No Buy 2019: What I Pulled Out of the Purge Box

I get that the whole "New Year, New Me" thing is based on arbitrary dates, numbers we've assigned on a calendar, but...it's powerful for me. There's something exciting and motivating about that 1/1/19 date, especially after experiencing so many life changes in 2018 (quitting three jobs, starting two new jobs, moving across the country, etc.). I'm genuinely anxious to start working on my 2019 goals, including that year-long no buy.

Now, 1/1/19 feels like my clean slate starting point for sure, but that doesn't mean I can't start reinforcing good habits at the end of 2018. When I noticed I was visiting the Sephora website 2 or 3 times a day, I decided to stop looking for something to purchase and rifle through the purge box at my parents' house instead. Much to my surprise, I did pull out about a dozen items. Don't get too stressed, though: I only missed two products and really wanted to test out one. The others were just "I bet I could finish this meh thing" grabs.

What I Genuinely Want

I think my Besame lipstick collection is well over 15 shades now, and with so many beautiful reds residing in my card catalogue, I probably could've left American Beauty where it was. But it's been over 6 months, and I just can't bring myself to get rid of that beautiful berry red. Pulling this one out of the box definitely shut off my desire to buy more because I wanted to show off this shade instead of purchasing other lipsticks.

Also, it feeds my Besame addiction without tapping in to my wallet. I won't deny that I spend an unhealthy amount of time clicking through their website.

I also decided not to get rid of the Kevyn Aucoin lip pencil in Minimal. I don't wear a lot of purple-toned nude lipsticks or soft pinks anymore, as I've embraced my warm-ish undertones. It's a gorgeous lip liner, though, and I realized that, even if I don't pair it with a matching lipstick, it can create some beautiful new lipstick shades if I mix it with other products.

Last, but not least, I grabbed a big sample packet of the DevaCurl Wave Maker. I actually wanted to try this product for some time, but I never got around to it before the move, and I wanted to save room in my suitcases for more important things. Now I can toss it in to one of the checked bags I dragged home for Christmas and give it a shot at my leisure.

Well, why not?

I pulled two L'oreal products, the Magic Lumi Highlighting Pen and Brow Stylist, mostly because they weren't worth reselling or donating, but they could still ostensibly be used up over the course of a year. I dislike the faint shimmer in the highlighting pen and the Brunette brow shade is a tad warm for me, but hey, it could be doable!

The same goes for Tarte Shape Tape: I greatly prefer my other concealers, but it's a decent product, and I'm thinking I can get some use out of it before it goes rancid. If I really don't reach for it, I know for a fact that my boss uses the Shape Tape foundation and therefore might enjoy the concealer. (I know this because I brought something to her hotel room at a conference and looked at her makeup bag. For five seconds. And I recognized almost every product in that bag in those five seconds. #productjunkie)

I removed the three MAC lipsticks that were in the box--Rebel, Scarlet Ibis, and Faux--because I'm pretty sure one of my friends could make good use of them. If not, well, they're coming with me until it's time to Back 2 MAC some things. I'll never forget how much I loved MAC lipsticks, but with so many other brands producing high-quality formulas, these lipsticks just don't top the charts for me anymore.