After I moved to the new apartment, I put off sorting out my ‘beauty corner’ for as long as possible. I just couldn’t face it: boxes of products that I packed over six months ago, and lots of them. For the first time in my life, I felt overwhelmed by my stash.

When I wrote about decluttering before, I was wary of the whole process. I didn’t understand the need at all, because I couldn’t understand how one could be overwhelmed by products in a drawer. And I cling to a lot of products I don’t use any longer for simple nostalgia – I remember when I went to this release party, when this lipstick boosted my mood when I bought it, and when I finally found a highly coveted highlighter…

How to enjoy your beauty stash more

decluttering for people who hate it
Shop! Your! Stash!

Although I now I have a lot of additional space, I don’t want to get another Alex drawer – simply because I realised that I really, really like the products I own, but that I don’t have the chance wearing them often because there’s just so much of them.

And because life’s too short to bother with products that I don’t love – I started decluttering. There I was, mournfully looking at spoilt lipglosses and eyeshadow palettes that I hadn’t used in three years. And decided that I need another approach to buying beauty products.

Because, you see, buying and doing a declutter every year seems hugely wasteful to me. Nevertheless, I want to use products I love, and want, from time to time, selectively, choose new products to add to ye olde stash. So it seemed to me, a change of mind was needed – and I started to ask myself a lot of questions, which I’ll share here.

Understand your shopping habits!

how to buy makeup responsibly
Yes, it looks a lot tidier right now.
  • How many beauty products did you shop on a whim? How often do you wear those, compared to those you planned on buying?
  • Which beauty product would you miss the most if you’d lose it?
  • Do you sometimes don’t return online orders, although you know you’ll never wear the product you bought?
  • Did a sales assistant ever convince you to buy something in store, even if you knew you’d never use the product?
  • If something’s on sale, will you buy it though you aren’t totally convinced about it?
  • Did you ever spend a lot on a single product, but don’t regret it?
  • Do you buy makeup products because they look great on others?
  • Are there products in your stash that make you feel stronger and more confident?
  • Which trend do you regret following? And why did you follow it?
  • Which item would make your beauty stash complete? Why don’t you buy it?

It’s easy to see that all questions point towards avoiding unnecessary purchases, while still enjoying new and old products – we’ll see how that turns out!