Simplify September Recap
I can’t believe we’re already halfway through October. Does anyone else feel like September flew by, and now October is going just as fast? I kind of wish it would slow down because I love fall, and want to enjoy every minute of it! Anyways, remember how I was going to simplify my life during the month of September and make new goals for the rest of 2018? Yeah, well, I failed.
To be completely honest, I kept adding things in (ex. a second challenge) because I thought it would help me simplify my life and get it together. Like….is anyone else wondering where my brain was at? Haha I literally had a moment on September 15th (halfway through the month) when I realized that I wasn’t simplifying my life — I was making it more complicated. I have always been the type of person who wants to do everything all the time, so I guess it really isn’t that big of a surprise. But still, I thought I was going to kill this simplifying challenge, the gratitude challenge (which I only actually did one day of), and be a completely new, calm, decluttered, in-control-of-my-life person by the end of the month. Who are we kidding? ONE MONTH to completely change our lives and habits?? Please! In order to truly simplify one’s life, a lot of change has to happen and it no way only takes one month.
Once I had this realization, I chose to be intentional with the last two weeks of September. I chose to disregard the gratitude challenge and pick it up again in November (I’ll remind you so you can join in!). I decided to declutter and donate what I could, but not stress about the fact that everything in my life wasn’t decluttered. I did clean out my car, go through most of my closet, clean out my work bag, and try to eat food I had at home. There were two parts of this challenge, though, that I did very well at: not spending money I didn’t need to (except for a $2 cup of tea during the first weekend), and using up products (26 total).
The things I spent money on were: my lightroom subscription, FabFitFun subscription, that $2 tea, groceries, gas, car insurance, my phone bill, deodorant, Cloud storage, face powder, my annual subscription to the monthly Petit Vour beauty box, and a couple of dinners out (a girl’s gotta eat). I said at the beginning of the challenge that I wasn’t going to spend any money that I didn’t need to spend except for subscriptions, because I’m not going to cancel a subscription for a one-month challenge only to start it up again once its over. Deodorant and face powder are technically not needs, but are basic “necessities” if one is going to be bearable to work with. The only thing that I really could have avoided spending money on in September was my annual Petit Vour subscription. I should have paid it in August, but didn’t realize that my subscription wouldn’t automatically renew. So really, it was an overdue payment. Even though I spent money on more things than I realized I would, I still was able to save about 75% of my income (keep in mind that I don’t pay rent since I live at home). I feel pretty good about that.
As far as using up products goes, I tried to use up odds and ends of things that have been sitting around half-used for a while, products that weren’t cruelty-free but I didn’t want to waste, and little samples of things. I learned that it takes a lot longer to use up a product without wasting it than I had thought.
As promised, here is a comprehensive list of the products I used up in September:
Cruelty-free products:
2 Trader Joe’s sea salt body scrubs
1 Aromatherapy Associates Bath & Shower Oil – LOVE these oils! It came in a Petit Vour beauty box.
1 Batiste dry shampoo *Current Staple*
1 Ovation Cell Therapy Hair & Scalp Treatment
1 Ovation Essential Hair Oil
1 sample of Oille Hair Serum
1 Schmidt’s Jasmine Tea Natural Deodorant – sensitive skin formula *HIGHLY RECOMMEND*
1 box of Grace & Stella Anti Wrinkle + Energizing Eye Masks (from Fall 2017 FabFitFun box) – loved these, but created a lot of waste
1 Luminance Skincare Rosewater Toner – ton-toxic, glass container, and 100% natural so I will repurchase
1 Luminance Skincare Acne Serum
1 Pearlessence Coconut Rose Hydrating Face Mist *will not repurchase* because I don’t trust that the brand is cruelty-free (even though it has a bunny on it), plus it has toxic ingredients in it (I’m attempting to start going completely toxin-free)
1 Pixi Skintreats Glow Tonic – *will not repurchase* love this product, but contains toxic ingredients
1 Pacifica Ultra CC Cream in natural/medium – LOVE this product in the summer for lighter coverage; will repurchase
1 Wet n Wild Megaglo Makeup concealer stick – also love this product; will repurchase
1 NYX HD Studio Photogenic Finishing Powder – *Current Staple* I love that it is 100% mineral (loose) powder, so there are no chemicals in it liked pressed powders.
1 Juice Beauty Photo-Pigments Ultra-Natural Mascara in Black (sample from a Petit Vour beauty box) – perfect for natural-looking lashes
1 NYX Eyebrow Pencil in Brown – Will not repurchase because the color is too dark and warm for me
Non-cruelty-free products: *Will not repurchase any of these simply for the fact that these brands test on animals.*
1 Herbal Essences conditioner
1 Simple face wash
1 pack of makeup remover wipes from a hotel
1 Victoria’s Secret body lotion
2 hotel lotion samples
1 Good to Go hand sanitizer
1 Noteworthy lip gloss
This is only the tip of the iceberg, however, I can already tell that I have fewer products cluttering up my bathroom cabinet than I did before. The key is to use what you have and stop buying new products left and right just because they’re pretty or your favorite blogger is using them this week. Plus, using too many products and switching up your products too often can cause an imbalance in the pH of your skin. Make sure you use a product for at least three weeks before switching to something else. If you have any questions about specific products from the list above, please feel free to reach out to me! I love talking about products and would love to help you find ones that are cruelty-free, work for you, and are good for you.
As I move further into 2018, I am going to continue to use up products and be more selective when choosing to buy new ones. For example, I haven’t bought a new eyeshadow palette (except for 1 all-nude everyday wear one because I need something to wear all the darker colors I have with) or lip color in about a year and a half because I have so many already. My goal is to use those up first, downsize my collection, and start fresh in a year or so (it will probably take longer). I have also found that between my FabFitFun and Petit Vour box subscriptions, I actually get a lot of products (eye and lip colors in addition to skincare) in the mail, so I really have no need to buy more. I am also going to try to simplify the things I have because I would rather have extra time, extra space, and extra money instead of extra stuff. I’ve started to think of everything as if it were money. Here’s an example: You buy a face wash (completely valid purchase), and that purchase costs you…say $10. That’s now $10 you don’t have. That $10 is now in the form of face wash. If you decide you don’t really like it and throw it away, you’re essentially throwing away $10 (in addition to just being wasteful). And not only are you wasting money on that discarded face wash, but you’re going to have to spend more money to buy a new one. Once I started thinking of the things I have as money, I really started to use only what I need and not waste anything unless it is truly expired or is causing me harm in some way. My suggestion is that if you buy a product you end up not liking, ask your friends or family members if they’d like it. Everyone’s skin and product preferences are different, so they might like it even though you don’t.
Finally, I did some reading on minimalism in September that really got me thinking that I want to downsize my belongings and only keep things that I truly love and use. If I don’t love it or use it, it is not worth taking up space in my life. This is going to be a process as it will take time to use up products that I don’t necessarily like that much, but will use anyways so they are not wasted. I think that although I failed my own Simplify September challenge, it helped me realize all the ways in which I need to focus my simplifying efforts, and I can now do that in the coming months so I can hopefully start 2019 fresh!
NOTE: If you did any part of Simplify September, I would love to hear from you! How did it go? What were some challenges you faced? Were you surprised by anything? What did you learn?