On September 4, 2002, I posted the following:

So, OK ... how'd I do?

Hmmmm. Pretty well in some ways, and not so well in others.

First of all, I actually used up every single cake of soap, bottle of
shower gel, drop of shampoo, dab of conditioner, and blob of body butter
in the house. This meant I actually had to buy soap, shampoo, shower gel,
etc.

I also pulled a few things out of my stash and started using them.

I swapped some stuff for staples, meaning I didn't spend money, got rid of
clutter, and got what I wanted. That felt good.

I had to replenish supplies of certain staples, and I took the opportunity
to try a few new brands. I tried La Mer SPF 18 instead of my usual EL
Resilience Lift; Oil of Olay Regenerist Serum instead of EL Idealist,
Garnier Fructis and Back to Basics instead of Biolage. For the most part,
this was fun and it worked out well. And it felt like a real treat.

However, I took full advantage of a loophole I devised, which was that the
moratorium didn't hold during travel. During the year I went to New
England three times, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Paris, and Wisconsin. And
shopped like crazy at every destination--most notably at a Wal-Mart in
Geneva, Wisconsin, because Wal-Marts are pretty rare in these parts. I
also went kind of mental in the duty-free shop in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Anyway, here's what I discovered:

I will never run out of makeup. Never, never, never. I can pitch old stuff
or stuff that isn't flattering, but in the course of a YEAR I saw pan in a
single eyeshadow shade. That's literally it. I didn't run out of a single
color cosmetic. Not even a single little pan in a lip gloss palette. I
pitched a few things that smelled funky, had begun to separate, or had
dried up. That's it.

I also didn't run out of facial cleansers, except for OoO cloths. I pulled
one tube of foaming cleanser out of my stash. I bought it at the AF
get-together in Vegas! There is still more than an inch in the tube.

I never came close to using up any of my masks or scrubs.

I didn't use up a single bottle of fragrance. I still have 83 bottles or
some such.

I actually still have unopened bottles of body lotion in my stash.

My nailpolish supply is, frankly, embarrassing.

On top of this, my moratorium in fragrance, skin care, and cosmetics
means that my collections of Hermes scarves and Lilly have become
mind-boggling.

Anyway, that's the report. Just be thankful that you aren't getting a film
at eleven!

Priscilla

--
psb2@midway.uchicago.edu "Here comes the most beautiful woman in puppetland!"

I'm not sure if I should be in awe of your restraint or in awe of the
amount of product you had in the first place! *grin*

I was reading some posts of mine from 1997 and I have to say that I
have *so* cut down on product since then. The only bad thing I've
found from self-imposed moratoriums is that I start to use less
product overall. I attribute it to not being as excited about
products when I'm not in lemming mode. Or maybe it's me going into
"famine" mode.

Thanks for posting, I enjoyed reading the report and now I feel
inspired to try to use up all the soap, shower gel, and shampoo in my
stash. This leads me to a question for you and others... When you're
using product do you use the best stuff first or do you try and "save"
stuff.

Myself I usually use the better quality/more expensive stuff first,
because I want to use it up before it goes bad. Of course there are
exceptions... I still have a huge bar of Acqua di Parma soap that has
got to be over 5 years old. It still smells good and I don't think
it's gone bad? Does soap go bad?

That was fascinating! I don't think I've ever heard a report of anyone else
doing a moratorium for a year. I've done month-long moratoriums, and those
usually have more of an effect on my budget than on thinning the herd in the
ol' cosmetic cabinet. Did you find it especially hard to stick to when some
limited edition color story came out? That's always the toughest thing for me,
because when it comes to the limited time only stuff, gratification delayed can
turn into gratification denied.

So after going cold turkey, what's your state of mind? Are you running out
today to gorge yourself on new products to make up for lost time? Or have you
lost the craving to do it? Maybe some middleground between the two?

Stephanie

In article <6d0aa499.0309040214.5947692b@posting.google.com>,
Miss Jenney <jenneymaru@yahoo.com> wrote:
I would pick the latter!

I think I did the same thing, but I attribute it to the lack of
novelty. With no new stuff, putting on the same old makeup wasn't as
exciting, so I wore less. The same is true of bath and body stuff.

I use up the good stuff first. My last choice was a bottle of MOP
conditioner that did nothing for my hair. I ended up using it on my
daughter and springing for a new bottle for myself.

I don't think soap *can* go bad. During the last year I used up the last
of a huge supply of soap that I got in a swap with rjudith over five
years ago. All I had left were some little guest soaps, but I managed to
go through them. They were all fine, too.

Priscilla

--
psb2@midway.uchicago.edu "Here comes the most beautiful woman in puppetland!"

In article <20030904074508.18543.00000446@mb-m13.aol.com>,
HotWxDripN <hotwxdripn@aol.com> wrote:
Yes, that was the hardest. That, and sales.

I would say that I've totally lost the craving. I have a couple of items
in mind for fall, but I may not bother to do anything about it. I'm about
to swap away the La Mer SPF 18 moisturizer, though, which I think entitles
me to a new bottle of EL Resiience Lift. I'm looking forward to that. (I
tried the La Mer instead of refilling my Resilience Lift prescription, and
I've never cared for it.)

But as for the Chanel eye quad and blush, the Maybelline fall 03 colors,
the UD face case, the bottle of Caleche--there is a major part of my brain
that is saying "OH GET REAL."

Priscilla

--
psb2@midway.uchicago.edu "Here comes the most beautiful woman in puppetland!"

This was an interesting post.

I think I have waaaay too much makeup, and I'll never get through it all.
I'm trying not to buy anymore, but the new Limited Edition Revlon eyeshadows
in mauves has been calling my name for weeks. I feel guilty and wasteful
buying another palette when I have 5 or 6 almost full ones in the drawer.

I think they should make cosmetics in much smaller sizes....so you go
through it more often, and then you can buy the newest colours, without
having tons of the old stuff left over. I think this is the only product in
the world where I want less rather than more from the manufacturer.

Just Me

"Trilby" <psb2@midway.uchicago.edu> wrote in message
news:nUy5b.32$%4.5225@news.uchicago.edu...

highly commendable effort, girl.
I'm still on my moratorium and agree with you about never needing
another color cosmetic, and I'm certain my supply is nowhere the
equivalent of yours.

also agree about vacation loopholes - how can you pass up a bar of
handmade soap found only in remote locations?

still thinking about my executor tsking over a stash (hi anya)

val

In article <3dM5b.352828$Ho3.52780@sccrnsc03>,
kayper <karz54@comcast.net> wrote:
own lemmingitis and deciding to go cold turkey, I am a selfless scientist,
gathering data for the good of AF.

Wicked!

Priscilla

--
psb2@midway.uchicago.edu "Here comes the most beautiful woman in puppetland!"

In article <ygM5b.1981$f7.154055@localhost>,
Just Me <spamoff@spammersmustdie.com> wrote:
I agree. This is one reason I love UD Face Cases and the little credit
card-sized lip palettes, and why I tended to stay away from Cargo. Those
Cargo containers were HUGE.

Priscilla
--
psb2@midway.uchicago.edu "Here comes the most beautiful woman in puppetland!"

i admire your ability to go the distance priscilla! i haven't bought any powder
eye shadows in at least a year, and i can't get any of my old ones to
'disappear' either! i rotate them, so every month or so i pull out a few older
ones and that makes them feel new, staving off the desire to buy more. i know
i'll cave on the new diors, and i did buy a few avon cream eye shadows, but i
can say with confidence that i will never 'need' to buy eyeshadow ever again!

Please add me to the moratorium list ;-).
I didn't stop buying lipsticks because I had too many, but because I had so
many that I wasn't using some of the really pretty ones because I had forgotten
that I had bought them. I can't believe I went almost the whole summer without
using Almay's AntiChap in "Glow" (one of my very few drugstore lippies.) It's
a perfect summer color. And where did all those BBs come from? Same with
eyeshadows.
The only thing I can't resist, though, is a great pallette. So I did just buy
the Bobbi Brown one in Deep, and will probably get the one in Natural. So I
suppose that's cheating a bit. But for now, it really is like getting new
lipsticks or glosses or eyeshadows when you rediscover the old.

Stephanie S.

In some respects I am on a "forced" moratorium...for a couple of reasons.
First, I moved overseas and most of the stuff people were reviewing was not
available in Germany. When I did get to see them, I was usually in the UK
and refused to pay that much until I got back to the states...so by that
time, I may not have wanted the particular item so much. Really not a bad
thing, looking back.

Of course, I did manage to go haywire purchasing other non-AF items
(pottery, books, etc).

Now I am no longer employed. 'Nuff said.

--
M~Elizabeth

To thine own self be true
"Toast 28" <toast28@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030908104337.06258.00000803@mb-m10.aol.com...

psb2@midway.uchicago.edu (Trilby) wrote in message news:<90T5b.54$%4.12052@news.uchicago.edu>...
I don't know what took me so long to see your post, Priscilla but
thank you for it! Now I know I can nudge my quasi moratorium to the
next level. Even after giving away some stuff and swapping a bunch at
the DC get together, I *still* have entirely too much of most
everything; shower gel, fragrance, nail polish and color cosmetics.
It's insanity, utter insanity as EMD has often said in previous
threads. I've been afraid that if I call it an all out moratorium,
I'll psych myself out and cave, but I can always pretend it's a 99.9
percent moratorium and in reality just stop buying completely.

I'm another fan of palettes, especially the credit card size since
they allow for so much makeup playtime and they're the one type of
color product I've seen pan in recently. Another fave - the little
nail polishes like Sephora sells. Other than clear, who ever uses up
an entire full size bottle? The closest I've come is getting 1/2 way
through my Revlon Ballet Buff.

Interesting and great post!!!! And congrats on hitting that year
mark.

Vicki in DC