Cull the Stash #1

One of my 2015 Beauty Goals is to ‘Cull the Stash’. Which basically means I want to get rid of the unloved & unwanted makeup in my stash/collection. I want to make my collection more refined, for it to only contain products I love and use. I thought it would be easy.

I was wrong. 

It seems I am a sentimental fool who tries to convince herself that she will totally wear that blue eyeshadow trio that has been in her stash, unused for three years! She also thought it would be a good idea to keep six year old Estee Lauder palettes from a Christmas gift set because they were a gift, yup she is a fool! Okay, enough referring to myself in the third person but you get the idea. 

I also wanted to get rid of anything that was excessively old. I know there are standard use-by-dates for makeup but I don’t follow them. I instead keep an eye on my products and throw them out when the scent, texture and effectiveness changes. 

As of today, I have completed a cull of my base products, eye products and the tub under my bed full of old makeup (my ‘Makeup Graveyard’ – it’s where products go to die). 

Giveaway/Sell

My base products were pretty easy because I know what works for me and also which shades match me. Many foundations I purchase end up being too dark (especially from the drugstore), so I knew they had to go. Eye products weren’t too bad; I looked out for crappy pigmentation and cream products that had dried out (I’m looking at you Maybelline Color Tattoos!). 

The hardest part was my Makeup Graveyard. The reason they ended up in there in the first place was I had trouble parting with them. The products were no longer being used and I needed the space in my drawers but I couldn’t bring myself to throw them out. I managed to whittle the graveyard down but I will admit there is still some products in there that I can’t bring myself to get rid of… yet. 

I haven’t done a full cull of my lip products yet as I am waiting until around June and will be referring to my ‘365 Days of Lips’ spreadsheet to see which lip products I have actually been using. I am keeping the record in an attempt to convince myself of products I don’t use and don’t need. Lip products are a real weakness for me and I really struggle to get rid of any (unless they have gone bad or are awful products). 

I haven’t culled my cheeks products yet either. Like lip products they are a weakness and I cannot bear to get rid of any of them. To be honest, I am less concerned about culling them as being mostly powder products they don’t really go ‘off’. I will do it eventually though… I hope.

Binned

All up I think I did okay for my first attempt. I binned over 60 products – these were old, well-used or just really horrible products I wouldn’t want anyone else to try. At this stage I have over 140 products to giveaway or sell, but this may increase as I have been finding makeup stashed away in some odd places (hello desk drawer!). Oh well that is the life of a #makeuphoarder. 

I think my makeup cull will be a work in progress, something that I go back to occasionally, with the goal of a streamlined, useable collection. That doesn’t mean I will stop buying new things, I will just make better and more informed decisions. I am also making an effort to use up my older products before they go bad. I even hit pan on a blush recently! 

Have you culled your stash lately? Did you find it hard or easy?

How much did you cull?