Let me cut to the chase. I faltered just shortly after I posted the 6th month update. There was a beautiful Kaleidoscope Eye Kit being offered on the Le Métier de Beauté website as a GWP. I picked 2 “sets,” with the intention of breaking them up and giving some of the items away as gifts for Christmas. I won’t get into the details but just know that I broke my ban “in a real way.” Got no excuse for you this time, just a real moment of weakness.

I also picked up a few items from Oslo Cosmetics, because I just really wanted some items. Other than that—and I’m not saying those are tiny purchases—I haven’t bought much. Despite the VIB sale. Despite the 50% off deal on some of the Le Métier de Beauté items on Saks.

All in all, I think I’ve been better at buying stuff. There are relapses here and there, but nothing really as worrisome as my previous spendiness. I’ve been having a great time playing with my makeup and discovering my favorites instead of accumulating a mountain of stuff that I can’t keep track of. I also don’t want to be the kind of person that just acquires. In light of Typhoon Haiyan and its implications concerning climate change, and also my increasingly suffocating box of a bedroom.

It’s indirectly connected to my realizations of consumption, but I’ve been wanting to try and live more conscientiously and responsibly. I think about all of the waste that gets produced because of consumerism and fickle-mindedness. Plastic isn’t biodegradable, so I wonder where all of my shampoo bottles go. What have I been contributing to the deterioration of the earth?

That’s a really heavy thing to think about but it’s irresponsible to not even consider it. And it’s not JUST related to beauty and cosmetics. Many things in my life contribute to my “carbon footprint,” or to my carbon emissions as a person who consumes things. For example, my choice to consume meat causes me to indirectly contribute to the carbon emissions of the vehicles used to transport the meat, and so on.

To be honest, I don’t really know how to go about it, but I just don’t want to waste and hoard things, you know? I don’t know what that means for this blog, but I won’t be going on a perma-ban or anything like that. Don’t get me wrong, I have no personal feelings if you like buying stuff. It’s just not for me, I’ve been realizing. I just want to be more conscientious. I just want to be considerate. That’s all.

So, all in all, I suppose this ban was good for me. I still spent a shit ton of money, but not as much as I would have, I think, if I didn’t put any type of restrictions. And then I’d be swimming in makeup! Literally swimming.