Another month, another epic failure and to think I was doing so well. It is what it is, let’s see what caused it though and how far was I from making July a major success.
Purchases
Then I Met You The Giving Essence – £38.4
Then I Met You Birch Milk Refining Toner – £24.8
Cocofloss Single – Strawberries Strawberries – £6.72
Scientia Green Supreme CBD Vegi-Tox Smoothie Serum – £22.4
Scientia Pure Clarity Targeted Blemish Paste – £12.8
Scientia Peach and Glow Hydra Skin Tonic – £19.2
Coco and Eve Super Hydrating Shampoo – £18.32
Then I Met You Calming Tide Gel Cream -£32.8
Ziaja Hand and Body Gel 400ml – 2 x £4.5
Total amount spent: £184.44
Allowance from Empties
Makeup Drop Hybrid – worth £14.47
Ziaja Hand and Body Wash 400ml – worth £2.9
Elizabeth Arden Advanced Ceramide Capsule x1 – worth £1.13
MDO by Simon Ourian MD Vitamin C Glow Ampoules x 1 – worth £6.28
Paula’s Choice Water Infusing Electrolyte Moisturiser 15ml – worth £9.6
Pull&Bear Musk Coconut Hand Sanitiser Spray – worth £4.57
Sisley Sisleya L’Integral Anti Ageing Eye and Lip Contour Cream – worth £20.6
Ziaja Fortifying Goat Milk Shampoo 400ml – worth £2.78
Valmont Vital Falls Toner 30ml – worth £16.2
Ziaja Olive Oil Micellar Lotion – worth £2.89
Thank You Farmer True Water Deep Cotton Mask – worth £2.76
Kocostar Ice Cream Waffle Sheet Mask – worth £1.82
111Skin Sub-Zero De-Puffing Energy Facial Mask – worth £20
Ziaja Hand Cleansing Wash 200ml – worth £2.62
Ziaja Hand and Body Wash 200ml – worth £1.55
Miniso Thick Pure Cotton Makeup Remover Pads (set fo 180) – worth £1.72
Ziaja Cupuacu Crystalline Shower and Bath Soap – worth £3.11
Bioderma Sebium Face Toner 250ml – worth £6.71
Beauty Pie Uber Youth Super Eye Energy Peptide Infusion Cream – worth £9.38
Caudalie Vinoperfect Instant Brightening Moisturiser 15ml – worth £10.5
In total, I used up £141.59 worth of product in July which means that my allowance from empties is £70.79 so half.
Allowance from reviews
Soroci Organic Skin Toner – you can access the review here.
111Skin Sub-Zero De-puffing Energy Facial Mask – you can access the review here.
Thank You Farmer True Water Sheet Mask – you can read more about my experience with this product here.
Ziaja Goat Milk Shampoo – read the review here.
The Hybrid MakeupDrop – read the beauty sponge review here.
Pull & Bear Hand Sanitiser Spray – read the review here.
Dr Barbara Sturm Balancing Toner – you can find the review here.
Allowance from reviews: £35 + £1 from social media (Instagram post)
Once again I nearly made it till the end of the month without making any purchases. It seems that I keep on choosing the wrong months for this “extra” assignment. The Cult Beauty Unsung Heroes Goody Bag was quite tempting due to the fact that some of the products we have not really seen included in the past in beauty offers or gifts, or at least we have not seen them often enough. However, despite the fact that I had my basket all ready to go, I had decided to pass on it. Until the 20% discount happened, that is. Once Cult Beauty decided to offer a 20% discount and did not exclude the goody bag from the promo, I decided to go for it. It was too good of a deal to skip so I did not skip it.
I don’t regret my choice, but it would have been nice to have a zero purchases month especially since the advent calendar season is, well, here. In case you missed it, the US QVC beauty advent calendar is already out.
Other than the generous offer from Cult Beauty, the fact that I have been impatient to try products from Then I Met You definitely played a huge role in me making a purchase. This is a brand I have been following on social media for several years and could not wait to see their products available in Europe. Scientia is also a brand that I have been curious to try for the past several months so I won’t deny that I was intrigued (you can probably tell anyway), but the biggest push did came from the allure of finally trying Then I Met You. After the discount, I did not even try and get the goody bag with a purchase of £140 or so, but rather added the Calming Tide Gel Cream from Then I Met You to the basket to reach the original threshold. Let’s see how that panned out…
£70.79 (Allowance from Empties) + £36 (Allowance from Posts) – £184.44 (July’s Spending) – £2163.61 (Previous Closing Balance) =-£2241.26
So I am a beauty advent calendar away from the -£2500 I am trying really hard not to get to. This challenge means a lot to me so I really do not want to “cheat” just to squeeze in another advent calendar or a beauty gift with purchase. I am a shopaholic though, I never hid this fact, but I truly do not want to end up like Becky from the Shopaholic series. I never got into debt over my purchases nor failed to pay any bills on time so I guess that counts for something. I do love my beauty purchases, but I don’t want to end up throwing away stuff cause it is no longer good plus, storage can became an issue pretty quickly.
This challenge does keep me in line though. My spending was reduced significantly (will share all about it later), it really has so that is something I am actually proud of. My goal at the moment is to also to finish more products than I purchase which so far I am actually on track for.
Overall, July has been a great month despite the last minute slip up. I won’t bother saying that I will try harder next month as I am sure August will bring way more advent calendars so what would be the point?
How did you do in July?
If you are part of this challenge or doing a similar one and have posted about it on your blog, do share you links below.
If you are not part of any such challenge and want to join mine, here are the details.
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There were cool promos for hair and body products at a local drugstore chain that carries niche (but affordable) and eco stuff, so my July success in curbing purchases is small, albeit the stash at the end of the month is smaller, but only because I gave away another batch of stuff.
I’m so discouraged with the size of my stash that I’m thinking about not buying advent calendars this year, maybe just 1. Shipping restrictions also help because I can’t be bothered, and on top of that additional costs be it in the exchange rate, taxes, custom fees, parcel forwarding, are a factor too.
Next year my stash should be reasonable in size, I hope shipping issues will have been resolved so I can have a little shopping spree again.
Still, I’m super curious about the Christmas offers this year. I just feel I won’t be tempted.
It is hard not to buy with so many tempting deals around. To combat it, I have created a separate bank account for “fun purchase and transfer a set amount into it every month. Every time I make a “fun purchase” e.g. cosmetics/bags/etc, I automatically take the payment out of that account (regardless how I paid for the purchase). When that account don’t have enough, I don’t buy.
That is actually a great idea. I don’t know why I am not doing this 🤔 as I do it for basically everything else I buy such as software, subscriptions, stocks etc. thanks for sharing! 🙂