• Reviewing My 2021 Beauty Expenses

    Hi Everyone!

    Today, I’m reviewing my beauty expenses for 2021!

    I don’t know how useful these posts are for readers, but they are helpful for me to track my progress. It also keeps me accountable for budget goals because I’ve written it for everyone else to see.

    In previous years, I made budgets for each makeup category, i.e. spend $50 on primer, $20 on eyeliner, etc. This year, my plan was to just stay under $500 like I did for 2020.

    Check out my previous beauty expenses posts:

    2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020

    My 2019 Beauty Budget

    Categories20172018201920202021TOTAL SPENT (from 2017-21)
    Makeup130016001100702504320
    Miscellaneous25016030440
    Skincare450500700230901970
    Total2000210018004603706730
    Planned Purchases21%50%70%85%78%
    Impulse Purchases79%50%30%15%22%
    Beauty Expenses from 2017 (lightest shade) to 2021 (darkest shade).

    Earlier this year, I did a bit of a declutter with my makeup. I realized that I didn’t have some products in certain categories (like a spot concealer or a highlighter), so I bought some items that have been on my wishlist for a while.

    My 6 most expensive beauty purchases of 2021. Most of these are products I bought during the Sephora sale in November (prices listed are the approximate sale prices without tax):

    1. Charlotte Tilbury Easy Eye Palette – $58
    2. Hourglass Ambient Lighting Bronzer – $55
    3. Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter – $42
    4. Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Concealer – $36
    5. First Aid Beauty KP Bump Eraser – $35
    6. Sephora PRO Highlight Brush – $28

    I have quite a lot of unopened makeup. I’d like to open those products before buying anything more. I might buy a new foundation. I’ve had my eye on the UOMA Beauty Say What?! Foundation and I just found out that some of their products are sold at Shoppers Drug Mart!

    PAST GOALS

    In 2017 and 2018, a good chunk of my purchases were from Winners. If you’re not Canadian, Winners is like a TJ Maxx. They sell clothes, accessories, home items and beauty products. The beauty products are usually items that are older stock/discontinued. They also sell brands that I’ve never heard of and brands that aren’t as accessible in Canada. From what I can remember, there wasn’t anything I bought from Winners that I absolutely loved. Also, since it was probably a discontinued item, it would be hard to find again.

    I also don’t really understand how I was able to purchase more than 100 beauty items in 2017. In 2019, I bought about 85 items. In 2020, I bought about 20 items and 2021, I bought about 15.

    FUTURE GOALS

    I still haven’t been wearing makeup regularly, but once I do, I’m hoping to stick to a reasonable amount. I think $1000 was definitely too much since most were impulse purchases. I think between $200 and $500 would be a good amount. For skincare, I think staying under $500 would be good too.  

    I would also like to make an effort to buy makeup and skincare from independent brands, particularly BIPOC-owned brands. It’s hard to find brands that even ship to Canada. When they do, shipping and duties costs more than the product! That’s usually why I stick to bigger retailers, it’s just easier for me and more cost effective. Hopefully more brands I want to try will start selling at Canadian retailers.

    Did you make a budget for 2021? Do you plan to make one for 2022?

    Love,

  • 2020 most expensive purchases

    Reviewing My 2020 Beauty Expenses

    Hi Everyone!

    Today, I’m reviewing my expenses for 2020! I bought makeup in January before our first lockdown happened. So I have some unopened makeup sitting in my drawer. The rest of my beauty purchases were all skincare or hair related.

    Check out my previous beauty expenses posts:

    2017 | 2018 | 2019

    My 2019 Beauty Budget

    CategoryBudgetActual
    Skincare500230
    Primers1500
    Foundations/Powders/Sprays1500
    Concealers1200
    Eyeliners500
    Brows5045
    Mascara500
    Lips10020
    Blush600
    Highlighter600
    Bronzer600
    Miscellaneous250
    Makeup Tools10
    Makeup Remover30
    Haircare105
    Perfume/Deodorant15
    TOTAL1600460

    As you can see, I spent just over a quarter of my planned 2020 budget. I only purchased makeup in January and I also spent less on skincare. I’m not exactly sure why the skincare expenses went down too. I am still using skincare on a daily basis whereas I haven’t used my makeup in a year.

    My 6 most expensive beauty purchases of 2020 (all products purchased from Sephora during VIB sale at 15% off, prices are approximate):

    1. Volition Beauty Snow Mushroom Water Serum – $75
    2. Volition Beauty Helix AM/PM Eye Gel – $62
    3. Clinique Even Better Eyes Dark Circle Corrector – $52
    4. Briogeo Be Gentle, Be Kind Banana + Coconut Superfoods Shampoo & Conditioner Hair Pack – $53
    5. Briogeo Scalp Revival Soothing Travel Kit – $29
    6. Glow Recipe Papaya Enzyme Smoothing Cleansing Balm – $28

    Out of the products listed above, I would repurchase the Volition Snow Mushroom Water Serum, Clinique Even Better Eyes Darck Circle Corrector and Glow Recipe papaya Enzyme Smoothing Cleansing Balm. You can read my review on the Helix AM/PM Eye Gel.

     For the Briogeo products, I didn’t like the Scalp Revival Soothing Travel Kit and ended up sending the products to my friends. The Banana + Coconut Superfoods Shampoo & Conditioner are nice, but I’m not the biggest fan of the scent. I might consider trying the Be Gentle, Be Kind Matcha + Apple Replenishing Superfood Shampoo and Kale + Apple Replenishing Superfood Conditioner.

    2018 was the year I spent the most on beauty products. I bought a lot of makeup at Winners back then. In 2018, I had 340 makeup items (including nail polish, perfumes and makeup remover). The majority of those were eyeshadows (I counted each pan instead of the number of palettes). I decluttered a bunch of makeup/nail polish by the end of 2018. Since 2019, my makeup inventory has been under 100 items. I’m hoping that I can get my inventory down to 30-50 items by the end of this year. I know it sounds counterintuitive as a beauty blogger, but I’m just not as drawn to new launches as others. When new products launch, I don’t HAVE to have it immediately. I actually prefer to read the reviews on products and wait until the hype has died down to see if others actually like the products and continue to use them in their daily makeup routines.

    For 2021, I hope to spend the same amount on beauty products (around $500). I doubt I will buy much makeup this year, but maybe I will buy a few items just so I can have some new reviews on the blog. I know last year, I didn’t write many blog posts and I’d like to get back into it again.

    Love,

  • most expensive beauty purchases of 2019

    Reviewing My 2019 Beauty Expenses

    Hi Everyone!

    As the new year approaches, I thought I would review my 2019 beauty expenses since I don’t plan to make any beauty purchases in the month of December.

    Check out my previous beauty expenses posts:

    2017 | 2018

    My 2019 Beauty Budget

    CategoryEstimateActual
    Skincare$600$700
    Primers120100
    Foundation/Powders/
    Sprays
    120225
    Concealers100150
    Eyeliners6020
    Brows100100
    Mascara10050
    Lips090
    Blush040
    Highlighter075
    Bronzer050
    Miscellaneous600350
    TOTAL $18001950

    For my estimated costs for 2019, I didn’t include a section for lip products, blushes, bronzers, highlighters, eyeshadows, nail polish or hair because I already had a lot of things that I wanted to finish before buying new products in those categories. I ended up buying products in the blush/bronzer/lip/highlighter categories though…oops! The miscellaneous section includes hair products, makeup tools, makeup removers, etc.

    As you can see, I went $150 over my proposed budget of $1800. I’m going to do my best to get the skincare category from $700 to $500.

    My 6 most expensive beauty purchases of 2019:

    1. Tula Illuminating Face Serum – $83.30 (15% off, bought on TULA Canada before they got rid of the Canadian website)
    2. Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel – $73.95 (15% off, bought during Sephora VIB Sale)
    3. Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheer – $58.65 (15% off on Armani-Beauty.ca)
    4. Clé de Peau Concealer – $55 (more than 40% off, bought at Shiseido Warehouse Sale)
    5. Kiehls Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado – $51 (20% off sale at Kiehls.ca)
    6. Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Setting Powder – $49.30 (15% off, bought during Sephora VIB Sale)

    Most of my purchases were from Sephora, the drugstore or a brand’s website (e.g. Kiehls.ca, Giorgio Armani Beauty, Smashbox). I only purchased a few items from Winners this year. I’ve tried to cut down on the makeup purchases from Winners because they’re usually discontinued items that I can’t review on Instagram or my blog.

    Did you have a beauty budget this year? Did you stay under budget or go over like I did?

    Love,