£100 Per Year Beauty Challenge - The End

Well, I'm very pleased to say that I made it to the end of this challenge and I DID keep within the budget, which was fabulous news.  June was a very quiet month.  I was pretty well stocked with most things.  I only had to buy a couple of regularly used items that ran out, to see me through this final month of the challenge.

I had just £2.83 to spend in this month and managed to spend only £2.20, so in fact I came in just below budget at £99.37/£100 for the year.

The money was spent on the following:

Toothpaste x 2 - £1.20 - Added to my Approved Food order this month.
Witch hazel toner x 2 - £1 - This was a bargain spotted by Little Bird at a carboot sale in Yorkshire the other week.  I bought two bottles for 50p each.  I should probably have bought more, but would have gone over my budget, so I reined myself in and just got the two.  This was a timely stroke of luck, as my distilled witch hazel was running out and I would have been without it for a couple of days, as I wouldn't have been able to afford any more on what was left in the budget.  This toner works just as well (despite being out of date!) and was less than a third of the price.

As promised I have taken a few photos of what is left in my stash.  There have been a few additions over the year, such as the free toiletries from holiday accomodation, gifts I've received for my birthday, Christmas and Mother's Day, magazine or other freebies, as well as the soaps I made in the workshop the other day, which I will endeavour to use.  A few other things have been bought along the way when on offer and kept for future use too.

Here's a couple of photos of the stash at the beginning of the challenge.  It was quite considerable, which is the main reason why I was able to stick to the budget.

 

 

I must admit that some of the above items didn't actually get used by me and were sent to the charity shop, mainly because they didn't agree with my skin or I didn't like the feel of them on my skin, but only a few and these tended to have been bought very inexpensively from Approved Food when on offer, so I don't feel too bad about this.  Hopefully, someone will have been able to benefit from them too.  A few bits have also been used by Little Bird and OH, rather than myself.

Here's a photo of the stash as it stands now, much depleted, but still with quite a lot left to use up.  It does all fit into one photo now though.  (Please note that I have changed and washed the bedding since the original photos were taken!!!)

I will continue to try and use up these items before buying any more of the same.  It could take a while.

I have really enjoyed this challenge, and with a bit of thought I haven't found it too difficult.  I'm not really a user of expensive beauty products as you've probably gathered if you've read the posts, but being on a tight budget for a year has given me a bit of a yearning to treat myself a little more in the coming months.

Although I've enjoyed the challenge, I am quite relieved to have got to the end.  I'm definitely pleased to have used up quite a bit of my stockpile and cut down on the clutter it created and the challenge has made me think more carefully about my habit of stockpiling things unnecessarily.  It has also made me realise that it is not unreasonable to treat myself to the odd luxury beauty product from time to time, especially as I get older and perhaps need a bit of extra help in certain areas.  I hope you've enjoyed reading about the challenge and thank you for your support and helpful comments along the way.