Makeup Declutter 2016: Lip Gloss

Makeup Declutter 2016: Single Eyeshadows, Mascara, Eye Primer

Declutter 2016: Drugstore Palettes

First bit!

Makeup Purge - First Pass Declutter

Since my last post on decluttering my lip products, I've gone ahead with all the categories in my collection. I knew, going through it, that it was only a preliminary declutter, and that I would really need to sit down and make some harder choices, but it was a good place to start.

This is a quick overview of the result.

Declutter - Lip Things (AKA How I Failed At Getting Rid Of Goo)

And so it goes.

One thing I've realized doing this de-clutter: I have a wildly inaccurate perception of my reviewing capacity. I've pulled out so many items that I purchased (often in multiple shades) with the sole intention of reviewing - and they're still sealed, mocking my intentions with their plastic-coated goodness.

This is the pile of assorted lip products (glosses, stains, lipsticks) that are exiting my collection. I posted it on Instagram and got some lovely comments from people, very encouraging and congratulatory. Which I really appreciated, since I was depressed about how much time and money I've wasted.

But...that pile is still barely a dent. I have a serious lip goo problem. Here's what's left...

First up - the lip balm and stain drawer. Grouped roughly by cruelty-free (the three trays to the right) and not (pretty much everything else), so when it comes time for Round Two of the decluttering process I can focus on the non-CF side more easily. (That's assuming I don't wind up drinking wine under my desk by the end of this, Sherbatsky-style.)

Side note: those Fresh balms are my favourite, and have been for years, but Fresh is not currently CF. I welcome suggestions for an alternative, since balm is one of those staples that I will have to replace eventually.

Next up is the lip crayon drawer. I pulled out all the Revlon ones that had yet to be used....and kinda threw in the towel after that. These things are so damn easy to use and carry around. I need moral fortitude to give more of them up. (Again grouped by CF/not CF, with the Revlon/Rimmel and Clinique/MAC being the only non CF ones.)

Oh god, the lipgloss. This is some serious goo, here. At least this was easy to parse out. Anything that was still sealed went into the potential sale/giveaway pile. A few things that were open but still new - and that didn't evoke a need to clutch it to my chest protectively - went into the "give it to my mom" pile.

Then there where all the ones that earned a sketchy look during the smell test. Those went into the "toss it" red bag in the picture up top.

And so I'm left with the CF drawer...

And the non CF drawer.

LISTEN, I KNOW. But it only gets worse. Following the same strategy as above...

....the CF lipsticks.

And the non-CF lipsticks.

(And yes, I know the Clinique ones are still boxed. I just bought them before I started this whole thing, and I can't make myself let go of them just yet. Because....reasons.)

WHY DO I HAVE SO MANY OF YOU?? WHY MUST YOU BE SO ADORABLE IN YOUR LITTLE BULLETS AND PRETTY COLOURS?

Also, is it time for wine?

Decluttering My Makeup: Part 1

In a long overdue fit of organizational frenzy, I've decided to systematically go through my stash and purge the things that I'm not using or otherwise enjoying. No worries, I'm still a hoarder collector at heart, but sometime in the last few months I actually reached that point of feeling overwhelmed by my collection. I'm not interested in downsizing specifically, and I have absolutely zero shame or embarrassment about my collection, but I do the beauty thing for the joy of it, and when pleasure is replaced by anxiety, it's a good sign that some reassessment is required.

I wanted to be really thorough in my process, so I'm literally going drawer by drawer. I've opted to put this to film, and to hold myself accountable - literally - by putting numbers down for everything I own and am passing on. If you're interested, the first three parts are now up on my youtube channel.

(I will be giving a first run at things to my family and friends - including a care package to Poland -  and then I'll be doing a blog sale/pass-along post, which I will update as I go through further portions of my collection.)

(If you do watch, let me know if you prefer music or no music over the title at the beginning of the video. I'm still undecided.)

It feels like there's a wave of decluttering happening on youtube right now. Are any of you guys doing this? I know Latoya from Beauty Obsessed is in the middle of something similar on her blog, if you haven't seen her latest post it's here and definitely inspirational.