My Personal Care Products Detox Challenge
Okay, I will admit it, I have a problem. I have been a personal care junkie for too long. I have amassed shampoos, conditioners, body lotions, body washes galore not to mention cosmetics usually in the name of “I got a great deal on this!”. In the case of cosmetics the lure of beautifully packaged products in sleek packaging as if I could hear sweet siren songs of my name. Admittedly, it’s not entirely my fault, some of this hoard were gifts from loved one and friends, nonetheless, and they only added to my growing collection of products. As I face the multitude of bottles in disarraying assortment of colors all organized in plastic containers which I imagined in my mind’s eye that Marie Kondo would smile kindly on, I am astonished. How did I get here? Why in the name of a “great deal” did I do this to myself? As I stand in closet face to face with plastic containers, I thought “how is anyone going to use all this in a lifetime?” Hmm….I should try to see how long it’s going to take me to use them all up?
Thus the impetus for my personal care product detox challenge took root. Now, I need to figure out how to implement this idea and put the challenge to the test.
My first part of this challenge is to take everything out of my organized containers. Mostly to see how horrific of a problem I have and to drill home why this detox is so important. Not to mention, get slapped in the face with that 6 pack of Dove antiperspirant/deodorant at Costco and that 1 buy/get 1 deal at CVS left me with 12 tubes of what is sure to be my savior in the appending apocalypse. So, girl, if you need to smell like cucumbers and aloe while zombies are chasing you, come find me!
Step two is to buy nothing! That sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? Just don’t buy anything, I know my wallet will appreciate that one. A girl who loves a sale like me, this might be a bit more difficult then I realize. Thus this topic is the reason for my first blog post – because if I send is out into the ether and announce it to world then I will hold myself far more accountable then if I just keep it to myself.
This might need to be considering step two part B – but I realized that in order to achieve step two that means I must rid myself of temptation. I must start systematically unsubscribing from every one of these companies that somehow created a sirens call to directly to my wallet in the first place. Yes, that is right, did you hear me Sephora, Ulta, Aveda, Bath Body Works, and god knows what else I’m subscribed too, consider this my official notice. I am unsubscribed!
What’s next… the purge! That might seem a bit counterproductive to process but I realize that some of the products that I have I will never use for various reasons. For instance, I was dying my hair a lovely shade of red not that long ago which then required complementary products to enhance that lovely hair color. I have since stopped going red and back to my normal somewhat dirty blonde hair color. Let’s hope I can find a way to purge and possibly recoup some of my hard earned cash which I willingly parted with so easily in the first place. Also, I putting my limits on anything expired beyond reasonable measure. I willing risk a 6 month expired body wash but 2 year old face mask that would be pushing it.
Lastly and most importantly, start using up each and everyone of those lovely bottles, tubes and jars of tantalizing products that I just couldn’t pass up. I clearly once deemed them worth purchasing, and now (I hope) that they are after all everything I wanted. After I have successfully cleared a specific category of products, I’m look at you body washes galore, am I allowing myself to buy anything new.
Ultimately, what do I hope to achieve from my personal care product detox? One, I hope that I don’t ever get into this position again where I have mountains of products that simply have to reason to accumulated as I did. Second, I hope that I end up saving money in the process. I’m convinced the unsubscribing frenzy I’m about to embark on alone should curtail my spending. Third, as with all things in life – a lesson. A lesson in frugality most specifically. As Wikipedia describes frugality as prudent or economical in the consumption of consumable resources – so shall I try to get there step by step.
