Living with Less-My Experience of Minimalism a Year On.
I am not a natural minimalist. My house is full of textiles, colour and objects. I’m a magpie and that’s unlikely to ever change. But over the years I’ve become more and more attracted to the idea of minimalism and living with less.
Ever since quitting my full-time job and moving to my husband’s farm in the middle of no-where, I’ve had less access to the call of the shops (I have little will power to refuse them) and also less expendable income. Both of these have added a degree of necessity to living with less and trying out minimalism.
This year I feel like I have really taken on board some of the minimalism principles. Mainly reflected in my wardrobe. I’ve talked previously about capsule wardrobes and their allure, and I have taken their principles onboard. Now I can proudly say that I have a much smaller wardrobe. I’ve spent a hell of a lot less on clothes these last 12 months as well. Even though I adore fashion and style, the truth is that I pretty much live in my &Daughter Aran Jumper and skinny jeans from Topshop. Actually acknowledging this has stopped my mindless spending and now I’m slowly building up a timeless, chic capsule wardrobe that should work for years.
Another area I have minimalised hugely is beauty and skincare products. A former beauty junky, I had PILES of the stuff; several foundations, multiple blushers, handfuls of lipsticks. Now I have a Muji perspex container that sits on my dressing table and holds all of my beauty products. For me this is extraordinary!
And do I miss my rainbow of MAC lipsticks? No, not one bit. I love having one or two shades of nudes (Charlotte Tilbury is my favourite), one foundation and so on. It makes mornings a lot quicker when makeup only takes 5 mins.
Skincare has also been transformed for me. Ever since becoming really fascinated in natural living I’ve been slowing swapped out synthetic options for natural oils and have seen a great improvement in my skin condition.
What I use now:
- Avocado/jojoba and coconut oils on my body.
- Jojoba oil and Aurelie Probiotic cream on my face.
- A simple flannel for exfoliation.
- Lavender oil, Epsom salts and shea buter in the bath.
The last area in my life that I have really seen a difference in using a minimal approach is cooking. Thanks to meal planning I don’t end up with extra vegetables going bad in the fridge or tins of things festering in the cupboards. By planning what I’m going to cook for the week, I’ll buy just enough fresh veg from the farmer’s market. This is such a simple thing to do but is brilliant for ensuring yummy, stress free meals throughout the week and a tidy looking kitchen too.
I’m hoping to carry on living a bit more minimalistic this year-I’ve recently discovered the local library which has already helped ease my amazon book buying addiction!
Do you love the concept of minimalism? And if so what have your successes been over the last year? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below 🙂 x
Becky, how did you manage to use up all the makeup in such a relatively short time? I have 10+ lippies that could probably last for decades with the frequency I use them:D
I have started with minimizing my skincare stash. All the lotions and potions, but skin loves Weleda’s Almond face lotion massaged into slightly damp clean skin the best. Still plenty of serums and treatments that I’m working my way through, but to me key for me is remembering what my ‘hero products’ are when a new shiny promising something pops up to my attention, and not stray from them for something that is promising the stars, but won’t deliver any results. And not buying any body creams or scrubs – oils and sugar work a treat for me. Planning on experimenting with more homemade cosmetics too – I got Xochi’s book recently, looking forward to whipping body lotion bars soon.
I’ve decided to go a year without buying any clothes too trying to discover what my signature style is. 3 months in, and going strong so far, will see what other 9 months hold.
Hi Sveltlana, I actually chucked the lipsticks as they were sitting there unused! They were kinda old too which I know isn’t great! Oh I completely agree with the oil and sugar-it works just as well but I have to remind myself that when I get seduced by shop versions 🙂
Xoichi’s book is awesome, I tried lots of her recipes and they work so well.
Have you read “The Curated Closet” yet?
x
The Curated Closet is sitting in my Amazon basket at the moment ? Now I’m looking forward to reading it even more!
I’ve been trying to practice a minimalist lifestyle — mostly focusing on things that only bring value to my life. I’m really interested in simplifying my skincare routine — love the natural recommendations!
Dear Becky. I only started practicing a (more) minimalist lifestyle, because I have to admit, I’m a magpie too and so far could not resist buying whatever fashion, decorations, home-textiles, books, food supplies and so on. Now I started to try something different. Instead of “see it – buy it”, I try “see – think about it at least 24 hours if I really have to have it – and if the answer is yes, only then I buy”. And guess what? The answer is almost NEVER a yes. Almost always I can as well do without. Or even better, because this way I can save up a lot of money and space. And concentrate on things that are really important in my life and they have absolutely nothing to do with consumerism. It’s so easy, isn’t it?