Today’s post is going to be a little different. I’ve decided to go on a low buy. I wanted to talk about why I’ve decided to do this and what my rules for myself are. I also created a look inspired by the new Urban Decay Naked Honey palette using palettes that I already own. I’ll show you the look at the end and let you know how it’s going to tie into future plans I have for the blog. So, why am I going on a low buy?

I’m going on a low buy because I have way too much makeup, obviously, but it goes deeper than that. I was finding myself getting anxious and feeling like I NEEDED to use certain products first because they were newer and I hadn’t reviewed them yet. I also was stuck in a loop of buying new makeup, being excited for that makeup and then feeling guilty because I already had so much. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE reviews and will never stop doing them, but I need to change my mindset from a love of buying new makeup to just a love of makeup. It’s so easy to get sucked into the hype of the beauty community. I think it’s important, at least for me, to take a step back and remember how much I love what I already have.

I also had a massive influx of new products recently. My birthday was at the beginning of August and then my dear friend Toni, The Regular Girl Reviews, sent me almost all of the stuff you see in the pictures above; I purchased the Coloured Raine Queen of Hearts and Morphe 25B palettes. I was stunned. She was unbelievably generous and gave me products that I had been wanting so badly. Her gift also gave me the push to start my no buy.

Let’s talk numbers for a moment, shall we. I have an above average makeup collection but it’s not on par with a lot of the “beauty gurus” that we know and love. All makeup expires, though, and it reaches a point of being purely wasteful to keep buying more and more. I recently counted how much product I own in a few categories. If a certain makeup category isn’t mentioned it’s because I don’t have an issue with buying too much of that particular thing; same goes for skincare. Here’s the numbers: foundations- 7, palettes (excluding singles)- 34, highlighters- 33, blushes- 34 and lip products- 110.

I usually don’t have that many foundations but foundation is something I do like to have multiples of. I have combination skin so I may need something more dewy or more matte, however, I would like to have no more than four or five at a time. I will not be buying any palettes, highlighters or blushes for the rest of the year. Of course, if I use something up that I love I’m allowing myself to repurchase it. I’m also allowing myself to buy eyeshadow singles (in extreme moderation) because believe it or not, I am still lacking certain shades that I would like to have. The only wiggle room I’m giving myself on lip products is for holiday sets or massive sales, like Black Friday. I do have the storage space for more and the holidays are a great time to get deals on lipsticks but I don’t plan to bring in any more than five new ones for the rest of the year. Between Black Friday and Christmas, I might buy an eyeshadow palette if there is one that I’m crazy about.

I love what I have so much and I DO use all of it. If you take a look at my Instagram, you’ll see that I do all kinds of looks from neutral to colorful. I’m not the type of girl to buy every rainbow palette but then only wear neutrals, lol. I just think it’s important to know when enough is enough and how to be content. Now I’ll show you the look I created and tell you about my upcoming plans for the blog!

I’ve never tried Urban Decay before and I told myself that if I couldn’t dupe the overall tones of their newest palette, Naked Honey, that I might look into buying it… I found most of the shades in my collection. For this look, I used the Juvia’s Place The Tribe and Nubian 2 palettes. My Morphe 35M palette also had many similar tones. Here’s price comparisons: Urban Decay Naked Honey – $49.00, Juvia’s Place The Tribe- $20.00, Juvia’s Place Nubian 2- $20.00 and Morphe 35M- $25.00. If you buy both the palettes I used at full price, you will still SAVE money. Not to mention, Juvia’s Place has massive sales all the time. I’m really into duping newer palettes with older ones and I plan to do it more often. These kind of posts are also going to help me be creative and use some of my poor, forgotten palettes.

If you’re interested, here’s step by step how I created this look. I will be going in order of the swatches on my wrist, left to right and top to bottom. I did set my primer with a cream shade.

1. I blended the shade Ashanti from The Tribe palette above my natural crease.
2. I blended the shade Madagascar from the Nubian 2 into my crease.
3. I applied Chaga from The Tribe palette all over my lid.
4. I placed Nairobi and Zuri from the Nubian 2 in my inner corner. Zuri alone is on my brow bone.
5. I lined my lower lash line with Kenya from the Nubian 2. I then smudged the shade Madagascar underneath it.

*Brushes Used:

• Detail Crease Brush
• Tapered Blending Brush
• Flat Eyeshadow Brush
• Small Angled Brush
• Smudge Brush
• Eye Crease Brush
• Blending Brush, I used this brush to blend out the edges and set my primer.

I am so excited to start working on new types of blog posts! The decision to go on a low buy has left me feeling even more inspired. Of course, plenty of reviews are coming. I still have to review everything from my birthday, what Toni sent me and the purchases I plan to make in other categories. I will update on my low buy in my end of the month wrap up posts. I’d love to get your feedback on anything I’ve mentioned! Thanks for reading and have a great day!