Confessions of a Beauty Addict Part II: Maintaining the Beauty Stash

In part one of this mini-series, Confessions of a Beauty Addict Part I, I shared how I rid myself, my life and my cabinet of all those unnecessary and useless beauty products that were weighing me down. Today, in part II, I’m sharing some hacks that help to ensure that I only buy and keep what I need and will use. In short, I’m sharing how I overcame by beauty addiction. If you’re looking to clean up your act a bit you’ve come to right the place. I hope you’ll find some or all of these tips to be useful. So let’s jump right in!

1.Make a list

Start by creating a list of your must have beauty products that you use every day. Also include any special or treatment products that you use weekly or occasionally as needed. If it’s a product you’ve repurchased more than twice, put it on the list. Categorizing the list by type, hair products, cosmetics, skin care, body care, etc., will help to ensure that you don’t miss anything.

Because I’m that girl, my cosmetics list is broken down into even smaller categories such as face, eyes and lips. And if it’s an item that comes in different colors, or varieties be sure to note that as well. I’m an old school paper and pen kind of gal, so I keep my list in the back of my planner. For even greater ease of shopping, I also keep my most used products saved in the apps I use most frequently for purchasing beauty products like Ulta and Sephora.

2. Do Your Research

Today I rarely try a new beauty product without doing some research first. This research includes anything from a simple search of Google to see what turns up to reading online product reviews. I try to search for reviews from women who have similar features, skin tone or concerns as myself to try to gauge beforehand if an item is worth trying. I also check out what my favorite bloggers and YouTubers have to say about a product before making a decision to buy or not to buy.

3. Shop with Intention

Let’s face it. Looking good can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Years ago it wasn’t unusual for me to drop into Ulta or wander down the beauty aisles at Target on a random Wednesday evening and emerge with a bag full of stuff. Now I shop with intention. Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean that I don’t have a random “treat yo self” moment every now and again. I’m a woman, and sometimes a little retail therapy is just the cure for what ails you.

But now, for the most part, when I make a purchase it is a planned purchase. When I go into the store or hop online I have purpose. Sometimes if I am unable to find just what I’m looking, or if I’m not one hundred percent sold on a product I’ll leave the store empty handed. Same is true for shopping online. If I’m feeling at all hesitant about a purchase or feel that maybe I’m buying out of boredom, I’ll leave the items in my cart. If in a few days I’m still thinking about them, I go back and complete the purchase.

4. Shop the Sales

Friends don’t let friends pay full price. So the next piece of advice I have for you my beautiful friends is to shop the sales. When my favorite beauty sites and retailers run sales or offer coupons I take look at my stash and purchase refills or backups accordingly. These days I very rarely pay full price for beauty. Doing this also means I shop less often therefore decreasing the likelihood of making some random and useless impulse buy.

5. Sign Up for Loyalty and Rewards Programs

This is a no brainer. Signing up for rewards programs helps to you earn perks such as coupons and points which often translate into free money. Early access to sales, free or reduced shipping costs and free samples are some of the additional perks of such programs. At the end of the day, all of these things equal money that stays in your pocket and the free samples help to scratch the itch of wanting to try new products without any of the cost or commitment.

6. Unsubscribe from Those Mailing Lists

I know that this may seem counter-intuitive given my two previous tips, but trust me, this is a big one. I found that when I was being overrun with dozens of emails from this brand and that I was tempted to click the links. This often led to me purchasing products that I didn’t necessarily want or need and that would eventually end up in the product graveyard. By clicking that unsubscribe button I reduced that amount of junk mail in my life and rid myself of the unnecessary influence to shop.

This doesn’t mean that I unsubscribed from every mailing list. Or that I don’t sometimes subscribe to a mailing list just to get a coupon. Don’t judge me, you know you’ve done it too. But, I’m vigilant about removing myself from any mailing list that I feel may be negatively influencing my shopping behavior. I’ve also found that following companies on social media is another good way to stay in the loop without having tempting ads delivered to my inbox.

7. Shop Online and Shop Around

These days I buy just about everything except groceries online. There are a few different reasons why. The first is that I can pretty much shop whenever and wherever I want from the comfort of my home. I don’t have to comb my hair or even get dressed for that matter. The second reason is because it is so much easier to comparison shop online. No jumping in the car running all over town wasting countless hours of your valuable time. With a few clicks you can find the product you need at the best price and have it shipped directly to your door.

The last and perhaps most compelling reason for shopping online is Ebates. If you’re not already a member I have no idea what on earth you’re waiting for! It is literally free money. I’ve earned over 600.00 dollars in cashback buying things I was gonna buy anyway, plus they make using their service super easy. If you prefer to shop from a mobile device, there’s an app for that. But if you shop from a desktop or laptop there’s an extension you can add to your favorite web browser that will remind you to activate your cashback anytime you navigate to a participating website. Obviously when buying cosmetics there will be times that you’ll want to see and try the product in person. Well, go ahead. Check the product out in store. Get color matched and decide if its right for you, then go home and purchase it online.

8. Return Those Products That Don’t Work Out

My final tip is something that I struggled with for years and I had a product graveyard to prove it.  I used to feel bad about returning products that didn’t work out for me. But sometimes no matter how well researched and thought out a purchase is, the product just won’t be right for you. When that happens its ok to return it. Beauty retailers like Ulta and Sephora have very generous exchange and return policies to allow you to do just that.

Theses 8 strategies have served me well over the last year or more. My hope is that you will find them helpful as well, and that in the future your beauty bags, cabinets and drawers will be filled with products you love and that serve you well. In the meantime, stay beautiful!

V. Richelle

Missed Confessions of a Beauty Addict Part I ? Click here to read it.

Not a member of Ebates? Wait no longer. You can sign up here using my personal referral link. Prefer not to use my link? Click here.