A Journey into Minimalism. Project Use It Up January 2017.

Hello there. 

Everyone knows that as the New Year rolls around, everyone starts reflecting upon the last year and the new one which soon approaches. It’s always good to think about the past months… the ups, downs, changes and new challenges, it’s just as good to start thinking about how you want the year to be.

One thing I want to try and embrace this forthcoming year is minimalism. Whenever that word is said, I feel that a lot of people assume that you’re going to throw away all your belongings and live out of a box for the rest of the year, although that might be some ones interpretation, I just want to live a bit more simply. Focusing less on ‘stuff’ and more on things that make me truly happy.

I was ill for quite a prolonged period earlier this year, during the sickness I started to read ”All that remains” by The Minimalists. I found the book fascinating and it opened my eyes to how much I’m a consumer. As you will know if you’ve read my introduction, at University my specialism was consumption, yet aside from the years of studying, it took me a simple book to realise that I have to cut down. I think a lot of women will relate to me when I say that shopping does bring happiness (even if only temporarily…) Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong in shopping, but realistically I probably do shop far too much. I’ve embraced the ‘Buy less, chose well, make it last’ motto for quite a while, but I still have a way to go.

By now you’re probably thinking ”Right I get it, you want to change, you like to shop, what now?” You’re right, what now? After reading ‘All that remains’ I stumbled upon a little community on Youtube and Instagram who generally group together under the hashtag or term #ProjectUseItUp or #ProjectPan. The idea is relatively simple, you select a few items you want to use up and continue working through them either till they’re finished, or you’ve made steady progress in finishing the item. I love this concept because my beauty hoard is far too large. I have far too many shower gels, body butters, soaps, bath bombs and other pamper items lying around that need to be used up.

I thought this would be a nice little project to work on this year, with this blog being a nice way of tracking my progress and difficulties with the challenge. I would also like to invite as many of you as possible to join in this year. It doesn’t necessarily have to be reducing your beauty stash, it can be anything; clothing, music records, collectables, what ever items to want to cut down on.

Every month I will try to make a blog post about the items I want to make ‘progress’ on. I think five to ten items is a nice number to work with, although I may increase / decrease this amount depending on how I’m feeling. The way I see it is that five – ten products for every month means I’ll decrease my current stash by sixty to one hundred and twenty products, this sounds good to me! For January I have selected the following;

1. Mini LUSH ‘Snow Fairy’ shower gel: This needs to be used up as soon as possible,  the expiration date is fast approaching.
2. The Body Shop ‘Moringa’ shower gel: I’ve been working through this product for a while now, I’ve nearly reached the end of it but I still want to include it nonetheless.
3. The Body Shop ‘Mango’ body butter: I absolutely love the Body Shop body butters but as they are so luxuriously soft they take forever to use them up, a little definitely goes a long way but I still want to try and use it up as soon as!
4. L’Oreal ‘Elvive’ hair conditioner: This product was given to me by my Mother and I although I like it, I want it used up and out of the way.
5. Yankee Candle ‘Honey Clementine’ candle: I’ve been burning this candle since September time and I still haven’t managed to finish it. I want to finish it up as soon as possible as I’ve received lots of lovely winter candles over Christmas in an array of cozy scents. To be completely honest, I’m getting quite bored of the scent now!
6. The Body Shop ‘Vanilla and Tonka Bean’ candle: Given as a gift but this needs to be used up so I can start burning the winter candles.
7. Hollister ‘Crescent Bay’ body spray: Similar to the Moringa shower gel, I’ve not got too far to go with this product, there’s only a little bit left and I really want to finish it up before February approaches.

As you can see, some products are going to require more intense use over this forthcoming month than others, but I’m determined to do it. I hope you join me in this journey, hopefully 2017 will be the year of reducing clutter and moving towards a much simpler life.  What are your thoughts? Do you have areas in your life that you need to cut back / down on? Comment below, I’d be interested to know.

With love, Lottie.