Earlier this year I missed these amazing posts from Refinery29 where New York City women share the biggest waste of space in their closet and in their beauty regime. It's a breath of fresh air and I'm sure everybody interested in beauty and fashion can relate to this, even in the smallest of ways. I was also inspired to do a sort of 'tell-all' post for some of my biggest wastes of money when it comes to fashion and beauty and would love to hear yours as well! (Reveal your secrets!)
Cheap nail polish bins
You know the kind, when you go to a sale event and there's a '5 for $10' bin of polishes. Polishes you'd never really buy anyway, cheap stuff or off-colours. But you DO, you BUY them, then you add up the amount of money from this sub-par polishes that have the consistency of runny paint and you could've purchased a beauty from Eat Sleep Polish instead.
Pre-distressed jeans
Every generation goes through a 'distressed jean' phase. Mine included a pair of $120 dark wash pair of jeans from Le Chateau in the early 00s that had a rose vine pattern in black crawling up the leg. They looked edgy when I bought them, but they were pretty unfortunate and I couldn't wear them at work, and they only matched certain tops. Needless to say I didn't get my money's worth from THOSE. And now pre-ripped and DESTROYED denim is back? Nuh uh, not falling for that again.
Cheap heels, in abundance
I went through a phase where I would grab heels CONSTANTLY despite wearing them less than once a week. I'd get them from Payless, from Winners, from vintage stores, etc. I'd never spend more than $50 on them but I'd also barely wear them too. I can think of at least a half-dozen pairs that I bought that just collected dust. Instead I could've bought another pair of Fluevogs (I have a few pairs that have lasted for YEARS and I've worn to non-visible death!)
Nail Stamping Kit
It's no secret that I love nail polish. I love the process of polishing my nails, I love the downtime, the me-time, I love having a variety of colours and styles to choose from. But I am not as keen on nail art. I've dotted, I've striped, and I've used scotch tape to do some lines here and there, but that's pretty much the extent of it. But when all the nail bloggers were going gaga for stamping, I tried to follow the pack and ended up spending $70 on a kit I've used four times. Aaaachhh. I just don't have the precision or patience for it, and I wish I'd started with a SMALLER CHEAPER set instead of going all out. Whoops.
What do you waste your money on? What items are hiding in your bathroom or closet that you wish you'd never purchased?