Using More, Spending Less Challenge Results – April & May 2022

I have been slacking off terribly on many things since April, but even though I am far away from my previous daily step count and totally failing the challenge I imposed on myself, I have been keeping track of my beauty expenses even though I haven’t had the time to share. I hope you will forgive me for posting two months’ worth of results in a single post. I did warn you it could happen, especially after it took me forever to post March’s results. 

This is going to take a while so get ready if you are curious that is. Otherwise, feel free to skip my huge list of purchases and not that huge list of empties. 

Purchase

A lot. Do I really, but really need to expand on this? Okay, okay. I will. 

April Purchaases 

• Shein Minimalist Solid Scrunchie With Zipper x – worth £0.67
• Shein 10 rolls Ombre Nail Art Sticker – worth £1.85
• Shein 10 Alligator Hair Clips Set – worth £2.02
• Shein Nail Art Anti-Overflow Tool 26 pieces – worth £0.84
• Revox Plex No3 – worth £11.75
• Ice Professional by Natura Siberia Repair My Hair Keratin Filler – worth £5.04
• Ice Professional by Natura Siberia Repair My Hair Shampoo – worth £5.89
• Sinsay Press On Nails Kit – worth £2.21
• Innisfree Love Glow Boom Minis Set – worth £14.66
• Dr Jart Cicapair Colour Correcting Treatment 50ml – worth £26.73
• Bath and Body Works Endless Weekend Gentle Foaming Hand Soap – worth £4.24
• Bath and Body Works Rosewater and Ivy Gentle Foaming Hand Soap – worth £4.24
• Bath and Body Works Dark Kiss Gentle Foaming Hand Soap – worth £4.24
• Bath and Body Works Coastal Air Gentle Foaming Hand Soap – worth £4.24
• Bath and Body Works Sweater Weather Gentle Foaming Hand Soap – worth £4.24
• Bath and Body Works Crisp Morning Air Gentle Foaming Hand Soap – worth £4.24
• Bath ad Body Works In The Stars Shower Gel – worth £10.17
• Bath ad Body Works You’re the One Shower Gel – worth £10.17
• Bath and Body Works Strawberry Pound Cake Gentle Gel Hand Soap – worth £4.24
• Bath and Body Works Vanilla Cloud Gentle Gel Hand Soap – worth £4.24
• Bath and Body Works Fresh Sparkling Snow Cleansing Hand Gel – worth £1.36
• Bath and Body Works Winter Cleansing Hand Gel – worth £1.36
• Bath and Body Works Sunshine and Lemons Cleansing Hand Gel – worth £1.36
• Bath and Body Works Gingham Hand Cream – worth £4.24
• Maison de Corse Mask On Purifying Edition Sheet Mask – worth £1.68
• Sephora Ice Roller – worth £19.39
• Sephora Strengthening Hair Serum – worth £13.95
• Belif Pore Cleaner Moisturiser – worth £24.04

Total April Purchases: £197.19

May Purchases 

• Simple Booster Serum 10% Niacinamide (Vitamin B5) 30ml – worth £5.33
• Simple Booster Serum 3% Hyaluronic Acid & B5 30ml – worth £5.33
• The Ordinary 4% Sulphate Cleanser for Body and Hair 240ml – worth £6.80
• Head&Shoulders DERMAXPRO Soothe Anti Dandruff Scalp Balm Hair Treatment  – worth £6.66
• BeautyPie Superdrops Brightening Niacinamide Serum – worth £13.36
• BeautyPie Qi Energy Ginseng Root & Ginger Super Moisture Cream – worth £14.57
• BeautyPie Ultra Colour Pro Gel Eyeliner – worth £6.25
• BeautyPie Truple Hyaluronic Acid Elastic Lifting Eye Serum – worth £14.30
• BeautyPie Good Hands No Rinse Cleansing Gel 75ml – worth £2.84
• BeautyPie JapanFusion Genius Lift Elixir – worth £9.52
• BeautyPie Superluminous Undereye Genius – worth £8.99
• Bath & Body Works Japanese Cherry Blossom Hand Cream – worth £2.94
• Bath & Body Works Bahamas Passionfruit & Banana Flower Hand Cream – worth £2.94
• Bath & Body Works Turquoise Water Gentle Foaming Hand Soap – worth £4.32
• Bath & Body Works Pink Pineapple Sunrise Gentle Foaming Hand Soap – worth £4.32
• Bath & Body Works Guava Colada Gentle Foaming Hand Soap – worth £4.32
• Bath & Body Works Passion Fruit & Banana Flower Gentle Foaming Hand Soap – worth £4.32 
• Bath & Body Works Pure Wonder Cleansing Hand Spray – worth £1.32
• Bath & Body Works Champagne Toast Cleansing Hand Spray – worth £1.32
• Bath & Body Works Gingham Cleansing Hand Spray – worth £1.32
• Bath & Body Works Japanese Cherry Blossom Cleansing Hand Spray – worth £1.9
• Bath & Body Works Mad About You Fine Fragrance Mist – worth £17.11
• Bath & Body Works Gingham Fine Fragrance Mist – worth £17.11
• Bath & Body Works Gingham Love Shower Gel – worth £6.74
• Bath & Body Works Into the Night Shower Gel – worth £ 6.74
• Bath & Body Works Gingham Shower Gel – worth £6.74
• Bath & Body Works A Thousand Wishes Shower Gel – worth £ 13.65
• Stradivarius Hand Cleaner Spray Cherry Jam – worth £3.36
• Indeed Labs Hydraluron Moisture Jelly – worth £16.20
• Indeed Labs Hydraluron Moisture Serum – worth £16.20
• Bomb Cosmetics Vanilla Frosting Body Polish – worth £6.87

Total May PurchaseS: £233.69

Total Purchases April and May: £430.88

Allowance from Empties

April Empties

• Radiant Seoul Hydrating Beauty Sheet Mask, 1 Sheet Mask, 0.85 oz (25 ml) – worth £0.79
• Radiant Seoul Plumping Beauty Sheet Mask, 1 Sheet Mask, 0.85 oz (25 ml) – worth £0.79
• Ziaja Hand and Body Gel 400ml – worth £4.5
• Stradivarius Hand Cleaner Spray Cherry Jam – worth £3.36
• Verso Super Eye Cream Serum 30ml – worth £70
• Truly Mary Jane CBD Glow Serum – worth £25.63
• Molton Brown Suede Orris Bath and Shower Gel 100ml – worth £7.33
• Sephora Collection Vitamin C Tonic Lotion with Passion Fruit – worth £4.94
• Dr Jart Cicapair Colour Correcting Treatment 15ml – worth £15
• Biossance Squalane + Omega Repair Cream 15ml – worth £13.5
• BeautyPie Pure Oxygen Radiant Glow Moisture Infusion – worth £18.59
• Dr Barbara Sturm Lifting Serum 30ml – worth £235
• Muji Clear Care Light Toning Water 200ml – worth £10.35
• Charlotte Tilbury Charlotte’s Magic Cream Moisturiser 7ml – worth £8.6
• Rodial Vit C Energizing Sheet Mask 20ml – worth £14

In April I emptied out £432.38 worth of product which means I get an allowance of £216.19

May Empties

• Decree by AJ Sturnham Treat Tincture 30ml – worth £130
• Erno Laszlo Firmarine Hydrogel Mask – worth £16.80
• Lucia Magnani Revitalizing Bio Cellulose Face Mask – worth £29
• MediHeal PeelSoft Bubbleraser Pads – worth £5.50
• Shiseido Treatment Softener – worth £35
• Stradivarius Hand Cleaner Spray Cherry Jam – worth £3.36

In May I emptied out £219.66 worth of product which means I get an allowance of £109.83.

Total allowance from empties (April & May): £326.02

Allowance from Posts 

April Reviews

• Biossance Squalane + Omega Repair Cream
• Glossier Generation G Sheer Matte Lipstick 
• Revitalash RevitaBrow Advanced Eyebrow Conditioner 
• Innisfree Orchid Enriched Cream 
• Gisou Propolis Hair Primer

Total allowance from April Reviews: £25

May Reviews

• Olaplex No 3
• Necessaire The Body Wash
• Purito DermaHA-3 Serum 
• Bioderma Sebium H2O Micellar Solution 

Total allowance from May Reviews: £20

Total allowance from posts: £45

This time around, I won’t share any mini-reviews, but I will tell you that the Hydraluron Moisture Jelly (which you can read all about here) is one of the few moisturizers I purchased twice in my life. I just started using it again, but I am enjoying it. I will revert back with a full review once more or rather with my impressions of using the product after a few months, but yes. I do not regret my decision to purchase it. 

Also, Bath and Body Work rocks! Their gentle foam hand soaps are incredible and they smell amazing, some more than others but this comes down to taste. The shower gels as well. Plys, the shower gels are suprsinglu mositurising. 

Okay, let’s do the math now and then I will tell you a bit more as to how I ended up spending around 75% of my total spend for this yea rin just two months. 

£326.02 (allowance from emtpies) + £45 (allowance from posts) – £430.88 (April & May’s Spending) – £2178.33 (previous closing balance) = -£2238.19

Okay, the numbers are looking ay better than I expected. You feel the same, right? I mean for the individual months and especially the long list of purchases made the results seemed pretty bad, but overall with the empties the results are more reasonable. 

I honestly thought that I would feel bad and I do, but not for the reasons you may think. I did spend way more than I intended and I did not get to put any money aside for the first time in months (I did make non-beauty purchases as well), but I will try to tone it down a bit after June. So yes, I wish I could have increased my savings but the beauty spending was truly not the one responsible for me being unable to do so. 

To be honest, I really wished to get a beauty gift with purchase, however, none really appealed to me. The only one I was determined to get was the SpaceNK one even if it meant filling in the customs paperwork and all that, but since Tactha is not available for delivery to my country there was no point as it was not really the gift that interested me. 

In April I had to go in physically for a few days which meant traveling across the country. It was stressful, to say the least as I have been experiencing IBS-like symptoms for a few months now even though I do not seem to have IBS. It is a long story, but it is something that has impacted my life as I can start feeling poorly when I least expect it. I am taking some treatment and things have been a bit better, but surprises can happen. 

Since I had to make the trip, I did take advantage of the opportunity to explore the newly opened Bath and Body Works boutique. I always wanted to try their products, but they launched in the UK after I left and after I had the chance to travel to London for the last time (due to the pandemic). However, since I was so close to the store, I decided to grab quite a few products. I focused on the soaps as they were the least expensive products (plus on offer) and I knew that I will end up using them all up even if the fragrances do not appeal to me. It was the right decision even if I did end up liking most of them after sniffing them at home (I am one of those crazy people who still wear face masks in crowded places and the mall as well as the store itself were crowded AF). 

The same thing happened in May. I had to go in again, so went to BBW again but this time I was a bit more familiar with the product so I got more shower gels and body fragrances even if the offer were not as good and the products were more expensive. However, I don’t intend to make this whole experience a regular thing (fingers crossed) so I got more products to play with for the time being. The shop does not deliver as you probably guessed by now. I am glad as not only do I consider these products as part of my (upcoming) birthday gift, but I needed a pick-me-up as I had some weird couple of weeks and they started with a pipe… 

I normally do not panic and am able to fix many household things that may come up, but my pipe situation was not the “drip-drip” kind but rather a fountain kind. When I first heard the noise, I honestly tried to convince myself it was not real especially as the sound was similar to the one I was exposed to daily from the neighborhood gardeners but deep inside I did know that something was not right so I mustered my courage to go in and see what was going on. 

At first, I did not see anything, but after a few minutes it got worse and the whole bathroom was flooded. I tried to switch off the water supply but I kept getting hit right in the face… Yeah, it was traumatic. Luckily it happened two days before my flight so small miracle, but it was just the beginning of a series of stressful situations. 

My fight in both directions suffered some changes, when I got to the airport for my return flight the lady at the check-in desk told me my ticket was canceled, and my reunion is coming up soon which I really do not want to attend. You get it. It’s been a lot and my stomach is surprisingly handling things better than I expected, but it is not back to normal by any means. At least the medication is working most of the time. 

There are a few other things that happened since we last took the time to chat, but I won’t bore you with the details. It was a lot and I do hope that things will calm down some in the upcoming weeks so that I can spend more quality time with you guys. I missed so many posts lately and I haven’t had the time to work at all on any of the projects I restarted after a long hiatus either. I sadly cannot promise that things will change in the immediate future as there are some changes to be dealt with in the upcoming weeks/months, but I sure hope that I will have more time to spend with you as I truly missed it and hope you did too. 

My life has been like a rollercoaster lately, but I will try to organize myself better and get more things done. Wish me luck! 

How have the past two months been for you? Hopefully, you were able to enjoy some peace and calm and the lovely spring season we had. 

How did you do in terms of beauty spending?

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