Carpe Diem

Sorry I have been AWOL as of late, but I have been following the words of Robin Williams in The Dead Poets Society and have "Seized the day"

Here in Southern England we have had a gloriously warm week and so I have cast aside everything that doesn't need to be done and spent a lot if time outside with my kids, at the park, in the garden and just getting out and about.  Good weather happens so rarely here, that I feel I must make the most of it while I can, and I only have 1 year left with my youngest before he will start school, so I wanted to make some memories.

I haven't taken any photos, just tried to be in the moment, and it has been lovely.  So, go make hay while the sun shines xxxx

(Sent from atop a blanket in my back garden)

What didn't make the cut

After my cringe inducing post earlier in the week here are my first casualties of the cull.  It is a real mix of products and their main crimes are excessive duplication and age.

There are a fair few of the those horrible mould magnets called body puffs in there too, I wish beauty gift boxes wouldn't use them as fillers.

The only products that are actually terrible in there are;

L'Oreal Nude Magique BB Cream 

This is pants and has a truly naff name.  They claim to have a technology that matches the colour to your skin tone (bull crap) it's just some little spheres that pop when you rub it in, it leaves a horrible chalky residue, feels gross (all sandy) and delivers zero moisture.  I can honestly give this 0/10 even the packaging is low rent.

VO5 Root Boost Mousse

This just leaves roots crispy and if you brush it to remove the crispy tacky feeling then it comes out.  Very poor.

Dimethicone based conditioners, serums etc... 

I have always loved the feeling these give my hair but unfortunately I have learnt that they have been the main contributors in my hairs eternal limpness.  I think if you have frizzy dry hair than these are for you.  If you have fine soft hair then they are just too heavy and weigh it down.  I have deep cleansed my hair with a particularly strong shampoo (Tres Semme Cleansing Shampoo) which can remove the build up of dimethicone as isn't water soluble so just stays in your hair. I have been using dimethicone conditioners for over 10 years, and since using the new shampoo it has so much more body. I still need to condition the ends with something without dimethicone but this has worked wonders for me.  

Here is a picture of before and after (I wish you could beauty blog without having to put pictures of yourself up) It's nothing that looks that amazing, but bear in mind the first shot was taken after adding thickening products and blow drying with my head upside down.  The second shot was taken after washing my hair last night then going to bed with it damp (I try to let my hair dry naturally as much as possible), and just straightening the ends to stop the frizz this morning.

xo

Decluttering My Beauty Products

After reading many books on Minimalism I have been trying to reduce and organise my belongings so that I am only left with items I actually use and love.  This way I will have more time to do better things and also focus better on what really works.

I am trying to document as much of this as possible so that I stick to my resolutions and also to hopefully show other people that they are not alone in having too much stuff.

What better place to start me minimising efforts than my beauty products collection.  I have lots of beauty products (as I sure you can imagine)  but I even shocked myself when I decided to photograph all the little repositories I keep them in.  These photos don't even include my handbag makeup bag or the one in the car!

This is ridiculous, I don't even use half of them as they are a big pile of poop or I was given them as gifts.  I really need to sort this out and reduce this to a more manageable size.  My house isn't exactly tiny, but no-one (even Katy Perry) needs this many products.

Here are my rules for de-cluttering

1. Anything less than a 5 out of 10 goes straight away
2. Anything I wouldn't repurchase but that does the job, stays and needs to be used within 2 months (these things will go in strategic places so that they get used up.  I hate waste and so find it hard to just get rid of things if they can be of use.
3. All discarded products will be boxed up and put on Freecycle, I am the local moderator and hate sending anything that can be used by others to landfill.  I have done this twice before and have always had loads of takers, just because it doesn't work for me doesn't mean that someone with opposite beauty needs won't think that it's great.

This is just what I have in my dressing table

My bathroom's own special collection of much replicated products

Miscellaneous beauty product hiding places number 1 ( I can't believe I have 2!)

Last one I promise

Honestly with all of this I should look like a supermodel! Ridiculous. It's also a sad testament to the overconsumption of the West. I am actually pretty ashamed to own all of this. It shows how marketing is such a lie, I think I honestly believed that by buying these products I really would be more pretty, more youthful, more whatever. Most get used once or twice, don't deliver what they promised and then languish in one of these drawers.

Read here for What Didn't Make The Cut

xo