Decluttering: Clothing

And so it begins...........

I don't expect to declutter a lot from each of the categories, but it'll be a start and with my not buying unnecessary products this year it should reduce in size any way.  I'll also keep and eye on what I'm actually using and get rid of anything I thought I would use but haven't.

The amount of items I have in the clothing category is a suprise to me in its size. It might be smaller then many people's, but it's still a lot larger then I realised when I started. (I also need to apologise for the quality of the photos in all of this series as a lot of them were taken in the evening.)

Bags | Purses | Wallets

Getting rid of.

I've been going through these on a regular basis so I didn't expect to get rid of many.  However I did actually manage to get rid of half but being very realistic about what I actually use.  In the end I only kept a family heirloom and two bags I use all the time.  I didn't include my work bags in this as I use them all the time.

Clothes

Getting rid of.

I started by getting rid of all the clothes that were off colour (even if I loved it), misshaped, and didn't fit anymore.  Then I got rid of the items I no longer wear or hardly ever wear at all, but just liked to keep in my wardrobe. There is still a lot of items, way more then I need, but I wear and love all of them so I'm keeping them for now.  If I stop wearing any item this year I'll send them off to charity as I only have good quality items now.  I really won't need to buy anything in this category this year.

Undergarments

Getting rid of.

I pretty much use all of my underwear, despite having a lot, so I knew I wasn't going to be getting rid of many things.  That being said, there were a few products that I've stopped using now and have sent to charity or binned.  This is another area in this category I won't need to buy anything for this year.

Shoes & Beauty Products

I didn't have any products to get rid of in these two sections.  For the shoes I'd already decluttered all the ones I don't wear when packing up my things in the first place.  I've also already been getting rid of my beauty products through my project pans and project use-ups so I didn't bother going through these.

Accessories

Getting rid of.

This is most definitely my largest category.  Unlike clothes and shoes that rarely fit properly, accessories always do.  It's also the category that I have the emotional attachment to as these are usually items I was given as a gift or which I collected on my travels.

Getting rid of.

It was quite a bit more difficult for me to choose what I was getting rid off from the category, but in the end I just pulled out all the items I haven't warn in a long time and which didn't have any particular memory connected to them.  And then quickly put them in a charity bag so I couldn't change my mind.

And that's it for this category.  The largest one is done and now takes up less room then before.  Even though I have specifically decided to go on a no buy here, I also know this is going to be easy to do as I've already found my style and have everything to fit this.

Mini Film Review: Land of Hope and Glory

After watching Earthlings last year I came across a documentary called Land of Hope and Glory, specifically about animal welfare on British farms.  I wanted to give myself a little break before watching it as I still get images flashing through my head from Earthlings.  

Land of Hope and Glory was put together by a guy called Earthling Ed in a response to British people's reaction to Earthlings - mainly that these practices don't happen here.  It looks at land based farming and is broken down into pigs, cows, birds, eggs (a separate issue to chicken farming itself), and sheep.  It looks at the appalling, cramped conditions a large number of these animals are kept in and the behaviours these stressful conditions cause.  It also shows the effects of the induced sped up growth has on their bodies.  It also brings up some disturbing facts like half the antibiotics sold in the UK are used on animals, with 60% of these specifically on pigs.  This is especially bad when you look at the fact that we are having issues with super bugs and there have been links between this and farming practices throughout the world.

As with the other documentaries I've watched on animal welfare in farming, the treatment of the animals is really horrible and all in the name of cheap meat (something we can easily survive without).  I think the worst bit for me was the treatment of them when they are being killed, especially the fact that it isn't done efficiently and that the stunning (as well as killing in some cases) is done infront of other individuals causing mass panic and stress.  No animal deserves to be put through this treatment for any reason, especially if they are dying so you can eat.

Particularly bad was the behaviour of the humans supposed to be looking after their welfare.  While I understand it might not be emotionally healthy to become attached to the animals and that they are working under financial constraints, the callousness and complete lack of empathy shown by these individuals is troubling to say the least.  In fact some were literally just violent.  These animals deserve far better treatment and some of those human individuals need some psychological help.

Going vegan is definitely the most effective way of ensuring this type of treatment is stopped (and no a life in those conditions is definitely not better than no life at all), but even just having meat as a luxurious, irregular treat to spend money on would ensure that these conditions were stopped.  It is unbelievable that in a country that claims to be full of animal lovers we are happy for these conditions to carry on.  And it's not that people just don't know, it's that we choice to be ignorant so that we don't have to face the consequences of knowing.

You can watch this documentary for free either on YouTube or on the Land of Hope and Glory website.

Wearing a Green Heart

Next week is Valentine's Day where everywhere will be covered with red hearts.  However, The Climate Coalition has asked us this year (as the past three years) to wear and give a green heart instead of a red in support of the fight against climate change.

Made using a hobby you enjoy and from products you already have, the heart is meant to be a starting point for a conversation with others and to represent the thing you love which you would lose to climate change.  The special thing about these hearts is that they are all unique and a representation of you.  The green heart can really be made using whatever material you want and either individually or as a group where discussions can take place about the work towards stopping climate change.  There's a few ideas on The Climate Coalition website (show the love).

Knitting is something I was taught to do by my grandmother many years ago and have gone back to it, on and off ever since.  I am definitely not very good at it and more practice is needed, but it seemed to be a lovely way to connect the woman who taught to stand up for what I believe in to the thing I care about the most, this planet.

Once you've made your heart, or maybe whilst you're making it, you need to decide what it is that you love for the most.  The website suggests things like football pitches, the silent woodlands, or the crops that feed us.  However, for me it has to be something as non-specific as the living world.  To me this is the most amazing thing we have (though we don't own it).  It'll be centuries before we have discovered everything there is to know about it; it is a thing of immense beauty; it gives us the water we drink, the food we eat, and the air we breathe; it is the reason we even exist in the first place.  To me, it is the one thing that is worth halting climate change for.

Project Use Up update #1 and Other Products

So that's the first month of 2018 down and I've done pretty well.  Admittedly I have been able to wear makeup far more than I will the rest of the year, but still I'm going to pat myself on the back any way.

The first product to go was the Korres Lip Butter in Mango.  I don't really like having a colour tint in my lip balms, but this is a nice colour if that's what you're looking for.  It never really left like it was moisturising when I first put it on, but my lips always felt very soft in the morning.  Korres is a cruelty free company, but I don't think I'll this again.

Next was the first of my role overs from last year, the Zoya Pixie Dust nail polish in Dahlia.  There is a very small amount in the bottom, but it has gotten very gloopy and is practically impossible to reach.  I did enjoy wearing glitter, but it was very difficult to get off.  That is the last of my nail polish and I won't be buying any more of this kind of polish.  Zoya is cruelty free.

Lastly, I've finished the Lush Lip Scrub in Mint Julip.  I love the smell (and taste) of this, but if I'm honest I don't think it really did anything in the lip scrubbing front.  At least not anymore then when I use my flannel.  Lush is cruelty free, but I won't buy this product again.

As before, the Barbara Day eye primer is going down, but not in any way that is obvious from the outside.  And the same is true for the Pacifica Transcendent Concentrated Concealer in Light, despite using it almost every day.  I expect both of them will suddenly give up the ghost without being obvious before.  I haven't used the NYX Dark Circle Corrector at all yet and will probably use this once the Pacifica concealer is finished.

The Living Nature eye pencil in Midnight is definitely going to take all year to use up, even with me wearing it everyday.  In fact, this product is probably going to take about three.  Still I'll keep working on it.  I may suddenly find some other use for it.

The Jane Iredale blusher in Barely Rose isn't showing any sign of the pan appearing any time soon, but I am using it everyday so it'll hopefully appear soon.

I've mainly been concentrating on the Neal's Yard lipstick in Persimmon this month, but have been using the two Gosh lipsticks as under-colours a few days.  Still, there is no real change in the Gosh lipsticks, but the Neal's Yard is halfway done.  I haven't touched the MUA in Raven at all yet.

The Pacifica perfume in Island Vanilla is another product I use every day, but it doesn't seem to have gone down by very much so this could take all year to finish.  The scent lasts longer then the other Pacifica perfume I've tried, but still doesn't last all day.

Slow progress on the Neal's Yard hand cream, probably because I keep forgetting to use it.  Must remember to make a note to use it daily.  There's no point in using the Neutrogena hand cream with SPF just yet until my hand is actually exposed to the sun.  I haven't used the Argan Oil hair treatment and Burt's Bees hand salve yet.

One of the other products I had finished this month is the Zoya nail polish remover 3 in 1.  This is the travel size (which I poured the last of the product into) and I have previously gone through about three full sized bottles.  It's a good product and is cruelty free, but as I don't intend to buy anymore of the usual nail polish I won't be buying this again.

I've also used up the shampoo I've been using for the last couple of years, which is the John Masters Organics bare unscented.  I really love this shampoo - I don't have any negative reaction to it, it lathers up really well for a more natural shampoo, and you don't need a lot of it for it to work so it lasts a really long time.  It's also cruelty free, so a win win.  I'm trying other shampoos right now, one being a shampoo bar, but if they don't work I'll go back to this.

Lastly was the Scentered Stress Less Therapy Balm.  I had got this in a subscription box from Naturisimo and it's meant to help relieve stress.  I'm not sure if it actually does that, but it does smell very nice and I used it up by using it as a daily scent.