Weekly Spending Ban Update

Hello Spending Ban fans!

Last week I did a bumper update detailing how badly I broke my ban when I was in Glasgow at the beginning of the month (in my defence, Kirkcaldy is piss poor for shopping and Glasgow is the biggest shopping city outside of London... go figure.). This week I have been much better... because I'm completely skint! Which is good because I can't spend money if I don't have any.

This week I'm lusting after B. Pure Micellar Water from Superdrug...



Mainly because I'm about to run out of my Clarin's Water Purify that I use for removing make-up, and do not want to shell out £19 when I could be getting something as effective for a tiny fraction of the price. So my wish-list currently stands as follows:

1. Dior BB Cream
2. Chanel VitaLumiere Aqua.
3. Dr Jart Premium Beauty Balm.
4. MAC Lipstick in Chatterbox.

5. Lancome Genefique Youth Activator.

6. Illamasqua L'Imperfection Nail Polish in Fragile.

 Marks and Spencer's Limited Collection Multi Blush. - I bought this last month.

 Sleek Aqua Collection.  - I bought this when I was in Glasgow last time. 

7. B. Pure Micellar Water. 

 

What products have you been lusting after this week then?

Christina xo

 

100 Day Spending Ban: Extended edition (Weeks 13,14 and 15)

Hi spending ban fans!

It's been nearly 3 weeks (oops) since I last updated everyone on how my spending ban is going. It was going very swimmingly until I went home to Glasgow and brought my friend Kirsty as well. We went shopping and I bought things. Bad, BAD spending ban blogger...

I'm sorry, been massively bad this month. Thankfully next month I can't afford to since I have 3 birthdays next month - my brother's and then Kris and his dad share the same birthday and his dad is going to be the big 50. Eeep, no purchases for me except the absolute essentials, e.g. I'm about to run out of make-up remover so will have to get some more.

On the plus side, I did win this fantastic Area H2O set from Look Fantastic!

And Kris' mum gave me this gorgeous Marc Jacobs necklace as a belated Easter present. It's a locket which contains solid Dot eau de parfum! Awesome :)

So yeah, you can see why I've decided to extend my spending ban since I've been pretty crap at sticking to it. I'm not the only blogger extending their ban; I know the lovely Marvelle is extending hers over at the Blog of Shadows. So at least I have company :) Let me know if you're extending your ban!

Christina xo

100 Day Spending Ban - Week 12

Hey spending ban fans!

We're on week 12 already, and there's only a week and a half until the 100 day spending ban ends (it SHOULD end around 10/11th April) for most. However, I've made the decision to EXTEND my ban until the end of May. I can hear many make-up fans screaming: "Noo! You mad-woman! Why would you torture yourself this way??!" Well let me explain:

Reason 1: I haven't been very good at this spending ban. I've splurged a few times on products that many would rightly argue were unneccessary, such as the time I bought 4 copies of Glamour to obtain all 4 Percy and Reed hair samples and buying the Marks & Spencer blusher when I was treating my mum for her birthday. To that end, I want to extend the ban so that I can become better at controlling my spending.

Reason 2: I've noticed that, this month in particular, I've had more money left at the end of the month to spend, which is obviously great. At the moment though, I'm trying to put as much of that spare cash as possible towards our move back to Glasgow (which will hopefully be soon!). My thinking is that by extending the ban, I'm giving myself a better chance to save more money for moving home.

Reason 3: This ban has really taught me to value the products I use and I've become less prone to buying unnecessary items when I have products at home I could use. I've also come to place more value on product quality than price. For example I'm more concerned with buying something of a high quality that works well for me rather than worrying about the price, particularly when it comes to skincare and bases. I'd rather spend a bit more on skincare that helps my skin than buy a million products that do nothing for me, since it becomes more cost effective in the long run. I'm hoping that by extending the ban for another 5/6 weeks that I will become better when I spend money in general and will learn more lessons such as this.

In general, extending the ban is a good thing; it's proved to be a great learning curve and it will benefit me in the long run.

P.S. This week has been a good spending ban week, no purchases made at all! Yaaay!

What do you guys think? If you're doing a ban, would you consider extending it?

Christina xo

100 Day Spending Ban - Weeks 10 + 11

Hello again spending ban fans!

Sorry I haven't posted much lately, I just have not felt like writing. I know many people go through phases like this, but I still feel a little guilty! Anyway, back to my spending ban...

I've been pretty good for the past couple of weeks. Due to the vast amounts of snow I have had to invest in some sensible boots for getting to work, but that was necessary since my old boots were falling to bits (not fun when the snow hits...). However I did have one small slip-up...

While I was taking my Mum shopping for her birthday, I did pick up this little beauty in Marks and Spencers. To be fair, one wee £6 when I spent nearly £100 on my lovely Mum doesn't seem too bad!

Also, I won Rimmel's new Lash Accelerator Endless in a Twitter competition! Yaaaay!

It's so pretty! Will hopefully have a wee review up soon :)

Anyway,thanks for reading and for putting up with my lack of blogging mojo, hopefully I'll be a bit more active soon!

Christina xo

100 Day Spending Ban - Week 9

Hey spending ban fans! This week has been a bit... bleurgh in terms of not spending. Some purchases have been necessary, but I will admit that some probably were not necessary and were just me being impulsive!

So here's the lowdown on what I've bought this week:

2x Pairs of skinny jeans from New Look: these were genuinely a necessity. I only own 1 pair of jeans that I wear regularly and they began to wear out, so New Look came to the rescue with their newly released petite range (I should also mention it's extremely hard for me to find well-fitting jeans because I'm really fucking short!), and these were a bargain at £7.49 a pair :)

Next up, I've run out of pore serum and I'm nearly out of toner too. So I took advantage of Boots' 3 for 2 on skincare and invested in Dr Jart's Pore Refine Range, picking up the Toner, the Primer and getting the serum free. Now technically I'm supposed to try and spend less when replacing a product (Body shop toner = £7 and Boots Pore serum = £14, compared to Dr Jart+ Toner = £18 and serum = £13) but if you keep in mind I'm getting a free product the money balances out, especially as it was cheaper to order from Boots than it was to order from the Body Shop (at least that's what I'm telling myself... ). Added to that, it's not cheap getting skincare that can really help oily, pore-ridden skin like mine so I'd rather pay for something that works for my skin than just buy any old nonsense!

 

Also this week, I will be organising and hosting a charity gig called Tune Into Autism to raise funds for Scottish Autism and their music therapy programmes. In keeping with the colours of Scottish Autism (pink and purple) I wanted a purple dress (key word being WANT and not NEED!) and I found this beauty on ASOS for £40 (also my first ASOS purchase, pretty impressed so far!)

And lastly, Glamour magazine and their freebies got the better of me:

Yup. Speaks for itself. There was no real motivation for this, other than I felt like I missed out last time Glamour gave away Percy and Reed hair-care so I collected all four samples. The shame the shame... 

Considering how badly I've done this week, I'm not adding to my wishlist. I don't deserve to! I'm considering extending the ban... we'll see.

Christina xo

100 Day Spending Ban - Week 8

Hi there spending ban fans!

I've been pretty good again this past week. Considering I could have slipped into buying things as a means to make myself feel better, that's pretty impressive. My only purchase has been a pair of tights to wear to my grampa's funeral (£3.50 from M+S).

One thing I have noticed this week is that I'm beginning to realise what I place value on in the beauty world. I think investing money in good skin-care and good base products are important, such as good foundations, and particularly a good primer (I am not a fan of the MUA one I am using at the moment... more on that in another post.) 

As we get older, it's important that we begin to look after our skin. Personally, I wouldn't consider surgery to retain my looks, I would rather look after my skin as much as possible now and in later life, because I believe growing old gracefully is the most beautiful thing any woman can do. :)

My wishlist stays the same:

 1. Dior BB Cream
2. Chanel VitaLumiere Aqua.
3. Dr Jart Premium Beauty Balm.
4. MAC Lipstick in Chatterbox.

5. Lancome Genefique Youth Activator.

6. Illamasqua L'Imperfection Nail Polish in Fragile.

7. Marks and Spencer's Limited Collection Multi Blush.

8. Sleek Aqua Collection. 

One day it will (hopefully) all be miiiine :P

Over and out mes amies,

Christina xo  

100 Day Spending Ban - Week 7 Update

Woohoo, Week 7 means we're nearly half-way through this blasted spending ban. Yee-ha!

I don't have an awful lot to report this week unfortunately, other than I was sorely tempted to buy some new clothes this week. However there was a reason why I wanted a new outfit. Sadly on Sunday evening my grampa passed away after a long illness, so I was considering investing in a new black dress for that. In addition to the funeral, I will als be attending the closing gala of the Glasgow Film Festival (exciting!) and... the UK premiere of Joss Whedon's new film, his adaptation of the Shakespeare play Much Ado About Nothing. Wooo! And not only that, but the man himself will be there! Even more exciting :)

So all in all, a good week for my wallet (ish), and a mixed emotional week to come...

No changes to my wishlist either, if you want to read my full list as it stands then take a peek at my update from last week here.

Sorry I haven't blogged much lately, as I mentioned above things are a bit rough right now, so I'm not quite feeling my usual witty and sarcastic self, feeling more grumpy and miserable than anything else. Kinda like this...




Now I know this one might seem terrible to laugh at, and a bit close-to-the-bone for some, but it made me laugh out loud today, which meant a lot. So enjoy (or complain righteously. Whichever you prefer really...)

Christina xo

100 Day Spending Ban - Update 6

Hello ladies (and gents too)! Sorry for the slightly later spending ban update, life is always busy it seems...

Well this week has been successful, no items have been bought, either out of necessity (i.e. stuff I needed like shampoo etc.) or frivolity. There have been a few more items tempty-tempting me this week, so I have a few additions to make to my wish-list.

In addition to:

1. Dior BB Cream
2. Chanel VitaLumiere Aqua.
3. Dr Jart Premium Beauty Balm.
4. MAC Lipstick in Chatterbox,

We now also have:

5. Lancome Genefique Youth Activator. This has actually something I've been wanting for over a year now. I keep receiving/scarfing samples from various sources, but I would still love a full-size bottle. One day...

                    


6. Illamasqua L'Imperfection Nail Polish in Fragile. I love all the nail polish from Illamasqua's new range, but I am particularly fond of this beautiful blue shade. Reminds me ofCadbury's Mini Eggs!



7. Marks and Spencer's Limited Collection Multi Blush. I may cave and buy this, seeing as it's only £6 (bargain!) It's just so pretty and cute!


8. Sleek Aqua Collection. I want pretty much everything here. Maybe it's because I'm getting a bit fed up with all the wintry weather and fancying some bright summery colours to cheer me up? Maybe it's because I'm a colour magpie, drawn to shiny bright things! Who knows/who cares: WANT!


(Had to borrow this pic from a blog, not sure where it came from because I just Googled and hoped for the best. Sorry if it's yours! Not meaning to thieve :()

So that's my wish-list for this week. Speaking of wintry weather, who else has snow at the moment? This is what it currently looks like from my living room window...

To my fellow spending ban-ers: Keep strong! :)

Christina xo

100 Day Spending Ban - Week 5

Hey hey!

Week 5 of the spending ban is already upon us (how time flies...). The only purchases I've made this week were repurchasing... I discovered my beloved Kleenex Blotting Sheets were going to be discontinued, and having found them online at Superdrug for 99p each, I stocked up! That and a new Max Factor False Lash Mascara to replace an old one. More on that later...

Have I added anything to my wish list this week? I have indeed. I seem to be going all gooey-eyed over bases at the moment, because there's another I'd like to add to my list - Dior's new BB Cream. My skin has never looked dewy and flawless! Want want want!



That in addition to Chanel's VitaLumiere Aqua, Dr Jart's Premium Beauty Balm and the MAC lipstick in Chatterbox is my current wish list?

Are you doing a spending ban? What's on your wish list?

Christina xo

100 Day Spending Ban - Week 4

Hi spending ban fans! It's been another fairly uneventful week for me, I've mostly been working, although I finally had a bit of time off on Friday. All I've bought this week so far are some Rimmel Apocalips (with my Boots points, no money!), and some more shampoo since I was running out (Aussie, no offence but I will not compromise on my Aussie!). Oh, and I made my MUA order just after my last update.














(Cutest piggy bank ever!)

This week will be more challenging; I'm taking my friend Kirsty shopping tomorrow in Edinburgh (I'm being her guide to beauty counters if you like) so temptation will be rife! And at the weekend, I'll be heading home to Glasgow for a birthday pub-crawl, but there may be time for some city-centre wanderings... uh oh! I will have Kris with me in Glasgow though, he'll be great at distracting me!

My wish-list is still the same really...

Dr Jart Premium Beauty Balm
MAC Lipstick in Chatterbox
Chanel Perfection Lumiere/VitaLumiere Aqua.

And that's my update! It's a bit short and sweet, but I really have been working pretty continuously at the moment. We're very short staffed, what with holidays, people leaving and one of my staff team sadly passed away over the Christmas holidays. As a result, I'm constantly pulling extra shifts, good because it's more money to save and less time at the shops, bad because I'm shattered half the time!

Anyway, I shall love you and leave you, toodles!

Christina xo

100 Day Spending Ban - Week 3 Update

After last week's disaster, I knew I had to try harder to stop myself from spending unnecessarily. And I've been very successful... because I've spent all week at work. I have literally been working constantly since last Tuesday (15/1/13) and I won't have another day (I say day, I mean 24 consecutive hours) off work until Friday (25/1/13). This means I won't be near any shops that will lead me to cave. Yaaaay! There is a 'but' to all this though...

I need a new primer.

Now by my own rules, if I don't have something I can replace it, and preferably with something cheaper than what I usually use. I have done this. I usually use L'Oreal Studio Secrets Resurfacing Primer (£14.29), but I am going to try MUA's new Matte Perfect Primer (£4). My only issue is that MUA currently have their 50% off + free delivery offer... and you have to spend a minimum of £30 (£15 after discount). I think I will make a purchase, since I've yet to find any other high street primer that I liked, but I know I'll probably get a lot of stick from fellow spending ban-ers for supposedly caving! Sorry guys, but I want to try this primer and if I can avail myself of an offer that saves me money in the long run, I don't see that to be a bad thing.

And now my wishlist: it has changed slightly this week. It currently consists of:

Dr Jart Premium Beauty Balm
MUA Pro Fixing Mist - I'm going to purchase this in my MUA order, after hearing some really good reviews about it.
MAC Lipstick in Chatterbox.

and now I'd like to add...

                                   

Chanel Perfection Lumiere Foundation. Or Vita Lumiere Aqua, I haven't quite decided yet. I've seen several reviews of both and I am really impressed with the finish and the quality of Chanel's foundations, so I would love to try one! They are expensive, but I don't mind paying more for a good foundation that lasts and works well for my skin. Plus I love Chanel. It is synonymous with class and elegance and I always feel lovely when I wear their products!

That's my spending ban update! How is everyone else getting on? Remember, spending ban chat on Twitter is 8pm on Thursday. I won't be able to take part this week (I'll be working) but go check it out. And if you want to catch up with other bloggers doing the ban, head over to Marvelle's Blog of Shadows for her comprehensive list of bloggers doing a spending ban. :)

Christina xo

100 Day Spending Ban - Week 2 Update

With week 2 comes a weak Christina... yeah I went a bit nuts.

First up, on Tuesday, after posting my successful week 1 update, I went out and bought more cleanser, a scrub and some heat spray (I had run out of heat spray so that was at least justified.) The only reason I caved was because the particular range I'm using from Superdrug is half-price at the moment, so my rationalisation was that it would be cheaper to stock up now at the reduced price, than to wait and pay full price when I run out. I'll leave that up to you guys to decide whether that was more sensible...

On Saturday, I met my Mum in Edinburgh for a bit of a wander and some lunch... the wandering turned into shopping and the rest is history. I bought a tonne of new clothes in Primark (and my Mum also treated me to some new accessories there too) and I finally spent my Debenhams voucher on a very nice Clarins blusher I've had my eye on for a while. And last night, I spent my Arcadia vouchers from Christmas on some new bits from Dorothy Perkins.

Essentially, not the greatest week of my spending ban ever, and possibly one of the worst in the history of spending bans! The one plus side to this week is that my wish-list has shrunk slightly (if you want to see the list, click here.) - I'm no longer enamoured with the Clarins Rouge Eclat Eye Quartet, after swatching it in Edinburgh, and realising that I already own similar shades in various palettes and singles.

In due course, I shall share the spoils of my weakness with you, in the mean time, here is Grumpy Cat's summation of my week...





How is everyone else getting along with their spending bans?

Christina xo

100 Day Spending Ban - Week 1 Update

Is that 1 week of 2013 gone already? Time flies when you're... stuck in the house with the flu for most of it! Yes, this has been a pretty successful 1st week of my spending ban, if only because I've only left the house to go to the corner shop for supplies whilst I was ill, and then to work when I was feeling better. I haven't bought a single thing, and I've even held off on using the vouchers I got for Christmas so far (after a bit of humming and hawing on Twitter about it.)

I have been eyeing up several things though, so I thought I'd share my little wish-list with you:

1. Dr Jart Premium Beauty Balm.

I used up some samples of this recently and I really love it. When I finish my current BB cream (GOSH if you're interested, really good), and when the ban is finished, I think I will invest in this.

2. MUA Pro Base Fixing Mist.

I've never tried a make-up fixer before, and since MUA are consistently pretty good, I think I'd like to give this a try.

3. Clarins Rouge Eclat Eye Quartet.

I saw this a while ago on British Beauty Blog and I instantly thought it was beautiful. This is the product that has been testing my resolve the most this week, mainly because it's a limited edition product and I have no idea how long it will be available for. I don't want to miss my chance!

4. MAC Lipstick in Chatterbox.

I've been wanting to treat myself to another MAC lippie for a while, and after seeing Chatterbox over on Tattoed Tealady's blog, this has been the shade I'm craving. I love pinks, and this just looks beautiful!

Overall, the 1st 7 days of no-buy have gone well, if only due to staying inside. Hope everyone else is doing well too! :)

Christina xo

100 Day Spending Ban... and beyond?

Good morning, and as I write this, it is now the first (sunny) morning of 2013, so Happy New Year! In my next post, I'm going to discuss my general resolutions/goals for the year, but I wanted to go into more detail on this one: I'm going on a 100 day spending ban. I'm not the only beauty blogger who's going for it, here are some other lovely ladies who are giving this a try too:

Sandra from the Black Pearl Blog.
Georgina from Make-up Pixi3
Grace from All That Slap
Linsay from Pandora's Beauty Basket
Kelly from Kel Loves
Melissa from Son and Star

I've known for a while that I spend too much of my hard-earned cash on buying inordinate amounts of lipsticks, eyeshadows, foundations and so on. But I tried other ways of saving money and stopping myself first and they haven't worked, so it's cold turkey time (ooh some cold turkey wouldn't be so bad right now, got killer hangover munchies...)

(These are my piggie banks for saving up spare change , aren't they cute!)

My rules/guidelines are:

1. I can't buy any new make-up, skincare, body or haircare unless I run out of something I need and have no alternatives. For example, I only use one primer so if I run out I will rebuy it only if I've used it all and have no samples of primer lying around.
2. If I get the urge to buy anything, I have to talk to Kris (he's good at talking me out of it). And Kris can't buy me anything either.
3. I can't buy any new clothes, shoes, bags etc. unless it's really essential, such as new underwear, or new jeans for when I inevitably ruin my next pair (I'm not good with jeans for some reason...)
4. In general, I must stop and ask myself: "Do I need this?" before buying anything.
5. I can spend vouchers that are gifted to me.
6. All money saved will be going towards the moving fund (more on that in my resolutions/goals post.)

20th February should be about 50 days, and if I've counted properly, 11th April is 100 days? Correct me if I'm wrong on that one, I'm crap at counting. I will keep you updated on my progress throughout! As I said in the title, I intend to do this for at least 100 days, but if I do well, I will probably keep going. I need to save a lot of money this year so if this helps I'll keep trying it! Am I mad? Probably.

Let me know if you're also doing a spending ban, I'll link to any posts sent to me and we can all help cheer each other on. Best of luck for 2013 ladies!

Christina xo