I’m usually totally anti-declutter. Lately though I’ve started (on Instagram stories) to try to weed out my makeup collection: there’s so much in there that’s definitely expired, gone off, or is just not getting used any more. I figured it was time for a bit of a clean out session. Here’s what I learned about my stash, shopping that stash and my beauty buying habits from decluttering my makeup collection.
The last time I tackled my stash, it was to minimize my infamous sample drawer. Now, it was time to tackle the rest. If there was ever the case of “skeletons in my closet” – here was it: or what would you call an eyeshadow that’s 10+ years old?!
Decluttering my makeup collection: Lesson learned!
Here’s the first reason to actually be really, really sure that I’ll use and love products when I buy them, and that’s because I’m friggin’ bad at decluttering. I suck at it. I waffle about every product, I can’t make up my mind (there could be a case for keeping that eyeshadow palette, surely?!), and if it has special packaging, I’m lost completely. I’ll never throw that away. You the same?! NEVER buy products spontaneously. NEVER.
Never go for seconds. Never.
Let me explain this one. You’ve found a product you love. Say a brand came out with a new line-up of cream blushes, you bought one, loved it. Do not go out and buy another product from that range. Don’t. And that’s because it’ll always be the second best after the one you bought before. You thought about that one the most, it was the one you really, REALLY wanted. And that’s the one you’ll always use more than any you bought afterwards.
If you can’t make a shade work…
…then you don’t need it for your “collection”.
I’ve got tons of terracotta blushes. And in the scheme of all things, I’d always use pinks, mauves, corals, beiges first. I never did a look and think – “hey, let’s use one of the terracotta ones!” It’s absolutely above me why I then still own at least half a dozen.
Don’t buy duplicates!
At one point, I was super into khaki one-and-done eyeshadows. I was actually so much into khaki shadows that I now own four. The thing is, they’re super similar to each other and on top of that, it’s nothing I particular dig right now at this stage in my life. So instead of having one eyeshadow languishing in the back of my drawer, I have five. Well done, former me!
Last, but not least: don’t buy products based on packaging alone.
And yes, you’ll certainly try to convince yourself, like I did, that it’s not for packaging alone, but you like the product. Liar! Come on, of course it’s for the packaging, and that’s why I’ve got a drawer full of products that aren’t bad by any means: but I wouldn’t have bought them if the packaging hadn’t been that awesome. Case in point: Mac’s famous ‘water-droplet’ Alluring Aquatics packaging. EVERYTHING I bought from that collection was, in hindsight, not wholly me: the shadows not my style, the blush the wrong colour, and the lipstick a kind of nude I never wear. In conclusion: a total waste of money.
Decluttering my makeup collection: Additional quick tip
If you’re the type (like me) to hang on to products for dear life because of the pretty packaging, try to depot something else into it. I recently put two different eye shadows in the MAC Alluring Aquatics packaging I mentioned above, and a) it looks awesome and b) I finally can let go of the ones I didn’t wear.
Quick tip 2
If you own palettes from which you only use one or two shades, ever, try to depot those and get rid of the palette. Tutorials on how to depot any given palette type are easy enough to find on YouTube.
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