Using More, Spending Less Challenge Results – August 2022

Time to talk about August. Oh and how I was bragging in July that my spending levels have gone down… Things might not be as pink anymore and what started as a great month went downhill right towards the end. Anyway, let’s have a closer look at what we have to work with. 

August’ Purchases

  • Apricot Keep Smiling HA Patches 100 pieces – £18.08
  • Apricot It’s Neck or Nothing HA Sillicone Patch – £17.21
  • Apricot I Love Your Smile Silicone Patch – £16.51
  • My Little Box September – £16.35
  • LookFantastic 5 Mystery Boxes – £43.24
  • Miin Cosmetics Season Pouch – Jeju Edition – £23.30
  • Miin Cosmetics Oil Control Pack – £7.35
  • Juice to Cleanse Clean Butter Shampoo Bar – £9.47

In August I ended up spending a total of £151.51 on beauty products which is a rather not ok result even for me. 

August’ Empties 

  • Elemis Pro Collagen Cleansing Balm – worth £27
  • It’s Skin Collagen Nutrition Serum – worth £11.5
  • Bath & Body Works Pure Wonder Cleansing Hand Spray – worth £1.32
  • KLAVUU Blue Pearlsation 8 Hydra Marine Ampoule 50ml – worth £7.89
  • Bath & Body Works Turquoise Water Gentle Foaming Hand Soap – worth £4.32
  • Ziaja Hand and Body Wash 400ml – worth £2.26
  • INIKA Organic Phytofuse Renew Eye Cream – worth £43.60
  • Dr Levy Switzerland Eye Booster Concentrate 7ml – worth £82.5
  • 111Skin NAC Y2 Restorative Cleansing Balm 30ml – worth £11.25
  • Bath & Body Works Pink Pineapple Sunrise Gentle Foaming Hand Soap – worth £4.32

In August I ended up emptying £199.92 worth of product. This resulted in an allowance of £99.96.

Allowance from posts 

Allowance from Reviews – £10

  • The Inkey List Hyaluronic Acid Hair Treatment – you can read the review here
  • Truly Beauty Mary Jane Glow Serum – the review is available here 

Allowance from Social Media – £0

Total allowance from posts: £10

£99.96 (allowance from emtpies) + £10 (allowance from posts) – £151.51 (August’ Spending) – £2408.65 (previous closing balance) = – £2,450.2

August started rather well until I opened my Little Box and then started getting curious about other Frech retailers and products that is. I truly missed opening one of these boxes and found the products included quite interesting which made me want to do some more research. Safe to say that when I finally found a retailer that offered products I was unfamiliar with, I also spotted straight away something that looked promising. 

I discovered Apricot products. This is not a French brand – go figure, but a German one, however, I found their products on a French retailer’s website initially. The moment I saw what their products are all about, I knew I had to try them so I did. I have one still tiny but more visible wrinkle so I began to pay a bit more attention to “anti-aging” solutions that do not require any injectables. 

A few months ago I read a bit about medical-grade silicone patches which some claim that they help with smoothing out wrinkles. I am not so sure about that as it sounds so far-fetched, but then I decided to give the Apricot products a try especially as they are also infused with hyaluronic acid and co. They sounded way better than just a plain silicone patch, but I still have my doubts as to whether I stumbled upon something brilliant and underrated or whether it was a huge waste of my time and money to order the products. In my defense, they do have very good reviews from people of all ages, but also from ones in their 50s-60s. We shall see, but this was quite an expensive impulsive purchase. 

The September Little Box was a planned purchase, in fact, it was the only purchase I intended to make in August so there is no need to discuss this one further. 

However, the LF and the Miin Cosmetics orders were definitely not planned. First came Miin with their limited edition Jeju Pouch (get 15% off your first order with my link) – the first time I managed to grab one of their limited edition pouches as they are usually sold out by the time I try to complete the order. And then I was something along the lines of “WTH” and decided to impulsively buy the LF beauty boxes as well. 

Cannot say that I regret my choice as the results turned out pretty great and this is something I wanted to try again for quite some time, but then again I cannot say that was the best timing for me to go off rails, especially given the inflation levels. Not sure how this is felt where you are, but where I live is like the inflation is a lot higher than the national bank claims it is, especially when it comes to certain essential products. We will pull through as we always do and I am referring to all of us, but I have to admit that it is a bit stressful and worrisome.

Overall, August is not my worst month ever, but I should lay off the spending for a bit which is a bit hard to do with all the upcoming advent calendars and perhaps even gifts with purchases I will undoubtedly be tempted by. Even more problematic than wanting to spend more money is the fact that at least I could do is keep the promise I made to myself to not go below 2.5K in negative allowance. This is the least I could so since it seems I am unable to make up for any of that bad allowance I have been carrying with me for the past couple of years (*since I started this challenge). 

How was your August?

*This article is not sponsored. This article contains affiliate links which means that Blush Suede might receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you make any purchases by clicking the links included in this article. Thank you for your support. It is you that keep us going.

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