Happy Wednesday! A few months back I did a big clean-out of my makeup collection, and shared some tips on how to destash HERE. It felt great to get rid of so much old makeup, but after my move I realized I still owned a lot of products that I wasn’t using or loving. I decided to go through my entire makeup collection a second time and toss a lot more. I wanted to share my decluttering with you again because I’ve come up with three steps to follow to make this process extremely simple. Let me show you how to clean out your beauty collection!
STEP ONE – EXPIRED PRODUCTS
I always start my decluttering process by going through my entire makeup collection and checking the expiration date on each and every product. Most skincare items will have an expiration date printed on the top, and almost all beauty products have THIS symbol printed on them to help you distinguish how long to keep open products. Of course, I also use my own judgment. Although I love the Julep lip gloss pictured above, I’ve had it for a couple years and the formula was looking all goopy. Similarly, I’ve owned the Avon eyeliners at the bottom of the photo for WAY too many years. Goodbye, expired products!
STEP TWO – DOUBLE PRODUCTS
Now that all the expired products are gone, take some time to see if you own doubles of anything. This is the time to look at products side-by-side and see if they are so similar that you don’t need to own both. I got rid of the L’Oreal eyeshadow and mini eyeshadow quad above because I own an eyeshadow palette that has these shades in it. In the same way, I own a smaller size of the Manna Kadar Sheer Glo, so there is no need to keep this big one when I rarely use it. This step is difficult, but don’t rationalize – if you own double products, get rid of the one you don’t like as much.
STEP THREE – PRODUCTS YOU DON’T USE
Last but not least is the most difficult step, and that is getting rid of products you aren’t using. I find this hard because I might use these products at some point in the future, but now is really the time for honesty. While someday I might need a blue or green eyeshadow, I’ve literally never used those eyeshadow shades since I bought the CoverGirl palette you see in the picture. In the same way, I will never use the three lip products because the shades don’t work with my skin tone even though I like them. Make a rule for yourself that if you haven’t used a product in three months, it’s time to get rid of it. I use a three month time period because makeup does expire somewhat quickly. Plus, my makeup collection has a tendency to grow quite a bit in a three month period, so that is a good number to keep in mind.
All in all, it feels great to declutter my makeup collection every few months. It leaves me with a stash filled with products that I love, and allows me to get some new goodies, too. I hope you found these tips both motivational and simple to follow. Please let me know if you would like to see an updated makeup collection tour!
How do you declutter your makeup?! Share your tips in the comments!