I’d been putting it off for ages. Living between my ‘spareroom rental’ in Surrey, my parents house, and W’s house means that I have a lot of stuff. I’d accumulated a full makeup bag at each place, but if I’m honest I rarely used it. I just bought my favorite bits and pieces with me. The last weekend I got everything together,worked out what I no longer wanted, switched up products, and generally had a good ole organisation spree.
Foundations were the easiest. I threw out my bottle of Maybelline Better Skin; it’s a little dark for me, but more importantly it’s gone off. Its thick, lumpy and it smells. BIN! Rimmel Wake Me Up moved from my regular makeup bag to W’s house. To be honest, I nearly chucked it out as I really don’t like it. It feels like it sucks the moisture out of my skin, and I hate the finish of it. But it’s barely used and the student in me can’t waste money, so it’ll do for the lazy days. Or until it goes off…
I also chucked my MUA Creme Blusher. I love the shade of this, but it’s dried out since the summer. I’ll probably just repurchase another when the weather warms up as it’s so cheap!
Clearing out nail polishes really defines my style. Out with the pastels (there were five other bottles), keeping the berries, the neutrals and the greys. I do love my red nail polishes, but having three was excessive so I tossed out this Bourjois one as the brush is a little too wide to paint neatly. The Ted Baker one hit the bin as it consistently turns my nails yellow despite wearing a base coat.
Eye shadows are my weakness, but I have to admit I find the quality of high-street ones really poor now. They irritate my eyes, don’t last nearly as long, and take forever to blend. I’m in love with my Naked palettes, and I’m 50p worth of Boots points away from a very much anticipated purchase. Sleep palettes are the very best of the high-street, but I’ve moved my Storm and Vintage Romance home to clear space in my small room. And now I’m not carrying palettes up and down the country every other weekend…Almost all other eyeshadows got tossed. I kept my one and only creme offering – from Bourjois (and I’ll probably buy a lighter shade soon), and a matte brown from Sainsbury’s thats the perfect shade for my brows. The Bourjois smokey palette got a place at my parents house, though I’m pretty sure I have two of these as this looks unused.
I anticipated getting rid of far more lip products than I did, but it turns out I’d been doing that gradually anyway! Among the three tubs of vaseline, this MUA lipstick didn’t make the cut. It’s a lovely, lovely nineties nude shade, but it’s also ridiculous drying and difficult to apply. I bought it to see whether I suited the style, and I’ve since added two MAC shades to my collection…
My makeup collection feels a little more focussed now. I’ve gotten rid of things that aren’t ‘me’, I’ve thrown out those bits that are unwearable. It’s clear that the past 12 months I’ve definitely gone high-end, but I have no regrets. Makeup is definitely more a considered purchase now, rather than a trip into Superdrug when I get bored…
Have you had a clear out recently? How do you decide what to chuck out? Find any forgotten favourites?