Another No-Buy Update

I'm trying to think how long it's been since I started my no-buy, I think it's 4 months now.This time I can honestly say I've done well. Last month I decided I wasn't going to buy any nail polish for a month and I did it - well almost. I actually only gave in to temptation at the very end of the month when I ordered the new Color Club holographic nail polishes. They only arrived on the 1st February, so they don't count, right? Just kidding. I also picked up a Butter London nail polish and lipgloss set (Shambolic) in TK Maxx on the last day of the month, but for £9.99 it would've been rude not to, right?

Other than that I only bought 3 new Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains (still to be reviewed) because I like the first one I tried out, so I really wanted to get a few more.

I guess that's not too bad, is it? I'm actually planning on continuing with being very strict with my nail polish purchases, the only ones I really have my eye on are the new China Glaze Hologlam collection polishes, I just love holographic polishes and I can't possibly not buy those.

Now if only I could say no to eyeshadows and pretty powders... But then what would I blog about they in day out?

2012 Favourites - Part 1: Lips

As it's now a new year, I thought I'd do a recap of my favourite make up products of 2012. I'll only included products that were either newly released in 2012 or new to me, no point in me repeating myself over and over again (I still love Vaseline and Pleasureflush MSF is still my favourite highlighter, nothing new there).

So I'll start with lip products. The brand that stood out for me in 2012 when I think of new lip products was definitely Revlon. While I still love Guerlain lipsticks very much and wear them often when going out, on days when I'm staying in or not needing a bolder lip colour, I often opt for Revlon's Lip Butters. I acquired 10 of them over the course of the year and they've become my most used lip products.

They are moisturising, very comfortable to wear and some of them are absolutely gorgeous and actually pretty pigmented. On days when I don't need to wear lipstick but want something more colourful then Vaseline, I reach for these, and of course some of them double up as lipstick due to their fantastic pigmentation. Raspberry Pie, Lollipop and Sweet Tart are my absolute favourite shades. I did a full review on these Lip Butters here, so if you need any more details, check it out!

See which other products I loved in 2012 after the jump!

Update On My No-Buy 3 Months On

Here's another quick update on how I'm doing on my lipstick, lipgloss and nail polish no-buy. The answer is not too well. Firstly, I'd abandoned my plans for the nail polish no-buy because I just couldn't resist all the pretty colours I keep seeing on blogs and in shops. But yesterday I decided (having realised that I've managed to buy the same colour nail polish multiple times, sometimes even from the same brand!) that I'm really going to have to give it a proper go. So I've decided that I'm going to do a one month nail polish no-buy and actually properly stick to it this time. I now have over 700 nail polishes which is just crazy. I'm also going to do a giveaway very soon and include some of the multiple colours I've got so you can benefit from my silliness.

As far as my lipstick and lipgloss no-buy goes, I didn't do too bad. I got tempted into buying lip products a couple of times, once for a free nail polish and once because I wanted to try a different product (Lip Tars). Oh and I got a free lipstick with my B2Mac empties, but that doesn't count surely? Other than that I've been pretty sensible, so yay for me!

I know this isn't the most exciting post you'll ever read on this blog, but I thought some of you might be interested in seeing how I'm getting on. Let me know if you are on any kind of a no-buy and how you're getting on!

Update On My No-Buy 2 Months On

In case you're not a regular reader of my blog (and why not?), to fill you in, 2 months ago I went on a no-buy for lipsticks, lipglosses and nail polishes (you can also read my original post by clicking here). Well, an intended no-buy anyway. I have been doing well in some areas (lips) and not so well in other areas (nails).

Firstly, the positives. I haven't bought any new lipsticks this month, so that's a definite well done to me. I have bought 6 lipglosses, but those were still (just about) within my limit, and now I've reached that, I'm not going to allow myself any more.

Secondly, I can't stop buying nail polish. I did better than last month (not hard), but still bought far too many. The picture below shows a small portion of my nail polish haul. I have to say, 9 of them came from my wishlist (those gorgeous holographic Color Club polishes on the front and left of the picture and the Enchanted Polishes on the right), and one was sent to me by the lovely Liloo as a prize (the other gorgeous holo by 17 on the right), so surely that doesn't count, right?

The trouble is, there are just too many pretty, glittery, holo polishes out there, and I'm too weak. But I'm trying. I have quite a long wishlist now and I have been better about not just buying things when I see them on a blog or in a shop, so hopefully it's a start. However, feel free to give me a kick up the bum and tell me to stop buying them since I already have enough nail polishes to last me 20 years or so!

Update On My No-Buy

You might remember this post about me going on a lipstick, lipgloss and nail polish no-buy a month ago, so I thought I'd do a little update on how I've been getting on.

I'll start with the good bit. I have only bought 4 lipsticks over the last month and those were all on my wishlist, so that's all good. I have now reached my 400 limit, so now I have to be very strong and not buy any more. I can still buy 4 lipglosses until I reach my limit of 600, I have only bought the 3 Mac By Request ones lately. I've not been tempted by any, so hopefully I'll be able to resist beyond the 4 I'm allowed.

Now onto the bad bit. I am embarassed to say that I have totally and utterly failed when it comes to not buying nail polish. The bag in the picture above contains over 70 polishes and I bought most of them in the past month. This is now a serious addiction I have to address. I think the problem with nail polish is that there are always so many new colours, glitters, holos, it's very hard to resist, whereas once you have 10 red lipsticks, you're pretty much set.

So I have decided I really must stop buying them now. There are a few I absolutely must buy (Echanted Polish Magical Mystery Tour and I Am A Walrus for example), but after that I will write a wish list for every nail polish I see and think "ooh, I must have this" and then only allow myself a few (5?) every month. That way I really will only buy the ones I really really want and hopefully think twice about whether I actually need a certain shade.

For now I have on my wishlist: Color Club Halo Hues polishes (x6), Gift Of Sparkle, Fame And Fortune, Zoya Aurora, Blaze, Electra, OPI Polka.com (Spring 2013), Butter London Scuppered and Shambolic.

Wish me luck! I will update again in a month's time.

I'm going on a no-buy!

Okay, first of all can I just say how much I hate the new Blogger layout? The older one was so much easier to use and I can see this is going to take me a lot of time to get used to. Meh.

Anyway I have decided that due to the number of products in my stash I have to go on a no-buy*. I have been addicted to buying make up all the time for the past 4 years or so and have accumulated a crazy amount. The worst areas are lipsticks, lipglosses and nail polish. I now have nearly 1000 lip products (over half of them are lipglosses) and over 500 nail polishes. There is just no way I can even make a dent in them let alone use most of them up in the next year or two. So I have decided it has to stop. (*I've just re-read my post and want to clarify that the no-buy only relates to lipsticks, lipglosses and nail polish, just in case you all think I'm going to give up buying make up altogether!)

I am going to allow myself 4 more lipsticks and 8 more lipglosses until I reach the magic 1000, and then I will stop buying them. I have given myself a very few exceptions, like limited edition Guerlain Rouge G lipsticks (I love those too much) and Mac Dazzleglasses, possibly Lip Gelees. Do you know what? It's actually been quite liberating to not be able to go out and buy lots of lipsticks, I've been carefully planning what to do with my last few remaining choices, and have only bought 3 lipsticks in the last 3 months. I still have one choice left after buying lipsticks from the Mac By Request collection and I don't know what it's going to be yet. It's almost exciting!

Nail polishes as well, I have bought so many over the past couple of years, it would take me 1.5 years to use them all if I painted my nails every day. Which I don't do. So let's make it 3 years, and that's only using them once each. Yes, it is that crazy.

So I guess what I'm saying here is that you won't be seeing many reviews on lipsticks and lipglosses in the future,  but on the other hand you will be seeing lots more nail polish posts and I will maybe continue with the "Swatching my stash" posts because that way I can also be reminded what lipsticks I already own and not be sad about not being able to buy a new one.

How long will the no-buy last, I don't know. Initially I'm thinking a year. Then we'll see. Right now even that sounds thoroughly scary, but I just have to be strong. I will no doubt continue to buy other type of make up, so that should help too. It's not like I actually need any more make up for a year (or ten!), but I can't go cold turkey. Make up is my hobby, my passion, so it would be like giving up a small part of me and that would certainly not be nice.

Right, enough waffling. Feel free to let me know in the comments if you've ever done a no-buy and how it went.