I'm Done With You: December 2016

In this post, I'll share with you the products that I've finished lately. I'm making a conscious effort to use up products before I replace them. I'll also try to eliminate some things that are not quite finished yet but are not being used.

There's always a good number of Bath & Body Works soap in my empties. All of these were a hit, including Kiss Kiss Mistletoe which was from last year. I don't think they had that scent this year. I always allow myself to stock up on the soaps when they're on sale because they always get used and my world would tip off its axis if I ever ran out.

These are two of my very favourite candle scents. I'm thrilled that Sweater Weather keeps coming back most seasons with different colors and packaging. This yellow was my favourite though. Both of these have very strong scents that will fill a large space.

Inside the Lush bag was a Cinders bath bomb which was cinnamon scented and quite nice. There is also a BBW hand sanitizer, a nail polish remover, and a sleeve of cotton rounds. 

The two hair products I used up were sample sizes. The one on the left is Bumble and Bumble Hairdresser's Invisible Oil Primer which is a really nice leave-in hair primer and heat protectant. It was recently on for a 100 point perk at Sephora so I redeemed for another one. The Fekkai Brilliant Glossing cream was a staple of mine that lasts for YEARS. It's a finishing product that leaves your hair smooth and you only use a pea-sixes drop. I bought a giant one when Target closed that I'm still trying to make my way through. I'm rotating it with the Alterna Caviar CC Cream, which I think I like even better.

This skin care stuff was good, but I'm pretty scattered with my skin care. I like trying new things and get bored easily. I liked the Body Shop Seaweed Mattifying Moisture Lotion SPF 15 as a sunscreen but I didn't find it to be particularly mattifying. The Aveeno was fine as well. The Blistex was the lip balm at my work desk.

For make-up, I tossed a few products that I didn't like (The Essence lipstick and the Blinc mascara), a few that had gone funky (The Body Shop Mineral foundation and the Tarte lippie), and two that I used up (Benefit Gimme Brow and MAC brow pencil in Lingering). The brow products are both amazing but kind of pricey. I'm currently using some drug store alternatives.

I also purged a bunch of nail polishes (maybe ten or so) that were old or I wasn't using.

I hope you enjoyed peeking into my recycling! I usually do one of these posts every second month.

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

Currently 12.19.16

Reading

Doctor Sleep -Stephen King
I went through a huge Stephen King phase in high school, and read most of his older works. I've read a few of his newer books, and this one really intrigued me as it's a sequel to The Shining. It was written in classic SK style, and I forgot how easy his books are to get into. I usually don't find his books too scary to be honest, and this one was the same. I had no issues reading it when I was home alone. I really need to read his book On Writing.

Vinegar Girl- Anne Tyler
This was a quick and easy read on my Kobo. It was meant to be an adaptation of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. It was pretty good.

Vinegar Girl, Fleur de Force, In Style

Clicking

I'm watching so many Vlogmas stories on You Tube. I can't even keep up. Sephora has also been a favourite of mine this month. I'm determined to keep my VIB status for next year, which looks like it will happen.

Watching

I finished the second season of Suits and I'm obsessed ,but I think I'll take a little break before starting Season Three. On my Suits hiatus, I watched Brooklyn on TMN On Demand which was SUCH a good movie. I cried so many times, which is pretty inconvenient when you're on a treadmill.
TheVS Fashion Show was on a few weeks ago. It's always a hit at our house. I'm loving The Weeknd right now so it was great to see him perform.

Eating

Everything. Ugh. There is so much food around time of year. I made some new cookies this year, which turned out pretty good - Aero Thumbprint cookies. The recipe is here.

Drinking

I'm not usually a sucker for Starbucks Holiday drinks. Normally I stick with my chai lattes. However, this year I discovered the Caramel Brûlée Latte. I've managed to limit myself to two so far, but something tells me I'll be getting another one before too long.


Seeing

Cookies and sweets everywhere! A Christmas tree. Two giant containers of laundry pods (seriously, R? 304 pods?). Four poinsettias.

Smelling

Roast beef in the oven :)

Hearing

R's text alerts

Wearing

Cords, a t-shirt and a faux-suede cardigan.

Loving my new sweater from Envy!

Feeling

Tired! I've been so busy at work the past few weeks.

Anticipating

Christmas of course! I'm also looking forward to 4.5 days off.

The view from R's office last week. 

Merry Christmas everyone!!!
I'll be sure to post a bit over the holidays. I'm thinking of doing some "Best of 2016" posts and I'm ready to show you some more empties.

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

Lumberjack Chic

One of the easiest outfit formulas I love for fall and winter is jeans, a plaid shirt and boots.  It's easy to change things up by changing the shirt, the type of jeans (leggings, boyfriend style, straight cut, etc), and the boots (combat boots, riding boots, or winter boots). You could create a ton of looks with just a few different items from each category. Basic? Sure. But so comfortable!

Details

Plaid shirt: Topshop

Tee: Gap

Jeans: Zara

Boots: Aldo

I almost wore my winter boots with this outfit, but then I changed my mind and wore combat boots. I was on my way to Bath and Body Works for soap day, which is basically like a war zone. 

Success! And I didn't even need to kick anyone! I'm so impressed with how well BBW does with holiday crowds. The lines might look huge, but they go by so fast. I hope your holiday preparations are going well. I think I'm officially done with the shopping and moving on to wrapping.

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

My Monthly Purchases: November 2016

Every month, I break down my clothing expenses and share them. My quarterly budget is $500. This amount can be rolled into the next quarter if it's not all spent. My goal is to keep my out of pocket expenses within $2000 a year. Gifts and gift cards don't count towards my budget. Since I've been keeping a budget, I'm much more careful with what I buy, and I will return stuff at the end of the month if I'm not crazy about it after hanging it in my closet.

I always like to save some money for Black Friday sales. Over the past few years, I think that day has been even better deals than Boxing Day. I did a big chunk of my Christmas shopping - yay! I had the day off work, which I will try to make happen every year.

Turtleneck: Bootlegger
Reg $30, on sale for $7.50
I'm obsessed with stripes and love having turtlenecks or other high-necked styles to layer with my beloved TNA Del Mar shirts in the winter. This also looks great under a blazer or cardigan.

Pants: Bootlegger
Reg $50, on sale for $20
My Madewell jeans developed am unfortunate hole. I wasn't sure if they would be saved (they were - thanks Mom) so I bought these to fill in the casual black pants void in my work wardrobe. They are quite comfy but they do loosen as the day goes on so I need to wear a belt with them.

Coat: Club Monaco
Reg $449, on sale for $189
This was an impulse buy, but I think it was a sound choice. My black peacoat that I got for dirt cheap at Joe Fresh a few years ago isn't the best. I love my black puffer coat, but I wanted something that was a bit dressier for going out to dinner and such. I saw this on Black Friday and it fits like  a dream. I really couldn't leave it there for the quality and price. I always lust over the coats at CM and now I get to wear one.

Necklace: American Eagle Outfitters
Reg $18, on sale for $6.50
This is a very delicate but trendy piece. I love the multiple layers.

Tank: Joe Fresh
Reg $19, on sale for $10
I was going out and felt like something new to wear. I work beside Joe Fresh, and this caught my eye because of the sheer detail. The armholes are too big, but I'll likely always want to wear a cardigan or blazer with it anyway.

I also bought a Christmas sweater at Envy that I will save for an outfit post. It was $40 on sale for $30

Original price of items: $606

Price I paid: $263

I saved 57%

This leaves me with $178 to spend in December. I might buy a pair of chunky heeled ankle boots. I'll also check out the Boxing Day sales, but may carry some over to January as the real deals are usually in late January when the stores are starting to clear the winter stock.

Hope you found some great deals in November!

XOXO
Glitterary Girl