Join me for a makeup declutter!

Hi friends!

I like to keep my makeup collection in check as much as possible. So every 6 months or so I go through my existing stash to see what I have or have not used to make room for newer items. Sometimes I will do it more often, but it really all depends on how much I’ve bought in any given time period.

Here are my main declutter criteria:

a) I haven’t gotten much use out of the item, say within the past 3 or 4 months;

b) it’s in relatively good condition and not horribly old (I’m talking like past 5 or 6 years old);

c) it can be santizied (i.e. no liquids or creams).

If all the above criteria are met, I will take it out of my collection and put it in a “donate” pile to give to friends or family. (I’m still trying to find women’s shelters around me that will take makeup and/or other toiletries.) So I did a little declutter of my stash just recently to make room for some newer purchases, but before I give those items away I thought I’d take you through what I’m parting with. Sound like fun? I hope so, so let’s start!

FACE

I actually just referenced this in my beauty anti-wishlist post from last week! After writing that, I got a bit tough with myself. Cute packaging is no reason to hold onto an item that you barely use anymore, so you know what? I’m getting rid of it! I’ve always loved Benefit’s box blushes, and I still do to a certain extent, but I just don’t prefer them anymore. As you can probably see they’ve all been gently used except the Hoola Bronzer which I don’t believe was ever touched. (I do need to toss the little Watts Up sample before I give this away; it’s gotten hard and gross since it’s a cream.)

EYES

The L’Oreal palette was a ‘skip’ in my last Snatch or Skip post on drugstore palettes. It’s nice enough and you can get some pretty good looks with it but I’m just generally underwhelmed, especially for the price. The Sephora & NARS palettes are very nice quality products, but I just don’t reach for them much anymore. Time to move on!

I actually didn’t buy this Clinique duo; it was included as a gift-with-purchase. I never used it once, I think because I was just bored when I looked at it. Anyway, that’s my excuse. But Clinique shadows are usually very good quality, so I’m sure it’ll work for someone. Ricepaper from MAC was a little too yellow for me, and Greensmoke just didn’t flatter me although it’s quite lovely when you look at it in the pan.

LIPS

I know “no liquids or creams” is one of my declutter rules, but these are quite new and they’ve barely, I mean barely been used. I only used Dreamer once; Loyalist never got used at all except to swatch. I really love the formulas of the Maybelline Super Stay Matte Inks. The deeper mauve-pink shade Lover is one of my all-time favorite drugstore liquid lipsticks. But I had one of those “what was I thinking” moments when I picked up both these shades. They are beautiful colors for sure, but just way too light for me. Dreamer gave me that horrible “butt-hole” look! Sorry I had to! It’s in such contrast to my natural lip color that it looks like I have a ring in the center of my mouth (hence “butt-hole”). So they gotta go!

Have you decluttered anything from your beauty stash recently? I’d love to know!

xo, Erica

PIN IT!