I thought this was going to be a good month, but then again what was I thinking, right? With so many new launches and GWP as well as the release of a great number of beauty advent calendar, I must have been delusional for having thought that. In my defence, the month started really well, but did it last?
Beauty Purchases
| Product Name | Price in GBP (£) |
| FabFitFun Subscription Box (taxes and all that, but also existing credit used) | 43.50 |
| GlossyBox UK (discounted) | 10.30 |
| BeautyPie Super Elixir Microbiome Mist-On Serum | 17.43 |
| BeautyPie Supercheek Cream Blush | 8.05 |
| BeautyPie Super Health Hair Intensive Nourishing Shampoo | 6.92 |
| BeautyPie Featherlight UVA/UVB SPF 50 Sunscreen + Primer | 10.15 |
| BeautyPie Ultra Color Pro Gel Eyeliner | 4.46 |
| BeautyPie QI Energy Double Cleansing Ginseng Micellar Water | 8.29 |
| Nars Afterglow Eyeshadow Palette | 56 |
| Dermalogica Multivitamin Power Firm Eye Cream 15ml | 47.50 |
| French Girl Jasmin Sea Polish | 35 |
| Le Paradis Mykonos Lip Balm | 24 |
| Pixi Retinol Tonic 250ml | 12.50 |
| Muji Clear Care Light Toning Water 200ml | 10.35 |
| Muji Light Toning Water High Moisture 200ml | 7.15 |
| Niche Beauty Advent Calendar | 242.3 |
| Gisou Honey Infused Hair Wash | 27.11 |
| Latest in Beauty Box | 12.95 |
| Sephora Favourites Super Ingredients Set | 30.18 |
| Sinsay Micellar Water | 1.87 |
| Fourth Ray Beauty Cactus Face Serum Boost | 9.42 |
| Fourth Ray Beauty Blue Light Face Serum Boost | 9.42 |
| ColourPop Merci Bouquet Super Shock Kit | 7.85 |
| ColourPop Hyaluronic Hydrating Foundation | 12.55 |
| Huxley PH Balance Toner: Extract It 120ml | 26 |
| Huxley Hydration Essence: Grab Water 30m | 38 |
| Ouai Thick Hair Shampoo 300ml | 22 |
| Pixi Clarity Tonic 250ml | 18 |
| Elemis Absolute Eye Serum 15ml | 36 |
| Augustinus Bader The Cream Cleansing Gel 100ml | 50 |
| This Works Stress Check Clean Hands 250ml | 10 |
Allowance from Empties
Ziaja Hand & Body Cleansing Gel – worth £3.65, I used two so the allowance from this product is £3.65
Bioderma Sensibio Face Toner 100ml – worth £2.98 so my allowance is £1.49
Boots Cotton Wool Pads 50pc – worth £1.49 so this leads to an allowance of £0.745
It’s Skin Cera Routine Hydrating Serum – worth £17.78 so my allowance is £8,89
Dove Exfoliating Body Scrub with Kiwi Seeds and Aloe Scent – worth £5.99 thus the allowance is £2.99
Drunk Elephant TLC Happi Scalp Scrub 60ml – worth £10, allowance £5
Herbivore Jasmine and Green Tea Toner 60 ml – worth £20, allowance £10
Nivea Cellular Hyaluronic Acid Treatment Kit – worth £6, allowance £3
Centecassol SOS Hand Sanitizer 500ml – worth £11.29 so the allowance is £5.64
Ziaja Hand & Body Cleansing Gel – worth £3.65, I used another one so the allowance from this product is £1,82
Molton Brown Jasmine and Sun Rose Shower Gel 100ml – full size worth £22, this is just 100ml so worth £7,33, as such the allowance is £3.66
Curaprox CandyLover Toothpaste + Toothbrush set – worth £12.95 so my allowance is £6.47
CCS Intensive Soothing Foot Salt – worth £9.99 so my allowance is £4.99
Banila Co Dear Hydration Face Toner – worth £14.5 so my allowance is £7.25
Total allowance from empties: £131.25
Allowance from Posts
Reviews: £0 (too busy posting calendar releases…I have been working on the same review since the beginning go the month :|)
Instagram: £5
Allowance from posts: £5
Total Allowance: £136.25
Before we move onto the comments, let’s do the math.
-£880.35 (From August) – £855.25 (September’s Spending) + £131.25 (September’s Allowance From Empties) + £5( Allowance From Posts) = -1599.35
Okay, so my first reaction is “WOW”. For good reason, no? It is bad and a pattern is forming (who did not see that coming?), but for the first time this year perhaps, I do not fell guilty.
I have felt guilty for a while, especially when I got my first advent calendar (the only one so far), but the moment I got it in my hands and got the chance to see the products, I stopped. I am actually excited and I cannot feel guilty about that. It came right at the perfect time, just a few minutes after I heard I might need to go back to the office which is something I am incredibly uncomfortable with due to health reasons and logistics. Long story. The point is that it made me happy and distracted me; it was not even an impulse buy that I got because of stress or anything of the sort. Timing.
In addition, I also got two gifts with purchase this month which definitely contributed tot he higher spending.
I expect the pattern to continue for the next few months, but rest assured, I will continue this exercise and I have no plans on giving up anytime soon no matter what my results look like. I am still significantly down than I were around this time last year and that is all due to this experiment. Plus, I am looking forward to writing a summary at the end of the year. Now, that is scary!
Also, I believe this is the month I finished the most products so far. That is so exciting!
How did you do this month?
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Have you reviewed any Beauty Pie products? I’m super curious about them.
As for low/no buy, the season of splurge has begun so I’m setting my expectation bar low.
You opened the calendar right away or you keep it for December? I’m very much pondering that maybe I’ll also buy this one because it looks so cool. Pity the “interior edit” promo is gone. Did you get it?
I have reviewed the Super Heathy Skin Body Cream and Scrub. Thanks for this! I just realised that I have purchased over 50 products from Beauty Pie (some several times) and finished quite a few of them and yet… need to get onto reviewing more. If you have questions in the meantime, do let me know and I will try to answer them even before publishing the reviews. I opened the calendar as I wanted to ensure everything was in one piece since there is the bath oil. Plus I sanitize everything that comes into the house. In addition, I need to get started on the content for December and first post the review of the calendar, preferably while it is still available. It is really good actually 😉and yes, I got the gift as well plus 10% discount. The gift is… it is not bad, but not anything too impressive either
What was in that iterior gift? I tried to figure out from the picture vut didn’t find information anywhere.
I so easily fall for gifts and “free” stuff.
I don’t have any particular questions about Beauty Pie, just generally curious if they’re good, but I think I’ve got the anwer 🙂 I really like their business model but I don’t have a fixed address in GB to sustain a subscription. And parcel forwarding is sooo expensive.
Totally do the same with sanitizing. I’ve used to do that before the pandemic as well. Just the thought that something I touch before applying it to my face, while the packaging was in dirty places touched by dirty hands, kept in dirty boxes and on dirty shelves prompted me to clean the stuff I buy.
Yeah, that’s my conncern with calendars: what if something’s missing? I want a surprise and the same time I don’t want an unpleasant surprise. And how do I prove to a retailer that my calendar is missing a product unless I record opening of the calendar, although with boxes that have drawers I don’t think a recording is a proof enough.
I know what you mean about retailers but then again, they should believe you without too much proof. I know that in this way some people could take advantage but still… it is rude to the others. The only time I recorded myself was went I got a new TV haha. As for the packaging. I used to wash everything before the pandemic as well in case I have not mentioned it anywhere. I got so many dirty products, especially after Brexit was becoming more of a reality (not sure if related). Is there really no cheap forwarding system for You? With so many Polish people in the UK it is so hard to believe none of them embarked on a curier venture. For my country there are tens, but only trust a major one… still they do exist. I will try to find out from my Polish friends if they ever used one when in college 🙂
Just wanted to say thanks so much for this. I’m a real cosmetics junky but it’s a bit out of control to be honest 🙁 I spend so long on the internet, looking at gorgeous items and searching for GWPs, special offers, sales and bargains! I’ve spent way too much money but the main thing is the time it is taking up is interfering with work and kids… It really does feel like an addiction, it’s scary! I love your posts though, a great mixture of information but also personality, feels very real and I like hearing your opinion on what’s available, something that’s often missing in beauty blogs where everything is ‘super exciting’. But I’m afraid I won’t be reading much more in the near future as I’ve been gearing up to a ban on internet shopping and all related internet use from 1st October. Who knows how long it will last, but got to try! Managed to get the Space NK advent on pre-order and the Harvey Nichols GWP first though! I have soooo many cosmetics and so much skincare, I have plenty to keep me going, but they are SO IRRESISTIBLE! Lol. Thanks again, Emma xxx
Thank you so much for your message. I wished I had seen it sooner. For some reason your message ended up in my spam folder 🙁 I get what you mean though, beauty can be super adducing and expensive and that is why I tried to embark on this journey of sharing my monthly spending so that maybe I would feel bad and cut down a bit, but also because of accountability. It definitely made me more aware of the products I purchase and especially the quantity of products that i purchase. It might not seem like it, but my spending is down by more than 50%!
I am sorry to hear you won’t be stoping by in the near future. I do hope you will have an amazing rest of the year with your kiddos and loved ones. I hope to see you around here again after you decide to start reading more about beauty. 🙂
I know right? You’d think there’d be a ton of those services and they’d be cheap as chips but I couldn’t find anything either reliable or moderately priced. There is one I use but it’s a trial for patience and optimism. Another one I found was picky about the items (i.e. perfume which is one of the reasons I’d need a parcel forwarding service in the first place) and another one specialised in bulk orders, i.e. furniture or industrial amounts. I think I might’ve been not searching right, on the other hand I’d like a business to look very legitimate and pop up high in the results.
Yeah, of course. The first time I used one that someone we know used and they picked up my items when they got around to doing it and dropped them off when they reached my city without any scheduling or whatever. It was my entire London life after finishing my Bachelors. I was not sure if I was doing a Masters, found out the day after sending everything home haha. It was horrible. They woke up my mom at 4 AM and wanted to leave the stuff on the street. Next time around, I found our from an Uber driver about a company he used to work for/ his friend was a partner or something and I tried it when I left London for good this time. I sent several orders not everything at once – these would pick up my items and then bring them to my country after which they would handle them off to local couriers. Some issues with the local couriers (surprisingly and not at the same time) but I got everything in one piece including my iMAC Now I am using their forwarding shopping dedicated service. Really pleased and everything gets here on time as now the local couriers know me 😂 some were kind enough to deliver after hours on their way home as they knew I am an impatient parcel opener 😆 Overall, I sent over a tone (actual one) of stuff during the time I was a student and close to it in shopping ever since. I will try to find out from friends and see if they know of any similar service for Poland. There must be something