There once was a time when I thought I could be an ethical/sustainable/zero-waste lifestyle blogger. I thought if I just purchased the right things at the right amount, than pronto I’d be that. But after 6 years of blogging, I’ve come to realize I’ll never be fully that nor do I want to be. Yes, the bulk of my purchases are from ethical/sustainable/slow fashion small businesses and yes I hardly ever shop at fast fashion or even conventional fashion store. But I realize I’ll never be at that perfect “there” spot. And I’m ok with that. I’m still going to refrain from conventional fashion brands (where their production practices are not apparent) most of the time. But in the past 6 months I did start purchasing from some conventional or fast fashion including my favorite Uniqlo lounge pants and slippers, the Madewell Balloon Jeans, and some Everlane items. In the end I don’t want to feel guilty for the occasional conventional/fast fashion purchase, especially if I use the items well.

But I do realize I need to slow down when it comes to how often I’m purchasing things (this includes my ethical and secondhand purchases as well). By early-June I had to admit I was no longer curating items. I was just accumulating them. And you’ll see what a runaway shopper I was in June in next week’s “What I Bought in June” post 🤦🏻‍♀️. I need a breather to reassess and find my intentionality again. So I’ll be doing a No Buy July (yep yep forgoing those summer sales 😢) and I’m going to try to continue it for 90 days (eek I feel like I’m overpromising here, but I’m going to try my best). The No Buying applies to my closet as well as new makeup/skincare products. Who wants to do a No Buy July with me? I already got some takers on Insta (thank you to those who do this with me)! I’m starting to feel these days like my life is trapped by capitalism (there’s always more to buy). But I definitely know I have (way) more than enough.

P.S. Since I’ve decided to do a No Buy July, I’ll be scaling back my review posts to once a week on Wednesday (starting July 7th). I think posting less reviews would help me step back a bit and really assess my consumption habits and relieve the pressure to come up with new stuff every week. I guess this is my own summer slow down if you will.