Knowing Where To Stop

With near-daily product launches, limited edition collections, viral hype around new releases, and a wealth of new shades and formulas, sometimes it's hard to know where to draw the line when it comes to spending your hard earned cash.

As a beauty blogger, I spend a portion of every single day scouring beauty sites for reviews, news and tutorials and sometimes it gets really hard to control the urge to buy it all. There's always something new that catches your eye, and another product you just have to have. 

I consider myself something of an emotional shopper too, if I'm feeling down, or I've had a crappy day, I can find myself in the Selfridges' beauty hall without really realising I'm headed there, or filling up my online basket over dinner. Not a habit I'd recommend, but we all have our coping mechanisms.

So how do you stop yourself from ending up on on a diet of beans for the rest of the year? Well, as far as I know, there's no magic answer, there's no pill you can take to stop wanting new things, and  there's no obvious option. What you can do though, is try to take control of your actions a little, and slow the process down. There are a few steps that have been working for me recently, so maybe they can help you too.

The first thing? Unsubscribe from all those teasing emails. Sephora were often sending me three emails a week. That's three torturous emails a week. Three times a week where I'd add more products to my wishlist. That had to stop.

Secondly? Don't go in those stores if there's nothing you need. The amount of times I've gone into Boots just because I'm passing by, and have left with £20 worth of stuff that I don't need.  Don't do it to yourself.

And thirdly, make a wishlist. I have a page in the back of my planner where I write any products that have tickled my fancy. If I still want it in two weeks, it stays on the list, if I still want it in four? That's when I'll go and have a swatch. I try not to buy it there and then, unless it's something really special, and if I'm still thinking about it another two weeks later, that's when it comes home with me. This tends to eliminate a LOT of the blogger hysteria induced buying.

In the meantime, I really need to figure out how to streamline my stash a little. There is no way I can ever use the amount of products I have before they expire, and it just seems like such a waste. 

Maybe a little blog sale is in order?