Perspective, people!
Alright. My mac collection is three eyeshadows and one warm eyes palette from this season's anniversary collection. I know that might sound piddly to many of you. I would have to agree. I have tons of other makeup; I'm a mac newbie.
On the "I can't believe what I spent" front, I propose, however, that you might want to keep a tiny use journal. Nothing too complicated. I have one in which I record when I use certain items, namely, any higher end item. I'll try to take pictures of the results ( I love me! I'm so hot! I like to take pictures of my finished face!) but often I just don't have time. With the mac eyeshadows, each of which I've had for a while now, I have a similar system. Each time I use one of them, I put a little tick mark on an index card with a golf pencil that I have at the bottom of my traincase. I know that for some of you, listing out each item would take forever, so I recommend that maybe you only do this with your most oft used items ( I swear this will make you feel so much better about your collections!).
Okay, so on my list, I have the three shadow names and a row of tick marks on it. Cranberry (the eyeshadow which I lost my MAC virginity with over 6 years ago!) has 74 little marks next to it. 74 days of radiant red! It cost me $13.50. That means that each use was a little over 18 cents. Each time I use it, the price of an individual use goes down.
Now, putting that together with all the other beauty staples that we all use each day, wouldn't you agree that making a daily donation of $3 to $5 (depending on your fragrance and number of products used) on your self, an investment in your mood and your image and your beauty, is completely worth it? We're making the world more beautiful. Don't think about how much you've spent total. That will only make you want to find an insurance agent who will cover it all.
Instead, think about every day that you've known you looked good. Every day that someone has hit on you or been envious of your great eyebrow arch, non-creasing shadow, ultra-plump pout or radiant skin. Remember that each time you use your makeup, you are spending fractions of dollars on yourself. If you can't do that, if you can't just spend a little of your money on making sure you feel confident and prepared to face the world, then you certainly should be concerned. You deserve to savor your makeup, and in so doing, you savor yourself.