Let us start by saying that yes, we have waaaay too much make up and yes, we are suckers for shiny new products. Because of this we found ourselves in a situation where makeup was spilling out of drawers, cupboards and cabinets and action was needed!
Within our home we both own our own make up but we also share nail polishes and some palettes. As Mimi will be getting married and moving to the USA early next year we felt that it was time to sort the makeup stash and get rid of some of those items that hadn't seen the light of day for months or years!
The Lip Products:
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| Before the Great Purge! |
This was one of the largest collections we had to organise. We started by tipping EVERYTHING out in a pile and started to go through each lip product by type e.g. lipstick, lip gloss, lip balm. Lets put it out there....the pile was ridiculous. We painstakingly sorted through each one and asked ourselves some questions:
1) How old is this product?
1) How old is this product?
2) How long since I wore it?
3) Is it a colour I would wear now?
Once we had asked ourselves these questions it was easier to start throwing things away. If we had not reached for a product in over a year the chances are we would not be reaching for it again. We ended up with swatches all over our hands and arms (tip: keep some make up wipes handy!) Here is our 'before' (hangs head in shame) and 'after': We used the Muji storage drawers to organise the lip products so now they are easy to find and sorted into category.
3) Is it a colour I would wear now?
Once we had asked ourselves these questions it was easier to start throwing things away. If we had not reached for a product in over a year the chances are we would not be reaching for it again. We ended up with swatches all over our hands and arms (tip: keep some make up wipes handy!) Here is our 'before' (hangs head in shame) and 'after': We used the Muji storage drawers to organise the lip products so now they are easy to find and sorted into category.
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| The Lip Product Stash - Before |
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| The Lip Product Stash - After |
The Nail Polishes:
Another mammoth task! When sorting through our nail polish collection we started with those really old bottles that were beyond redemption. You know the kind; the top is glued on, the polish is thick and gloopy and you last reached for it in 2002! They went the journey first and then we took stock of what was left. We both have a certain colour that we gravitate towards and then we buy the same colour in 20 different brands. For Elle it is the neutral beige/sandy colour and for Mimi it is a soft pink. This MUST stop as it means that we have soooo many nail polishes in almost the same colour. We kept our very favourites - Essie Sand Tropez and Essie Fiji and a couple of similar shades (don't judge) and the rest went into the 'give away' pile. We then utilised our nail polish stand from Ebay to display the polishes that remained. A still slightly ridiculous but more manageable collection.
The Powder Products:
By this we mean the powders/bronzers/blushers etc. We are not really collectors of single eye shadows and any that we have are nicely stored in a MAC or Z Palette so this was an easy edit to make. The other powder products were a different story. We had a lot of pretty old products that needed to be tossed as they were way past their best. We then tidied the remainder into an Ikea box giving us easy access to the products and making us much more likely to use them.
The Palettes:
We both love a good eyeshadow palette and have some great ones from Urban Decay, IT Cosmetics, MAC and Revolution. We had nothing that we wanted to lose therefore we tidied the products up and displayed them in an Ikea Godmorgon box for easy access.
The Conclusion
A sort out was most definitely long overdue and it was amazing to find some little hidden treasures that we had forgotten about! Since we purged we have started to use some products that had been relegated to the back of the cupboard and have a new found love for them! The IT Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Palette has been brought out of retirement and Elle has been using it daily since its rediscovery.
We have also pulled out some great forgotten about lip options and brought them back into circulation such as Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipstick in Rose Tweed and Bare Minerals Marvellous Moxie Lipstick in Speak Your Mind.
Have you ever had a giant makeup purge? Did you find any old favourites? We would love to hear about your rediscoveries in the comments below!
Another mammoth task! When sorting through our nail polish collection we started with those really old bottles that were beyond redemption. You know the kind; the top is glued on, the polish is thick and gloopy and you last reached for it in 2002! They went the journey first and then we took stock of what was left. We both have a certain colour that we gravitate towards and then we buy the same colour in 20 different brands. For Elle it is the neutral beige/sandy colour and for Mimi it is a soft pink. This MUST stop as it means that we have soooo many nail polishes in almost the same colour. We kept our very favourites - Essie Sand Tropez and Essie Fiji and a couple of similar shades (don't judge) and the rest went into the 'give away' pile. We then utilised our nail polish stand from Ebay to display the polishes that remained. A still slightly ridiculous but more manageable collection.
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| The Greens |
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| The 'they're not really all the same shade' neutrals |
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| The Baby Pinks |
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| The Final Result |
The Powder Products:
By this we mean the powders/bronzers/blushers etc. We are not really collectors of single eye shadows and any that we have are nicely stored in a MAC or Z Palette so this was an easy edit to make. The other powder products were a different story. We had a lot of pretty old products that needed to be tossed as they were way past their best. We then tidied the remainder into an Ikea box giving us easy access to the products and making us much more likely to use them.
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| The Powders, Bronzers and Highlighters |
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| The Blush |
The Palettes:
We both love a good eyeshadow palette and have some great ones from Urban Decay, IT Cosmetics, MAC and Revolution. We had nothing that we wanted to lose therefore we tidied the products up and displayed them in an Ikea Godmorgon box for easy access.
 |
| The Paletts |
The Conclusion
A sort out was most definitely long overdue and it was amazing to find some little hidden treasures that we had forgotten about! Since we purged we have started to use some products that had been relegated to the back of the cupboard and have a new found love for them! The IT Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Palette has been brought out of retirement and Elle has been using it daily since its rediscovery.
We have also pulled out some great forgotten about lip options and brought them back into circulation such as Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipstick in Rose Tweed and Bare Minerals Marvellous Moxie Lipstick in Speak Your Mind.
Have you ever had a giant makeup purge? Did you find any old favourites? We would love to hear about your rediscoveries in the comments below!
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