I had noticed on the various social media threads people discussing not buying any new products until what they had was empty. As often many back up products went to waste due to expiring. This is touted as a cost cutting measure. Now, I hadn’t had this problem in the past except when lock down took place for a such a long time, I wasn't using many things that I normally would for going out. But before that this was not an issue of mine, but I did notice as I was reading these threads that I had more things than normal as I was trying to find new skincare for my aging skin that was more sensitive than ever. This was difficult, expensive, and even painful at times due to reactions.

I had already stopped buying most make up. I am still trying to find a decent close to 50 years old foundation but so far, no luck.

So, I took it upon myself to spend the first six months of the year using everything I had including samples. Sometimes, I did have to get rid of things (usually gave them to someone else) as I did have reactions to some things during this process but overall I did pretty good. I think this is a great way to not only save some money but to really pay attention to what works for you. There were some genuine surprises for me. Also you will cut down on waste a lot and that is also good for the planet.