Free therapy via Beauty Reductionista

See why I'm trying not to accumulate any more shit? This is just the
part of my hair and skin care hoard that is not in current use in my bathroom.

Okay, this is going to make me sound like a weirdo to certain people, but I think it will be familiar to others: I get such satisfaction from sorting through my hoard of makeup, skincare, and haircare shit, deciding that to use next, and especially from finishing things. The act of using up the last little bit of a bottle of shampoo that I've had going for months is a joy like no other.

Last week I read an article on The Hairpin about whisperer videos and people who get a physical tingle of pleasure in their brains from watching them. Personally, I find listening to someone whispering to be hideously irritating. I was a little jealous - I only get that sensation from making out with someone or ingesting illicit substances.

But then as I was scrolling through months and months of previous posts on Beauty Reductionista, I realized that I have my own weird, idiosyncratic, calming, pleasureful activity, and it has to do with my hoard (what some people call a stash, but I think hoard is more accurate in my case). Acquiring, sorting, storing, reviewing, selecting, using . . . I guess these activities sort of fit under the category of "curating" - but I don't want to associate myself with the current flagrant misuse of the word, so I don't know if I will adopt it. Hmmm. Anyway, this sort of behavior is relaxing, but it's limited by the amount of shit you actually have. And I am trying not to acquire more.

But there is hope! There is hope for all of us with this weird quirk, and it comes, as always, from the internets. We can live vicariously through other people's shopping! You too can be a voyer or a passenger while other people curate their own hoards (oh, look, I guess I'm saying curate after all) via blogs like Beauty Reductionista. There are others, but this is the one I've been hooked on recently. She has posts showing you what she's purchased or been sent each month, her collection of products of a certain type, swatches, and (maybe best of all) what she has finished up or thrown away. She has a lot of fancy, expensive shit that I would never even be interested in buying for myself, so it's nice to gawk at that too. It's weirdly satisfying. And luckily, from my perspective, the "reduction" is never complete.

Do you relate to any of this behavior/enjoyment? Do you have other favorite ways of satisfying it online? How about completely different oddly therapeutic activities?