13 Beauty Products I Will NOT Buy In 2018

Over the past year, I've really made an effort to downsize my makeup collection. I also set myself two month long Spending Ban challenges, and these two things have really make me think about the products that give me joy, and those that don't. It makes sense to fill my collection with things that I love, and hold off on spending money on things that I'm not really into. Now, I'm incredibly selective about the products that I purchase, and I don't want to waste my money this year. Here are 13 products that I vow not to purchase over the next 12 months...

1) Nail Polish | I think I only purchased 2 nail polishes (one of which I swiftly decluttered as it was disappointing) in 2017, which was great. I did a really big nail polish purge and now only have a small collection. However I don't ever really paint my nails, so I just don't really need to be adding to that collection.

2) Bath Bombs | I never really had an interest in Lush prior to blogging, and as soon as I moved back to a house with a bath I stocked up on aaaall the bath bombs in the Boxing Day Sale (read the haul post). I was so chuffed to get such a bargain, but I had no idea that bath bombs had an expiry. They only really retain their fizz for about 6 weeks, so you can imagine 6 months later when I returned to my stash that I was very disappointed indeed. Since then, I have bought a few and forgotten about then, and this year I'm determined not to do the same! I do enjoy the Lush Bubble Bars, because they stay relatively fresh for as long as a year, but I still struggle to use them up as I always forget to treat myself to a bath. I had such a big stash and ended up binning most of it. I do have a few bubble bars left, as well as a stash of gorgeous Aromatherapy Associates bath oils, which I will be including in this year's project pans so I don't end up wasting them.

3) Hand Cream | Although I used up a couple in my 17 in 2017 Project Pan, hand cream isn't something I really use on the regular. I have a couple in my stash at the moment, and as it's not something that I'm overly excited about, I'm not really interested in adding to my collection. I'd like to get down to just one or two hand creams this year.

4) Candles | I have SO many candles - a ridiculous amount, and I go through phases of being really into them and burning them all the time, and not be able to bear any additional scent in my home. I've found some really gorgeous candles over the past year (and you can win a M&J London Candle in this post!) and I'd like to enjoy them rather than adding to my collection. I would like to burn through some of them that I don't have so much of an attachment and then treat myself at the end of the year to a few that I've been meaning to try from the likes of Diptyque and The White Company.

5) Mascara | I have SO many mascaras to be used, many of which are still in their boxes. Mascara only has a very short shelf life, so I'm determined to only have a maximum of 2 mascaras open at once this year. I really do not need to add any to my collection at the moment - mostly because it really is pointless having a mascara collection. I probably have enough mascara to last the whole of the year, so I won't need to purchase any during 2018.

6) Face Scrub | When I was filming my Winter Skincare Declutter, my stash ended up being quite minimal, except for my scrubs category. I have quite a few, and all of them I liked, so I couldn't justify getting rid of any of them. However it is a product that I rarely use as part of my routine, so I would really like to make a dent in the ones that are already in my stash before I can even think about buying any more.

7) Strongly Scented Lipsticks | L'Oréal lipsticks in particular just have such a strongly perfumed smell and taste, and it really puts me off using them. The same goes for any other brands with a similar scent, like Max Factor. I know Chanel lipsticks also have quite a strong scent too, but somehow I can bear those. Why can't all brands use a nice vanilla scent? There's a reason why we don't eat perfume!

8) Lip Gloss | I just don't really like lip gloss that much, and I utterly despise sticky glosses. Although I've found a few lovely glosses that aren't so sticky (the Benefit Ultra Plush ones and the Maybelline Baby Lips glosses are some of my favourites), I just don't reach for glosses as much as standard bullet or liquid lipsticks so there's not a lot of point buying any more of them.

9) Bronzers | Over the past year, I've come to the realisation that a lot of bronzers simply don't work with my pale skin, and I have to use such a light hand that I would never finish one (it took me a year to hit pan on a mini Benefit Hoola in my project pan!). I tried using a lighter bronzer about halfway through 2017 and preferred it immensely. I've found a few that I really enjoy, including the lightest quarter of the Clarins bronzer pictured, as well as the Physician's Formula Light Butter Bronzer, and I'm happy to stick to those. I just don't feel the need to try any new bronzers at the moment.

10) Blushers | Another category that just doesn't excite me is blush. I don't always wear it, and so I'm not really making any progress on working through my collection. I have a good variety of shades already, and don't really need any more. I have however been really into cream blush, particularly the Glossier Cloud Paint in Dusk, and I would at some point like to add Beam into my collection. I'll be trying to pan a peachy cream blush this year, so I plan to treat myself to the Glossier one once that one goes!

11) Creamy/glossy Dark Lipsticks | I like my darker lipsticks to be as matte and long lasting as they come, and so have no place in my collection for overly creamy or glossy dark or bright lipsticks. I just find that they tend to smear everywhere and be quite messy,  which just annoys me.

12) Bright Pink lip colours | From doing my declutters over the last year, the one lip shade that I really don't have a love for is bright pink. It just doesn't feel very me, and I very rarely reach for that kind of shade. I won't be buying any lipsticks this colour this year, and if I get sent any I'm going to pass them straight on rather than keeping them to Swatch, go in my drawer then in the declutter pile 6 months later.

13) False Lashes | They're not my thing, and they're never going to be my thing. It's the one beauty product that I'm really not arsed about. If I do wear lashes (a token once a year!), they will be the Ardell accent lashes which are probably the only ones I actually like!

Is there anything that you don't want to spend money on this year?