✭✭✭P.O.T.M. ROUND UP ✭✭✭MARCH✭✭✭

How often did I reach for this palette? Why or Why not?

I tended to reach for the Violet Voss Creme Brulee, especially for neutral days with a bit of pop! I really enjoyed using that palette. The next palette I used with some significance was my Makeup Atilier Palette, which created a beautiful and subtle every day look every time! Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to use my Coloured Raine Mini Smoke Palette.

Did I enjoy using this/these palette(s)? Why or Why not?

I think I picked three amazing palettes for the Month of March, but I had trouble creating a look with my Coloured Raine Mini Palette

Did I rediscover a fondness for this/these palette(s) or did I discover that I was fonder of this/these palette(s) than I realize?

I learned a couple of things. One I occasionally do like soft, sultry looks like I created with the Makeup Atilier Palette, but I am always up for a striking bold look (neutral or colorful) any day of the week! Although I didn't use my Coloured Raine palette, I realized how much I enjoy the formulation of the shadows.

If I lost this/these palette(s), would I repurchase?

I would repurchase all of them, but in a very particular order. 

With this experience and knowledge regarding use of this/these palette(s), what would I do differently (regarding this/these purchases, future purchases of similar products, trends?

I've begun to see that taking my time to purchase items is more important than buying a product ad soon add its released.  All of these products I took time took purchase leaking to a more informed and well thought out cosmetic purchase experience. 

Keep, Declutter, or Probation?

Keeping all of them! 

✮✮✮SEPHORA HAUL✮✮✮FENTY & MORE✮✮✮

✬✬✬BH COSMETICS HAUL✬✬✬

✬✬WEEKLY PRODUCT ROTATION✬✬WEEKS 21 & 22✬✬

Product Rotation – Changes 

So, I have this amazing friend named Audrey and she helped me come up with a better way to rotate through my products because of my extensive collection. Instead of allowing a randomizer to pick my palettes, moving forward I will be doing bi-weekly themes. This is an easy way for me to pick out palettes that I WANT TO USE and determine what palettes need to be sold or given away. At the height of my palette collection, I had approximately 850, and I have whittled that down about 675. I will continue to reiterate that this is NOT a journey towards minimalism, but a desire to use the products I really love. Examples of themes could be but are not limited to: Luxury Week, Colourpop Week, Juvia's Place Week, Spring Themed Palettes, Palettes for Weddings, Bright & Bold Palette Week, Birthday Palette Week, ABH Palette Week, Single & Custom Palette Week, Chopping Block Week, Audrey Pick's Palettes Week, Put a Little Glitter in Your Life Week, Indie Brand Palette Week and so on. I am super excited about this new and different way of rotating my collection. If there is a particular theme you want to see, please feel free to reach out to me by clicking HERE!  I will continue to use the randomizer to pick out other items in my collection, such as blush, highlighter, etc. as well as the bi-weekly theme.

I reached out to a couple of fellow makeup lovers (in particular, my eyeshadow people) because I am still trying to find the balance between “collecting” palettes and “buying” palettes. At this moment, I have just over 700 eyeshadow palettes, which may seem like a lot, but until recently, I was approaching close to 800! As I always say, I am not a minimalist. Far from it in fact, however, I still need to pare down my collection and decide what I need to keep, sell, and give away. As I sort through my eyeshadow palette collection, I continue to learn what brands I enjoy and work best for me, as well as color stories that are flattering to my features. I have brands that I collect that I enjoy immensely, but they are overshadowed by brands I enjoy, but on a much lesser scale. The objective over the next year is to irradiate eyeshadow palettes from my collection, that I am not passionate about. Here’s how I plan to tackle this:

1.       I will continue my Product Rotation Series every other Monday. I decision maker app will pick a theme for a two-week period and eyeshadow palettes from the following categories will be utilized: High-End, Large, Small High-End, Luxury, Affordable, & Custom. Additionally, the decision maker app will select 2 blushes, 2 highlighter, 1 bronzer or contour, and either 1 Multi-Use Face Palette or a Blush & Highlighter Palette, as well as 2 foundations and five single eye products.

2.       Panning project products will be incorporated throughout the month, based on the week that I have selected to use them in.

3.       At the end of the two weeks, on Sunday, I will decide whether to keep the items, sell them, or give them away. Every Sunday, I will go through all my products and see if there is anything that needs to be decluttered immediately.

4.       Items for sell will remain on sale for 2 months and if not purchased, will be donated.

5.       The Wednesday after the rotation ends, I will post a Review & Rate.

6.      The end goal is not to get down to a particular number, but to feel as though my collection is representative of my love of makeup
7. The themes picked to add to the randomizer are based on seasons. For instance, for the summer, the randomizer will have a selection of themes associated with bright colors, the beach, etc. 
THEME LIST

1)       Birthday Week Picks

2)       Old School Palettes

3)       Chopping Block

4)       April Showers, Bring May Flowers

5)       Bright & Bold

6)       Beach & Summer Palette Week

7)       Juvia’s Place

8)       Neutral Week

9)       Tarte

10)   Berries

11)   Purple & Pink Week

12)   Indie Brands (US)

13)   Indie Brands (Other)

14)   Affordable Week✔✔

15)   Luxury Week

16)   Large & In Charge Palettes

17)   Colourpop

18)   Too Faced &Urban Decay

19)   Kat Von D & Jeffree Star

20)   Make Up For Ever & Urban Decay

21)   Too Faced & Ciate London & MAC

22)   Lorac & ABH

23)   Becca & Dose of Color

24)   PUR & Smashbox

25)   Violet Voss & Morphe

26)   Soft, Sexy, Sultry

27)   Eye & Face Palettes

28)   Put Some Glitter On It

29)   ND, Viseart, Auntie Pat

30)   Warm Toned & Cool Toned

31)   Fall Palettes

32)   Blue & Green Week

33)   B.O.M.B Palettes

34)   Christmas/Holiday Releases
35) Random Unused Palettes✓
36)  SingleShadows Week

This week's picks come from the theme of "Affordable"!

✯✯✯COLOURPOP MINI HAUL✯✯✯

✬✬✬IKATEHOUSE SALE✬✬✬

✬✬AM I GOING TO DO A LOW BUY?✬✬

I convinced myself that I had to make my way towards minimalism and began to panic about the size of my collection, in particular, my eyeshadow collection.  I ended last year with over 800 eyeshadow palettes and at first had no issue with the size of my collection.  The beauty community began to surge in drastic numbers with both influencers and consumers wanting to severely reduce their purchases of beauty products. I think the part that I missed was not the reduction in purchases, but the overall way I view my finances in general. I will say it till the day I die that I do not subscribe to a minimalist lifestyle. I take no issue with others that do, but that's not something that interests me in the slightest. What I am interested in is being a better steward of the money I earn and making better financial decisions for the present and future. I went several weeks with extreme restrictions on my spending but when I received my tax refund, I seemed to have lost focus on the reduced spending. Giving myself extreme restrictions is not the answer to redirecting my purchasing habits, but perhaps making realistic goals which cater to my needs and what I want to accomplish is a more sensible approach. So, I have decided to set myself up for success by implementing the following guidelines:

1.       The maximum amount to be spent on beauty related purchases is $150 a month.
2.     Maximum of one subscription service per month.
3.     Purchases of face palettes are allowed but for every product purchased, 2 must rotate out of my collection. 
4.     Purchase of blush, bronzer, and highlighters are allowed, but only high-end brands with the exception of Milani, Makeup Revolution, Maybelline. For every item purchased 2 must rotate out of the collection.
5.     Continue to support Indie brands.
6.     Continue seasonal decluttering.
7.     No new lipsticks or lip glosses.
8.     No new face powders unless repurchasing top 5 powders.
9.     No new eyeliners, mascaras, liquid eyeshadows unless repurchasing an item that is in the top 5 of said category.
10.     Continue to rotate through eyeshadows every two weeks and declutter palettes that were not used or I do not want.
11.     My collection is my business and as long as my products have a function, do not worry about other’s and their thoughts about my collection.

✬✬BEAUTY BAY HAUL✬✬PART 4✬✬