No buying (unneccecary!) toiletries in February Challenge!!!

FannyAdams_2

Does anyone find that TBS roll on makes them smell? I got 2 in the bag of joy, think I'm going to have to bin them!

Mingle

3 unbought ins:
TBS moringa shower gel,TBS moringa body lotion - it was my birthday recently- and a sample of TBS chocolate body butter.

One out:
sample of TBS chocolate body butter- some might love it but it's not my cup of tea.

uk_american

1 UU – Clean & Clear daily facial wash – WBA. Cheap and cheerful, but suits my oily skin well. I break out easily using anything with a scent. I imagine this product might not be so good for dry/combo skin though, as it dries me out well. I have a Garnier 'Moisture Rescue foam cleanser' from the US to start on next. No more face cleansers in the stash. :j

I’ve been thinking a lot about this challenge this past month, along with being inspired with everyone’s progress! If you remember from January, I’m the one with a billion tiny travel toiletries. A few thought as I dove back into the bathroom closet.

1. I came to the UK 3 years ago this month (from Germany, where I worked 5 years), with the absolute minimum. 1 shampoo, 1 conditioner, and a few bits and bobs, such as my US allergy medication and US makeup, things I actively use and couldn’t easily/cheaply replace outside of the US. I moved myself, with everything I could fit into a VW Polo and made the move in a weekend. I had one small box of ‘bathroom things’ that has now expanded into an entire bathroom closet and then some!

2. Part of this ‘explosion of things’ is due to the ease of shopping in the UK-it’s similar to the US. In Germany, I lived in a tiny town with a tiny version of a low-cost Boots, and an A!di and L!del. If I wanted something special, I needed to drive 25 minutes to take the train into a bigger town 15 minute away and it just wasn’t worth it. In addition, everything was shut on Sundays, thus limiting that ‘boredom shopping’. The UK has such lovely toiletries, that it’s easy to go down that slippery slope.

3. PRCP – The pink rose candle philosophy. I have a wonderful sonic toothbrush set with all the bits, from the US, from 2008. I have all the UK adaptors. There is no reason for it to live in my bathroom closet when it can be out and in use. Today it came out.

4. I need to remember how long things last before I buy new ones. I have a very nice Olay regenerist thermal skin polisher, which I know I received for Christmas in America, from my cousin. My cousin passed away in 2010, so this must have been from Christmas 2009. I do expect to finish it this year, but I need to remember, as a single household, I do not use large amounts of products. Therefore, I only need 1 backup at any given time, for any product.

5. It is ok to re-purpose things. The cat’s litterbox has been cleaned with reject shower gel, and this seems to work just fine instead of the usual fairy dish cleaner. (She’s a rescue cat I got in 2009 who had always been a flat cat, so her box is cleaned weekly.)

6. It’s ok to give away/sell things if they’ll be appreciated. I sold a few l’occitane travel sizes on ebay; that was ok as it was a bargain for someone who obviously wanted them and I didn’t need them. Growing up skint in America, I feel the need to work every penny to its limit and I cannot stand waste. Knowing that, I just need to find worthy homes for things, or I need to know that I’ll use them: this year or next, as long as they are still useful and I have a plan, I can keep them. As I work from home, I find no reason to wear nail polish, except for an occasional going out weekend. I went through my stash and identified the ones I like the most and bundled up the rest for a younger work colleague who will appreciate and use them. This is ok.

7. I don’t need anything else/new. The only thing I bought in January was toothpaste, and I didn’t notice a difference in my daily life. I have enough ‘things’ at this time, I need to focus on not buying new ones. If that means not going into the shops to avoid temptation, so be it.

I thank you again for letting me follow along, as I try to figure things out.

Adela31

FannyAdams wrote: »

Does anyone find that TBS roll on makes them smell? I got 2 in the bag of joy, think I'm going to have to bin them!

Ok now I am paranoid that I stink! Been using one of these as a deo for the last week

No one has complained tho so all good

sunshineyday

*shuffles into naughty corner, hangs head in shame *

Have been slightly naughty and bought 2 issues of Red just for the freebie nail varnish, then went to nails inc which is never a wise move for me, then ended up in TK Maxx where a Leighton Denny gift set persuaded me to part with my hard earned cash, so a few 'ins' to declare:

Nails inc: nottinghill gate

Leighton Denny:

Vamp
Crushed grape
Tiffanys
Show off
Doing time
Attention
Miracle drops
Corrector liquid
Remove & rectify
Best defence hand &nail cream 20ml

I think I need a 'No buying nail polish' thread!

I also have an out - ReNu shampoo, quite possibly the worst I've ever used. In an attempt to be MSE I even tried to uu this for shaving my legs but the smell is unbearable so in the bin it went

ma-ri-ella

in the middle of sorting through my list some uu/throw aways
no30.random lush ball-ithink it was cinders but not sure.wba i like lush :P
31. dove go fresh deoderant-mini-wba i picked this up quite cheap
32.halloween makeup kit-wba in oct
33.other halloween stuff
34.lancome juicy tube-wba once ive finished all my others
35.avon naturals room and linen spray-strawberry-wnba-itwas nice but have to be careful what i use as i have pets
36,tahitan body mist-going to drroberto
37.schwarzkoff shampoo-didnt do very much for my hair

tokkiandoliver

kiplingmonkey wrote: »

There is a fab Elemis tsv coming up in April - 30ml PCMC, 14 bliss capsules, full size eye serum, full size melting gel cleanser, travel size toner, plus 2 x body products (and it will be under £45) and with a bag .

oh wow! Well if I do really well in my challenges, and use up all my skincare products, I will treat myself to this. Thank you!:)

tokkiandoliver

MoneyQueen wrote: »

I have painted my nails just now with Nails Inc Basil Street and then topped it with Barry M Black Crackle. I did shake it well as it was quite gloopy but on some nails it didn't crackle at all :mad:

Has this happened with anyone else?

MQ

It hasn't happened to me, but I have read that this does happen. Try emailing customer service, facebook or twit them - they are pretty good about replacing faulty polishes.

xoxo_2

sunshineyday wrote: »

I think I need a 'No buying nail polish' thread!

I think a lot of us do! :rotfl: Maybe we should have a nails/nail art thread to encourage to using up on polishes, share ideas for different things to do with our nails and polishes and to talk about good/bad brands and colours :j

tokkiandoliver

ma-ri-ella wrote: »

in the middle of sorting through my list some uu/throw aways
no30.random lush ball-ithink it was cinders but not sure.wba i like lush :P
31. dove go fresh deoderant-mini-wba i picked this up quite cheap
32.halloween makeup kit-wba in oct
33.other halloween stuff
34.lancome juicy tube-wba once ive finished all my others
35.avon naturals room and linen spray-strawberry-wnba-itwas nice but have to be careful what i use as i have pets
36,tahitan body mist-going to drroberto
37.schwarzkoff shampoo-didnt do very much for my hair

I love the Dove go fresh too - smells very "fresh" lol

sunshineyday wrote: »

*shuffles into naughty corner, hangs head in shame *

Have been slightly naughty and bought 2 issues of Red just for the freebie nail varnish, then went to nails inc which is never a wise move for me, then ended up in TK Maxx where a Leighton Denny gift set persuaded me to part with my hard earned cash, so a few 'ins' to declare:

Nails inc: nottinghill gate

Leighton Denny:

Vamp
Crushed grape
Tiffanys
Show off
Doing time
Attention
Miracle drops
Corrector liquid
Remove & rectify
Best defence hand &nail cream 20ml

I think I need a 'No buying nail polish' thread!

I also have an out - ReNu shampoo, quite possibly the worst I've ever used. In an attempt to be MSE I even tried to uu this for shaving my legs but the smell is unbearable so in the bin it went

I'm on a polish for the rest of the year, so let's make the club hehe

uk_american wrote: »

2. Part of this ‘explosion of things’ is due to the ease of shopping in the UK-it’s similar to the US. In Germany, I lived in a tiny town with a tiny version of a low-cost Boots, and an A!di and L!del. If I wanted something special, I needed to drive 25 minutes to take the train into a bigger town 15 minute away and it just wasn’t worth it. In addition, everything was shut on Sundays, thus limiting that ‘boredom shopping’. The UK has such lovely toiletries, that it’s easy to go down that slippery slope.

I'm also an American living in the UK:beer:
I agree with you that the UK has such lovely toiletries - I moved here 9 months ago with a small box of toiletries, and it expanded quite fast too! Hence why I'm doing this challenge too lol