A bit of a boring empties for last month – just a few regulars and not much else.

Nice quiet month in empties for March. I concentrated on finishing the many mostly empty deodorant cans I had taking up room in my bathroom cabinet and crossed a couple of things off my 'Use It Or Lose It' list.

Priceline had a 40% off cosmetics sale recently and I tend to use these bigger sales to test out products I can’t justify paying full price for… usually because I don’t really need them. I was pretty good and only bought a few things.

A few months back I noticed that I might be developing a slight problem when it comes to purple eyeliners. It’s always the first colour liner I check out within a brand and I always seem to have at least one on my wishlist (currently its two from MAC - Permaplum and Prunela). I love pairing mauvy, plumy, smoky and taupy purples with my brown eyes and dark lashes so my purple liners get quite a workout, much more than any browns or black/greys I own. With the addition of my most recent eyeliners a few months ago (Stila Black Amethyst and Bobbi Brown Black Plum), I thought it was time to put them all together in a Swatch n Compare including how they performed over a typical day.

A few weeks ago I was digging into my Use It Or Lose It basket and found the Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stain I received in my last Marie Claire Parcel which I still hadn't tried. With nowhere important to go I put together a fairly neutral look (my standard MO) and gave it a whirl.

3 years ago my bathroom cupboards were overflowing with bottles of things I had bought to try or because they were on special yet had never really bothered to use. So to stop the wastage and make myself accountable I started a Project Pan to make sure I used them all up. In the process I discovered that I had been buying the same things over and over that I didn't really like because I hadn't noticed that it had simply been repackaged or because I forgot why I didn't like it the first time around.

My project pan quickly evolved into a log of my monthly empties, complete with short notes of what I thought of the product to remind myself whether it was worth repurchasing and more importantly when NOT to buy it again.

In 2014 I managed to finished 126 beauty items from 4 categories: skincare for the face, skincare for the body, haircare and makeup, with these 31 being from the last quarter of the year.

October

School is back for the kids and since I have less than 6 weeks to go until bubs is born, I’m in slowdown mode so my makeup is simple looking and designed to make me look not so haggard from the constant lack of sleep I’ve been experiencing... and yes it took 19 products to make me look human today. I’m going for a healthy natural glow with more emphasis on the healthy and natural than the glow. Coz sometimes you just gotta fake it.