Just Like Starting Over

After looking over my purchases for the past year at Sephora alone I
am almost embarassed at how much I have bought there! Most of it I can
easily rationalize away but there are a few items in there that I have
no excuse for getting aside from good old fasion vanity.
So I realized that I would get an opportunity to get this experiment
started sooner than I thought. Only problem was...I didn't have a
coupon for a face wash that I would be willing to use. I have
troublesome skin so I can't just use any old run-of-the-mill wash from
the drug store. So what are my options? I have nothing left because I
put it off until the last minute. Well, that isn't entirely true. I
have a wash that was given to me as a gift but it seems to aggravate
my skin rather than clean it. I can't get away with the bumpy skin
like I could when I was 15.
The product I want, need, yearn for is the Bare Minerals powder ($26)
or foaming cleanser ($20). I definitely am not willing to shell out
nearly 10% of my yearly budget on 1 item that I'll need to replace at
least once this year. I work for a company that sells this product and
I get a discount, but even with my discount the cost isn't within my
new budget. And that is where my light bulb went off. DUH!!! I went
down to the Bare Escentuals counter at work and got a couple little samples of the wash I had wanted. I promise not to abuse free samples, but I refuse not to take advantage of a service that benefits my experiment and myself as a consumer. This way I can test out the products I am interested in without commiting any of my budgeted money before really knowing how I'll like it.
So my first day of the experiment was a success. I didn't have to sacrifice my love of high end products or any of my budget to get the product that works best for my fickle skin. The next issue I'll run into is that trying to find something that works with the rules. I doubht the product I want is going to go on sale any time soon and I don't have any coupons right now for any cleansers I am familiar with. There is only one way to find out!

Beauty: 1
Budget: 0

Beauty vs Budget

After reading a post from Room to Dance Studio's April Maclean, I was inspired. She went on a year long comparison experiment between high end cosmetics versus drug store brands. My initial internal response to her experiment was incredibly defensive. I spend hundreds of dollars a year on those products and here she was, telling me that her findings proved that Sephora doesn't always beat out Walgreens when it comes to quality. This happened to coincide with a rough pay period at work. And thus I had an idea for my own experiment. Could I quit my expensive habit?
I decided I should give it a shot, I had nothing to lose...right? So I am setting out to see if I can one full year without spending full price on a single beauty product. This includes make up, cleansers, nail polish/care, lotions/moisturizers, hair care and hair color. I still need to work out my exact rules. After one Google search for the average amount spent on beauty products each year (between $200-$5000....super accurate, eh?) I have decided that I will attempt to spend no more than $300 on products for the next 365 days.
Rules:

• I can still use anything in my Caboodle, so I don't have to start from scratch.
• Anything given as a gift will not count towards my total, however gift CARDS given will count towards my total dollar amount spent.
• I will avoid Sephora and the make up counters at Nordstrom but they will not be excluded entirely. 
• I will not spend full price on any item. All items must be on sale or bought with a coupon.
• I will not use and then return any item unless necessary.
• I will still attempt to buy the best quality products I can.

I'll post any deals I find as well as reviews on the products I use. I've pretty much always been a product junkie so this will be a fun experiment. Although sticking to a budget of $300 will be tough, especially considering that I have spent half that amount in one trip to Sephora before. Yikes.
And away we go!