little white truths

My last skincare inventory was in March (see here), so it's time I checked in to do an updated one.

I'm looking forward to writing this inventory because I know I've finished a lot of stuff lately, and I'm expecting both my makeup and skincare numbers to have gone down. We shall see!

Also note that I will be receiving some skincare for my birthday (30 June), so I want to write this post before then so the numbers will reflect how much my collection has reduced during the six-month spending ban I've just undergone.

Makeup remover

Previously I had two and I still have two (one open full-size and one open travel-size). I finished one but the travel-size was passed on to me by Mum, who wasn't going to use it.

One is my ultimate goal, but I don't mind having a back-up so I'm not worried about this category. 

Cleansing oils/balms

I had one and I still have one, this being a cleansing oil. That's pretty restrained for me - I love these kinds of cleansers - so I'm happy with that!

Two's my goal so we're there.

Cleansers

This is all other cleansers aside from oils and balms. Previously I had five and I now have four, so my numbers have dropped and I'm pleased about that.

My goal here is no more than four open cleansers plus a couple of back-ups because I do get through cleansers reasonably quickly and I like to have some unopened ones on hand, so I can even replenish my stores here. Yay.

Exfoliants

I had two and I still have two because the ones I own are powders that you mix with water before use and they'll take ages to get through.

My goal here is no more than two open products plus a couple of back-ups, so we're there.

Toners

For toners, I'm not only including standard toners but also 'treatment' ones (eg my glycolic toner from Alpha-H). In my last inventory I had five (oops!) and I now have three (one being unopened), so I've brought this category down.

My goal here is no more than four: two open and two unopened back-ups. We're there.

Acids/treatments

The products in this category include eg items from The Ordinary because they don't really fit into any other category and I can still use them in conjunction with my serums or even mixed in with my serums or moisturisers.

Before I had two and I now have three (two being unopened) because I replaced some products when my spending ban lifted at the beginning of June.

Three is my goal in this category so we're there.

Essences

This is a new category because I've only started exploring essences more this year. At the moment I have two (one being unopened) and I'm happy with that.

My goal is no more than two.

Serums

Before I had three and I now have one. Not enough - especially because I don't love the one I own. Looking forward to receiving more for my birthday shortly.

That's my goal so we're there.

Eye creams

I had four and I now have two. I'm happy with that number for now but I am looking forward to buying another one soon because I don't love the one I'm using at night.

No more than three eye creams is a good goal for me so we're there.

Day cream

Previously I had one and I now have four because I needed to buy myself a couple (the two minis I'm using aren't great).

My aim was two so I have some work to do here, but we're not far away.

Night cream/overnight cream

Previously I had two and I now have three (two unopened back-up). The extra items were actually sent to me for review so I haven't bought anything, it's just that they came into my collection via other means.

Two is my goal with this category so we're not too far away.

Oils

I had two and I now have one, so I've managed to get this category down too.

Two's my goal here so I'm able to buy one.

Masks

In my last inventory I had seven and I now have four (one being unopened).

I've managed to get things down because I've been focusing on panning masks this year via Project Pan, which has obviously worked and I'm starting to make a dent in things.

My goal here is no more than four open, so we're there.

It's definitely time for my monthly positives post: I've been up all night, I'm freezing, my chilblains are killing me - plus we've all been sick to boot.

But let's forget all that and focus on the happy stuff this morning. It's called for!

I'm loving the home play-dates

In the warmer months we typically meet my kids' friends in the playground so they can run around and burn off exuberant steam - which is lovely of course, but then us mums are chasing two kids each in various directions so there's stress involved and we don't get much chance to sit down or chat.

Now that the weather is cold and often rainy, we're doing more home play-dates, which is much easier where us parents are concerned. We can chat, we can sit down and have a coffee, and we don't need to watch the kids too much because we all have child-proof houses without, you know, exposed power points and knives in bottom drawers. Hallelujah. 

It's my birthday on 30 June

While I've never been a big birthday person (I hate being the centre of attention), what I love to do is arrange various small lunches and dinners with friends and family - which is a lot more appealing to me than an annual birthday bash. Maybe I'm just getting old ; )

I'll be 39 this year so I've got one year left before I'm socially considered to be a geriatric (ha), and I'm looking forward to using the year ahead to expand my horizons and get my career back on track. Yes I've been working throughout having babies and toddlers and pre-schoolers, but next year my son will be joining my daughter at our local kindergarten - so I'll have more spare time to write, work and, you know, brush my hair. Can't wait.

New beauty products are coming

As you may know, I've been on skincare and makeup no buys since the beginning of December 2018, but I've opened things up for my birthday month and have made a couple of small purchases for myself - plus my husband and family were happy for me to make a few orders and hand them over to be given to me on my birthday (certainly makes present-choosing easier for them hehe). Yay!

Plus most of the new products coming my way in two weeks are sorely needed. My skincare stores are so low that I'm relying on sachets and minis for things like day cream and serums, so my birthday presents will fill some gaps.

On top of that, I have some birthday money left to buy new runners and pillows. They're sorely needed too. Happy days.

We've had decent rain lately

While the rain makes it harder for me to get the kids out to the playground etc, what's great about it is that our garden really needs it (so does everyone else's I suspect).

Our garden is already looking a lot happier for it, our rainwater tank is no longer running on empty, and I've stopped needing to haul buckets of rainwater and dispense them across the garden on a regular basis (not great for my back, given the amount of bending and lifting I already have to do with young kids).

The much-needed rain is also a reminder of climate change, and the reality of our impact on nature. We didn't get enough rain during autumn, and I've been watching our trees wither before my very eyes. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would say that. Hooray for rain.

This weekend is free

Our weekends have been so packed lately with kids' birthday parties, play-dates, catch-ups with our friends and the like, that it's nice to have a weekend ahead that's completely free.

This will hopefully mean I can finally get the remains of my tax spreadsheets sorted before the EOFY. I was on top of things up until a couple of weeks ago, but it's been so busy lately that I've fallen behind. Can't wait to get back on track this weekend and cross this tax rubbish off my list.

As for the rest of the admin list... Well. Let's not even go there ; )

In sum

That's all from me!

Hopefully you have plenty of your own positives this month: do let me know in the comments if so. I'd love to hear.

Hope all's well with you, and speak soon x

* All images courtesy of unsplash.com