Why I’m determined not to buy new makeup in 2024

• I’m a beauty fan who owns way too much makeup for my own good.

• In 2024, I’m determined to avoid buying unnecessary beauty products, even if I want them.

• I only buy items that I no longer have, and I don’t let TikTok influence me.

If you looked at my collection of beauty products, you would think I work as a makeup artist.

Of course not. I’m a journalist who writes articles like this.

And while beauty is one of the things I cover, it’s certainly not the only one – and I don’t need tons of products to do my job.

Yet I find myself drowning in makeup. I have multiple foundations, dozens of blushes, a handful of mascaras, and more lip glosses than I will ever admit to publicly.

And honestly, I’m ashamed of it. I’ll never be able to fully use them all, I’ve spent money I could have saved, and it’s extremely wasteful.

That’s why I’ve set myself a goal in 2024 not to buy any new makeup. And with a few exceptions, I think I can do it.

Confessions of a Makeup Shopaholic

When I started wearing makeup, it felt transformative and life-changing. I loved how concealer covered my acne and how blush gave my cheeks some life.

But it was Real fascinated by colors and textures. There were so many products and I wanted to try them all.

Makeup has always been art for me.

Even when I didn’t know how to use a single product, I was drawn to editorial looks in Vogue and the bold makeup worn by celebrities like Hayley Williams and Lady Gaga.

The result was that I quickly felt the need to have blush, lipstick and eyeliner of every color in my collection. You know, just in case.

And my shopping habits reflected my ever-expanding equipment.

Since those early days of my makeup obsession, my wallet has never been safe near an Ulta or Target. I’m more careful at expensive stores like Sephora, but I still make a few trips a year.

And don’t get me started on Marshall’s and TJ Maxx. How can I resist discounted products?

But in many ways, I also blame social media scrolling. I spend a lot of time watching beauty videos on TikTok and Instagram.

While I used to watch tutorials to improve my skills, I now look at product rankings and reviews, which of course makes me want to try items for myself.

But in 2023, I started feeling stressed. Makeup was no longer the outlet it had always been.

Instead of feeling creative when applying my eyeshadow, I would feel guilty using the same palette two days in a row instead of the dozens of others I have.

And that extra stuff became a burden. They cluttered my space and became reminders of wasted money.

But I couldn’t throw them away either. Then I would feel bad about creating waste and harming the environment (many makeup containers cannot be recycled).

Then my sister would come home and say she forgot to pack a certain beauty product.

“Don’t worry, I have an unopened copy you can keep,” I said, regardless of what she missed.

Then it hit me. I really have too much makeup.

My makeup rules for 2024

That’s why I’ve set some ground rules for myself. The most important one is that I will not buy any new products in 2024.

It doesn’t matter if everyone online is talking about an item, or if one of my favorite brands releases something new. I won’t buy it. If a product catches my eye in the store, it should stay on the shelf.

I only make an exception when I run out of something necessary for my routine, like foundation or eyeliner. While I like to experiment with new items, there are tried and true staples that stay in my routine.

But I don’t buy most new products just because I want to.

My second rule is to stop browsing altogether. No unnecessary trips to Ulta and no detours through the makeup aisles of Target.

And finally, I’m going to scroll through product reviews on TikTok. I no longer care whether a lip gloss is popular online. I think it’s more important to clean out my makeup bag that I’ve already spent money on and use products that I know I really like.

Beauty is a great hobby of mine, and I don’t want to completely deprive myself of the fun of it.

But the reality is that my hobby has evolved from the art of makeup to shopping for products, and I want that to change in 2024.

Read the original article on Business Insider