There’s something about this time of year that makes me want to declutter and I thought the best place to start would be with my makeup collection. I hold my hands up to a number of bad beauty habits: keeping makeup way past its use-by-date, hoarding unnecessary pretty packaging (Benefit I’m looking at you), holding on to stringy or hardened nail polishes, falling behind on washing my makeup brushes and sponges, having smashed eyeshadows cake the inside of drawers and handbags… the list goes on and on. My beauty collection is way over-due for a Spring clean.
1. Tackling the Gloopy Nail Polishes
Like most girls, I’ve always had a mountain of nail polishes hidden away, but after I treated myself to a few discounted Ciate London advent calendars and gift sets at Christmas my collection has gotten a little out of control. Saying goodbye to my ever-so-pretty but gloopy nail polishes was step number one on my beauty Spring clean to-do-list. I’m already tempted to replace them with a few shades from the new Barry M Coconut Infusion Gel Nail Paint collection!
2. Saying Goodbye to the Empties
Or using up the almost-empties. As much as I love beauty boxes I have so many samples that I am challenging myself to use up this month. So far April’s empties include – the Lush New Charity Pot, Time Bomb Glory Day Cream, the last of my mini Porefessionals and a sample of the Eslor Firming Day Cream I received in a Birchbox months ago.
3. Chuck the Disappointments
The Philip Kingsley Daily Damaged Defence Spray and the Urban Decay Oil Slick Setting Spray; two products that I feel are hugely overrated. I used them both a couple of times and was hugely underwhelmed by their performance. They’ve sat in the back of my wardrobe ever since. I felt I had to keep them due to the amount of money I paid for them but, in reality, these are two products that I’ll never use again so it was time for them to go.
3. Check the Expiry Dates
Does anyone else keep makeup way longer than they probably should? I am so bad for jumping to and from mascara or using them until they are a clumpy, dry mess. I’m embarrassed to say I’ve had these four for well over a year now. I was slightly disappointed wth the Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Waterproof Mascara as I just didn’t find it as effective the original and No 7’s Lovely Lashes did nothing whatsoever for my lashes and was a complete waste of money. Eyeko’s Black Magic and the Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara however, were two of the best I’ve ever tried and I’ll definitely be repurchasing them again in the near future, but for now it’s sayonara.
4. Scrub those Brushes
Although I am one of the few people who actually enjoy washing their makeup brushes on a Sunday night (I find it really therapeutic) I have the tendency of falling behind with this particular chore. I’ve used brush cleansers from both Makeup Revolution and Real Techniques, however, I prefer to use plain old Simple or Dove soap to wash mine. Some of the lovely ladies I follow on Twitter also suggested using baby shampoo, coconut oil and anti bac handwash. What’s your product of choice?
5. De-gunk the Dressing Table & Makeup Bag
And finally, my last step to completing my beauty Spring clean was to put all those face wipes I have now been convinced to ditch by Hayley from London Beauty Queen and Em from My Pale Skin to good use. I used them to clean up all those foundation stains, mascara smears and smashed eyeshadow smudges that are lurking in every beauty lovers makeup bags and dressing tables to complete my beauty Spring clean detox.
What are your tips for Spring Cleaning your beauty collection?
Are you a makeup hoarder?
What are your beauty bad habits?
