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Why I Got Rid of 70% of My Makeup Collection

mindbeautysimplicity

This past year has taught me two things: i only have one face & to embrace my natural beauty. More often than not, you would have found me bare faced & wearing sweats. This is why my Project 333 Challenge went so well. I realized when the new year came, I really needed to clean house of my makeup BIG TIME.

Youtube was the culprit to my overindulgence of makeup purchases. I always wanted the newest thing, every brand & have my drawers filled to the brim. I was a follower, idolizing other people’s collections. But as I got older, I realized the waste that went into this “hobby”.

Products Expire

The thing that never occurred to me, like food, makeup had an expiration date as well. On every bottle or compact, there is a photo with a time frame on it. If you hold onto these products for too long & apply them to your face, you can irritate your skin. So, please read the labels & clean house regularly.

It Goes to Waste

Since products have an expiration date, I noticed how many items sat in drawers untouched. Instead of wanting to finish a product, I’d always want to try different ones. Now, I make a point to try & “hit pan” on compacts & empty my bottles of foundations. The project pan community taught me how difficult it is to actually finish a product & how much waste there is. This past year, I made a point to purchase less makeup in my low buy year. I managed to get through tons of items this way, which in turn, downsized my collection in half. I’m all about decluttering when you no longer want something, but if you can use it up instead, I find that to be the more sustainable option.

Don’t Believe the Hype

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve have the urge to go to Ulta or Sephora just because of the notoriety surrounding said item. If it looks pretty to the eye & tons of people rave about it, I needed my hands on it. But I slowly realized influencers who promote certain products are simply getting paid. And sadly, sometimes the reviews are bogus. There are only a few people whose opinions I trust. Colorpop for example releases new eyeshadow palettes like they grow on trees. They recently came out with a Mandalorian collaboration. And as much as I love the Child, I knew it would be a waste to own these eyeshadows. Especially when I already own 10 palettes with an array of colors. Something I did get rid of were Urban Decay eyeliners from the Game of Thrones collaboration. I bought them solely for the love of the show & only used them once. Only buy them if you know you will 100% use them up. Otherwise it’s a waste of money & space.

Not All Makeup Is Flattering

Remember when orange eyeshadows were a thing? Yea, well I finally did a way with red toned eyeshadows because on my face, I looked like I was suffering from pink eye. Makeup is supposed to enhance your beauty. Why buy things that will decrease your confidence? It doesn’t matter if it seems to work for the majority of the population, if you don’t feel great in it, there’s no need to keep it around.

This month, I was going to be brutal with this Declutter. No exceptions. And I’m really proud of myself. I managed to get rid of some tough ones. Hyped makeup everyone loves like Jaclyn Hill Champagne Pop & the Naked Basics palette. But they were super old & needed to go. I loved them for a long time but it was time to move on. I also got rid of 10 brushes! I realized I didn’t use half of them & I bought them for the sole purpose they were pretty.

I hope this post gives you motivation to declutter your Makeup Collections. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Published by mindbeautysimplicity

80 thoughts on “Why I Got Rid of 70% of My Makeup Collection”

  1. I totally agree with you that YouTube helps promote having a huge makeup collection — amongst others. I don’t have a huge makeup collection, because I find that by sticking to my “basics” I’m never done wrong. I did purchase a new eye shadow though recently!

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      1. I got a Covergirl palette. Since they are new colors for me, I want to make sure I like the colors before I invest. I do have single Clinique shadows because they are tried and true colors for me.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. I did a massive clear out in the first lockdown and it has made such a difference! My make up drawer was full of stuff that I never used and filled up space so I couldn’t really see what I actually had. Now, it’s organised and it contains stuff that I would actually use. (not now tho, I only bother to do my eyebrows since I’m not seeing anyone, ahah)

    Caroline | https://envirolineblog.com/

    Liked by 5 people

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  4. I have so much makeup that I acquired due to dance so I probably need to do another declutter. Some of my older brushes I cleaned and gave to my daughter as she likes to “put on” makeup too.

    Liked by 4 people

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  5. I agree with you when it comes to influencers. They are doing a job of selling you a product, even when you don’t need it, they make you believe you do. I don’t use a lot of makeup, so I usually buy travel sizes. They might be a little bit more expensive than the full size, but at least I’m sure I’m going to use all of it and it won’t expire. Another good option is Ipsy Glam bags. The bags come with a bunch of travel sizes for you to try and its 12 bucks a month (I don’t get paid to promote that 😂😂 I just really like it).
    Great post! I can talk about makeup decluttering for hours!
    XX

    Liked by 3 people

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  6. Omg i am embarrassed to say there was a time i use to buy makeup regular, but never really used them. Makeup revolution makeup is very cheap and next thing you know, you’re buying one thing after another. But not using them, i have had eyeshadow palettes i never used for years. And I just look and think the money i wasted. I am a lipgloss fan, but now no-one see it due to wearing a facemask outside. And I don’t really wear makeup. Its a thing if you are constantly watching makeup videos, you do get the bug to buy makeup

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  9. Oh, I love that you put out there that Youtube is a huge culprit because it really is. All these things that are hyped up nowadays can have consequences big or small. I for one am happy that I don’t have to worry about this because I am allergic to Makeup and even the ones I am not allergic to is hard to wear because of allergies in general. I bet this post will help SO MANY people! I will share this for sure

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    1. I still love watching these types of videos, but I always tell myself, “you don’t need it” hahaha everything is so hyped up. i mean, how many brown eyeshadows does a person need? i have rather sensitive skin as well. but you don’t need the makeup! you are naturally beautiful 🙂 i really hope it does help others. thank you!!

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  10. I have been selling loads of my unused excess makeup on Depop and it has made me feel 10x lighter. One of the downsides of being a makeup artist in a pandemic is no clients so no need to hoard!!
    I think the Youtube makeup collections were a major trigger for me, I would buy multiples and all the latest collections – especially Mac!

    Sophie Xx
    http://alongcamerosie.co.uk/

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Yes, love that you are giving it to people who can use it. ugh, i feel for you. it has been tough business wise for a lot of people. i had no idea people collected makeup to that degree until i saw those videos. and i thought something was wrong with me. I still love MAC. their lipsticks are amazing. velvet teddy is my go to.

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  13. I totally agree. I only have one concealer, one blush, one lipstick, one mascara and a few different colours of eye liner. I know what works for me so it’s that simple.

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  14. Your post forced me think of the make up stuff I have, which I have not used since so many years and do not intend to use in future. Time to say Goodbye to them. The post has definitely motivated me to declutter my make up collection.

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  16. That’s amazing you were able to downsize your makeup collection so much!
    I don’t think a lot of people realize makeup has an expiration because it’s not labeled like food & they don’t keep track of the period after opening number either so it does go to waste.
    It’s also unreal how often Colourpop has a new collection, but yes you should only buy new makeup if you know you will use it more than once!

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  17. This post has inspired me to have a clear out! Definitely don’t remember about expiry dates and I should! I have managed to clean my brushes recently though! For the first time! Ew x

    Liked by 3 people

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  18. Thank you! One of my OCD idiosyncrasies is that I can’t buy something new until I finish up the old thing, which has helped to keep my makeup collection to a minimum. Especially with those expiration dates!

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  19. This is definitely a declutter I had meant to get to I’m this month—before I got sick and one that I will for sure be doing! I’m itchy especially go go through my closet and throw out all my too small pants.

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  20. I’m so glad you mentioned that YouTube is the big reason why you’ve accumulated so much makeup! Even in the past year with lockdown, I still want to buy makeup even though I’m not wearing it when I’m home all day! It’s such a hard thing to stop doing! I am genuinely afraid to look at how much money I have spent on makeup over the years. I do buy a lot of nail polish, (usually just large orders around my birthday, black friday, and sometimes Christmas) but I paint my nails every other day. At least with polish I can admit that I use them. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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  21. I need to do that. I am so glad for your blog —such motivation to declutter.
    You are right, not all reviews you can trust. Mostly those influencers lie about their experience as they are getting paid.

    Thank you for sharing🥰 x

    Liked by 3 people

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  24. This is a useful and honest post. You are right, one should buy the make-up according to their skin tone and lifestyle. I am lazy when comes to get rid of the old make-up stuff because I got attached to them. I watched youtube make-up videos to get in touch with the new products, but I am not going to buy them unless I really need them.
    Thanks for the motivation, I should start to declutter:)

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  25. Pingback: Week Latte #52 – ROLLY Mag

  27. I relate to everything in this post! I was exactly the same as you, buying products because of hype and having a ridiculous collection of makeup. I pretty much stopped wearing makeup during the first lockdown and started to lean towards tinted moisturisers when I wanted a little something to brighten my face.

    I’ve recently cut my makeup collection right down too. I’ve realised that I only need a few products and that I much prefer a natural and fresh face. And it saves a ton of money too!

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  28. I too fell into the black hole of buying makeup because influencers hyped things up. Luckily when I started wearing makeup and the YouTube community were first getting big, I was a teenager and had no job, so I saved a ton of money simply because I didn’t have it haha. Had I been in my 20s like I am now when beauty influencers were even more wild when it came to product recommendations, I probably would of been a bit of a hoarder, owning a bunch of products I would have barely used

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  29. OMG I know what you mean about Colourpop, it feels like every 5 minutes they’re launching a new product and you can’t get hold of the older or more staple things because they’re always out of stock! I think it’s so important to have a collection only of things you really love!

    Katie | katieemmabeauty.com

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  31. Great Post! I have had a bit of clear out recently but still think I could get rid of more that I don’t use. I just hate throwing things out, but then no point having it if I never wear it! I need to find somewhere you can recycle old makeup.
    How do you find the expiration date on a product of you no longer have the packaging? I have some questionable eye liners and mascaras that I’m sure could be past their date 🤣

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    1. I think that’s why it’s important to have less. That way you are less likely in wasting products. I make sure I hit pan on stuff and finish it the best I can. If you don’t have the packaging you just have to guess how long you’ve had it. Eyeliners and mascaras need to be thrown out the fastest like 3-6 months because they go by your eye. You don’t want to get an eye infection or stye.

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  33. Pingback: Why I Got Rid of 70% of My Makeup Collection – Aliexpress Shopping

  34. I love Makeup but like you, I also got to the mindset that I didn’t need everything for the sake of the hype behind that product or to add into my makeup collection. You can totally appreciate the art without increasing so much product only to throw them away later. This post resonate so much with me 🙂

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  35. Thank you for this encouragement! I am in the process of throwing out a lot of makeup products. I am changing all my make-up to be absolutely plastic-free – no exceptions. HOrribly difficult with mascara btw… But that is a process I have really enjoyed. There are few buts anyway. I used to be a ballroom dancer and I have the weirdest arsenal of make-up, the “hottest” colors, barely used items – because I needed those only in competitions. Maybe I will need those someday – who knows?? 😀 Additionally, I don’t want to waste anything of my old everyday plastic packed products so I am kinda struggling with this “best before” thing 😀 Just throwing those into the trash feels horrible.

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  36. Yessss I love this post! I used to have sooo much makeup. It was overwhelming. The day I finally got rid of most of my collection, I felt so free! I only have 2 eye shadow palettes now, and a small assortment of lip colors

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  37. Wow. The reason behind my massive makeup collection is also youtube. Youtuber beauty gurus are what influenced me to build such a massive collection. As I have matured I realize that natural beauty is way more valuable. I hate piling on makeup and I rather go bare and fresh-faced on a daily.

    Maybe, if it’s a special occasion I may make my face up. But, you are right make-up expires and it’s so wasteful to keep a big collection.

    xo Erica

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  40. I love this, thanks for the post! I recently went through and decluttered my makeup collection too – I found I actually prefered buying it to wearing it, and now I can save so much money by not buying as much as I was.

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