Monday 08 February, 2021

How to Declutter Your Makeup, Part 1


It is easy to pile up more makeup than you know what to do with. You don’t notice it happening at first—it’s a sneaky process. You start out with a few colors of eye shadow and a few tubes of lip gloss, and then you see another shade you like, and you buy it, thinking, […]


It is easy to pile up more makeup than you know what to do with. You don’t notice it happening at first—it’s a sneaky process. You start out with a few colors of eye shadow and a few tubes of lip gloss, and then you see another shade you like, and you buy it, thinking, “Why not?” And then you spot another a couple weeks later, and another … and then one day you realize that every surface in your bedroom and bathroom are cluttered by makeup containers. You have every color in the rainbow, but cannot ever actually find what you need.

At this point it may be time to declutter your makeup collection. It is a painstaking process, both because you have so much to go through and it can be hard to decide what to keep and what to get rid of. But it is the first step you need to take before you are ready to organize your makeup collection.

So how can you declutter makeup and skincare products? Here are some ideas to get you started.

• First of all, make sure you have all of your makeup in one place. You may have stashes around the house. There might be one in your bedroom, another in your bathroom, and you might have a couple of makeup bags which you take everywhere with you. Get everything together so you can go through it all.

• Find out what is expired. This is a tricky subject however, because most makeup “expires” within several years of purchase. The thing is, whether or not that is an issue varies depending on the item. There are two concerns: breakdown and bacteria. If breakdown occurs, you’ll know it (dry, clumpy lip gloss for example). Toss these items. What about bacteria? This is more of an issue for mascara and eyeliner (and other liquid or cream-based products) than dry products like eye shadow. If you have any strong reason to believe an item is contaminated, toss it. Just getting rid of these expired items may greatly cull your out-of-control makeup collection.

• Find makeup products that you already have duplicates or near-duplicates of. You really do not need ten different eye shadows or lip glosses in the same color area. If you have ten shades of blue eye shadow that are all pretty close to each other, select a few favorites, and pass the rest on to someone else who would enjoy them.

• Another trick to declutter your makeup bag is to ask yourself when the next time you expect to use an item is. If it isn’t for years, why are you holding onto it? It may very well expire before that happens. It makes more sense to give it to a friend who would like it.

Still need more ideas to help you with the decluttering process? Read on to How to Declutter Your Makeup, Part 2 for more great tips and tricks.

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