Day 44: Why I Do This

A little while ago, I was thisclose to buying a new fancy eye cream that was on sale. I had reasoned to myself that I don't really have a good eye cream; I'm getting older and noticing the fine lines; I'm still struggling with a proper sleep schedule so my eyes could use some brightening so I don't look like total death; etc etc etc.

I reasoned that this would fall into the next pay period budget so despite the fact that I spent a bunch of money on clothes, I could put this cosmetic purchase on another week's fun money allowance.

I read reviews and thought about all the midlife crisis terrors that await me.

I told myself it would be just this one purchase, and I would be fine. After all, I talked myself out of adding some hair care to my cart, just because it was on sale.

But in the end, I realized that I don't need the fancy eye cream. I have random samples of eye cream (some of them are tiny tubes of the actual fancy eye cream!) that should be used up and tried out. I have multiple pots of a very nice eye cream that I use sporadically right now.

Would my life (and my eyes) be so different if I bought the fancy eye cream, just because it was half off right now? Someone online mentioned it goes on sale a few times a year, so there's always another chance.

Then I realized these sort of situations are exactly why I decided to go on this No Buy Year. Why I created this space, to help keep me accountable.

So I emptied my cart, closed the app, and walked away.

Then went to the bathroom, dug out the makeup bag that holds all my eye samples, found two (!) tiny tubes of the fancy eye cream, and put some on my eyes, just to see if I even like the overpriced fancy eye cream in the first place. If I decide that I do, I can wait a year, using up my other samples, before finding a sale where I can buy the larger container.

My inner shiny goblin is disappointed that I can expect something new to arrive in the mail that promises to make my life – or my under eyes – perfect and wonderful. But the practical old lady side of me is proud that I've put some of the eye cream samples on my daily skincare shelf in an attempt to actually use them up.

One day, this decision making process will get easier. But for now, I'm just glad I finally made the right decision and stuck to the promise I made with myself.