#Beauty, Makeup and the joy of less!

Skincare & Makeup after de-clutter

I know it is surely going to be interesting for many girls, ladies, aunties out there who will read this blog because it is something to talk about skincare, makeups – a girl’s best friend. I can very well imagine my content readers to be seated with a packet or some packets of so called junkie food on their hand, scrolling down the screen to read on the contents and not bothered about the so called star dust dropping out of the packet while she shoves up the edible through her mouth. And what more interesting than to take the excitement to the next level with the photos of the products inserted. But unfortunately I can't do that now because most of the items which I have mentioned have finished and I haven't purchased it for a while now. 

Ok! I am pretty sure that no one starts developing this passion initially but yes with passage of time, with latest trends one for sure gets tilted to fit herself in the drift. It’s a human nature to have an inclination for something and there is always a history behind how the person landed up to the current scenario. Yes guys, I have a fondness for skincare & makeup and got introduced to the various brands by my friends who were studying and working out of the country. Before I got introduced to this trend, I was a minimalist and didn’t have much o

f all these items. People call “minimalism” a trend these days with trying to own less and de-cluttering out the products and then what next? Those in European countries have the system of donating it out but then will people really go about re-using a product which has already been used by someone else before? The issue of skin disease being the first concern. Also, Skincare I might be able to understand that it can be used again by someone else, but makeup is not something which I’ve seen people reusing it. Yes, there might be some out there who might consider re-using them but as many as I know, they don’t accept the trend of re-using an already used product. Then what? All to be dumped in the dumpster and further it’s a loss. You have already bought the product and just because you don’t want to use it and adopt the minimalism way, then do you simply just go about dumping them in the dumpster? Well before I plunge further into this topic let me share with you my entire journey in this craving for skincare and makeups and what has made me again move back to my old habit of owning less.

When I joined work somewhere around 12 years back (I know I am old enough), I simply had nothing in my purse besides some pens and Vaseline. I remember one time getting invited over for lunch by some friends and there I saw one of them squeeze out a jelly like liquid from a tube and then rubbing it out in her palms. That was the first time I got introduced to the so called “Hand sanitizer”. It had a strawberry fragrance and smelled really good. The story started that way with my introduction to lip balms, hand creams, lotions, moisturizers, eye creams, night cream, day creams, serums, perfumes, different face washes depending on your skin type and many more. ‘Oriflame’ -  a brand dealing with beauty skin care, makeups and fragrance for both genders was one of the initial brands I got introduced to. Thereafter followed by so many brands; names of which are there on my fingertips...haha! Sometimes it is also the company you are surrounded with that make you become like one of them, “You become the person you are surrounded by” – this was just the beginning part of the story and little did I realize that I was going to become one of them. They say “Oh you have to do makeup otherwise you will look like a school going kid”. All these actually tempted me to move to the next level towards my inclination. I once went to meet a friend who was on short vacation to meet her family. I wouldn’t blame her 100% for the craving which I started having but the instant and the moments were such that I was automatically drifted to it. We talked about all the products of the various high end brands and then she showed me her products which were all high-end products too. Guess this was one of the other girlie talks. And to add fuel to it, she told me that she could bring the products if I wanted from the country where she was working. Through her I came to know further different products like primer, when it was to be applied, the different types of foundations, concept of using concealers, concept of baking your face (sounds weird huh!), contouring, blush, highlighter, eyebrow, eye primer, eye shadows, eye liners, kajals, mascaras, lipsticks, lip glosses, lip liners, cushion foundation and etc…the list will never end. It was like today I got introduced to one brand and tomorrow I would get introduced to another brand again of the same products. Without a second thought I instantly ordered the products my friend had recommended.

Now when I sit and look back I regret and feel stupid with the fact that I was getting pulled into the whirlpool of skin cares and makeups. Some of the products were even worth INR 8000. Gosh! What was I thinking buying such an expensive product? Another phase was getting introduced to YouTube channel where there are so many beauty You Tubers,  Beauty ‘Gurus’ ’introducing the viewers to different products which were introduced in the market, its significance and procedure for applying it. They even do hauls which is so tempting. I think this feeling can be understood only by someone who really has affection towards these items. I actually didn’t realize when I got into this grip for skin care and makeups and before I had even realized, I had already started accumulating so many of these products in my vanity some of which were backups too. Now I have so many products from brands like Clinique, Christion Dior, Estee Lauder, Marc Jacobs, Mac, Innisfree, Missha, Iope, Maybelline etc. The next addiction being perfumes. I am not someone who is fascinated by clothes but if the person smells good then I literally get turned on by the fragrance. Even after owning so many products which included skincare, makeups, perfumes I was still not having second thought on re-purchasing these items again and keeping a backup of them.

This was how it was earlier

Sometimes I felt like using the words addiction too because I was literally having so many backups for the products which I was already using. This habit continued for a while until I started realizing about it from mid of last year. My vanity was literally running out of space. But that feeling of wanting to put a stop to my purchase had still not yet come. There are times when I sit down to clean my vanity and it was during one of these instances that I had to de-clutter so many skincare and makeup. It was that instant that had an effect on my feeling of attachment for these items. It was so sad to actually dump so many items literally in the dustbin as they had crossed their expiry dates (…I am saying as if these items were human and they were dying or some had already died too..lol!). There is no such thing as donation of skincare/makeup here in Bhutan so ultimately the place for the expired items was in the dustbins. What more could be heart pinching was the fact that I had literally purchased them after making a big hole in my wallet. So this was the time when I started seeing and realizing the cons on accumulation of too many things. For sure if you are in need then you can easily go and purchase it but I felt that keeping a backup was not that a good idea. Leaving some as exceptional case I personally feel now that having a backup (and literally not just 1 no. for item but more than 1 no..) was a stupid mistake on my part and where I literally ran shortage of space. Now almost after a year, I am happy to say that I haven’t purchased any skincare or makeup and I am still continuing with what used to be kept as backup then. To date, I still take care of my skin, I do makeup and all etc but I haven’t purchased any new items and whatever I have used in from my earlier vanity. Some products have finished with no backup while there are some which had backup and which I am still using them currently. I plan to follow the path of minimalism and for that I feel it is not necessary to just de-clutter items at one go. It can be the other way round where you can stop purchasing further more item and try to use as much as what is available with you. Compared to before, my skincare and makeups have reduced to a vast extent and I have no intention of buying these products for another year or 2 years because these are sufficient to last me for this many time period.

Now after a year on putting a control on my squanderer habit, I feel so much light, so much relaxed that I can devote my time to better cause. By not purchasing skincare, makeup for almost a year, I feel so confident and light and I am able to save cost and divert it towards saving for my travel trips. It was an experience which gave me the confidence to believe in myself, to experiment on things which I had not done before, gave me ample time to realize about my obsessive character and to get out of it. It is always an excitement to try out new things, get your hands on them but through my experience I say that let not this obsession become a priority for you over everything else and let this not take a control of your life.

To end here..I say the secret of happiness is not found in seeking more but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.