I need your opinion.
I gave up shopping for Lent. If you know me at all, you know that this is a very legitimate sacrifice. I love shopping, all shopping, in any form. I get excited when I run out of toothpaste because it means I get to BUY MORE! Yay! And that is not sarcasm, not even a little bit.
So, I gave up shopping for Lent. The "rules" or whatever are that I can't buy anything unnecessary- so, no clothes, no candy, no shoes, no books- nothing, basically, except food and gifts for things like baby showers or birthdays where it would be beyond lame to show up giftless and be all, oh, sorry, would've gotten you something but I'm not allowed to shop. If, for example, I were to run out of, say, shaving cream, which is about to happen actually, I am not allowed to replace it, because there are plenty of other things in my bath and beauty arsenal that will serve the purpose of shaving cream. So basically, unless I really, really need it, I can't have it.
Now, here is the dilemma. I am almost out of makeup. I wear Clinique makeup and it is almost gift time- I got the card in the mail the other day. The only time I buy new makeup is when it is gift time- twice a year, March and September. And as luck would have it, gift time starts next week and ends well before Lent does. So now I have to decide if it buying makeup is a legimate necessity. I mean, obviously I won't die without it (but I will look ugly, which is almost definitely as bad as dying). I'm not totally out, but I am pretty sure I will be out within the next couple of weeks. I don't have any spare makeup lying around. It's the only makeup I use, so I can't really buy some cheaper alternative (which is still shopping anyway, so if I'm buying makeup I might as well buy the makeup I want). But if I buy it, is that cheating? Because to get the gift, I'd have to buy something beyond the makeup that I really need. And then I'd have what I need, plus an extra something, plus the gift.
Does the fact that the gift contains self-tanner change things at all?
What do you think? Do I fail Lent if I buy the makeup next week during Gift Time?
(This is the part where all you readers chime in! Reader feedback time!)
So, I gave up shopping for Lent. The "rules" or whatever are that I can't buy anything unnecessary- so, no clothes, no candy, no shoes, no books- nothing, basically, except food and gifts for things like baby showers or birthdays where it would be beyond lame to show up giftless and be all, oh, sorry, would've gotten you something but I'm not allowed to shop. If, for example, I were to run out of, say, shaving cream, which is about to happen actually, I am not allowed to replace it, because there are plenty of other things in my bath and beauty arsenal that will serve the purpose of shaving cream. So basically, unless I really, really need it, I can't have it.
Now, here is the dilemma. I am almost out of makeup. I wear Clinique makeup and it is almost gift time- I got the card in the mail the other day. The only time I buy new makeup is when it is gift time- twice a year, March and September. And as luck would have it, gift time starts next week and ends well before Lent does. So now I have to decide if it buying makeup is a legimate necessity. I mean, obviously I won't die without it (but I will look ugly, which is almost definitely as bad as dying). I'm not totally out, but I am pretty sure I will be out within the next couple of weeks. I don't have any spare makeup lying around. It's the only makeup I use, so I can't really buy some cheaper alternative (which is still shopping anyway, so if I'm buying makeup I might as well buy the makeup I want). But if I buy it, is that cheating? Because to get the gift, I'd have to buy something beyond the makeup that I really need. And then I'd have what I need, plus an extra something, plus the gift.
Does the fact that the gift contains self-tanner change things at all?
What do you think? Do I fail Lent if I buy the makeup next week during Gift Time?
(This is the part where all you readers chime in! Reader feedback time!)
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