It isn’t actually the end of August yet, but I believe I can wrap up my beauty balance in this post.

First of all, I did place an order. Here’s the thing, despite wanting to stay beauty balanced each month, more things leaving than arriving, I have also stated that the one thing I won’t quit purchasing are eyeshadow palettes. My reality, and passion for makeup, lies there. It’s like a lovely yarn stash, having a variety sparks creativity.

So, I got a tiny palette I’ve been craving since it appeared on the scene some time ago now. It’s the viseart petite pro 5 soleil. The color story of this palette is so rich and expressive and I am so excited to use it.

Naturally, it came with samples. So, that’s another 4, making me off balance by 9.

No matter. I have been working through my stash this month. I am working on decluttering some things that I don’t need or want. Some go to Miss Butterfly, some to her friend who loves makeup but doesn’t have a mom who is participating in it. Of course, I’ve also got empties.

Let’s go over the empties really quick first. I finished a fancy shampoo for my itchy pre-cut hair which never helped in the end. I finished a tiny sample of mattifying face primer from smith & cult. This was weird and black. It worked. I wouldn’t purchase it. I like my becca ever matte better. I finished an eyeshadow I was using to set my eye primer, it was from morphe. I finished a perfume sample, Marc Jacobs Daisy eau so fresh. This had zero lasting power on me, while the scent was nice it didn’t stick. And, I finished an AOA studios tinted brow gel. I liked it quite a lot and for a buck, it was entirely worth it. I’ll probably repurchase once I work through other things in my collection.

Now on to the declutters. Miss Marja gave me the burt’s bees lippie, but I don’t love it so I’ll pass it along. There are three little eyeshadows I am decluttering. Each has been fairly well-loved by Miss Butterfly and me. Nice dips in each of them. But, I wore each of them recently, swatched them by colors I have in palettes, and identified that I don’t need these in my collection. I also have a morphe gel liner that I want to remove and then a perfume sample, Lancome la vie est belle, that every time I open I realize I just really dislike. I must have some odd association with this one as it just brings up unpleasant feelings. So, that goes too.

That’s 11 products out. 2 over what came in this month. So we are balanced.

I, of course, have an upcoming project pan update for this weekend. But, I was thinking that I might also do a post about subscription boxes. I would kind of like to round up the products I still have that I received in subscription boxes and really truly love. And then discuss some observations from my year of subscription boxes and how I feel about what I received. Maybe this weekend, maybe next week, not quite sure yet. But, I think it may be a worthwhile post.