We are now mid through the third month since GST first implemented into our lives. Before that there has been a lot of ranting on how the burden of GST will affect our life. I spoke to numerous foreigners working in Malaysia on this matter. To them GST 6% is nothing and that we are too paranoid about it. I don’t blame us. I mean, it is our first time. For sure there will be lots of hoo-ha everywhere. Unfortunately for us beauty enthusiasts, beauty products falls under taxable category. I was told that Sephora was so crowded on the day before the 1st Apr GST implementation . Are you one of them who did last minute shopping at Sephora? I didn’t and I don’t regret any of it. In fact I did not stock up any of my beauty products at all. Frankly speaking I can foresee GST affecting every other expenses in my life but not beauty products. Someone asked me before. Will I spend lesser on beauty products after GST? The answer is NO. I believe a beauty enthusiast will still buy something she want no matter GST or not. So, does GST affect your beauty spending?

3 Types of Shopping Itch

Like it or not, there are three types of shopping itch.

1. The one that want to grab all the latest products in the market.
2. The one that buy for the sake of buying. Stress or addiction maybe?
3. The one that like to use only new products.

The one that want to grab all the latest products in the market

I certainly did not fall under this category, not last time and definitely not now that I’m income-less . I remember I am only into everything new from Clarins skincare line but that didn’t last long. I fell off the “everything new” bandwagon and got over it. In fact I find that buying much later than everyone else has more advantage too. There are promotions, GWPs or even discounts. So I don’t buy everything fresh out anymore.

The one that buy for the sake of buying

I think there is one period of time I’m just buying for the sake of buying. I like the feeling to be able to pay and bag something home. It’s an addiction I believe and thank goodness I wasn’t long on the bandwagon as well. One bad thing about me which turns to be good for this situation is that I get bored very fast

The one that like to use only new products

There are girls who like to buy and use what they bought immediately, forgetting what they have in the stash. Then the process repeated. Don’t laugh. There is this unexplainable joy to opening up a brand new eyeshadow palette or a brand new blush and the list goes on. I know I love this feeling .

If your answer to my earlier question is that GST really does change the way you spend especially on beauty products and you are DYING ITCHING to get rid of the shopping itch, here are 2 simple tips that I’m personally practising and it works well on me so far.

Shop from your stock drawer

Come on. Admit it. Every beauty enthusiasts will sure have a whole cabinet or two or three containing all new but nothing new stashed in those drawers. I have 3 cabinets for “new” stocks and they barely fits anything anymore. Ever since I started embarking into entrepreneurship, I started to spend lesser as I have much more important expenses to take care off. Whenever the itch to bag something home from Sephora hit me, I try to think what’s in all my drawer that is similar to that something I want to buy and start searching for it. Then I will happily used it the next day and the itch is gone. It is as simple as that but takes a lot of determination and angels on the shoulder to beat the demons on the other shoulder

Shop from your stash

Before you come to me and said “hey Fiona, not everyone have the luxury to stock up three cabinets”. Girl, not necessary you need to shop from your unused stash. Shopping from the currently using stash is the best way to finish up all the old products so that you can open up a new one. If you keep opening new ones but forgotten to shop at the ‘currently using’ stash, your stash will grow larger and larger. Recently I started to dig into all the makeup products I had stopped using. It’s interesting what I find and wonder why did I ever stop using. Mainly it’s distraction . Everytime I have the urge to buy a new foundation, I take a look to the left (that’s where my foundation sits) and it reminded me that I have 10 foundation bottle opened up. The guilt helps too

How is your beauty spending after GST implementation? What’s your story?

Get Cash Back From Your Shopping With ShopBack!

I have a secret. I found out about a site that gives me cash back from all my online shopping through Says.my a few months ago. I have been using ShopBack since then and I’m still grinning from ear to ear till today. The total cashback amount you see on the left sidebar is real, not fake. That’s how much I’ve earned from just a few transaction!

What is ShopBack?

ShopBack is a cash back site where you will get rewarded with cash back whenever you click through to any of ShopBack’s listed merchants. Besides that you will also be able to find discounts as well as voucher codes on top of getting a certain percentage cash back from the money spent.

You can choose to navigate to any of the merchant through the site’s listed Hot Daily Deals, from the category tabs or even from the recommended popular stores. You know me. I’m very much into anything beauty so for me ShopBack is THE beauty discounts and cashback site.

WHAT I AM REALLY OVER THE MOON is that Luxola is one of their merchant! When I started using ShopBack a few months ago, the cashback percentage was 6% and now it’s 7%! Once you found the merchant that you want, in my case it’s Luxola, click on it and you will be directed to the merchant deal page like the below. Click on the “Get Cashback” tab.

Then, you will be directed to the merchant website. Login to the online site, shop like normal and you will see the credit in your ShopBack account. ShopBack said the amount will be credited in 2 days time but I usually got it within a few hours. However do take note that the cashback amount may take up to 60 days to turn into “Redeemable” (ready for cash out) as some Merchant Partners may take up to 60 days to confirm, including refunds and returns if any.

So far I’ve used ShopBack for Luxola, Zalora and Agoda. You can also earn cashback from referring your friends to join and use ShopBack . Payout can be done through transfer to bank account, in my case I used Maybank or you can request for the cashback to be credited into your Paypal account. Again, take note that once you requested for Payout, ShopBack will take up to 7 days to successfully transfer to your account

Now that the cat is out of the bag and you now know my little secret, remember to use ShopBack to click into any of the shopping site to earn cashback

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