Services vs Products

Minimalism can mean different things to different people, or different things in different areas of your life.  It may mean owning less, or spending less money, or simplifying the things you do as part of your daily life. 

I've been working on clearing out my nail care items and it has been a balancing act for me to find out what I am comfortable getting rid if I am trying to reduce the amount of  money I spend vs. what I am comfortable getting rid of if I allow myself to splurge. 

At first I assumed that being minimalist meant that I should avoid paying for services, especially those I could conceivable do myself, like a manicure or pedicure.  So I slowly tried to reduce the number of nail polish colors I had but I wanted a red one for a more classic look and a dark one for a more formal look in addition to my standard nude colors.  But even getting down to three or four colors I noticed that I still had nail clippers, nail files, nail buffers, callous removers, pumice stone, cuticle sticks and cuticle oil, and nail polish remover in addition to the actual polish. 

If I planned to have a pedicure once a month or every six months I could get rid of the callous remover, although I decided to keep the pumice stone.  If I planned to get my nails done every three weeks or once a month I could get rid of the cuticle sticks.  And since I'm planning in a trip to the nail salon I can work that around when I would want to have a darker color so I can now get rid of the other nail polishes.  I could consider ditching the nail polish remove since I really don't change my color very often but I like to have it just in case.  I did switch from a large bottle to prepackaged wipes.

I realized that I had to define what being a minimalist meant to me in this area of my life.  I knew I didn't want to go extreme and swear off all nail polish.  I really would like to own less "stuff" but I enjoy getting my nails done.  I didn't see it as a chore I wanted to eliminate, although some minimalists might.  I decided that for me it made more sense to get rid of some things and allow myself to utilize and pay for a service that I enjoy. 


In the end I ended up keeping a clear base coat, a nude color, nail clippers, a nail file and cuticle oil. 
That's it! 

It also got me thinking about other services to consider or reconsider in my life:  haircuts, hair styling, waxing, eyelash or eyebrow tinting, facials, massage.  Do they or can they fit into a minimalist way of living?