I’ve received many questions on how to clear out cosmetics without the grief of feeling that you are throwing your hard earned money away. I’m not sure how holding on to an unflattering eyeshadow or a failed bottle of conditioner can hold so much power over us, but it sometimes can. It is important that we take that power back.
Every item that we own holds energy. The more you free up space from items that are unused, disliked, and unnecessary, the more energetic space you have for what you do desire. Instead of viewing it as throwing away money, you are instead creating space, beauty, and abundance by getting rid of things that no longer serve you.
Ways To Creatively Declutter Your Beauty Products
1. The Beauty Bin
Give yourself a limit to how much space your cosmetics will take up. Your beauty bins are not necessarily a specific size, yet I prefer mine to be somewhat small to medium. I have three beauty bins.
–A cosmetic bag that holds my makeup, nail polishes, makeup brushes, and natural fragrances
–A medium sized container for products or items that I do not use daily, for example bath salts, henna, flexi rod rollers, sunscreen, etc.
–A small container for what I use daily such as rhassoul clay, raw honey face wash, moisturizer, body oil, tooth brush, deodorant, conditioner, etc.
When my beauty bins become disorganized and overflowing, I know that it’s time to let something go. This is one area that needs to be organized often as I can get ahead of myself when “discovering” a new natural oil, product, or ingredient. Limiting the amount of space allowed for beauty items keeps them from taking over the entire bathroom.
2. Half Empty Bottles
You just found the latest most innovative beauty product. You stop using the old product to begin using the new one. Somehow this happens time and time again. You are left with a ton of half empty bottles. You have a few options to break the cycle.
–Swap your gently used products with others on beauty forums
–Pass them on to family or friends who may want to try a “new” product
–Become a “mixtress”
3. A “Mixtress”?
Yes, become a “mixtress” and consolidate like products that didn’t work out for one use and give them a new purpose. Being creative can reinvent former unloved items. This past December I bought an emerald green Zoya nail polish thinking that it would be a fun color. It turned out to be absolutely awful, and also not returnable. I happened to have a sample of turquoise mica powder that I hadn’t really used. I did an experiment using a tiny piece of paper to funnel the mica into the nail polish to create a new color. I ended up with a gorgeous new nail polish using exactly what I already had at home.
Another example of renewing products is mixing half empty conditioner bottles together with a bit of oil and honey for a deep conditioner. Here is a simple way to use up those empty bottles and give an old conditioner new life. You can do this with many of the products you already have. Mixing unloved beauty products to create something new is the perfect way to consolidate and declutter.
4. Use Up What You Have
With all of the lavish beauty product marketing and advertising, it is so tempting to keep buying the latest. There is nothing wrong with trying new things. I enjoy discovering a wonderful beauty product. The only problem is that you may already have something similar at home. Instead finish what you have, and then purchase the new product.
5. Expiration and Ingredients
When decluttering makeup, figure out if the item is still safe to use. In Cosmetic Expires!!, I share the expiration dates for your makeup items. Makeup can grow bacteria over time, and really shouldn’t be keep for more than 1-1.5 years. The items that can be kept the longest are loose and pressed powders. I personally would swap out a pressed face powder sooner than a pressed eyeshadow or blush.
As you are learn more about the cosmetic ingredients to avoid, it will be easier to toss beauty products that contain harsh and toxic chemicals. The beauty industry isn’t monitored like others. This is a big disservice especially since our skin is our largest organ. Everything that we put on our skin is absorbed into our bodies. If this wasn’t the case, then nicotine patches wouldn’t be affective.
6. Make Your Own
In A More Minimalist Approach To Beauty, I write about 10 ingredients that I wanted to downsize to for creating my own beauty products. I would currently add two more items to this list which are rhassoul clay and a botanical conditioner. When making your own beauty products or using simple ingredients in place of traditional cosmetics, you often have multipurpose ingredients that can be used in many many ways. This can greatly cut back on clutter.
What tips have you used to cut back on beauty products?
(Image by Dawn Michelle)
Rachel Papworth says
March 8, 2012 at 3:23 amExcellent tips. I particularly like your emphasis on finding ways to reuse or find new homes for unwanted stuff. Although I agree that it’s fun to try new things, I do recommend thinking twice before acquiring more and more stuff. Other ways to move on unwanted cosmetics include donating unopened ones to homeless shelters and women’s refuges, and offering reusable opened ones on Freegle/Freecycle.
Dawn Michelle says
March 8, 2012 at 9:01 amThanks for sharing your great tips Rachel! It is definitely better to use up what you have before buying more new cosmetics. Otherwise it completely defeats the purpose of decluttering them. I love your perspective! Best wishes!
Michelle says
March 8, 2012 at 11:42 amso this is where I struggle because I get TONS of new products to review for my blog. I’m ok with it but I just had to find a way to organize it all better. For one, I don’t accept every offer for a review – only what I think I’d really be intereste in and what my readers would be interested in. Otherwise, I pass.
As for makeup, I have 2 bags and a tray that’s in my dresser drawer nice and organized 🙂 My nail polishes are in a portable case along with any other nail related stuff. I do make sure to throw away old bottles regularly though.
here’s a photo of my makeup tray…not minimalist – but organized:
Dawn Michelle says
March 9, 2012 at 7:10 amHi Michelle, Nice article!
Polina says
March 8, 2012 at 9:23 pmThere was a tag that went around the beauty community on the web (blogs and youtube) last year: Project Ten Pan. The idea is to make a list of ten (or as many as you want) products and you need to use all of them up completely before buying any new cosmetics. This challenge is very useful to get rid of dupes in your collection (like the million medium brown eye shadows that a lot of girls hoard) and to reacquaint yourself with your collection and your old makeup loves (especially useful for those with extensive make up collections).
Dawn Michelle says
March 9, 2012 at 7:05 amPolina, This is a wonderful tip! It really is good to fall back in love with what you already have.
Jill says
April 3, 2012 at 6:57 amLove that term mixtress!
i do actually have a lot of cosmetics, but have cut down of the ‘clutter” effect by buying the colours that suit me and that i know i will wear.
I mix too-dark foundation with a sunscreen to make a tinted moisturiser sunscreen.
As for conditioner, I make a detangle spray by adding water to a spoonful of conditioner. Very helpful in hot weather!!
I will probably still have to get rid of some stuff at some stage, but certainly these things have helped me.
Great post! 😉
Dawn Michelle says
April 3, 2012 at 6:56 pmHi Jill,
So glad you enjoyed the article. Like you said buying products that you will actually use or wear is the key. I also think that tweaking simple products to make something new like with your foundation and conditioner is brilliant. I know that the more that we create our own products, methods, etc. we develop confidence and freedom from always feeling like we need something new or a different product. Less is more and peace of mind!
Best Wishes,
Dawn Michelle
Carolyn says
August 21, 2012 at 9:36 amI am so pleased to have found your amazing blog.I wanted to share a new product that I LOVE.It is called BOOM,by model/make up artist Cindy Joseph. It is essentially three products for all skin types and colors. My skin feels like a baby’s bottom., and it makes it so easy to pack.Three products, a toothbrsu,done.You will love it gals!
Dawn Michelle says
August 21, 2012 at 10:42 amHi Carlyn,
I am also happy you found my blog and are enjoying it! I looked up the Boom products and the idea of the line is fantastic. When looking at the ingredients, Boom Glo is all natural, yet Boom Glimmer and Boom Color has some not so good for you chemical ingredients. Here is a list of ingredients that you can research on your own to make the best decisions for yourself.
There are other lines line Vapour Beauty that create similar products with healthier ingredients also packaged the same. They also have a moisturizer, all over color, and shimmer/glo stick. This line has an all natural base with mineral colors versus synthetic colors and no strange additives. Thanks for sharing and best wishes!
Ying says
June 28, 2017 at 6:18 amI try to find a different use for products I don’t like instead of just throwing them out (although I do throw them out if I can’t think of a different use!). Conditioners can be used as shaving gel, shampoos can be used as body washes, hand lotions that turn out too greasy for the hands get used as a foot cream, etc., etc. The only trouble I have is with makeup. Somehow makeup is much harder for me to toss and I always get trapped thinking “No, I just have to try it again, I’m sure I can make this color/formula work for me somehow.” I’m getting a bit better now at letting makeup go but it’s still a process!
Dawn Michelle says
July 3, 2017 at 3:27 pmHi Ying,
It’s great to find creative ways to use what you already have. Thanks for sharing this!