Two years ago when I started this blog I had no idea the impact that it would make on my life. My very first article was Creating A Minimalist Lifestyle written January 8, 2010. I knew the freedom of traveling light for vacations, yet hadn’t really understood the true bliss of traveling light every day in life. The process of lightening the load of unnecessary possessions, releasing addictive shopping behavior, fully understanding the toxicity of chemical cosmetics, and redefining my life with a new free spirited paradigm has been a lot of work, research, and dedication.
I’ve seen blogs where minimalists will list their every possession. I am by no means an extreme minimalist with 100 things or less. One major reason that isn’t exactly possible for my life is that I am in the entertainment industry. The pressure of being “camera ready” doesn’t exactly fit in the only 100 possessions category, although I do plan to continue downsizing this year.
There are so many ways that you can live a more minimalist lifestyle, and still maintain a glamorous life. You can downsize your wardrobe to chic basics so you will never worry about not having anything to wear as in My Wardrobe Checklist. In Dressing For The New Chic You, I express the importance of not dressing sloppy, and how to take you wardrobe to the next level without spending a fortune on disposable clothing.
When I decided to pay off my debt, I also found a new way to care for my skin and hair to greatly decrease beauty costs. I wrote A More Minimalist Approach to Beauty to share super simple ingredients that can be used in multiple ways. You really can create a complete skin and hair care routine around 10 simple ingredients. If I was going to rewrite this same article today, I would definitely add rhassoul clay and a DIY conditioner. Rhassoul clay is one of my favorite multidimensional beauty ingredients. You can use rhassoul clay as a facial cleanser with raw honey, as a shampoo with aloe vera juice, or with arrowroot powder for a translucent face powder.
Making many of my beauty products has saved me so much money and proved that expensive skin and hair care products really aren’t necessary. The biggest benefit of DIY beauty is that it is completely chemical free, and that you can create in your kitchen for such a tiny percentage of what store bought products cost. Read Cosmetic Ingredients To Avoid to learn more about what is in your beauty products, and learn the importance of reading labels here.
My minimalist journey continues every day. There are a few new creative projects for this year that I am very excited about. I have also been working on more items for spring and summer for Azuha, my Etsy store. I will definitely keep you posted when those new items are up. Balancing new projects along with a dance career can be a lot of juggling, yet is very rewarding.
Have you started a minimalist journey? How has it affected your life?
(Image by Dawn Michelle)
Naika says
Love this. I have started a minimalist journey which I talk about on my blog. And though it’s been challenging in many ways, I can already see the benefits. I love that it is an ongoing journey and I love that it manifests itself into every aspect of my life and being. It’s only been a few weeks, but it’s interesting that friends and family are picking up on it too, even though I don’t necessarily proclaim it 24/7. I’ve planted a beautiful seed.
🙂
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Naika,
I’m so glad that you are already noticing the benefits of a minimalist lifestyle so early on in your journey. It really is an ongoing process which is why it isn’t just decluttering your home one really good time. It is more of a choice you make in every area of your life every day. You are also seeing that you can plant those beautiful seeds without really saying so much to friends and family. People always notice what you do more than what you say anyway. I am so excited for you and wish you the very best!
Peace,
Dawn Michelle
Holly says
Dawn I am so thankful for the time you make to write these articles. I’ve been a minimalist for a while but felt totally lost when it came to skin care and cosmetics. All other women blogging about minimalism out there seem to not care too much about the beauty side of things, at least not the depth that you do. Over the last year I’ve drastically decreased my spending on beauty products and my skin looks SO good!
I currently use a mixture of tamanu oil and rose hip oil to moisturize my face followed by a tiny bit of DeVita Solar. I wash my face with honey and rhassoul clay. I use Aubrey conditioner for my hair, only shampooing a tiny bit around my hairline a couple times per week. My cosmetics are more expensive but still way less than I was spending before.
Thanks for all your experimentation and for sharing all you have learned, I have truly benefited.
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Holly,
Thanks so much for your lovely comment and you are so welcome! I’m so glad that you were able to create the perfect skin and hair care regimen with the information from this blog. I’m glad that your skin and hair are experiencing the wonderful benefits of natural products and that you are spending less on your cosmetics overall.
When you buy bulk natural ingredients you may spend more upfront, but it will also last you for 6 months or more, so you are spending so much less in the end. It is also much better to buy the “key ingredients” in cosmetics pure than spend a lot of money on the tiny percentage that is in the commercial beauty products. I love hearing success stories! Thank you for sharing.
Best Wishes,
Dawn Michelle
Nadine says
You have inspired me in so many ways. After the first time reading your blog I downsized my closet and paid off alot of debt. Since then, my husband and I have been able to purchase our very first home and improved our credit. Lately I’ve turned my attention to my makeup and beauty routine and again to my closet to further downsize. And…I’ve stopped putting chemicals in my hair. I’m going to go natural (no more relaxer) and start using henna instead of hair color. Your helpful tips have made it so much easier to make all these changes because of your insighful posts and research. Thank you so much for being an inspiration.
Dawn Michelle says
Wow Nadine, you are also an inspiration! I’d love to hear more about your story, and I’m sure others would agree with me. If you are interested in having your story featured on Minimalist Beauty please email it to me. Also congratulations on paying down your debt, purchasing your very first home with your husband, decluttering your closet, transitioning to natural hair, etc. That is beyond amazing! I am so excited for all the new beauty and abundance that is coming into your life! Peace and Sunshine!
Michelle says
so thanks to finding your blog kinda sorta LOL. Let’s say I’m clearing out all clutter and organizing. I finished my bedroom, my book shelf, my kitchen and part of a closet. It’s not true minimalism but there’s now no clutter. I have to work on my office space and that will take time.
As for clothing……never ‘gon happen LOL. I just make sure I don’t bring in more than my closet and drawers can handle 🙂