Beauty

[aprilskies]

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@KaySD wrote:

Subject: Keeping things "for good"

Well, friends, forgive me please if you have beaten this one to death while I wasn't noticing, but yesterday I was musing on the habit of keeping things "for good." I have thrown out many lovely-but-barely-worn clothes, for example, because I kept them "for good." Apparently, I seldom went anywhere good enough for the clothes, but they were usually the most expensive and nicest ones I owned. Same with having six bottles of perfectly good but ordinary body lotion, and getting an amazing bottle as a gift, only to toss it out ten years later, still half-full. Seems taking an ordinary shower isn't good enough for the amazing lotion. Or I had to use all the ordinary lotion as the price I paid before the amazing one.  I'm sure this habit has something to do with feeling lack rather than abundance, and I'm sure I learned it in childhood somehow. But I want to use the dickens out of my best clothes and lotions, even if I never have anything I like as much again! You can see that this is quite a serious crisis. All my best stuff may really and truly be left as my "estate."

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Oh yes, let's keep this "for good."  We kept things for good and then realized they didn't fit anymore, were really outdated and/or we just didn't like it anymore as our tastes changed and they were barely worn. I stopped that years ago and was one of the best things I have done. 

[aprilskies]

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@FindingMyJoy wrote:

I made it thru QVC Beauty Day with NO purchases! True, I had no interest in the IT TSV but it was still amazing that I didn't buy anything. Other special days, I would have been drawn in to buy something. I will count it as a win for 2017!

I also repurpose items from my stash. Hair conditioner that I didn't like on my hair, used as a shaving cream on my legs. It works really well! Shower gels used as hand soap at my sink. I recently found 2 big containers of facial pumpkin scented scrub from Serious Skin Care. Totally forgot about them after I tried them and found it too abrasive on my face. I'm going to put it in the shower and use them up as a light body scrub.

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Me too.  I was interested in the IT tsv at one point but then changed my mind.  I am glad I did.  

Thanks for mentioning in a previous post about decluttering a few old things.  I kept meaning to do this and finally sat down and went through my stuff.  I threw out and/or gave away what was old and things I didn't like, etc.  of course the old stuff I just tossed.  And I am trying to use up some old stuff but at some point I will let those things go too because I hate how my newer stuff is getting older in the meantime.  Such a cycle.  

Good idea on the scrubs.  I don't really use body scrubs anymore, just don't have the patience but I do have 4 I need to work through. I think I will stick one in my shower and start to work through them.  I had these for a few years now so it is time to move them out.  If I am consistent I think I can use these up in 2017. 

[Oshare-girl]

Another favorite of mine has been discontinued.  Wah!  I used the NYC clear nail polish as a quick dry topcoat (and it's a known dupe for Seche Vite), but NYC is pulling out of the US market.  WHY???  It was only a couple of dollars and it worked so well.  I didn't have a backup and I can't find it in any stores.  Now I'll have to watch more reviews and try to find a replacement that will likely be more expensive.  I'm starting to think that the beauty industry is conspiring against me.

[just bee]

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@KaySD wrote:

Subject: Keeping things "for good"

Well, friends, forgive me please if you have beaten this one to death while I wasn't noticing, but yesterday I was musing on the habit of keeping things "for good." I have thrown out many lovely-but-barely-worn clothes, for example, because I kept them "for good." Apparently, I seldom went anywhere good enough for the clothes, but they were usually the most expensive and nicest ones I owned. Same with having six bottles of perfectly good but ordinary body lotion, and getting an amazing bottle as a gift, only to toss it out ten years later, still half-full. Seems taking an ordinary shower isn't good enough for the amazing lotion. Or I had to use all the ordinary lotion as the price I paid before the amazing one.  I'm sure this habit has something to do with feeling lack rather than abundance, and I'm sure I learned it in childhood somehow. But I want to use the dickens out of my best clothes and lotions, even if I never have anything I like as much again! You can see that this is quite a serious crisis. All my best stuff may really and truly be left as my "estate."

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Oh, don't get me started.  We have explored this area -- along with the area that's related but just slightly different.  Buying items for a life you do not live.  But you go ahead and buy these items, convinced that one day you will have that life.  Never happens.

Sometimes I think that half of what I own is for that life that will never exist.  And most of those items are too "good" to use in this -- my real -- life. 

Ah, the items we save for the day that never comes...

[just bee]

A small victory.  I stopped at Walgreens on the way home because I can't wait any longer for Costco to offer a big pack of my toothpaste on sale.  I needed a tube and I needed it now.  How I managed to get to my last tube without back-ups is a mystery to me.

I figured since I was buying one tube of paste -- something I haven't done in years -- I would analyze each one on the store shelves and choose something new and exciting.  I did.  And it wasn't on sale.  Since I was there, I thought I'd pick up a couple tubes of Blistex for Better-half.

Now that was on sale.  Which means it did not exist in the store.  I was determined to leave that store with a tube of toothpaste and two tubes of Blistex.  I scoured the place and finally found the last two tubes of Blistex in the dark, in the corner, in the back of the store.

And that's all I bought.  Oh, there were tempters all over the place, but I resisted.  And there were brush heads on sale, too, but I haven't even decided which brush head I like for my new toothbrush.  Again, another case of too many choices.

But when I got home I saw Better-half's last tube of Blistex, spent, in the trash.  He ran out last night.  What perfect timing.

My life is so exciting sometimes... I just can't stand it.

[just bee]

Whew!  Thank goodness I didn't buy those brushes today.  They're way cheaper at Costco...

[dosey]

My RX7 hair dryer was certainly not a good purchase in 2016.  It has already burned out.  I've gone back to Revlon.

I have to say that my best purchase in 2016 was my DS's first year of college tuition.  Excellent investment!!  One year down, three to go.

December was a very bad month for me.  I fell off the wagon in a major way.  Ulta and Sephora did not get my business.  In fact, I did not use my 20% off coupon at Ulta.  Instead, CVS persuaded me to part with my money.  I can no longer find Lumene CC cream in the stores, so the hunt begins for a new, affordable CC cream.  Laura Mercier's tinted moisturizer is fabulous, but I really want one that is less expensive.  I am wearing foundation to work for a polished look and less makeup on the weekends.  So I gave in to a CVS sale and bought Cover Girl's BB cream and CG Smoothers foundation.  The BB cream is not a winner for me, but CG Smoothers is terrific!  If it works in the warm months, I will call it my HG foundation.  It applies easily with just my fingertips, is a perfect color match, stays on all day, and looks natural.  And it's cheap!!

I also bought some new lip colors.  After years of ComPacting my lip colors and doing really well, I went nuts at CVS and bought four new lip glosses and two lipsticks,  If I wear just a gloss at work, I have to reapply it frequently, and I do not like the look of just lipstick.  So I have started applying gloss over lipstick, and it stays much longer.  I am enjoying mixing shades.

Speaking of face scrubs and masks, I have given up on them.  They irritate my skin.  The closest I come to using a scrub is when I leave Purity Made Simple Deep Clean Mask on my face for 30 seconds.  It is called a mask, but it is really a cleanser.  Also, Isomers Clay Cleanser feels like it has teeny tiny scrubbies in it - similar to baking soda but not drying at all.  It is a very nice cleanser.

You know that I bought an Isomers four piece kit.  The eye cream and clay cleanser are fantastic.  The BB cream will not be a repurchase.  I am still using the matrixyl face cream but will probably not repurchase it.  Instead, I am going back to CeraVe PM moisturizer as my daytime moisturizer.  It works well with Isomers serums.  So I am making progress on finding HG items (at least until they are discontinued!! LOL).  I have body care and hair care products that I love, as well as many facial skin care products and cosmetics.  I have also decided that I am no longer going to buy prestige lip colors.  Revlon and L'Oreal make really nice lipsticks.  When I put a drugstore lipgloss on top of these lipsticks, it looks great.

Once again, I ordered more clothes from HSN during their clearance.  By the time I regained my sanity, it was too late to cancel the order.  And of course, I was disappointed.  Two of the three things did not fit, and I did not like the fabric at all.  Why do I continue to order clothing when I know I am too hard to fit and too picky??  I annoy myself.

This post seems very disjointed, but I am just too tired to edit.

[just bee]

@dosey

What is it that makes lip color so alluring?  Eye shadow, too.  When I was at Walgreens they had slashed the prices on shadows, balms and glosses and I saw many items that I would have bought without thinking twice not so long ago.

But I only had to remind myself that I still have those items -- I just don't use a lot of eye and lip color.  It's like lotion -- I have it, I should use it, but I don't.  Makes no sense.

But thanks for proving I'm not hallucinating or having paranoid delusions about Lumene CC cream.  It's becoming extinct.  It's out there still, but it's just very hard to find.  I'll keep ordering it online as long as I can, but I know I'll need to prepare for the inevitable.  CG Smoothers, eh?  I don't know... that would mean I'd be forced to choose a shade and I can't do that.  The choice between light and medium is difficult enough.

I'm so not looking forward to this.

Anyway, how's your son liking school?

[just bee]

@dosey

You want a good laugh?  Check out the prices for Lumene CC cream on Amazon.

It looks like Lumene still makes the product but they've revamped the formula and packaging.

The product does not appear on Lumene's US site, but it seems to be available on the international site.

Dermstore is selling it right now, but it's slowly disappearing.  I'm not prepared to move to Finland and I'm not willing to stock up on a product that has an expiration date.

I have a new tube in the stash but will I have to go back to their BB cream?

I guess that's an option.  Sigh.

[just bee]

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ stages of grief/loss:

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

I think I'm in stage 3.  With a lot of residual stage 2.

ETA:

Perhaps I should specify -- I'm talkin' about CC cream.