There I was, sitting in my sister’s car looking at the receipt from Sephora, where I bought half the store. This tends to happen. I go into one of my favorite stores, such as Sephora, looking for one single item, and come out with a bag full of goodies. It was New Year’s Eve and that was the moment I realized I should cut back on my shopping. It was the perfect New Year’s resolution.
This was easier said than done. It’s now February and I still have the same shopping addiction I ended the year with. When I went back to school, I thought it would be easy to spend less money as I don’t have a car to get to the malls in the Lansing area. Although I wasn’t at the mall as much, I was now ordering more online than I had before.
The store that influences me the most (besides Sephora) is the online trendy store Shein. They’re known for their ridiculously cheap clothes that leaves you wondering what really goes on behind the scenes. Sure their clothes are at such an affordable price, but they fall under the category of fast fashion. You’ll only wear their clothes a handful of times before they’re no longer trendy.
A good amount of the influencers I follow on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube seem to have the same addiction as me. Every new video they post, it’s another haul or a trip to the mall. Their reviews easily influence me. Maybe that’s why they’re called influencers. All of the influencers I follow share the same interests as me. They all enjoy shopping for clothes, trying new skincare products or finding new Target finds. I enjoy watching them and they influence me to buy the same things.
Even though I always seem to be buying new clothes, I’m constantly selling, donating, and giving away the clothes I rarely wear. At the start of quarantine, my family discovered Poshmark. We thought it would be an easy way to make a quick buck while also decluttering and organizing. I started out with a few items and then soon grew my online store to something bigger. It was a fun way to go through my clothes and shoes while making some money.
Shopping for clothes, skincare, and makeup is just one of my hobbies. It’s something I enjoy doing and I’ve always enjoyed keeping up with the latest trends. As long as I’ve learned to manage my money to make sure I can afford the necessities, my shopping addiction isn’t a big problem.