March has been an extremely busy month in every aspect. Everything feels topsy turvy for me right now. I always have this idea that once a large event is over I can breathe again. But, the reality always is that there are things to do after the fact. Vendors to pay, equipment to be returned, names to be changed, summer vacations to plan, etc.

While I know that April will still be a busy beauty month, I also know that after that, things should settle down significantly.

Now on with the empties because I don’t have anything else that has entered my collection this month. WhenI left off in the last post, we were completely even in incoming and outgoing products.

I did work through a few samples. I finished up a briogeo blossom & bloom shampoo, an alterna haircare set, and a becca primer sample. That’s 3.

As to how I felt about them? I didn’t care for the Briogeo shampoo, I loved the alterna haircare combo, and the becca primers are ones I already know I love so using them up was no trouble at all.

Then, I finished up both of my foundation samples, that’s 5

How did I feel about them? The tarte amazonian clay foundation worked very well but it is a bit heavier than I like. The make up for ever ultra HD foundation is one I’ve tried before and liked, but it does wear off my face a little too quickly for me to want to actually purchase it.

I also finished a maybelline dream cushion foundation. Now, this stayed at work and I used it to touch up for over a year. There’s just nothing left in here at all. It worked pretty well as a touch-up situation but I won’t repurchase. That’s 6

I have been convinced by Miss Butterfly to allow her to have my clinique setting powder, my butter bronzer, and my flower beauty blush. All of these products I like just fine, but Miss Butterfly was stealing them on the regular and then they wouldn’t be where I needed them to be so it was just easier to transfer them to her. That’s 9

And finally, I managed to finish up a peter thomas roth face mask sample. That’s 10. And I wouldn’t repurchase because I really don’t mask.

Continuing on. I finished my nyx intense butter gloss from the advent calendar, I loved it and would absolutely repurchase in the future. That’s 11.

I am getting rid of the metallic liquid lipstick from nyx, I hate it. I saved it simply for an 80s party and that’s over. Now it can move along. That’s 12.

I finished another piece of my satin hands kit, that’s 13.

And I am letting go of my l’oreal infallable nude eyeliner. That’s 14.

I actually have all my shampoo and conditioner samples pulled out and in the shower in hopes to get those used up soon. Not so much so that I can “count” them but more because it can just be a little annoying to have them hanging around. Finishing them feels like decluttering. Plus, I don’t have any other shampoo right now, other than samples. I will soon, but I figured it’ll be a good chance to just move through those samples first.

So, 14 products leaving the collection above what came in feels pretty decent for the month despite the fact I knew I’d still be bringing quite a bit in this month.

This is my second to last beauty balance post this month. The final one will get posted after my project pan update so that I can add any project pan items to it.

At last post, 5 items more left my collection than entered it.

Just a quick note, the Appeal liquid eyeshadow was a bust so I gave that to Miss Butterfly. It got cakey and uneven on my eyelids, which is what I was afraid of. I’ll allow her to experiment with it instead. Or I told her she can give it to a friend if she wants. That’s 6 items leaving my collection. And 6 items entering my collection.

I am almost out of a retinoid and all out of serum. So, I figured it was time to give the ordinary a try. The inexpensive nature is highly appealing to me. And, I’ve used two of the serums, a little goes a very long way. That’s great! Along with that came two samples and one reward item, bringing me up to the total of 6 items in. I am even at the moment.

The next post will not have any incoming items in it. The last beauty balance post of the month will entirely be things leaving my collection. This is good because there will be April purchases to discuss, most importantly, the lipstick for the wedding drama that never seems to end for me. I am going to end it once and for all. And once I do that, I am going to force myself to pick from that and stick with it.

Boxycharm finally arrived. And the good news is that it doesn’t contain much that I’d count as incoming beauty. But, I photographed the entire box anyhow.

We’ve got some moda brushes, they don’t count. I decided at the start of this that makeup brushes are tools and they don’t count for this project. Next to the brushes I have a liquid eyeshadow. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about it but I am wearing it today over a dark base and it looks pretty good! Never mind that it took two coats to get it there. We’ll see how it holds up through the day.

Then there’s a peel off mask. At my age, I have no business using a peel off mask. So, I’ve given this straight over to Miss Butterfly and it won’t count as an incoming beauty item. Next is a nice cover FX face palette, I am pretty excited about this one! I tried the blush, finishing powder, and highlighter this morning. It all looks very nice so far.

And finally there’s an ofra liquid lip in colorway Monaco. It’s got a sheen to it which is not my favorite but, ofra liquid lips ARE my favorite and the color is gorgeous so I don’t mind too much.

Now that I have my box I can determine that only 3 beauty items will be added to my collection from boxycharm this month. But, I also got an ulta order.

This is a simple one. First of all, the maybelline waterproof mascaras I tried bothered my eyes so much. Far too much to suffer through. I picked up a clinique waterproof mascara instead. At least this way I KNOW I’ll be safe from irritated eyes. I also picked up a mascara primer during the ulta 21 days of beauty sale, it was half off. I tried it this morning, pairing it with a regular mascara. It looks great!

Now that I received 2 orders, we now know that I did have 5 products entering my collection. I am one product leaving the collection up from last post. Here’s where I am with empties/declutters:

First up there’s a pair of lashes I received in a subscription box awhile back. These are soooo long that they almost hit my eyebrows and they look completely ridiculous. This was the moment I realized I had no intention of wearing a full strip of lashes on my wedding day. No thanks. These can go.

Then I worked at moving some samples back out. First, there’s the belif water essence which I liked and am happy to have another sample in my collection to use. I don’t think I’d repurchase though. Next to that is clinique’s jelly moisturizer with some serum in it. I liked this a lot more than I had anticipated!

Next to that is a sample size of pyunkang yul oil. Now, I’d never heard of this brand before and it has been sitting in my sample stash for almost a year. But, I’d recently heard someone on youtube whose opinion I greatly respect talk about their toners. I’d already decided to work through the oil, applying it after my retinol treatment since my skin was starting to get increasingly dry because of that. So when I realized it was the same brand I was quite surprised. This was a LOVELY face oil, and I absolutely want to get a full size. Yesstyle carries this brand and at some point when I’ve worked through the rest of my oils and toners I am going to try both their oil and their toner. This was the hidden gem of this group of samples.

And then there are the bare minerals samples which I am perfectly happy to use up but I don’t feel an overwhelming need to have in my life.

Under that we’ve got a colorpop liquid lip that is so dry and awful that I just want it gone from my collection immediately, that went to Miss Butterfly, as did both of the waterproof mascaras that bothered my eyes. And, there’s a container of makeup wipes gone as well.

That’s 9 items gone, or 10 when counting the one item from the last post. And 5 items in, so I am 5 leaving my collection ahead at the moment.

I know I’ll have a few more empties to show off and I also placed an order for some serums which I am genuinely out of now that the dermadeli serum is gone. Those will likely show up with a sample or three. But that’ll be all for March and I suspect April will be a much more gentle month. That being said, I still haven’t completely worked out the wedding lipstick thing yet. It’s getting frustrating. I suspect the biggest problem is trying to make me happy while also making Mr. Ink happy. He doesn’t love lipstick on me due to the transfer issue. He’s picky, I am picky, and I am struggling to find a thing that works. But, I have narrowed it down to a brand I believe, so that’s a start.

I am sure I mentioned that starting beauty balance in March of this year when I am not actually going to quit purchasing makeup until after the wedding was going to be tough. It has indeed been so. When we last left off, I was one incoming item over what left my collection.

Yesterday Miss Marja and I went all over the place doing wedding related shopping and things. One of the things she wanted to do was stop at ulta to pick up some things for herself. While we were there, I picked up some things too.

Thankfully only three things. I wanted to see if I could get the Jergens natural glow to work for me and be consistent about using it up until the wedding. If I can, I think it’ll be a good idea. I think that the mac foundation I am planning to use at the wedding is just slightly too dark right now, but if I can darken the rest of me it’ll be perfect.

I picked up the wet n wild coconut setting spray mostly simply to use to spray my makeup brushes with. I just finished a setting spray using it that way and I don’t want to use my urban decay all nighter that way. I wanted something inexpensive for that use.

And then, on my eternal hunt for a wedding lipstick, I bought a colorpop liquid lip. The mac one I purchased got tested, and it absolutely transfers badly. I love the color but it is not what I am looking for on our big day. I’ll test out the colorpop next. Thankfully the mac one I adore and can totally wear any other time.

So that’s 4 products incoming above what was outgoing. Let’s see if we can find balance.

That morphe setting spray I just finished. The spray mechanism is divine but I don’t think the product is worth the price. Then I went through a sample size of the dry texture spray I love with all my heart. I have 2 more full sizes in my stash so it’s all good.

The other items. The tiny glass bottle with a dropper is dermadeli pumpkin serum and I absolutely adored this item. I just looked up the claims and it talks about extreme hydration. That was exactly what I found it to do. I am not positive I’d purchase a full size, and certainly won’t at the moment, but if I am feeling particularly dry next winter I hope I remember it and perhaps give it another go. I loved it.

There’s also a finished briogeo scalp revival shampoo. Once I finish up a bunch of samples I’ll be getting this again. I love this product. I purchased it over the summer and have been using it while also finishing up that lush shampoo bar I was working on. So, it lasted a really long time.

And finally, almost not counting, but since I am counting samples in, I get to count samples out. This is a sample size of the bite beauty lip scrub. I decided to crack it open in part because I wanted to make sure my beauty balanced, but also in part because I am almost done with my elf lip scrub and I wanted to see if this was better enough to purchase instead. It’s good, really good. But I love the delivery system of the elf product so I am not going to be purchasing the bite one at the higher prices.

As a conclusion, that’s 5 products leaving and that means we are back to 1 more product leaving than are coming into my collection. That’s great because we STILL haven’t gotten our boxycharm this month which is really annoying. On the other hand, I know some items are leaving my collection again. The two maybelline waterproof mascaras bother my eyes fiercely. Like, I think something is in my eye all day bothered. Like I think I might be getting pink eye bothered. Like, one eyelid actually swelled up over the day yesterday bothered. So, pretty sure those will be leaving and I’ll be bringing in a clinique waterproof mascara. Let’s go with something trusted this time.

More than halfway through March now, beauty still balanced and lots of items getting used up.

Here’s where things begin to get more difficult. I am 12 items out of my collection of items entering my collection. That’s about to change.

I got an order in:

Most of this is wedding related. Waterproof mascara to try, as some mascara bothers my eyes and I need to do a test run. A package of blotting papers and a lipstick and lipgloss from the boom boom bloom collection, the lipstick I am hoping will work for the wedding since my last lipstick purchase did not. A lipliner that is supposed to precisely match the lipstick tones. And then two more things. A red lip liner for the days I want to wear a red lip. My two red lipsticks bleed badly around my mouth. And I decided I wanted to experiment with a full face of cream products so I picked up a flower beauty blush bomb. I’ve heard good things. So, that’s 8 items in, bringing the 12 out down to 4 out.

And naturally this came with samples. So many samples.

Thankfully they are tiny samples. I am counting each sample card as one. And that’s 5 items. This brings me to one item into my collection over those going out. I guess I’d better get working on those samples after all!

I don’t have anything to show for empties since I posted empties yesterday. Hopefully by the time boxycharm arrives I’ll be able to balance March beauty with empties as well.

Still, for this month, it’s pretty good to be only one item unbalanced at the moment.

One thing I’ve learned while choosing different passions over the years is that often good tools really improve the quality of what can be achieved. This has certainly been the case with makeup brushes as well. When I got started I did grab a bunch of inexpensive brushes and did pretty well with them. I’ve also been fortunate to get a bunch of brushes in subscription boxes. I haven’t had to purchase many at all since the initial purchases. But, one thing my collection is seriously lacking in is brushes to apply shadow to the eyelid itself.

Thankfully I’ve waited long enough to know what I prefer, and it would be brushes with some natural bristles involved. As I’d heard a lot about bdellium tools being really good inexpensive brushes, I thought I’d give them a try. I picked up 4 brushes that are natural and synthetic blends. They arrived with a gift of an additional brush and a lipstick. As such, the lipstick has to count in the beauty balance. The brushes do not. I have decided that brushes last so long that they are more of a permanent item in a collection. Unlike sponges which have a shelf life.

I should also probably add that the eyeshadow brushes absolutely serve my purpose beautifully, I could not be more pleased! They work better than anything I currently own and I am so glad to have them. I haven’t tried the weird green powder brush yet.

In my last March beauty balance post, I was up 10 items leaving my collection. Now I’ve got one coming in. Leaving me 9 items leaving this month.

The lipstick is a great color and supposed to be matte. However, it is not a drying formula. So far I am really enjoying it. I am glad to have it in my collection.

But wait! I’ve finished more since then so I can add more to my leaving the collection list!

You may remember that I purchased two more CeraVe cleansers last month. The one that I knew was nearing completion is now finished. I also finished a Body Drench original formula moisturizer. This is my absolute favorite hand cream. I use it all of the time. I have two more, one at work and one at home, and both of them are only about 1/4 full. It is getting close to the time I need to pick up some more. This does not leave my hands feeling greasy and it does not have so much of a scent that it interferes with perfume. It has a bit of a powdery scent. I hate lotions with heavy scents so this is perfect for me.

And finally up in the top right corner is a bang beauty eyeliner gel in brown. This never worked for its purpose. It was always a terrible product. But, I’d kept it around for a bit to see if I could use it in my eyebrows. This week I tried it in my eyebrows. It’s as dry as dry can be and I can’t get much to pick up on a brush. Best to let this go. It came in a subscription box and has always been an afterthought for me.

So, from 9 to 12 items ahead this month. I had been thinking I’d never stay ahead of the game this month without turning to a bunch of samples to even the score. As it turns out between just finishing things up naturally and giving my collection a decent declutter I have been able to stay way ahead of the game. That being said, I still have a boxy charm that is VERY late this month and an order yet to arrive. So we shall see.

One of the nicest parts about doing multiple beauty balance posts per month is not having to save what is essentially trash around the house until the end of the month. I’ll still be saving anything from my project pan but not the general run of the mill trash. I love that!

In my last beauty balance post I needed two more things to leave my collection in order to be balanced with the items that had come in with fab fit fun. I spent some time decluttering this morning in order that I could come up with those things.

I came up with all that and more. Let’s discuss.

There’s half a bottle of gucci perfume that smells not as much like it should as it did. I have removed that from my collection and Miss Butterfly owns it now.

I tossed a morphe makeup sponge that is pockmarked and tearing. I have had it close to a year now.

There’s a Lush lip scrub in bubblegum flavor. It is also gone now. I find the lush lip scrubs to be a bit harsh for my taste.

You may remember that I mentioned that I was putting aside some makeup for a friend who will be visiting for the wedding. I have identified 3 items that will go in that box. I am counting them as out of my collection though if she doesn’t want them, technically they’ll come back in my collection and I’ll have to account for them again.

The first of those is the hourglass vanish foundation stick. It’s too yellow for me and trying to use it up is just not working. It was an expensive lesson. I’ve set it aside just in case my friend can make it work. If she cannot, I am tossing it. I just can’t continue trying to use it.

I am also adding to that collection a wet n wild highlighter and a makeup revolution blush. I like them both, but I have better in my collection.

I am finally decluttering what is left of the wet n wild eyeshadow quint that I panned the transition shade on last summer. There’s no reason for it to stay in my stash.

At the bottom of the photo is a catrice eyebrow pencil, it’s gone. And below that is a nars eyeshadow primer, it is also gone.

Then, off to the right bottom corner, I have a perfume sample of viva la juicy. It was nice to use but it really doesn’t stick around long enough on my skin. So I wouldn’t repurchase. It’s a bit too sweet anyhow. Then there’s my monsieur big mascara sample, it’s kicked. And, a makeup forever skin tint with spf. I used this AS an spf since it was always too dark for me. There may be one more use in there and I’ve decided I like the space in my collection better than I like keeping it around to try to use up. It’s over a year old as well.

That’s 12 items leaving my collection, though two were needed to balance the last post. So, this leaves me with 10 items that have left my collection this month. I’ll have 4 coming in with my boxy charm box and I placed an order at ulta that is definitely going to screw with these totals because I suspect I am getting a bunch of samples with that order. But for now, until more comes in, I am 10 items leaving my collection ahead of the beauty balance.

Someday I’ll regularly have more leaving than coming in. It’s just that this month and next will not be as easy to balance with the upcoming wedding. After that I intend to really knuckle down and get better at this. But it was good to do an old fashioned declutter at this point as well. There will be no better time than now to get some items given to a friend so she can perhaps get use out of them.

We are not going to be able to balance the beauty budget today. Fab Fit Fun arrived earlier than expected and I just haven’t been able to finish up enough products to find the balance.

6 products that I would list under the category “beauty” arrived in my box this month! That being said, I am only counting 5 of them. But I figured I’d show them all here so I could explain what I am doing with one of them.

Left to right, top to bottom.

The Trestique product was a “mystery” choice in my box. It’s a cream highlighter. I guess I finally have to get on the cream products trend! I actually used this in my morning routine this morning and it does look quite lovely. It packs a punch as well.

Dr. Brandt no more baggage eye gel. I’ve received this once already and I hate it. I gave mine away to a friend. Now it’s back in my collection. However, I have a friend who is my age and also getting into makeup for the first time. She’ll be traveling to see me for the wedding. She asked me to please not toss anything between now and then and hand it over if I didn’t want it. So, I have decided to make her a box. This item will go in the box. So I am not going to count it as arriving in my collection only to count it as leaving my collection in April.

Ouai leave in conditioner. I am eager to try this but I have other hair products to work through first.

Tula face cleanser-I am never going to be particularly upset about receiving a cleanser in a subscription box. I am not going to use this immediately though, as I’ve got others to finish first.

Ciate London translucent setting powder-This was an item I got a choice on and I chose this one because I got a tiny sample size I have used and really liked.

Manna Kadar body scrub: This is going to be really nice to have since I am very close to being out of the shower gel I received in a fab fit fun fall or winter box. I can’t remember which. Anyhow, I’ll just replace that shower gel with this and be quite pleased about it.

So, that’s 5 products in. I can’t make 5 products leave my collection this early in the month. But here’s what I do have:

I’ve got a tarte rainforest of the sea palette that I received in a subscription box recently. Miss Butterfly and I have both tried it and decided it isn’t worthy of our collections. We have so many other gorgeous palettes to use that we both know this one won’t get any use. I’ve decided to add it to my box of stuff for my friend. I may find more to add to that box but haven’t really had time to sit with my collection and make that decision yet.

I also finished up another of my Almay eye makeup remover wipes.

And, there’s that tiny ciate london setting powder that I used and enjoyed, prompting me to choose the full size when it was a choice in the box.

So, I am 2 incoming products over the beauty balance this month so far. On the other hand, I also know I’ve only got a few days use on a couple things in my collection. So, I think I’ll be able to balance this month. It’s just that this month’s products are showing up faster than I can get older products used up thus far.

All in all, I am fairly pleased with the items contained in the subscription box, besides the dr. brandt product. While I don’t need to crack into any of them immediately, a result of too many subscription boxes too fast, they will eventually get used in my collection.

I am pleased though that there are still so many days left in the month to attempt to get the balance back on track! I guess having so much arrive so soon does help plan the remainder of the month. For instance, basically, anything I was thinking of getting this month has been pushed out a bit. That may save me money in the end, if I can push it out long enough I am likely to find things on sale.

So, my Sephora order arrived. To be perfectly honest, I ordered another dry texture spray not because I needed one right now, but mostly because of the free Charlotte Tilbury powder offer. That’s a product that is too pricey to buy before knowing if I actually like it. But, I am still looking for a powder to set my undereye without looking extra dry. I’ve heard very good things about this one.

Naturally, my order came with a few other samples too. Since I am counting samples leaving my collection, I have to count them coming in too, right? Of course right. Now, I am a bit annoyed about the perricone md sample as I had anticipated getting a sample of the dior backstage foundation. It was another wedding foundation contender and I was eager to rule it out or in depending on how it performed. However, the mac I got the other day continues to perform so well that I think I don’t need to be on the hunt for another foundation.

In any case, this is 4 in. So, I need to come up with 4 out.

So that’s what I did. The top is a color correct palette, it’s 3 years old. I bought it when I had no clue about makeup but had an event I needed to be at that would require looking more polished. I used it for that event and then never touched it again. It got put in a bag and pushed into a closet, and then I discovered it when rearranging and decluttering over the weekend. It can go! Cream products do not last quite that long, and I haven’t any use for it to begin with.

I am done with another Lush shampoo bar, and that’ll be my last one for a long while. Once it breaks up into all those tiny pieces, I am done. I feel like it’s too harsh a formula for me anyhow so I am glad to have this one out of my collection. I panned one over last summer and had anticipated not using this one. But then I decided might as well get it gone and switch to something I liked more. I finally can.

The Lush hair custard is gone too, finally! I tried to pan it last year and was unsuccessful. I finally finished it! I like the product and the smell is extremely pleasant to me. But, I’ve got loads of products to use so I won’t repurchase it.

And the Blaq eye gels, I received these in a subscription box. Fab fit fun I think. There were 5 of them in there. I am not a huge fan of eye gels and I didn’t think these were particularly hydrating, which is what I am looking for. They performed best if I added them over a serious eye cream. That’s how I finished them up. One set per week for the past 5 weeks. Obviously, I won’t be repurchasing them.

So, I’ve balanced my beauty again this post. And in this case, the items leaving are as a general rule larger than the items sticking around. Pretty cool!

Fab Fit Fun arrives this week I think, and I am not positive I will be able to balance my beauty on the next post. That’s before Boxycharm even shows up! But, hopefully, I can get everything balanced by the end of the month. We shall see.

So, to be perfectly honest, last month I worked on my beauty balance post all month. When products came in I grabbed photos, got them uploaded, composed some thoughts, and then waited until the next products came in. When I started the post, I had no clue what is going to happen throughout the month.

I’ve decided that instead of gathering those thoughts into one post, I am going to split them up as things come in and leave my collection.

As such, I am writing to you from the beginning of the month completely anticipating that this is going to be a BAD beauty balance month as I work through what I want to wear at the wedding and make mistakes. Like I did on March 1.

We went to purchase shoes and an undergarment for Miss Butterfly. Her dress fitting and alteration happens tomorrow and we needed to get those last two things worked out. Shopping, as I may have mentioned, tends to exhaust me. We were successful but it did take time.

While we were shopping for those things, I wanted to stop by the mac counter because I wanted to purchase their waterproof nourishing foundation, anticipating that it might be a pretty good option for the wedding. I wanted to get it early enough to give it a good test run. While it’s 100% not warm enough at this time in the month to give it a nice sweaty test drive, I thought I could get started figuring out how it applies the best. I’d never tried a mac foundation before so I needed to get color matched. (NW18 if you were wondering.)

I also wanted to pick up a matte lipstick in a specifically cool-toned pink shade. I had an example of the shade I wanted in a bite beauty lipstick. Here’s what actually happened at the mac counter and I am not sure if it was a bait and switch or an honest mistake. First of all, I couldn’t find a matte formula in a color I liked and got talked into the powder kiss formula instead, which in the end, isn’t going to serve my purposes. But the worst thing was that when I got home I opened the package of foundation to find that I’d been given the pro longwear above instead of the waterproof nourishing foundation. I thought that it could have been an honest mistake, but when I went to the mac website today I realized that the waterproof nourishing is currently on backorder in my particular shade. So now I am beginning to suspect that she slipped the other in there instead of having me just say no and walk away.

I would be irritable about this. I was irritable about this. But, I also LOVE trying foundations so I decided to keep it. I did learn one lesson though, check to see what you wanted is actually in your bag before you leave the store. Also, don’t shop while exhausted because defenses are down. Here’s the most ironic part though, I’ve been testing this pro longwear foundation for a few days now and I have never had a foundation stick to my nose better than this one does! It looks great on me and may end up being the perfect foundation for the wedding after all. Again, was this a bait and switch, an honest mistake, or did she KNOW better than me and give me what I actually needed? We’ll never know.

I guess I should mention the nyx lip liner. I thought I needed another lip liner. Spoiler alert, I did not. I’ll work at finishing up one I have this month to make up for it. I don’t know what my problem is. I am weak in the face of makeup.

So, update one, 3 items in and none of them are quite what I wanted, though one may be perfect for me anyhow. With boxy charm and fab fit fun coming in, there will be more items, and I placed a sephora order very recently. Moving forward, when I post these beauty balance posts during the month I will add empties. However, I had 3 more empties last month than items coming in. So, on this post, I am leaving the empties blank. It’s early in the month and I am going to call it even because of the extra three items last month. Maybe that’s cheating, but it’s my made up rules so I can get away with it.

Fab Fit Fun makes its way to me this week so there will be another beauty balance post coming by at least the weekend.

Instead of monthly empties, I am going to start posting a “beauty balance” monthly series. The point of this series will be to show my empties and to also highlight what has entered my collection during the month as well. The idea being that I want my monthly empties to equal or exceed the products which are incoming monthly. I will also post destash stuff here as well. If something leaves my collection it gets to count as a beauty balance item.

I don’t know if I will achieve that goal at first. I’ve got some subscription services to wrap up. I’ll be receiving boxycharm through July I believe, and I still have 2 fab fit fun boxes coming my way. While fab fit fun boxes aren’t all beauty related items, there are generally some. So that means an automatic 5 plus items that will enter my collection through July before I’ve even purchased something I’ve really planned out. Thankfully, ipsy is being purchased by Miss Butterfly now so that’s 5 items that are not entering my collection.

I also have the wedding coming up and I haven’t really squared away all that which I might need for it. I definitely plan to try some waterproof mascara and I may also try a new foundation. Likely I’ll purchase a lip liner and lipstick as well. Thankfully I am pretty pleased with the rest of my routine at this point and won’t need much more than that.

Now, the only way I can think to do this is count everything as one item, even if that one item is a sample size or a sheet mask or something. It’s always just going to be one item. That’ll make it easiest to document.

So, this month’s beauty balance, let’s start with the incoming items.

These are my boxycharm items for February. I am pretty pleased with these items. The cleanser will be easy to use up, I can always use another mascara, the highlighter turns out to be a very nice highlighter, and while I haven’t tried the lip product yet, I am glad it is in my collection. The primer is the one thing which I am not too sure about yet. I’ve used it once and it seemed like all the foundation I wore in the areas where I put the primer disappeared off my face by midday. So, it needs a bit more testing before I decide it’s a part of my collection that I’ll be using up. Miss Butterfly has her eye on it, so if it doesn’t work for me I’ll just send it her way. However, I’ve been working hard on my project pan primer so I haven’t tested it further.

And here are some purchase that I made. Miss Butterfly is about to need a new Cerave cleanser and purchasing 2 got me a deal, so I did. While I typically don’t include Miss Butterfly’s items in my incoming/outgoing products, in this case I use the cleanser too from time to time.  The smashbox legendary liquid lip is a formula I really adore and I wanted to add a red liquid lip to my collection. That was fully just a want purchase. Then, the Sultry palette is the one which I suspect I’ll wear at the wedding. I have been testing it regularly but it does need further testing. And finally, my sister in law who is a wedding photographer suggests getting a new perfume you really like for the wedding, and then you will be pleased to associate that scent with a happy time in your life. So I did! I got the one perfume I’ve really wanted for over a year now. And I’ll be saving it for my wedding day.

So, with both of these, that makes 10 items that entered my collection and I need 10 to leave my collection. Shall we see how I did?

First, let’s discuss the items which are not pictured. I finished a lush soap which obviously can’t be photographed. I also threw out a pur contour shade from my magnetic palette because it broke into a thousand pieces and I didn’t like it anyhow. So that’s 2 items out.

3. Estee Lauder nutritious cleanser. This was a perfectly lovely foaming cleanser I probably won’t purchase again. It’s expensive and I think I’ve decided I will stick with drugstore cleansers after I run through all I currently have.

4. Moroccan Oil dry texture spray. I love this stuff and I will repurchase. At the moment I have a sample size and another full size. I think Miss Butterfly was dipping into this stuff too, so my plan is to hide these from here on out. Too expensive for a kid to be using.

5. Trader Joe’s sheet mask. These are less expensive than what can be purchased at other stores, so I thought I’d give it a try. Thing is, turns out I just don’t care about sheet masking. So I won’t repurchase.

6. Maybelline age rewind concealer. I love this product. I am trying to get my stash down to just one concealer though, and I think that the too faced born this way concealer wins out. However, I do not regret having used this whatsoever.

7. A sample of Atelier clementine. I am glad to have used this, took me an entire month to use this tiny sample. But, it’s not one I would purchase for myself. I just don’t love it that much.

8. Bite Beauty agave lip balm-This sample size was annoying because the product removed itself from the base and was difficult to use. I do like the product and I do have a full size. However, I won’t be purchasing another kit with a sample size in it.

9. Bite beauty amuse bouche lipstick-loved this! I would repurchase it if given the chance, though I am trying to keep my lipstick collection from getting out of control. I am glad to have work it for 2 months to try it out. I have 2 more samples and 1 full size in my collection of different colors.

10. Wet n wild photofocus foundation-this foundation worked really nicely for me when I discovered it last year and it’s so inexpensive that I might purchase again. However, not any time soon because there are so many to try and so many already in my collection to use up.

11. Bare Minerals mineral veil powder-I won’t repurchase this either, but I was perfectly happy to give it a try. I did rather like it under my eyes to set concealer, it worked nicely for that.

12. Maybelline lip liner-I’ll likely repurchase at some point but I’ve got some others to use up first.

13. Makeup wipes I got at big lots for $2. I think I am not a huge makeup wipe user. I have one more package in my collection. I am going to use that up and then just not purchase them unless I am traveling or something.

So-10 products in, 13 products out, and that’s the kind of beauty balance I am hoping for. Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep up this good work next month. I DO think considering the “beauty balance” helped curb some purchasing this month. For instance, I have it in my head that NYX is going to discontinue their intense butter gloss line, the only lip gloss I’ve ever truly loved. It’s all on sale with quite a few colors being completely out of stock. Most places I’ve been in stores aren’t even carrying it anymore. So, naturally, I was tempted to get every color I thought I might like so that I’d have it if it disappears completely. But, I kept asking myself if my beauty balance could “afford” that many items entering my collection this month. In the end, I felt it could not. Now that the month is over, I see that technically I could have “afforded” 3 of them. But, since I didn’t know that ahead of time, I didn’t purchase, and that kept me from a rash decision of purchasing too many at once.