think* it's the last declutter for a long while... I've been itching to further edit down my nail polish stash for weeks and thought it would be fun to share my purging process with you. I personally enjoy watching others downsize their beauty collections, but more than the actual products, I'm always really interested in how exactly we determine what to keep versus what to let go of, and I'll attempt to illustrate in this post what my decision process looked like this time.

Before we dive right in, here's a little back story on my nail polish collection. In college (when I still lived in Poland), I used to have about 5 bottles at any given time - sometimes I would toss a shade when I noticed its quality had deteriorated, sometimes I would buy a new one when something caught my eye at the drugstore, but overall, I only did my nails occasionally and nail polish wasn't something I was very drawn to. Fast forward to when I graduated/ moved to Washington state and became an avid beauty blog reader (and a blogger myself) and surprise surprise, my stash started growing - I'd pick up a color every few weeks at the drugstore because it seemed like an innocent treat, and everything looked new and exciting - so why not try it out for myself? My nail polish amassing ways peaked when I started working in beauty retail; not only was it important to present myself well by always having an impeccable manicure, but the store I worked at also carried a wide selection of OPI, Essie and China Glaze along with all of their Limited Edition collections. I bought A LOT of bottles myself in the 1.5 years I worked there, but also received a good number as gratis.

Another small #nailpolish #purge: 14 bottles going out. I've bought 1 new nail polish within the past 12 months. #downsizing #declutter #bbloggers

Zdjęcie zamieszczone przez użytkownika Monika (@rocaillewrites) 18 Kwi, 2016 o 11:56 PDT

But ever since I quit that job and we moved to New York City, my passion for nail polish has been on the decline. In late 2013 and early 2014, I still polished my nails pretty regularly, and even thought about trying out some more nail art; but in the end, I proved too lazy for it. I would buy a few new shades here and there but already felt my stash had grown too large and overwhelming. Now, through all of 2015 and the first half of 2016, I purchased exactly ONE new nail polish. I gave a lot away though - last year I passed on 4 to various family members, tossed 2 older ones and used 2 up (can you tell it was still difficult for me to let go of my pretties?) and had roughly 68 bottles remaining, in April I gave away 15 to my coworkers (Instagram photo above), leaving me with about 53 bottles - that is, until yesterday.

I wanted this declutter to be a lot more thorough this time and my loose goal was to whittle the stash down to the point where it could all fit in one Birchbox lid; even though I haven't been subscribed to the service for over 3 years now, I still use their boxes to organize my beauty stash. I don't know why I pictured exactly that amount in my mind - it just seemed like that would give me the most variety without becoming overwhelming or holding on to shades that were alright, but not my favorite. You can see in the first photo in the beginning of my post what I started out with: 2 Birchbox lids in the front (but one of them holding only my 'manicure kit': files, tools, thinner, base and top coats) and 4 manufacturers' boxes for 6 bottles each in the back of the drawer.

The 'Before' photo of my stash.

I started by dividing my stash into color families so I could both see how many I had in each group, and also be able to compare and contrast shades more easily. I took photos of each grouping and also swatched them all (one coat only) on some sticky tape against a white background - I realize this is not an ideal representation of how those shades would look on my actual hands but it was enough to jog my memory, and much less time consuming than applying everything to my nails.

L-R: OPI Alpine Snow, OPI Ski Slope Sweetie, Essie Urban Jungle, OPI Don't Burst My Bubble, OPI I Theodora You

Let's start with my palest shades of white, ivory, pale pink and nude. I decided to give away OPI Alpine Snow and I Theodora You - the former I only ever used for nail art when I needed a pure white, and the latter just wasn't super great on my skintone, on top of needing at least three coats to look decent. Decluttered 2 out 5.

L-R: OPI Pedal Faster, Suzi!, Zoya Julie, Zoya Megan, Essie Chinchilly

Pink & purple pastels and grey neutrals. Out of this group, I didn't part with any bottles, even though I've never worn OPI Pedal Faster, Suzi! - maybe because I was focused on I Theodora You instead ;) I wear the other three regularly. Decluttered 0/4.

L-R: Essie Absolutely Shore, Zoya Neely, Essie Bikini So Teeny, China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le, OPI You're Such a Budapest

Pastel greens and blues - some of my all-time favorite shades to wear. However, as you may be able to see, Essie Absolutely Shore and Zoya Neely are so close that there's no excuse in keeping both; there's no way I'm going to need a 'back-up' in the next 5 years. I opted to keep the Essie because Zoya was a touch darker and more muted. Which was the same reason I parted with China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le; it's not really a pastel on me, more of a light denim blue, and I prefer both Essie Bikini So Teeny and OPI You're Such a Budapest to it. Decluttered 2/5.

L-R: Essie In the Cabana, Essie Butler Please, Revlon Royal, OPI Into The Night

Darker blues. I'm currently sporting Essie In The Cabana on my toes after not wearing it for over a year, and I love it so much that there's no way I could part with it - just need to remember to wear it more often. However, both Essie Butler Please and OPI Into The Night haven't been worn in 2 or 3 years and I don't think I want to wear them now; Revlon Royal is quite close to Butler Please anyway, but somehow more visually striking. Decluttered 2/4.

L-R: Essie Cute As A Button, Essie Off The Shoulder, Essie Pink Grenadine, China Glaze That's Shore Bright, OPI Pamplona Purple

Bright pinks and purples. I believe I used to own a lot more coral pinks in the past, but somehow Essie Cute As a Button is the only one remaining now after various culls, and I'm not letting it go now - it's always beautiful for a summer pedi. However, Essie Off The Shoulder is just a bit too pink for me and I never reach for it. As for China Glaze That's Shore Bright, it's one of those colors that I love to admire in the bottle, but it's just not 'me', and I don't think I've worn it more than twice. As for OPI Pamplona Purple, I have still never worn it, but I think it's more because I was distracted by other shades and not because I dislike the shade. Decluttered 2/5.

L-R: Essie Head Mistress, OPI Lost on Lombard, China Glaze Merry Berry, Orly Star Spangled

Reds. Now, this is an embarrassing category. I've never ever worn Essie Head Mistress nor China Glaze Merry Berry. Why? Because every time I wanted a classic red - which is usually around the holidays - I would reach for Orly Star Spangled instead, which as result has only half a bottle remaining and is now thick and gloopy. I finally trashed the Orly and am now left with a brighter cool-toned red (Head Mistress), darker berry red (Merry Berry) and a strange, muted, slightly brown cream red I absolutely love in the autumn (Lost on Lombard). Decluttered 1/4.

L-R: Zoya Toni, Zoya Jem, Zoya Payton, Revlon Perplex, OPI Muir Muir On The Wall, China Glaze Naughty and Nice.

Vampy purples, wines, burgundies. First of all, I had no idea I have so many in this color family - but then I love me a dark manicure in the fall and winter. I knew right away two of these had to go: Revlon Perplex because I haven't worn it in more than 3 years (looks muddy and grey on my skintone), and Zoya Jem because I've worn it too much thanks to the splendid idea of including it in a Project Pan. Yes, you can be overexposed to a certain shade, and yes, you can burn yourself out on it even if it used to be one of your favorites. My current opinion is that I will never try to pan another nail polish ever again, especially if it's a nearly full 0.5 fl. oz. Decluttered 2/6.

Misfits and metallics. Here I also knew right away what needed to go: OPI Just Spotted the Lizard because I haven't worn it more than once and don't intend to in the foreseeable future, and the Wibo peachy orange - it has too much orange and too little white for my skintone and I'm never completely in love when I wear it. Decluttered 2/5.

Maybelline Precious Pearl, China Glaze Champagne Kisses, OPI The Living Daylights, China Glaze Mrs Claus, OPI Polka.com

Glitters. I used to own many more, but have steadily been getting rid of them in the past few years; not because I don't love looking at them in the bottle, but because I never wear them, mostly dreading the removal process. I think I've worn Mrs. Claus two Christmases ago, and that's about it for how often I now wear these. My two least favorite were chosen to go, but I think that at the end of the year, I'll have to let go of Mrs. Claus as well - I only have about half a bottle left and what used to be a mix of red and silver glitters now appears to be just one mass of light pink. Huh. Decluttered 2/5.

The last group is my base and top coats and other treatments. I didn't think I was keeping too many unnecessary things on hand, but still decluttered the OPI Chip Skip (never use it, don't see the need for it - you could just clean your nails with a remover before you start), a Trind nail balsam thingy, and some old argan oil cuticle concoction. I will soon be tossing out the mostly used-up bottle of China Glaze top coat; see how red it's gotten? But I'm working through a coral red now so I'll use it a few more times and then call it done.

Here are all of my nail polishes swatched (in the same order & color families as photographed above), with the 'X's marking the bottles that are leaving my stash. Overall, I've decluttered 15 nail polishes and 2 nail treatments. This is actually not more than my polish declutter earlier this year, but I feel that this round was a lot more difficult because I enjoyed nearly all of these shades at some point, and found them all very pretty to look at. But realistically, was I actually using them? No.

And here is my 'After' photo. As you may be able to see, I haven't quite reached my goal - I did manage to get rid of all the boxes in the back, but my actual nail polish colors spill out a bit from one Birchbox lid to the next, which used to house just the treatments and tools. That's okay though; they all fit easily in there anyway, and I can see all of my stash at a glance. I currently own 29 nail polishes, compared to about 70 last August.

Do I ever regret owning as many as 100 bottles at some point in the past? Not especially. For me personally, I think those couple of years of collecting nail polish (or beauty products in general) were very important in exploring the beautiful variety and richness of shades, and then in turn figuring out what I liked and what suited me best. If I've never experimented, I wouldn't have had so much fun in discovering my individual preferences. However, I am now content and confident to follow my taste exactly and don't need to hold on to my 'experimenting tools' any longer. Plus, I'm pretty sure my family, friends and coworkers were all very happy recipients of my rejects :)

I hope that you enjoyed this very lengthy post and thanks for sticking with me to the very end. I would love to learn more about your decluttering process if you care to share, and especially what you personally consider to be 'ideal size' for a nail polish stash. Please let me know in the comments!

Vanity Tour: My Current Make-up Collection and Storage

I've been spending a lot of time lately talking about downsizing, simplifying, editing and curating my capsule make-up collection, but so far I haven't actually had the guts to show you what my current beauty stash looks like - maybe because, uhm, I wouldn't actually consider it a capsule. Just like my wardrobe, it isn't a capsule in terms of only having a small number of pieces you wear over and over again; although I kinda do that anyway by committing to the products in my Project Pans. I'm absolutely aware that my stash is way bigger than what an average woman would need to make her face up, because you know, I used to be that average, non-beauty obsessed woman with just a single make-up bag to house all of her product - imagine that!

However, make-up is my passion, and I get excited when I have an above average amount of products to rotate and play with - but what I'm trying to achieve is ensuring that every single item in my stash is loved and used on at least a somewhat regular basis. If it's not, I need to pass it on; I guess that's how I would define the goal for my capsule collection, which is a constant work in progress. I figured that it could be helpful to show you exactly how much I have (well, visually - I'm still not ready to do a numerical inventory), and how I store it, and maybe show you my collection again in a year's time. So, are you ready to virtually tour my vanity?

The vanity table itself is a popular IKEA Malm model I purchased around 4 years ago, and it's held up reasonably well - although the bottom of my drawer warped under the weight of things I was storing in it, and I have to be very careful with it now. The little chest of drawers on top is also from IKEA from around 6 years ago, I believe it's been discontinued. The plastic drawers under the table are from The Container Store, but I don't keep any make-up products there; I use them for back-up skincare, as shown in this post, nail polish (would you like to see that in a future post?), and my husband's out of season shoes, lol. The only two things I keep out on my counter is a simple mirror (again, IKEA) and my daily brush cup.

Let's start with the large drawer, since it mostly houses products I use on a daily basis - my biweekly/ monthly make-up basket, if you will. Anyone who's ever owned one of these IKEA vanities knows that this drawer has a VERY significant drawback - it only opens about halfway, which means that accessing the back of the drawer is a *tad* difficult (which is also why I had to take out this entire drawer and lay it on my bed to be able to show you the contents more clearly). I use the back portion to store rarely reached for things: my silver and gold jewelry, extra brushes I'm not using currently (I like storing them flat in a drawer as they get a lot less dusty than in a cup),  back-up/ not yet opened make-up (I'm working on emptying that box entirely and freeing some space there), and lastly some costume jewelry - all of the clear acrylic organizers are from The Container Store.

In the front of the drawer starting on the left, I store all of my lipsticks upright, roughly organized by color families, as well as a TATCHA box full of fat lip crayons and a few lip liners - well, the Guerlain space tampon doesn't fit into my lipstick organizer, so it's in there too. Next, we have cotton buds, Avene Thermal Water Spray to dampen brushes or mist my face, and my daily essentials in a little box; these are mostly products from my Project Make A Dent/ Project 10 Pan.

Next, I put aside some space in my jewelry organizers to display some more of my make-up stash: all of my pencil eyeliners, and some vertically organized compacts I'm currently using; a few powder blushes, a bronzer, a highlighter, the YSL Blur Perfector. The smaller compartments help to separate the lipsticks I'm using now. The last compartment on the left that's not filled with costume jewelry is meant mostly for smaller eyeshadow palettes I'm playing with at the moment. And that's everything in my vanity drawer!

Moving swiftly along to the small chest of drawers on the counter, it has three narrow drawers on top and two wider drawers in the middle and on the bottom. The top left drawer houses all of my lipglosses, liquid lipsticks/ stains and lip balms in the back. The small middle drawer has single eyeshadows towards the back, but mostly eyeshadow quads, quints and two bareMinerals READY 8.0 palettes, organized vertically. I've put all of my cream eyeshadows, both in glass pots and sticks, in the top right drawer, as well as random bits and bobs like eyelash glue, sharpeners, Inglot Duraline and eye primer samples.

The wider middle drawer houses face products: foundations, BB creams, face primers, setting powders and highlighters mostly in the box on the left, cream and powder blushes and bronzers on the right - I've shown you this drawer more close-up in my Addicted to Blush Tag post here. I organized all of my larger eyeshadow palettes (both pre-made and freeform like Z-Palettes) in the bottom drawer; you can see all of my eyeshadow palettes in more detail in this post, although I've since downsized some of the palettes shown there.

Phew! Well, I guess this post isn't quite as long as I was expecting, though it's certainly quite picture-heavy. Looking at the photos, my drawers seem a bit cluttered, but day-to-day and for my personal use, I find this set-up very practical and easy to navigate. Please let me know if you have any questions, or if you've spotted something you'd like me to discuss in more detail in a separate post - I'd be happy to oblige. I have to admit that I'm quite satisfied with my stash right now; I'm planning to use up some more products in the next year, but there are also things on my wishlist I would like to try, so I'm not sure how much further I can reduce my stash without giving or throwing stuff away - and I don't really want to declutter anymore, at least not to the extent I've been doing it this year. I hope you enjoyed this glimpse at my make-up collection and storage, and let me know your thoughts in the comments!

The Make-up Addict Tag

This is a very vague tag name for a beauty blog, don't you think? I would probably rename it somewhere along the lines of 'A Nosy into My Make-up Collection and Storage'. I always think that ONE DAY I will show you a little tour of my vanity, but in reality, that day never comes - so better a little glimpse than nothing, right? Thanks to Larie from Eye Heart It for tagging me, it was fun!

1. Which product do you still keep buying more of despite having plenty in your collection?
Leeeepsteeecks. And eyeshadows. And blushes. I'm a touch more tame when it comes to mascaras, eyeliners, primers, foundations, concealers, face powders, bronzers and highlighters - I'm happy with finding just a few that work and sticking to them over and over again.

2. What's the one product you can't live without?
Concealer - the first make-up product I started wearing regularly as a teen. My skin is still plagued by spots and scars, so I'm usually embarassed to show my bare face in public without concealing all the imperfections first. I know it's probably very silly and vain of me, but that's the truth.

3. Favorite makeup brand?
Is that even a legitimate question to pose a make-up addict, I ask you? I actually enjoy buying products from brands I've never tried before, so my collection tends to be pretty eclectic. I like Guerlain for lipsticks (but only have two because uhm, pricey), Inglot, Fyrinnae and Rouge Bunny Rouge for eyeshadows, Pixi for eyeliner pencils. At the drugstore, I like Revlon and Maybelline. Can we stop this torture now?

4. How big is your makeup collection?
Big for normal people, small for hardcore make-up addicts; so I guess somewhere in the middle? It all fits into this ----->

5. And how do you store it?
A small IKEA chest of drawers and half of a vanity drawer (also IKEA), the other half being taken up by jewelry. I store my nail polishes, skincare and so on separately, some in our tiny bathroom, some in a set of drawers in the bedroom. I'm not completely happy with my storage; while the IKEA box on top of my vanity is quite sturdy and functional, the built-in drawer is not - it only opens about halfway, and storing excessive amounts of eyeshadow palettes inside has caused the bottom to warp, threatening to spill the contents on the (hardwood!) floor. I'm very jealous of everyone's Muji storage, so I may try to justify that purchase at some point.

6. How many items of makeup have you got in your handbag at the moment?
Lessee: six. Two lipsticks (Lancome Color Design in Wine Party and NYX Tea Rose, which is part of my Project Make A Dent), Palladio blotting paper, Peter Thomas Roth Mineral Powder SPF 30, a Miss Sporty concealer pencil and a sample of Le Blanc de Chanel from Macy's that I forgot to take out of my purse.

7. If you could raid another blogger's stash, who would it be?
Is it totally predictable that it would have to be Driveller Kate's? That would give me access not only to some Japanese brands I've never laid my mitts on before, but also base make-ups possibly too light even for me. And lots of glitter for the eyes and fabulously bold shades for the lips. Kinda salivating just thinking about it.

8. How long does your usual makeup routine take and how many products do you use?
I've been teased before about how much time I spend doing my make-up, but what my tormentors fail to understand is that I treat it as the time out for ME. I like putting on my slap in peace and quiet without anyone looking, so if I can prolong the process, it makes my day a lot happier. Yeah yeah, I know what you're thinking now - blah de blah, put a NUMBER on it. 30 minutes is a safe bet; mind you, I don't have the usual 'need to get out of the door in the morning' time constraint when I get ready. If I do, I CAN make my routine shorter and simpler; same goes for the number of products, with the minimum being about 6 (powder foundation, concealer, brow product, mascara, blush, lipstick) and the maximum... Ooooh buddy.

The make-up filled half of my vanity drawer, with the shameful box of back-ups hiding in the back.

9. Have you ever bought makeup knowing you wouldn't use it?
Nope - like Larie, I buy make-up to enjoy using it, not just looking at it. Although I will admit that I've started doing this thing where I won't open certain 'back-up' products until the one I'm using at the moment runs out. You would think it's a reasonable process, especially for products like mascara, liquid eyeliners or maybe even foundations. EXCEPT I also do it for lipsticks that aren't even the same brand or shade as the one they're supposed to replace, as well as face powders, primers, concealers... It's quite silly, because now I have mild anxiety that my back-ups will go bad before I even have a chance to get to them. Something to work on next year for sure.

10. Tag a few other makeup addicts to do this tag! 
I have a feeling this is an older tag and a lot of people may have already done it, but I'd love to see Belly of Wondegondigo, Claire from The Land of Lorp, Liz of So Lonely in Gorgeous and Louise of Lilting Grace give it a go - I want to see where you keep your make-ups! Thanks for reading, everyone :)

Springtime Bathtime!

I'm a bath person, through and through. Every night, I look forward to my relaxing soak, lights slightly dimmed, sounds from the rest of the apartment muffled, just my underwater floating pale limbs and... bubbles. Preferrably, lots and lots of fluffy bubbles, smelling like cleanliness, peace of mind and a good night's sleep. Because that's what baths are for, are they not?

Last months, after going through the last dregs of my bubble collection, I picked up a couple treats from Lush and I thought I'd share my thoughts. First off, Dorothy Bubble Bar ($6.25 for 3.5 oz): 'Our Dorothy bubble bar will take you far from the rain and grey clouds to somewhere over the rainbow where blue birds fly (...) The exotic floral scent of ylang ylang, sweet figs and uplifting orange oil will take you down the yellow brick road and far away' (from Lush website). Dorothy is an item I'd been meaning to try for a really long time and I'm really glad I finally decided to give it a whirl. Being partial to both ylang ylang and singing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' in the tub, this is just perfect for me: sensual, warm floral with the feminine sweetness of ripe figs, similar to their Figs and Leaves bar soap. Now, I'm pretty stingy with my bubble bars, so this size comfortably lasts me four baths, somewhat justifying the price tag.

 For some fun in the tub and to try one of the reusable bubble bars, I've also chosen Carrot ($7.95 for 4.2 oz), which was released with their Easter collection. 'This bubbly carrot may not improve your eyesight, but it will fill your bath with piles of frothy lemon and buchu scented foam.' For ignorants like myself, buchu is an African fragrant shrub with an herbal aroma. Carrot smells mostly of sweet Sicillian lemon with some clean musk, simple yet refreshing. It also produces lots of bubbles when held under the running tap water, although the process is a bit more time-consuming than using their regular bubble bars.

Rose Jam Bubbleroon ($6.25 for 3.5 oz) is my current absolute favorite; 'Rose Jam is based on a decadent traditional Turkish recipe for rose jam that our Turkish rose absolute supplier shares with us every year, and is made with our sophisticated new rose perfume.'. Growing up in Poland, I have very fond memories of rose jam, which our delicious donuts (pączki) are traditionally filled with. This rose bubbleroon certainly evokes the feeling of sweet decadence with its powerful but slightly green aroma; while there's very little of the geranium aspect to this rose (which I prefer), it's not musky old-lady either. The coconut-oil center does make this bubble bar more moisturizing than others I've tried, although the bubbles seem to disappear slightly faster.

Lastly, a robin egg bath treat from my Spring 2013 Fortune Cookie Soap Soap Box: The Birds and The Bees bath fizzy ($4.50 for a set of 2). I don't have it anymore to give you a run down of the scent but it had a very pleasant fruity kick to it, with maybe a bit of luscious late-blooming floral. The formula boasts honey powder and sweet almond oil to moisturize the skin, and I did notice a bit of oil residue floating on top of the water.

I also wanted to share how I now store my bath treats: I purchased these two clear plastic food containers from The Container Store and they're just perfect for preserving the scent of the bubble bars for longer. They're easily stackable inside my bathroom drawer, easy to wipe down and most importantly, now I can see what I have in stock instantly.

What's in your bath tub or shower this spring?

Shopping My Stash, Pretty Boxes and a Tea Party

I cannot believe it; the sun actually came out today for an hour or two and I had the unique opportunity to take some blog photos without digging out my light box! So now for something completely different... I just wanted to quickly show you how I've been trying to shop my make-up stash recently, maybe that'll be somewhat inspiring? If not, there are pretty boxes to look at further down and also some Valentine's Day info for local readers :)

After coming back home from our Christmas trip, I decided my vanity table needed a little reorganizing; yes, that's also when I realized just how much unused make-up I have. So in an attempt to rotate my stuff regularly, I purchased this little basket ($.3.99 from Cost Plus World Market) and have been putting my everyday products in it ever since. I don't really change my face products out a whole lot (because I'm desparate to use them up!), but I try to pick out a different eyeshadow palette and blush every week, and I also rotate my lip products even more often. Here's what's in this week's basket:

This way I not only feel that I get much more use out of my products, but it also pushes me to try some new looks once in a while. The result can be seen below - I did a one-eyeshadow smokey eye using a beautiful blue/grey from Sleek's Oh So Special palette. To be honest, I still can't quite decide whether it brings out my eye color more or I just look like someone punched me in the face, but it is fun to shake things up a bit sometimes.

I also purchased two more pretty boxes at Marshall's. I use the black wooden box with an 'M' initial (yep, my real name is not actually Rocaille... sorry to disappoint) at my bed-side table for all my medicines, because I don't really like looking at them. I still haven't found a purpose for the Paris photo/shoe box, but having spare boxes never hurt anyone, right?

Lastly, for all my local readers looking for fun girly things to do over the Valentine's Day weekend, there's an awesome trunk show coming up on February 11 (Sat) at Sweet Anthem Handmade Perfumes atelier in West Seattle. From 12-4pm, you'll find flowers, perfumes and candles by Meredith Smith of Sweet Anthem and Nikki Sherritt of Gabriel's Aunt/Rebel & Mercury, as well as chocolates and truffles by Anne Dowell of Garden Bon Bons and Lydia Love of Chakralat. There'll be tea, gifts with purchase and an opportunity to chat with local artisans. Perfume and sweets? Sign me up, please! Learn more and RSVP at the event's FB page here.

Have you found any new storage solutions for your make-up area? What are your plans for Valentine's Day? Please let me know in the comments!

My Jewelry Storage

I've always loved coming up with different storage solutions; as a little girl, I had a whole collection of various size and shape boxes I used to store my trinkets (and then, piles upon piles of mess on the floor that my mum would go mad about). I enjoy looking at storage ideas on other blogs, so I thought that maybe you'd like to see how I store my jewelry - before I pluck up the courage to show you my whole vanity table/ dresser.


Here's a sneak peek at my vanity; I'm sorry the photos turned out a bit dark, but I guess that's a common problem in apartments in the Seattle area! The dresser is from Ikea Malm range in the birch veneer finish, the same as the rest of our bedroom furniture. The desk also comes with a glass top, but I didn't like the look of it, so bare wood it is. As you can see, I have the bulk of my jewelry in the shallow vanity drawer.


I hang some of the dangly/tangly necklaces and bangles on the cork pin board above my vanity. You can't see it in the photo, but the board has a white dandelions design that is pretty enough to make me feel sorry about covering it with my cards and photos. I got it at the Container Store about a year ago.


Above are two views of my jewelry drawer from opposing ends. In one end, I keep all of my eyeshadow palettes (see the stack of black palettes on the left in the first photo?), then two transparent acrylic containers filled with necklaces and earrings, a drawer organizer box with bangles and bracelets, pins, hair clips and head bands, and some travel make-up bags and brush cases (top of the second photo). All containers/organizers are from the Container Store.

This is the bigger acrylic container where I keep chunky statement necklaces, glass beads and earrings. I don't have enough space to keep everything laid out so most of my necklaces are layered on top of one another, but I can more or less remember where I keep specific pieces.


This is the smaller container where I keep silver and gold earrings and necklaces (umm, and empty eyeshadow pans for pressing?!), pearls and semi-precious stone bead necklaces. This is probably my most worn jewelry, most days I opt for delicate chain necklaces.

I keep my stud earrings in this small box. I try to pin pairs together so that they're easier to find in the morning. I wear these a lot having short hair now. Dangly earrings with short hair are a big statement!

Lastly, this is the drawer organizer with my bangles and hair accessories. My drawer being very shallow and opening only half way, this box is a bit difficult to access, but I also don't reach for most of these pieces very often - I'm having some trouble trying to figure out how to wear head bands with my current haircut.

And that's it! I also keep my more expensive jewelry in their respective boxes at the back of the drawer. I hope you liked this little tour of my jewelry drawer :) How do you store your jewelry and accessories?