This year, I committed to a self-inflicted shopping ban. It’s not like I’m irresponsible with my money or I lack self-control; I just noticed that I, like so many other people on the planet, possess more material items than I probably should. My drawers are stuffed with clothes I haven’t worn in years, and between you and me, my beauty collection could probably stock half of the shelves at any given Sephora. So even though it isn’t egregious, it’s not great.
So along with a lot of purging and donating, I committed to a shopping ban. That doesn’t mean I can’t buy anything. Instead, it means I can only buy essentials. Well, that’s the idea anyway. I may or may not have made an exception. Okay, fine, 15 exceptions. That might sound like a total fail, but hear me out: I’m only going to buy these products when the equivalents—that I already own—are all used up. For example, if it’s a body lotion I’m eyeing, I’ll wait to purchase it until I use up my existing body lotion. You get the idea. Ahead, check out all 15 items.