How To: Clean Out Your Makeup

I'm a little bit of a makeup hoarder (ahem, make that a lot of one). I love trying new products, like having a lot of variety, and stop in Sephora whenever I see that familiar black and white sign. But I'm not nearly as good as cleaning out my makeup drawer as I am at filling it. So in honor of fall (hooray!), last weekend I decided it was time. I was holding on to things I hadn't used since college. Gross. It was time for it to go.  Meet my entire collection, including nail polishes. Once upon a time, it was neat and tidy. Then life took over and it ended up looking like that (but most of it was in a drawer). WHO NEEDS THAT MUCH STUFF? SERIOUSLY.
First, I weeded out anything that was over a year old. Because really, most makeup should be tossed after a few months, much less a year. Most of the stuff below is from college. I hadn't even looked at 90% of it, having replaced it with similar products. Anything that was that old, I threw out. For reference, all makeup has a shelf-life. Common ones are as follows:

• Mascara - every 2-3 months
• Foundation (opened) - 6-12 months; Unopened - 2 years
• Concealer - 1-2 years
• Face powder - 2 years
• Powder blush - 2 years; Cream or liquid - 1
• Eyeshadow - 3 months (ok let's be real, I'll never use enough of a shadow to make it worth throwing out after 3 months)
• Eyeliner/pencil - 3 months
• Lipstick - 1 year

Then I grouped together all the products I don't use commonly. These had previously been taking up space on my dresser, but I was running out of room in my holder, so they had to go in the drawer. I grouped them in a bag. These are things I tend to use only in the summer months or if I'm going for a more dramatic, makeup-heavy look than I do on an everyday basis. I then fit them in extra space in my nail polish box. I tossed any old, clumpy shades of polish and then reorganized the leftovers so that they stand up and there's room for more! Then I rounded up everything that may not be really old, but that I never used. In most cases, this was samples of things I've gotten from various stores that just don't work for me, or some products that I purchased and found not to work.  Then it was time for ultimate organization! I grouped together all my lip products together, organized my face and eyeshadows as well and ended up with my everyday items. It's still a lot, and I know I'll have to weed things out again in a few months, but it gives my peace of mind to see a clean dresser and not piles of makeup everywhere! If you want to know any of the products I use, let me know!

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