No Makeup March: 5 Tips for Surviving a No-Buy!

I don't know if anyone agrees with me or not, but I definitely have been buying a lot of makeup lately. Every brand is coming out with their limited edition palettes and lipsticks, and they are so beautiful that I cannot pass them up. But because I am starting to budget my money better, I know that a month without excessive makeup purchases is necessary. Below are some tips that have helped me stay away from purchasing makeup since February 24!

1 -- Take note of everything that catches your eye when you are on your No-Buy
If you see that new Maybelline lipstick collection, take note of every shade that catches your eye. I know that this has helped me realize how much of a compulsive buyer I have become. How many nude lipsticks does one person need? A lot, but if you really think about the things you want, you will end up using them more. And at the end of the month I am going to reflect on my list and probably laugh at the hundreds of dollars I would have spent if I just bought everything that caught my eye. That will help me justify the haul I plan on doing at the beginning of April!

2 -- Re-organize your makeup collection
My makeup collection is nowhere ready to be shown on the internet, I plan on doing a makeup collection post as soon as I move into my apartment and have everything organized to perfection. But on that note, I re-organized to see what I have and what I do not use regularly. And there is something about looking at my collection and all of my products that is just so amazing. I cannot be the only person that feels that way, right? Makeup isn't just a hobby, it is an amazing part of my life! While re-organizing, I found some forgotten gems.

3 -- Pull out a few items you have been neglecting and use them every day
I chose to pull out one of my Hard Candy baked eyeshadows, my L'oreal Voluminous mascara, and my Physician's Formula BB Powder. I have neglected these (and many more) items in my collection as I just continued to purchase more and more products. I love my Hard Candy eyeshadows, but because I focus my money on high end palettes, they have been ignored.

4 -- Appreciate your monthly subscription box/bag
I was taken off of the Ipsy waiting list last month (before I decided on my March No-Buy), and now it is all I can do to just stand next to the mailbox until my Ipsy Bag gets here! So when it does, I will be sure to love everything in the bag as much as if I had hand-picked the items myself! Whether you are subscribed to Ipsy, Birchbox, Wantable, or the seemingly dozens of other subscription services out there, appreciate them during your no-buy!

5 -- Take a few days out of the month to go without makeup entirely
If you say the term "No Makeup March" I can guarantee you will get at least one person ask why you are still wearing makeup. So you need to explain what our community calls a "No-Buy" and how you still get to wear makeup. But on my low-key days I have just been washing my face and leaving the house to run errands or stay home and do chores. I do not feel like makeup is necessary, it is something I enjoy putting on every day and I look forward to getting ready in the morning. But I tried and make a full circle with my "No Makeup March" plan by not wearing makeup at all for a few days here and there.

Additional Bulletin Boards!

So, as promised, I am bringing you some extra bulletin boards! The Behind-the-Desk board in my building has become the Calendar Board! I think that this will be super cute to continue for the last three months of the school year. So here it is!

And also, my best friend and co-worker, Ashley thought up this brilliant idea for her bulletin board! It is for Women's History Month, but I think that you could do this bulletin board any month! Inspired by Wonder Woman she titled the board "Wonderful Women." She spotlighted the following influential women: Marie Curie, Susan B. Anthony, Dorothy Komenshek, and Estee Lauder. Our school was also doing a lot of events for Women's History Month and she included information on those as well.

March Bulletin Boards

I was inspired to do this bulletin board because I read one of the facts online. Laughter is able to improve sleep quality. If you are an RA I can safely bet that you have had one or two sleepless nights. I don't know what it is about our job, but sometimes you just toss and turn for hours while that duty phone rests by your head. I write this post as I hold a duty phone. But I digress... I found a bunch of health benefits of laughing, typed them up, and put them on light blue paper. For the border I just found memes that I felt related to college students and put them up as well. Residents have been laughing as they read the memes and I have had a couple discussions on health benefits of laughter!

This board was done mostly by my coworker. So I will not be taking the credit for the idea, but I did help in the execution. Overall I think that it is a bulletin board that is pleasing to the eye.

I have a special bulletin board that I have not taken pictures of yet, but when I do you can expect to see a post on it this weekend! It is not a creative bulletin board, but I am pretty darn proud! Also, my best friend Ashley created an awesome bulletin board for Women's History Month! Look out for that this weekend as well!

Maybelline Spring 2014 Collection

This post is going to be short and sweet, I am on a very strict No Makeup March (aka my "no buy") because I was going overboard on the makeup purchases. Everyone lives outside their means every once in a while but I needed to cut back. Of course this comes right as Maybelline launches their Spring 2014 collection. Can you say "Limited Edition?" I needed to get something before they were sold out! I picked up three of the limited edition Color Tattoos and one of the EyeStudio quads. I am just going to do some pictures and then I only have a few final remarks for right now.

I was bummed to find out that "Pure Nude" is a lot like "Barely Branded." If you have already purchased the permanent color "Barely Branded" you might not even bother to buy "Pure Nude." Would you like a side-by-side swatch? comment down below and I will put that picture up.

The second color "Beige-ing Beauty" is a peachy/golden nude color, not as pigmented as the usual Color Tattoos, but I definitely enjoy the color and will use it as a base in future looks.

The final color, "Nude Compliment" is a taupe color that I think will be a gorgeous base color with any taupe shade you put all over your lid.

There were four (I believe) new quads out with this collection, but I stayed away from the traditional nudes and chose this one because I liked the purples in it! Maybe I will use it to do a smokey eye and post a tutorial!

I know that there were lipsticks, glosses, blush sticks, highlighters, and other Color Tattoos and quads out in this line--I definitely recommend picking some up if it is in the budget!