Beauty

[just bee]

I'm drinking all my old teas. I have all these "stray" teas in the cupboard but I'm determined to use them all before I buy more. Right now I'm drinking Italian almond tea. This might be a good thing. When I was drinking my sturdy British teas, I was adding heavy cream to them. Now that I'm drinking teas that are expired and somewhat insipid, I haven't used any cream.

Same story with shampoo and conditioner. I'm working on using up every one before I invest in another. One bottle at a time...

And now that I have new frames (the modified cat's eye in pale gold) I'm wearing all the gold earrings and rings that have been sitting, forgotten, in drawers for years. And I started wearing Lumene CC cream which is considerably lighter than the BB cream so that has encouraged me to use some of the makeup that was sitting in drawers, unused, too. I'm wearing eye shadow and lip color again. Might as well use it, right?

It's almost like a big shopping spree without spending a dime. Suddenly I have all this "new" stuff to play with.

[willdob3]

Love the turtleneck photos! But, unless my neck magically grows a few inches longer, I am unlikely to ever own one.

I'm doing very well at not spending on unnecessary beauty items. I'm living by the no-see, no-temptation rule. I know what temps me online so I am staying away from presentations & even checking to see what is for sale. I don't even want to know what new products are coming out. I don't want to buy.

I just used up the last of my facial cleanser & decided to try Dawn (thanks to the threads on it here & the huge number of articles I found about it when I did an Internet search) instead of getting a new facial cleanser to try. I already had the Dawn so I did not have to buy any.

I have not bought any clothes this month & probably won't. I would like to get a pair of white jeans but I have not found any I like & am losing interest at this point. I'm enjoying "window shopping" online & streaming clothing presentations but I'm doing it knowing I am not going to be buying anything. It is just fun & I add things to my QVC Wish List or HSN Favorites for sometime in the future.

I made an Executive Decision about the ORC. I am taking a break from it for a while. I'm busy with other things right now & all the ORC is doing is stressing me out even more than life is doing anyway. I will come back to it in a few months.

[willdob3]

On 7/14/2014 just bee said:

On 7/14/2014 Beauty$Junkie said:

I am still with you all and so appreciate all your comments. I still have so much stuff but continue to be a work in progress. I have not bought any beauty items this year, and just a few clothing items. I did make my own baby wipes using baby wash I had, boiled water and coconut oil. I cut a roll of Bounty paper towels in half and put it in a Folgers coffee container. It works great, I had the baby wash on hand, and no irritants that are often in the other wipes. I found someone wanting my golf clubs so they are going out of the garage. One day at a time. I am using what I have, as I can't bear to throw it out and start over again. Good luck to all of you. My husband has been so patient with all my stuff, also, and that has really helped not to beat myself up over all these purchases. I am encouraged when I see a 32 oz body wash standing on end. Crazy, I know.

I know exactly the feeling you mean.

I love that feeling!

I've got a huge container of shampoo that I'm getting the final uses out of now. I thought I'd never see the end of it! I got the same shampoo in a smaller size, BOGO free, at Sally's a couple months ago. I think those will see me through next year - or most of it.

[willdob3]

On 7/20/2014 Dosey said:

Hi, everyone! It is always nice to read everyone's comments. Thank you for your kind words, dperry. We do have a great group of people here, don't we? Can you see us all living near each other? ... Uh oh! The UPS truck is at aprilskies' house. What did she order? INTERVENTION! INTERVENTION! ... It would be hilarious!!

The past week has been a struggle. My bladder went slightly nuts. I was afraid it was bleeding, again, because of the swelling and bubbly feeling. Fortunately, the medication kicked in after several days, and I started feeling better on Friday. Today has been a great day. Swelling gone. Thank goodness for maxi dresses. I could not tolerate pants.

There are a few fashion websites that I enjoy reading. I know. That doesn't help me, but sometimes I get ideas for doing something with what I already own. Anyway. One of the websites I like is alreadypretty.com. On this site, Sally posted a link to recoveringshopaholic.com. I swear to you it was like I wrote some of her posts. I started reading her most recent articles but decided to go to the archives and start from the beginning.

In one of the articles, Debbie quotes another blogger about eliminating clothes we keep in our closets but do not wear. Basically, she said when looking at a garment that you cannot let go, ask yourself under what circumstances would you choose to wear it instead of something that you love. That was all I needed to read. I went through my closet last night and tried on a bunch of tops, jackets, and cardigans. Anything that was in my closet but had not been worn in a year was tried on. Each time, I asked myself that question. By the time I was done, I had dozens of things folded, in bags, and ready to donate. I threw out some old shoes and donated several pairs. Pants did not need addressing because the last time I purged my closet I did a thorough job in this area and like and wear everything I have.

I still have a few things on hold. They are long-sleeve, layering turtlenecks. I am not sure about these. They are in great shape, but I am not always comfortable wearing two layers on my arms indoors. If the heat is set too high, I am miserable. Because these tops do not look good (to me) on their own, taking off a layer would not be an option. I bought these when it was trendy to wear a short-sleeve layer over a long-sleeve top.

Yesterday, that darned Sephora in JCP sent me a card for a free lip gloss. The card was also introducing some new lip glosses and lipsticks. My kryptonite. At the same time, that darned Ulta sent me a 20% coupon (only 10% off prestige brands). What are they trying to do to me? It's sabotage, I tell you. I have been doing so well using what I have.

I need to stir my spaghetti sauce. Back in a few.

lol @ the intervention comment! What a woot that would be!

I love the closet ideas! It really is true. Keep what you love & wear. Even if something is new & has the tags on it, if you keep choosing other things to wear and the tags are still on months later, get rid of it. When I started losing weight & was going through old clothes that had been too small I found a few things that still had tags on them. I thought I'd wear them but some lost their appeal over the years. and some things I had loved wearing just looked dated to me. I struggled for a while but finally donated or took them to consignment. I realized I was never going to wear them.

Shoes are hard to get rid off! I really have no choice because my feet shrunk but it is still tough. I have a few pairs of like new ones waiting to be taken to consignment when they start taking fall clothes but that will be the last of the ones I need to get rid of. Most were tossed earlier in the year. I think 2 pairs went to consignment. If the shoes still fit I am sure they'd still be in my closet but I have never had tons of shoes. That may happen next year though... lol...

[Eager2Learn]

Oh my gosh, I'm such a dunce! A while back I grabbed a conditioner from my stash and placed it in the bathroom since I was running low.

This morning, in the shower I shampooed and towel dried my hair. Then I grabbed the new conditioner and applied. To my surprise, the conditioner started foaming. I thought wow, that's different!

Well, I just went to take a better look at my new conditioner. You guessed it! It's shampoo!

Now, I'm wondering, if I shampooed twice and didn't use conditioner today and my hair looked good, why am I using conditioner?

[Oshare-girl]

I just hit the big digit+0 bday and am having so much clarity! I finally donated several Coach and Dooney purses to my local Dress for Success. I have been hanging onto them for a few years because they no longer fit my purposes but I wanted to make sure someone got good use of of them. After all, they were not cheap. Duh! DFS was the perfect solution! They also take unused cosmetics so I took the plunge and donated my backups from the stash. Why was I even holding onto backups when I can't even finish the one?! I am learning that having a stash is not security. In fact, it's the opposite of security because I tied up all that cash in unused things. When I could have put it to other uses. I was also wearing a pair of Vince Camuto pumps that I thought were so Comfy when I bought them. Somehow over time, they changed and hurt my toes now. I was going to put them back in my shoe cabinet for a time when I don't need to actually walk around. Another duh! I always have to walk so why even keep them? I'm going to donate the to DFS because they're still in pretty good shape. Since I hated walking in them, I hardly wore them. I have also matured half a size in Clothes which I was in denial over. Why torture myself in ill-fitting outfits? I donated those slightly tight clothes to DFS also. I almost had an epiphany. I said I loved having variety that's why I had so much of everything. But really, I have my "look" and I rarely veer from it. I don't need variety. Ah, there's a little more space all over the place. I'm loving it. And loving being digit+0 too!

[just bee]

On 7/24/2014 Oshare-girl said: I just hit the big digit+0 bday and am having so much clarity! I finally donated several Coach and Dooney purses to my local Dress for Success. I have been hanging onto them for a few years because they no longer fit my purposes but I wanted to make sure someone got good use of of them. After all, they were not cheap. Duh! DFS was the perfect solution! They also take unused cosmetics so I took the plunge and donated my backups from the stash. Why was I even holding onto backups when I can't even finish the one?! I am learning that having a stash is not security. In fact, it's the opposite of security because I tied up all that cash in unused things. When I could have put it to other uses. I was also wearing a pair of Vince Camuto pumps that I thought were so Comfy when I bought them. Somehow over time, they changed and hurt my toes now. I was going to put them back in my shoe cabinet for a time when I don't need to actually walk around. Another duh! I always have to walk so why even keep them? I'm going to donate the to DFS because they're still in pretty good shape. Since I hated walking in them, I hardly wore them. I have also matured half a size in Clothes which I was in denial over. Why torture myself in ill-fitting outfits? I donated those slightly tight clothes to DFS also. I almost had an epiphany. I said I loved having variety that's why I had so much of everything. But really, I have my "look" and I rarely veer from it. I don't need variety. Ah, there's a little more space all over the place. I'm loving it. And loving being digit+0 too!

[aprilskies]

On 7/23/2014 Eager2Learn said:

Oh my gosh, I'm such a dunce! A while back I grabbed a conditioner from my stash and placed it in the bathroom since I was running low.

This morning, in the shower I shampooed and towel dried my hair. Then I grabbed the new conditioner and applied. To my surprise, the conditioner started foaming. I thought wow, that's different!

Well, I just went to take a better look at my new conditioner. You guessed it! It's shampoo!

Now, I'm wondering, if I shampooed twice and didn't use conditioner today and my hair looked good, why am I using conditioner?

LOL about the shampoo switch. I stopped using conditioner about a month ago or longer. I just didnt think it was doing much really and I use a leave in of some sort anyway. I actually like my hair better. I do use a deep conditioner though every time I color it but that is really every 4 weeks or sooner, especially in the summer.

[aprilskies]

On 7/24/2014 just bee said:

On 7/24/2014 Oshare-girl said: I just hit the big digit+0 bday and am having so much clarity! I finally donated several Coach and Dooney purses to my local Dress for Success. I have been hanging onto them for a few years because they no longer fit my purposes but I wanted to make sure someone got good use of of them. After all, they were not cheap. Duh! DFS was the perfect solution! They also take unused cosmetics so I took the plunge and donated my backups from the stash. Why was I even holding onto backups when I can't even finish the one?! I am learning that having a stash is not security. In fact, it's the opposite of security because I tied up all that cash in unused things. When I could have put it to other uses. I was also wearing a pair of Vince Camuto pumps that I thought were so Comfy when I bought them. Somehow over time, they changed and hurt my toes now. I was going to put them back in my shoe cabinet for a time when I don't need to actually walk around. Another duh! I always have to walk so why even keep them? I'm going to donate the to DFS because they're still in pretty good shape. Since I hated walking in them, I hardly wore them. I have also matured half a size in Clothes which I was in denial over. Why torture myself in ill-fitting outfits? I donated those slightly tight clothes to DFS also. I almost had an epiphany. I said I loved having variety that's why I had so much of everything. But really, I have my "look" and I rarely veer from it. I don't need variety. Ah, there's a little more space all over the place. I'm loving it. And loving being digit+0 too!

That really is great. I think that is such a good feeling to pare down and let things go. What a great cause.

[aprilskies]

Alright, ladies. I am feeling a little successful in holding off on the Skinn anniversary that is going on. ...so far anyway. He has the body oil in the tvv and I wanted to try that but I dont like the cleansers and dont need a dermapeel so the kit is not worth it to me but it is tempting. I have barely touched my skinn products from last year and earlier this year. My renewed goal is to finish what I have first, skinn and otherwise, before bringing anything new home. Why are trying out products so much fun? Well, I think they are fun and I bring them home and there they sit in the cabinet. So nutty.

I hope everyone is doing well.