This year on makeup and skincare I spent $78.61 out of pocket, and without considering gift cards the total was $116.31. (The MSRP plus my local tax would have been $218.41.) I'm so proud of that, not necessarily because the amount is so small, but because of the reason why it is so small.
Everything I bought, with the exception of one item, was on sale or bought with a coupon. But here's the kicker: I waited for those sales and only bought items that I had wanted for some time. I passed on so many sales because I knew they weren't right for me in that moment. I let so many Ulta and Sephora coupons expire because I knew that I would only be buying because of the coupon, not that the coupon would help me out.
For most of the year I wasn't as enthusiastic as I was in years past. The grind of being a SAHM has been getting to me, and I'm slowly coming out of that funk. (Yay toddlers.) Before I would have bought more items to try to reinvigorate my interest. But this year, I instead tried focusing on what I already owned. I took the mindset of if I liked it enough to buy it before, surely I can find some way it excites me now. Were there items that were released this year that piqued my interest, sure. But I can't tell you what they were now. I stopped watching Will I Buy It? videos when I realized that I would have no clue about all these things if it weren't for those videos. Out of sight, out of mind. When I realized there was a hole in my collection I would go in search of something to fill it. I didn't need to be told what my holes were; I needed to figure it out on my own.
Another thing to consider about this total is the state of my collection. I've been interested in makeup (having discovered it through YouTube) for about seven years and have been a member of this subreddit since its inception. Though I rarely post anymore, I still read it constantly, and basically all the YouTubers I watch nowadays align more with this sub than with, say, makeupaddiction. For the past five years I've really been pinpointing what I buy and why. Before I would definitely buy because there was a sale. ("What?! Drugstore brand is BOGO 50% off. I gotta find something to buy!" and "Oooh the Sephora sale is happening soon. I need to watch all ten of these "What to Buy at the Sephora sale videos, so I can get some ideas!") Over the last two years especially the size of my collection has shrunk considerably. I tossed a bunch of expired stuff and things that I just never wore because it wasn't my style. (I tried a few times, but it never felt right. I'm looking at you, blue eyeliner.)
This year I replaced all my eyeliners. I went from maybe 8 to 2. I could have easily bought more, but I learned that I don't go through eyeliner as quickly as I had anticipated, so I chose the two colors I wore the most and could pair with the most of my daily looks. Those two I bought when they were half off. (I figured there was going to be a 30% sale sometime this year but hadn't been expecting 50%. I was so glad I waited and didn't jump on a 20% coupon I had had.)
Instead of buying an eyeshadow palette, I bought four single shadows. It was a gamble because it was from a brand that I had never tried and couldn't swatch in person. I narrowed my wishlist down to the ones I wanted the most and were the most unique to my collection then again waited for a sale to come along. Because it was a new-to-me brand, I looked up sales trends online, and then when I expected a sale would come soon started following them on Facebook.
Other items this year included a new eyeshadow brush trio (This one was like a perfect combination for me. It was on sale, and I had a coupon, and it was from a brand I liked, and I knew I would use every single brush.), a nail polish top coat (I only buy this brand now and had a coupon that made it basically free.), a new nail polish (Yes, it was from that same brand and in a color I've been hoping would be released all year. This one was also free thanks to some Kohl's cash.), three of the same cleansing balms (This alone was $45, but I'm so happy about it. I received this last year as a gift but couldn't justify paying full price this year. I was waiting for a 25% sale that I expected to happen for Cyber Monday, but then another site surprised me by having them 50% off instead.), and a cute brush cleaning set (This was the only thing I bought at full price, but it was only $15 and paid for entirely with a gift card I had been holding onto since Christmas 2017. The theme still makes me smile, and I had been wanting a scrub pad thing for quite a while.)
There are still two weeks left in the year, but I highly doubt I'll buy anything else. There are a handful of things on my mental wishlist, but I know I either can't commit to them right now... Or they just don't exist yet.
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