elongating the essentials

The other day I was pleasantly surprised to have a visit from one of my cousins. We were reminiscing about her kids and when I had visited their family as a kid myself and was introduced to the idea of watered down juice. 

At 11 or so I was at that prime age of wanting to take care of little kids, so while I was at her house I was eager to help her feed them, and play with them, etc. When she showed me how she gave them watered down juice on day... I was a bit puzzled. She explained that, not only did it help decrease the amount of sugar they were getting, it also made the juice last a lot longer, and juice isn't cheap when you're pouring out 4 glasses at a time. They call that stretching a dollar... I call it elongating the essentials... and Genius.

Like most lightbulb moments - it all came together standing in my bathroom the next morning.

  I've mentioned that of all my face lotions, I'm particularly keen on my Aveeno which is tinted, provides SPF protection and promises to keep me looking younger. I mainly like the fact that the tinted component helps me prolong the life of my makeup... since the days I wear the tinted kind it's really not necessary. Well... as you know the stuff won't last forever, or in my case 6 months. Sooo... the other day I tried mixing another (non tinted) face lotion with the tinted kind... and it worked... ok. I'm not going to lie and say it worked great, but it will definitely help keep the stuff alive a smidge longer. It's kind of like mixing the conditioners! 

Watering down your juices, mixing up your lotions and your lampshades, digging in the yard for buried furniture... I think the Holiday funk is over!

The supplies...

In case there was any question... I took an inventory of what I have to work with for the next year. I don't know exactly how long this will get me through, but I'm pretty sure other people do with a lot less, so it will have to do.

After digging under the sink and sorting what was what, here is what I found for shampoo and conditioner.

I travel a lot for my job so the days I'm not home using this stuff - I use whatever is at the hotel. 

A lot of people asked about sunscreen...There's also one currently in my gym bag.

Originally... I, myself was concerned about the toothpaste dilemma...especially after my recent trip to the dentist. Looks like we're doing ok in this department too. What's funny about this picture is that if you had asked me if I had a preference on toothpaste brands I would have assured you I didn't... Clearly I do. ha!

I don't "do" my hair all that often. Just when I'm on camera, or the occasional night out... and yet I seem to have an awful lot of "hair products". I'm not sure this stock will look much different in a year, although not getting any larger will be a good start.

I'm an advocate for hydrating your skin - for sure. I'm a little concerned about this stock, but like I said, people do with a lot less...

In no particular order... these are the supplies I have to work with in the toiletry department for the next year... (minus the hair products, toothpaste and lotion - they didn't fit in that tub... and that's why I'm doing this :)