Beauty

[nycgrl]

My cabinets are busting with "products" and I have boxes in my spare bedroom of unopened "supplies".  They are all less than 1 year.  I need to go through what I have and donate what I will not use.  Most are from kits that I only use 1, maybe 2, items from.  The rest I know I'll never use.  I have no problem with make-up as I use very little and don't buy.  It's skincare that is my downfall.  I do finish my bottles and jars, except for things I really don't like, but find it hard to throw away.  I  have way too much and I'd rather have only 1 backup of each.  It's really hard to throw all the items that I tried and do not like in the trash, but that's I what I need to do.  Less is more!!!   Thanks for posting. 

[CANDLEQUEEN]

I do this twice yearly, and I have been really good about not buying a lot of new stuff, just a few items here and there. I do have a friend however that has so much stuff from being on so many auto delivery programs, that I am going to help her organize it all and she is going to have a private sale, just inviting friends to come and purchase, most of it has never been opened, it's such a shame,it is mostly makeup and skincare, but she also has a ton of Valerie Parr Hill itmes, that are still in the original boxes, that she is going to go through and sell, as her apartment is not large enough for 1/2 of that stuff....DShe wants to retire in the next 5 years, so she is putting herself on a tight buying program,so I hope she sticks to it!!!!!!It is so easy to keep buying and not realizing just how much stuff you can accumulate until you start going through it all! I have really pared down my skincare routine, so for me that is much easier than makeup!!!!!!! 

[Squirrel Lover]

I have done "The Big Purge" this past year with everything I own and it is really liberating. I got rid of 15 garbage bags of clothes and a fair amount of makeup. I do not hoard skincare so that is not a problem for me. I suggest no signing up for auto-delivery because you will tire of the products in your closet and wont be able to purchase the "new and improved" or just plain new things you want to try because you will be bogged down by a large stash. 

One of the things that has helped me is not to buy anymore "backups." When you have them you can't try anything new. That makes me feel bad. In addition, I recently finished a Dior eyeshadow palette--it took me three full years to finish it! So, I started to see that it actually takes a long time to finish products. 

If you like to try new things often buy the small or mini sizes you will go through them much faster.

There are many many blogs that can help you with the over buying mindset. For clothes my favorites are "Recovering Shopaholic.com" and "Gretchen's Closet" both are about minimizing material things in your life. Let's keep the conversation going.

[suzyQ3]

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@dperry wrote:

I have done "The Big Purge" this past year with everything I own and it is really liberating. I got rid of 15 garbage bags of clothes and a fair amount of makeup. I do not hoard skincare so that is not a problem for me. I suggest no signing up for auto-delivery because you will tire of the products in your closet and wont be able to purchase the "new and improved" or just plain new things you want to try because you will be bogged down by a large stash. 

One of the things that has helped me is not to buy anymore "backups." When you have them you can't try anything new. That makes me feel bad. In addition, I recently finished a Dior eyeshadow palette--it took me three full years to finish it! So, I started to see that it actually takes a long time to finish products. 

If you like to try new things often buy the small or mini sizes you will go through them much faster.

There are many many blogs that can help you with the over buying mindset. For clothes my favorites are "Recovering Shopaholic.com" and "Gretchen's Closet" both are about minimizing material things in your life. Let's keep the conversation going.

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Hahahaha...I did a double-take the other day when I say something silver and shiny in my powder foundation. IT WAS THE PAN -- I HIT PAN!

And yes, back-ups are my weakness. It's really so silly to do, but I can get caught up in this week's amazing deal, forgetting there will always be another amazing deal down the road.

I loved a particular makeup remover and bought a back-up. Then I switched to an oil cleanser and have no need for that makeup remover. But I'm afraid that the minute I toss it or give it away, I'll need it again. Silly.

[BeautybytesbyCC]

I have been honest with myself and once something is ready to get rid of, I do. It's been a slower process but I have daughters to give it to

[Katcat1]

I use to buy some makeup from Trish but then she started raising her prices even higher and I drifted away.  I refused to pay $85 for a CC cream if I remember correctly and her foundation is all quite high.  However, I do wish you luck with her line.  Her lipsticks were always very nice and some of her fragrances.

[VaBelle35]

I did a big toss yesterday, too, but because of pink eye (see my thread on this in Wellness).  It made me realize how unsanitary my beauty practices are.  I'm pretty bad about touching everything with my fingers, especially when it gets down to the bottom.

I did a huge (HUGE) purge last summer of anything I never wore but was keeping "just in case" and so all I had left was the stuff I wore on a regular basis.

[HangingTen]

I'm on vacation from work next week and a "beauty purge" is on my list of things to do.  For the last several years I've been labeling the month/year of products when I buy them.  (I use a sticker that's removable.). This gives me an idea of how much overstock I own.  I've done this for awhile and still have things from years before starting this practice.

[Campion]

I've been doing this since I was back from vacation. I'm using Marie Kondo's "Spark of Joy" method. I pick a blush or lipstick up from the drawer, and if I haven't used it in a long while and if I don't feel any particular urge to own it, out it goes. 

In case you aren't familiar with the book, it's Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

She has a lot about what you feel on what you own, and I find it more helpful that judging by "I could use this later if..." which is not helping me. I have to declutter both my junk and my late husband's. He was definitely of the hoarding tendency--though he kept it somewhat under control. But if I tossed out an old bed, I'd find it stashed in the basement later on. This was problematic and now it's worse as I have no way to lift heavy things and have to hire someone to haul away what I thought we'd already hauled away.

Destashing, purging and regular tidying are necessary. 

[just bee]

Get into the habit of dating things.  Get yourself a Sharpie and start putting dates on beauty items, food, household products.  You'll begin to see how long it takes to actually use a product.  And you'll be able to see how long some of them have been hanging around.