Beauty products I've used up so far.

I know I've said this before, many times, but what I was really surprised about when I first started to make a real effort to use up my beauty products was just how much I had. As a rule I'm not really all that beauty savvy,  regularly forgetting to apply moisturizer, not actually using that mask I brought, and forgetting to redo my nails.  Really, owning the amount I did was a little pointless and having to remind myself to actually use a product has required more effort than I first thought.. The only thing I can add in my defense is a lot of the lotions and positions were gifts from people who didn't know what else to get me.

While I am still working on it I now have a lot less products and have managed to replace a number of everyday beauty items with more natural products.  I've also learnt a fair amount since doing this.
Firstly, my skin has become a lot healthier since I've stopped using the commercial products and have started using more natural soaps, exfoliants, and moisturizers.  As someone who has always suffered from mild eczema I though there was a possibly that I would be allergic to Sodium Lauryl Sulphates.  Since using more natural, SLS free products in the last year my dryness has reduced greatly (even over winter) and the red, itchy patches I used to get disappeared completely.  If that wasn't enough to convince me then using the body products I have in this years project pan (a secret santa gift with SLSs as the top products in all) my skin has already gotten drier and small eczema patches on my inner elbows have returned.

Secondly, I had gotten used to using products I really didn't need.  This is mainly products like dry shampoo.  I used to feel that it was really obvious when it was day 3 of me not washing my hair, but then I decided to stop buying dry shampoo and just see what happened......and not surprisingly no one noticed.  Hair spray is another product that seems a bit pointless on my hair.  I have a lot of it but it's fine and soft and even the strongest hair spray doesn't seem to be able to hold a hair style in any way.  It also used to give me headache, so now I've stopped buying it.  I still have one can left, but am thinking I might use that to hold my eye brows in place.

Thirdly, many companies use words like 'natural' and 'nature' as selling gimmicks that do not actually have any real truth about what's inside them.  In many cases I couldn't find anything that I would classify as natural in the product list or if there was it would be very low down and therefore very low in concentration.  It's made me even keener than before to start looking into making my own products.

Fourthly, changing my toothpaste into more natural products has been a lot harder than I though it would be.  Firstly I hate the taste of liquorice and a lot of natural products seem to have that or something similar as a flavouring.  Secondly, I have sensitive teeth and needed to find a products that would work with that like a conventional toothpaste (still looking and will write more about that in a future post).  Thirdly, I had issues sensitivity last year on the left side of my mouth.  I was worried it might have been to do with me testing new toothpastes and my dentist has given me almost a years supply of fluoride toothpaste (something I wasn't too happy about and that I've been trying to use up).  The fluoride toothpaste has seemed to have much of an effect and I've realised that actually it was probably due to the fact that I have soft gums and have managed to wear the tissue down along the tooth line, leading to exposed tooth roots.  Despite using a soft toothbrush I clearly need to change the way I brush my teeth to protect the rest of my gums.  So back to testing different toothpastes.

Lastly, make up take a ridiculously long time to use up and so having a lot of it is completely pointless.  In fact most of the nail varnish has become unusable before I've had a chance to actually finish it.  So far I've been mainly working on those that are really old or that are companies that test on animals.  The amount I had has meant that the only thing I've really had to buy was mascara and concealer (recently).  This year's pan is mainly concentrating on make-up as I have basically used up other beauty products that are less natural.  
The photos taken above were all the products that I used up before August last year and I managed to use up more after I moved to my new flat.

Starting with face.  The eye primer on the top was Soap and Glory's It's About Prime.  Unfortunately it dried up before I could finish it completely (it was that old) reminding me to stop hoarding products.  I'm not sure if it was the age, but I didn't notice it do a particularly good job as an eye primer.  However, I do have very oily eyes and this has also been the case with many of the primers I've used in the last.  The eye shadow is Mink from the Natural Collection Mink/ Sable eye shadow duo which I used as a base eyeshadow.  The concealer on the left was the Witch Hazel spot concealer.  It did work as a spot concealer but was a little too orange for my skin and I don't think it actually helped treat the spots.  I mainly used it to conceal around my nose where I get some redness.  Next was the Garnier Roll-on Anti-dark circles concealer.  Despite its popularity in the beauty community I wouldn't recommend this at all.  Firstly Garnier is not cruelty free, but it's also very liquidly, not very pigmented, and the colour actually just makes your under eye circles look grey but still obvious.  The only way it would work is if you didn't really have any under eye circles at all.  The last item is the Collections Sheer Loose powder in Barely There.  Using this product made me realise that I don't like loose powder, way to fiddly and not good for a clumsy individual like me.  However, for the price this product was quite good and set my foundation/ cc cream well without looking powdery.  It also contains SPF which is always good and can be reapplied later on in the day.

These are the Boots No 7 eyeliners which came together as a Christmas set.   Unfortunately I can't see the name of them anymore but the colours were beautiful.  The only issue I had with them was that the quality was not consistent throughout. I'm not sure if it was the batch that I got but some were very smooth and soft, drying into a long lasting liner, while others were very dry and difficult to apply.  I would recommend them, but maybe test them in store first.

Lip products are always products that surprise me when it comes to how long it takes to use them up, despite re-applying them constantly.  The first product in this picture is a hard lip gloss in a little purse that my Mum had brought me as a stocking filler.  I'm not sure what the brand was, but it doesn't really matter as it wasn't a great product any way (sorry Mum). There was a lot of product in this and it took a very long time just to use one side, but then I dropped in on the floor, breaking it in 2 and getting grit into the side that still had product.  I decided to just leave it as that.  Next along was the Estee Lauder Long Lasting Pure Colour lipstick in Pinkberry.  I wouldn't buy this product again as Estee Lauder is not cruelty free and the smell wasn't pleasant, but I did like the colour of it and will look for a similar colour in the future.  Then is Revlon's Colorburst Lipstick in Coral.  Again the colour was beautiful, but Revlon is no longer a cruelty free company and I didn't like the formulae, which was too creamy and moved easily into my skin on days that I didn't powder heavily.  Lastly is the Natural Collections lip liner in Plum.  This is a great pencil, lovely colour and lasts really well on the lips for the price of it.  I was applying it under the two lipsticks when I wanted to vary the colour slightly and would definitely think about buying again in the future.

The last products are my nail varnishes.  I've spent my time working mainly on my Essie products as they are no longer cruelty free and I wanted to move them out of my 'collection'.  I also worked on some of the older base and top coats as well as a BarryM nail polish I've had for years.  I didn't get to finish them all up as they all got too gloppy before the end.

While the last 2 years has mainly been about using up products I no longer want to use I have also been testing more natural products as well and I'll be writing posts about these in the future.  I'm hoping to have all cruelty free, predominantly natural products by the end of this year.

Getting Rid of Stuff - the last two years.

I wish I'd taken pictures of all the items I'd gotten rid off over the last couple of years as I've actually managed to get rid of more than I initially thought I'd be able to.

The plan was to go through and remove from my home everything that I was no longer using and keeping onto for some reason.  In most cases there was an emotional attachment, but in others it was to do with me buying items to try and do/ achieve and then feeling guilty about not actually doing it.   But you can't move forward if you're holding onto the past so it was time to start getting rid of all those things. 

I started with the clothes and got rid of everything that either didn't fit me or that I no longer liked. Since then I've kept a bag beside my wardrobe and get rid of anything I have stopped loving or that I've realised that I've just stopped wearing. That way I get them out of my wardrobe before I have any second thoughts.  I've also done the same with my shoes,  coats, hats, scarves, and gloves.  The accessories were probably the most difficult to go through as most were made for me by my Mother and Nan. 

Next was all my jewellery.  As a little magpie I have had a tendency to buy anything shiny that caught my eye and jewellery is an easy thing to buy some one if you don't know what else to get them (that person would be me).  But while I own a lot of jewellery I only really wear a few items on a regular basis and everything else just stays where it is, so the size of my collection seemed to be a little bit unnecessary. It was actually relatively easy to get rid of most of my collection, I still have way more than I actually wear and so this is definitely a work in progress. I'll be going through them again soon.

After the jewellery I moved to the kitchen.  This was actually relatively easy to get rid off as I never really had a large amount of kitchen stuff in the first place.  It actually only took me about an hour.  The one thing it did highlight is how much plastic I had in my kitchen and I have been slowly moving from plastic containers to the more sustainable and long lasting glass containers.

Books, DVDs, and CDs were next on the list and were actually a lot easier than I thought.  Now that everything is digital and online I no longer need to have hard versions.   My taste has also changed and I no longer watch or listen to what I used to.   I've also been very honest with myself about the fact that I will probably not read most of my books again.  Some of the books I have are my Father's and he would never let me get rid of these, but once I've read one of my books I'll get rid of it.  The bit that has been difficult has been my CDs.  For some reason I've formed emotional attachment to a number of my CDs despite the fact I don't really listen to them anymore.  But I think I'm getting to the stage now where I can go through them again and actually get rid of the ones I've been holding to.

The last group I went through were all the stuffed toys and nick nacks I have which have all been gifts from people.  I had thought that this was going to be difficult, but actually this was relatively easy.  The rule I had was if I couldn't remember who gave it to me I had to get rid of it.  I was also only allowed to keep enough that would fit on one shelf and nothing more.  It turns out I'm not very emotional when it comes to things that are pretty but don't really have any other use.

The main thing that this has allowed me to do is to get more use out of the things I actually love (such as the clothes pictured which are actually ethically sourced - more about that later).  And the more I get to ise them items the less attached I become to others, which should mean me being able to get rid of even more things.

The best thing of all is that it seems to have broken the attachment I've had to be constantly buying new things and that can only mean less stress and more money in the bank.

Project Pan

If you've gone anywhere near YouTube then you would have seen a number of videos called 'Project 10 Pan', 'Project 20 Pan', 'Pan that Palette', and 'Pan * by *'.  These are all projects which are designed to help people use up products (predominantly make-up where you can reach the pan, but do also include other products) which they either have had for too long or that they have too much of.  While I won't be following it exactly I will be taking inspiration from it to try and finish off the number of products I have that I no longer want.  I had thought of just throwing them away but that seemed so wasteful to me so I am going to try and use them up in 2016.  If they are not used up by the end of the year then I will feel better about getting rid of them.

So, these are the products that I am trying to pan.

1. Sephora mid-brown eye shadow (part of the Nude palette)
2. Sephora dark brown eye shadow (part of the Nude palette)
3. Sephora brown eye liner shadow (part of the Nude palette)
4. Maybelline white eye shadow (part of the Almond Truffle palette)
5. Maybelline silver eye shadow (part of Almond Truffle palette)
6. Maybelline dark grey eye shadow (part of Almond Truffle palette)
7. The Body Shop Coconut About You eye shadow
8. A pink eye shadow from a palette I got from H&M

   

   Top row - left to right: Maybelline white, Maybelline silver, and Maybelline dark grey
   Middle row - left to right: Sephora mid-brown, Sephora brown eye liner, Natural Collection Sable (not part of the project but a good base eye shadow - part of the duo Mink/Sable)
   Bottom row - left to right: Sephora dark brown, H&M pink, and Body Shop Coconut About You
   Not in palette - left to right: Natural Collection Sea Shell, H&M gold, and Max Factor Untamed Green

9. Bourjois CC cream in 31 Ivory
10. Benefit High Beam
11. Lily Lolo eye primer
12. Barbara Day eye primer in Vanilla (Tescos)
13. Elf Teal eye liner
14. Elf Electric Purple eye liner

    

    Top row - left to right: Benefit High Beam, Lily Lolo eye primer, Barbara Day eye primer, Bourjois CC cream
    Bottom row - left to right: Elf Electric purple eye liner, Elf Teal eye liner

15. Natural Collection Fig leaf lipstick
16. MAC Creme Cup lipstick
17. Max Factor Cherry Kiss lipstick
18. Vapour Saucy lipstick sample
19. Jane Iredale Forever Pink lip stain sample

    

    Left to right: MAC Creme Cup, Natural Collection Fig Leaf, Max Factor Cherry Kiss, Jane Iredale Forever Pink, Vapour Saucy

20. SP polish cream
21. Miss Cole Body Scrub
22. Miss Cole Body Wash
23. Miss Cole Body Cream
24. From Nature coconut lip butter
25. Dove Summer Glow moisturizer
26. Neutrogena hand cream

    

    Top row - left to right: Dove Summer Glow, Miss Cole Body Wash, Miss Cole Body Cream, Miss Cole Body Scrub, Nuetrogena hand cream, SP polish cream
    Bottom row: From Nature lip butter

27. Models Own Nude Beige nail polish
28. Barry M Bright Red nail polish
29. Barry M Cyan Blue nail polish
30. Barry M Black nail polish
31. Rimmel Mind the Gap nail polish
32. Sinful Colours Rich in Heat nail polish
33. Max Factor Ruby Tuesday nail polish
34. Max Factor Raspberry Blush nail polish

    

    Left to righ: Max Factor Ruby Tuesday, Max Factor Raspberry Blush, Barry M Bright Red, Barry M Black, Barry M Cyan Blue, Rimmel Mind the Gap, Models Own Nude Beige, Sinful Colours Rich in Heat

There are 34 items in total, mainly make-up, to get through this year and it does mean that I will probably be using products much more than I would normally, but it will be great to use these up.  If I do manage to use up all the eye shadows before the end of the year then I will also add Sea Shell eye shadow from Natural Collection, a gold from the H&M palette, and the Max Factor's Untamed Green eye shadow that was a gift (pictured above).

Goals for 2016.

This is just a quick post to set out what goals I have for becoming more sustainable in 2016.  They are:

• Reducing waste.  This is a very vague subject and is something that appears in all areas of life.  I've already been working with this already in a small way by using re-usable bags and bottles, but these are only small things and there is a lot more to do.  The plan is to not only buy less but to buy things with less packaging.  One of the main areas that I want to concentrate this on is food, buying fresh produce with much less packaging.  Which takes me neatly onto....
• Food.  I've been vegetarian for a few years now and I have to admit I've found it very easy to do.  However, looking at the use of dairy in my diet has made me realise that it has the same environmental impact as eating beef and I have been fazing it out.  I have easily swapped dairy milk with coconut milk, but living and cooking for others has meant changing out all dairy has been a little more difficult than I had hoped, and this is something I want to work on this year.  It's also had one very unexpected, but very pleasant result, the great reduction in colds, soar throats, and tonsillitis (which I still get despite having them removed).  I also want to use more fresh produce, greatly reduce the number of processed food being used in the household, and buy more local and/or organic produce.  I also want to greatly reduce (and if I can, completely remove) processed sugar from my diet.  I have realised that I am completely addicted to fizzy drinks and it's time that I dealt with that.  Going to be a busy year on the food front.
• Clothing.  I never was a big buyer of clothes and accessories, but I still own and buy more than I actually need.  I've reduced my clothes down to only the clothes I actually love and wear, and am now working on my jewelry (something that has been a lot harder than I thought it would be).  The plan for 2016 is to only replace items when they get damaged or fall apart and to only replace them with items that are either second hand or ethically sourced, being a mixture of either organic, fair trade, or locally made.  This should be one of the simplest things to do as I'm not going to be buying much this year.
• Beauty products.  I will continue to use up the stash that I have left, concentrating mainly on products produced by companies that test on animals and then by products which contain products I am trying to remove from my beauty stash, such as parabens. I also want to reduce my stash in general and really simplify my regime to the bare basics, as well as having all vegan products in the long run.
• Reduce, reduce, reduce.  I still want to work on reducing what I actually own down to just the items I actually use. This includes all my kitchen goods, stationary (another area where I seemed to buy unnecessarily), books, CDs and DVDs.  I also want to reduce my knickknacks down to the ones I actually love and which I actually have some attachment to.  This will be difficult as almost all were gifts from others.  I will start to pull out the items I have in storage at the moment and will hopefully be able to give that up by the end of the year.
• Employment.  I am employed at the moment, but I would like a job that is in the environmental sector.  This is something that I will work towards over 2016 and will hopefully be fully employed in this field by the end of the year.  Hopefully.

And so I'm back....

Ok, so I've been away a lot longer than I first thought.......in fact, it's been almost 2.5 years.  The absence has not been intentional, but there have been a few things happening these last few years that have meant keeping a blog has been a little difficult.  I have missed it though and figured that the start of a new year is a good time to start blogging again.  Here's the plan, I'll blog once a week, always posting on a Sunday, and carry on where I left off and writing about the changes I'm making and why I'm making them.  Trying not to be too boring in the process.

So, what have I learnt in these last 2.5 years:

• Just how much waste I produce.  Even though I am not a large buyer of anything and recycle everything I can there is still a large amount of waste that I produced.  There appears to be packaging on almost everything and while carrying recycling to the recycling points (now on my street, thank you Council) was good exercise I'd rather reduce what I produced even to the point of having to recycle less.  It has also given me a clear idea of where I need to work - fizzy drinks anyone?
  
• How much stuff I actually own.  Having moved 3 times in the last 2.5 years it is very clear to me how much stuff I actually have.  There's nothing like having to box up and carry items up stairs to make you realise that you don't really need it all.  There are some things that I can't get rid of (some furniture that have been in the family for years and books that used to be my father's) but there are a number of items that I keep out of choice.  At the moment most of these are boxed away in storage, but the plan is to not need storage at all in the future.  One very obvious, but completely unnecessary, group of items is the back ups of beauty products I seem to have carted with me every where.  I have been working on these, but there are still a few to get through.  Less will certainly be a lot more!
  
  
• Make up takes a ridiculously long time to use up.  I'm not entirely sure how or why I ended up with so much make up, I don't even wear it every day.  I tend to only wear it if I'm going to work or going on a nigh out, but this is something I'll need to change to get through it all and reduce it to a size more suited to my use.  It's taken me a very long time to use what I have and there is the same again to be used up.
  
  
  
• Natural products work just as well as others.  As I've been changing my beauty products to more natural, simple products I've seen no negative impact on my skin.  In fact, there have been some positive results.  The slight problem I've been having with adult acne has now gone (partly produced through coming off the pill), by skin is less irritated and I've had less problems with eczema, and the slight discolouration and scarring I have on my face from getting older and getting spots with dry skin has now reduced greatly.  I'm still trying products out and will write about them in the future.

All this has helped me decided on the goals I want for 2016.

Moving.

Well, I'm moving flat's and, along with work and uni, it's going to be taking up all of my time to get everything packed and moved.  So I'm not going to be blogging for a couple of weeks till things have started to calm down.

See you in a couple of weeks.

Cleaning my home - Vinegar

Cleaning my home has to be something that I loath.  I have to admit that it's partly to do with the fact that I find it so boring, but the main reason is because I hate the normal commercial products I normally use. 

Firstly, I really dislike the list products you find in these cleaners. They're not the kind of chemicals I want lingering around my home, with the irritation warnings and information about how they're dangerous for the environment (especially the aquatic world you'll soon be flushing them into).  I tend to find that I get headaches after using them and have weird sneezing fits, even though my heads no where near the surface I'm cleaning.  The smell is pretty unpleasant too, I like my home to smell a little more 'natural' and no amount of added florals take away that chemical smell.

There are already products out there that are advertise as being a more eco-friendly way of cleaning your home.  Ecover is definitely one company that I've used and loved for many years, and I have to admit that it makes my home smell great afterwards, but the products can be pricey and I'm looking into something that does the same job for less money......and this is where the vinegar comes in.

Using vinegar as a cleaner is hardly a new idea.  It's been used for years, there are a number of blogs and videos on how to use it, and a number of cleaning products actually have it as one of their ingrediences (especially the antibacterial ones).  It is made by the fermentation of the ethanol which comes from soured fruit juice, grain or wine by the acetic acid bacteria and in basically water and around 5% of acetic acid (hence the bacteria's name).  The acid in the vinegar is what makes it such a good cleaner and the list of what this one product can do is a pretty good one. It:

• dissolves mineral deposites (good for mirrors and glass)
• dissolves grease (good for unclogging drains and breaking down dirt)
• removes traces of soap
• removes mildew
• removes wax buildup
• removes residue glue
• removes stains
• removes rust
• polishes silver, copper and brass
• deodorizes
• cleans epoxy resin, even when hardened
• softens water.

And then there's its antibacterial properties.  As the countless adverts show, we're obsessed with killing bacteria in every area of the home at the moment.   Now I'm not a big fan of this, its unnecessary and actually counter productive to the point of ever-so-slightly dangerous, but obviously there are some places of the home we want to keep the bacteria to a minimum (kitchen surfaces, toilet seats, etc).  There have been a tonne of research which has shown that vinegar is good at killing microbials, but I'll go for the research brought out by the Good Housekeeping microbiologists which showed that a solution of just 5% vinegar in water killed 90% of moulds and 99.9% of bacteria.  So, by choosing a vinegar/water solution over conventional products does mean choosing a less 'safe' product.

The added bonus to using vinegar is that it isn't dangerous to humans and the other mammals we share our home with, and has a much lower environmental impact than other cleaning products.  Its also a product already found in most homes and, even though the smell is strong to begin with, leaves no odour once it has evapourated away.

As with everything else, I'm working my way through my cleaning products, but once they've gone I'll be going all vinegary.  To that point I have a book, Green Clean: Eco-friendly cleaning for the home.  Admittedly I've had this book for years but haven't really used, but that will all be changing.  I'll let you know how I get on :-).