#UseItUpByApril

Hey There!!

During the holiday season I have been watching a lot of YouTube videos -- I mean A LOT of videos. Because of all the YouTube surfing, I have come up on some really great new channels. One of the lovely ladies that I've been watching (ThriftyBeauty - if you aren't watching her, you are making poor life choices. She is great!) gave me a GREAT idea (i.e., challenge) for the new year. I'm going to use up some makeup.

Yeah, yeah, I know. That doesn't sound like much of a challenge but for me, it really is. I have many items that I've owned for quite a while and I either need to toss it or use it up. I've spent quite a bit of time last year accumulating random stuff and I haven't spent enough time USING that stuff up. So, by my birthday (April 16, mark it on your calendars peeps!) I am going to use up the following...

Am I the only person wondering how many random strangers do you have to let borrow your Maybelline Baby Lips lip balms before you use those suckers up? I have about 7 or so in different places and none of them ever seem to go away. My goal for mid April is to use up 2 of them and have them in my April's empties bin. Ladies at work, pucker up. We're going to have moist, supple lips by April!

I bought this Lancôme Bienfait Teinté BB cream last year. I like it but it's still hanging around. I keep thinking, if I like it so much, shouldn't it be gone by now? Exactly. I think this product will be a lot easier than others to use up. I have about half the container left.

I think that I got the Make Up Forever HD Primer and the Benefit Watts Up Soft Focus Highlighter samples at the same time. If that's the case, then I should have used them up by now. The primer has about half left (should be easy to accomplish) and the Watts Up is still pretty full (a more difficult task). I still have the primer because I fell in love with the Hourglass Veil Mineral primer and stopped using it. The Watts Up is still around because really, how much over the eye highlighter can you use? I'm not a huge fan of creamy highlighter but that's gonna have to change.

Do you see all of those perfume samples? Half of them have never even been tested. I'm going to test them all and use up the ones I like. The ones I don't like, I'll tell you all about it, in April. The next time you see that crystal bin, it's going to be empty! 

I ordered a Coastal Scents Bright Eyed Eye Brightener thinking that it would brighten the area under my eyes and make me look awake, brighter, younger, smarter. I discovered that liquids and creams under my eyes do one thing -- make me look older. When this didn't work under my eyes, I put it away and did nothing with it. Now, $4.95 later, I still have the product sitting on my counter. I need to find a use for it fast! I'm going to do some research and use this stuff up. Got any ideas?

And, it breaks my heart but I have waaaay too many bath gels and hand creams. It's out of control. What I tend to do is use a shower gel one day and then another the next day and yet another the next day. I never finish one because I keep rotating them. My goal is to use up 8 shower gels and 2 body creams by my birthday. If that means I smell the same everyday for the next 4 months, so be it. I really need to pare down what I have and be sensible about what I purchase from here on out.

Now don't go all crazy people. I'm not on a no-buy or anything. I'm just on a buy better. I'm going to remember what I have and not just buy all willy nilly to say that I have something. If there's something that I really want, I'm going to have to use something else up. I'm also going to shop my stash a lot more. Marsala is the new color of the year? Well, I gravitate towards that color in lippies anyway, so do I really need to buy EVERYTHING new that pops up? No. Will I purchase some new things in the line? Of course, but I will be very aware of what I already have.

Because I've learned how to use coupons and shop sales, I have a very nice makeup collection that didn't cost me a crazy amount of money. While it is a nice collection, I don't make use of it like I should. Well, that's going to change.

Stay tuned. I'll follow up with you nice people and let you know how it's going. I'll also try to remember to post some things on Instagram   #UseItUpByApril.