Hi posse. So I’ve had a bit of a week. Well really it’s closer to a fortnight, that I’ve made a conscious effort to finish (thunk) some near empty things in the collection. This is across bath & shower, candles, hand creams, samples, decants and bottles. Didn’t do so well on the bottles but the rest I gave a red hot go. The whole focus of my addiction changes when I do this. Suddenly I’m not thinking about which bottles to go for. So I cleaned all the bottles off my desk and left a couple of boxes of samples/decants. All the near empty shower gels got moved to the bath windowsill. Soaps that had turned to slivers have been mashed together into one kitchen soap (taking this as triple thunks) and opened some new ones.
There was a bit of a thunk-athon around here almost exactly two years ago.
Thunks: Keep ‘Em Coming
Perfume Thunks:
Cape Heartache by Imaginary Authors. A huge cloud of it. Strawberries and cream lollies. Enjoying the whole experience. (LKNU sample)
Lothair by Penhaligon’s. Herbal, floral amber. What a lovely surprise. (S2Ch sample)
Soft Tension by Andrea Maack. The opening is sensational, floral and vibrant. Cools off to a woody musk. (S2Ch sample)
Tanagra by Maison Violet. Beautiful, cool iris. Soft as a feather but fragrant. Why aren’t more people going bonkers for this? (LKNU sample)
Bathtime Thunks:
Can Can Shower Gel by Paris Hilton: Sweet nothings bought as a joke for a present but the label was stuck on wrong and it all looked like shit so I kept it.
Verbena and Lavender by Crabtree & Evelyn: This is lovely. Suds, smells and after wash feel all very nice. Got it from a hotel stay somewhere. Now I wish I’d nicked a dozen.
Radox Muscle Soothe: This goes in every bath, with a little sprinkle of Epsom Salts.
Reem Acra Shower Gel: I love this super el cheapo white floral. I give this as an added extra in so many gifts and also use it regularly at home.
Candle Thunks:
HellFlower Mini Candle From Boujee Bougies: Evoking a magnolia bloom burning with brimstone, Hellflower is a post-apocalyptic floral bursting with the sulphuric brilliance of grapefruit. These guys make a seriously beautiful, unusual smelling candle. I’ve bought dozens as gifts and now I’m burning a set of minis of my own.
Not pictured but our mate Martin makes candles from the wax his beehives create. Finished up one in the shape of a rose and it burned clean and bright with the merest whiff of bees.
It’s weird. I thought that I’d made a sizeable dent in the population of things around here but when it’s all photographed it looks like nothing. Oh well. Best I continue the good work then.
Have you been thunking anything lately?
Portia xx
Been having a tidy up of my ridiculous amount of samples & small decants. So On Monday I decided to wear a sample every day until the end of the month.
If they’re not thunked then they go into either the “gift on” box or “wear again” box.
Thunked samples go on the “No”, “FB” or “another sample” list.
Hope Jin is recovered
Wo Hoo! So sensible Alityke. A month of that will definitely winnow the hoard.
Portia xx
Well done on the winnowing! My decant-deleting for this year was going well, until I got to one I didn’t want to let go of. Happily, Lancome is having a big sale and I now have an FB of L’Autre Oud coming my way. This will give me strength to continue my perfume-centric NYResolution.
Congratulations on giving yourself a single treat AnnieA. Once I pop I can’t stop.
Portia xx
So. Many. Thunks. Trying to get through a lot of hair product. That last squidge. omg. JUST RECYCLE IT, MUSETTE!
xoxoxo
HA HA HA! Yes, in the Recycle, move to the next 50 bottles.
Portia xx
I love this idea! When I moved I left much/most of the open stuff behind (and I had a TON of it) and have been pretty restrictive about those purchases here, trying not to do that again. I am going through moisturizers and lip balms a lot faster, unsurprisingly!
omg, YES! I don’t think there’s enough moisturizer in NM to help me out with that one.
xoxo
HA!
It’s cleansing (pardon the pun) to empty overloaded stuff March. I bet you felt lighter all over after shedding that stuff.
Yeah, I bet Santa Fe dries you like crazy.
Portia xx
I’ve also been working at reducing my bath & body and skincare products. I definitely try to keep my bath and body collection fairly small. I buy a lot of indie products for my shower routine. It’s a little pricier than mainstream bath & body products, so I tend to buy less in the first place. But I do usually have at least 1-2 products per item like whipped soap, body gel, lotion, and sugar scrub. I’m happy to report this year I’ve nearly finished with an 8oz lotion from Sugarworks Beauty Lab, a whipped soap from Shea Shea Makery, two scrubs from Sugarworks Beauty Lab and Sweets for Your Skin, and I’m nearly finished with a body gel from Sugar Milk Co.
IsabelA,
You are a veritable thunk queen! Congratulations.
Portia xx
I go through hair products the fastest due to long, wavy-curly hair that needs lots of products. This year I finally managed to use up a huge pump bottle of Olay body lotion. I hate waste so I’m always determined to use every last drop of cosmetics, grooming products, etc. unless it goes bad, I have a reaction to it, or I absolutely hate it. Allowing myself to have a perfume collection is really “going wild” for a thrifty person like me. 😀 I love my scents, and I’ve only used up a few samples or discovered a few that had dried out this year.
WOO HOO! on using up your Olay DinaC. it’s a win for the thunk!
Portia xx
I hate to thunk anything lest I never find it again, like my beloved vintage Hypnotic Poison which got thunked over the winter. I hang on to some samples as kind of a library of scents and I am very frugal with shower products (would rather spend my $ on perfume.)
Bummer about thunking an unfindable at a decent price favourite Rosarita. Fingers crossed you stumble upon a mint 100ml for a song.
Portia xx
I despair of thunking anything more than a sample, although I’m getting close to finishing a bottle of Lush shampoo (which is pitiful, can’t even finish a product that gets used so often). I need so badly to go on hiatus for at least five years. If only I had some serious motivation!
HA! TaraC, it’s not a race. Use them at your leisure.
Portia xx
I am not great at thunking. When there are things I find I am not partial to I give them away — whether to friends or charity shops here (I was very surprised the first time I brought in a large bag of samples and the woman said fine). With candles, I find there are ones I love more than others and I try to stretch them out by burning the ones I like less more (if that makes sense). I sort of bit the bullet last week and burned the discontinued dans l’Atelier de Cezanne for a few days running but then I returned to stuff that is more pedestrian. I have smelling the Atelier de Balthus, which is also supposed to be painter’s studio, on my list for London trip in hope it might be almost as good (even though it’s at least twice the price). Things like shower gel I tend to glom on to one particular type for months on end, meaning there’s only one bottle in the shower.
Hey Cinnamon,
Love that you stretch out your favourite candles lives by burning less loved things between. Such a good idea.
I’ve got a shelf of open shower gels in my bathroom. I’m currently not replacing empties until they are at least half finished. It’s getting VERY crowded.
Portia xx
I don’t track my shower gel thunking – I put one or two in the shower and then force myself to use up. I still have a bit of a backlog – must.stop.buying. For perfume I think I thunked 4-5 samples/small decants all last year. I think I’ll actually thunk a bottle this year – SJP Stash. It was my “lucky” perfume during my son’s state championship run last fall and I have been continuing to wear it as a second perfume of the day when I photograph games (only a little superstitious…) I also have a good sized box of samples to give away now. Everything seems better organized and I can find what I want after doing a serious spring clean.
Hey there MMKinPA,
WHOA! A perfumista thunking a bottle is a really big deal. Congratulations.
Portia xx
I’ve been stocking more than thinking lately which isn’t for the best. I really need to do some organizing and checking what I have. You’ve give. Me a project! Now let’s see if I get up off the sofa and do it..
HA! So happy to give you a project Tom.
Don’t dive into it straightaway though. Rest up for the adventure.
Portia xx
Portia, I’ve been doing the same with Cape Heartache, which I love as a bedtime scent, as well as by Killian samples. I wish Straight to Heaven lasted longer on my skin, and even Angel’s Share. I’ll probably get the FB of L’Heure Verte for the longevity and anise (absinthe) accord, which is very pleasant when it dips closer to tarragon than licorice. Thanks for the idea to start on candles. I have bakhoor to use too.
Hey Christina,
Cape Heartache! So good, so strange. I love it.
L’Heure Verte is such a good name for a perfume, I want it just for the name.
Portia xx