As I was organizing some bathroom products a few months ago, I realized I had WAY too much makeup. I always knew I had a good amount, but it wasn’t until I saw it all piled up in one place that I realized it was time to get rid of most of it.
I started by dumping everything onto a few towels on the bathroom floor. Then, I sorted it by type (lipstick, mascara, foundation, etc). I thought the process of deciding what I wasn’t going to keep would be difficult, but honestly, it went rather quickly.
First, I pulled out anything old.
I knew I had to part with these items, not only because I hardly ever used them, but because it was downright disgusting that I had makeup on hand that I bought in college. I mean, seriously, see that old CVS price sticker, when is that from? Gross. These items were serving no purpose other than taking up valuable real estate in the bathroom.
Next, I moved on to anything that I no longer used.
I had so many lip glosses, lip sticks, and eye shadows that I couldn’t recall when I had last worn. And even though these MAC paint pots were some of my go-to eye products (pre-baby), they have dried up now that I use them so rarely—no need to keep them.
Then it was time to toss anything that was broken or needed replacing.
I loved this grey shadow—it was the perfect shade for a smoky look—but I dropped it and (apparently) lost the top. Oops. And that eyelash curler has seen better days—time to invest in a new one.
Last, I tossed anything that was unsanitary to keep.
Mascara collects bacteria each time it is used, so WebMD recommends keeping it for no more than four months. Since I couldn’t even remember when I bought these two pharmacy brand mascaras, they had to go. A similar timeline applies to lip glosses and sticks, so I pulled out quite a few of those, too.
When all was said and done, I purged nearly 50 items from my makeup stockpile. I was pleasantly surprised that everything I kept fit into two small makeup pouches. The smaller one I will now keep out to use every day, and the larger one that I will put away and pull out for special occasions.
The best part about my purge? I now have space to store some products I recently purchased and am super excited to use. My quest to find chemical-free, vegan, and cruelty-free products has been quite a challenge. But, I am slowly making progress with replacing many of the non-animal (and non-human) friendly items that I used to buy.
So, there you have it! My makeup collection is now much smaller, and much more useful, and rid of things that I had no reason to keep. And with winter coming, I am positive you will find a chilly afternoon to pare down your collection, too!
