I have been on a mission to streamline everything in my life for the past several weeks. One day, I hit a breaking point when I spent about 8 hours in a complete fog, unable to do anything in my house because I was so overwhelmed by all of the things. I couldn’t get dressed. I couldn’t play with my kids. I couldn’t make food. I was literally frozen in time for an entire day while I went back and forth on how I should reorganize all of our stuff. I tried to tell myself, “It’s ok to have a messy house! You’re making memories!” But then I realized that the mess was causing me to be an angry, grumpy, frazzled mama who resented her possessions instead of cherishing them.
So, that day, after asking from advice on Facebook, I was introduced to Allie Casazza and her methods for decluttering her life and home, and I knew that was the answer. I have been working through my entire house ever since, and it has changed me already for the better.
It’s easy, in a way, to go through the obvious things like toys and the bathroom closet and maybe even the clothes, but I find the “hidden clutter pits” are almost harder. They seem to be never-ending, and they also feel like a secret black hole that you just fall into, Alice in Wonderland-style. You can spend hours just going through a tiny drawer in your home that you assumed was full of junk.
Knowing how difficult these “hidden clutter pits” have been throughout my experience, I have actively avoided one area that I predicted would be a struggle — my makeup, hair products, and skincare stash.
I have always loved makeup. Always. One of my favorite pastimes was getting dropped off at Target with my friend in middle school (looooooong before Target was actually a thing) and blowing money on cheap makeup. I loved to do makeovers on myself and my friends use up a roll of Polaroid film (the original Polaroid camera, not the cute tiny version they sell these days). There’s something about the artistry with makeup that makes it seem appealing to a creative girl like me. I also love being able to take a feature that I might otherwise dislike about myself and turn it into something that I love — like my eyebrows.
So, suffice it to say I have quite the makeup collection. It ranges from cheap drugstore stuff to expensive brands that I bought because some celebrity or blogger recommended it. I am sucker for stuff like that.
While I enjoy putting on a full face of makeup for a night out or special occasion, I typically don’t wear a ton of it in my daily life. I am a mama of four kids. I wear a lot of baseball hats to hide my dirty hair in addition to tinted moisturizer and mascara. I realized that in my efforts to streamline and declutter my life and home, I needed to address this giant makeup collection.
One issue I had was what was I going to do with the stuff that still had life left in it but I didn’t love it anymore? Old, outdated, broken, yucky makeup was going to get trashed, but the new-ish eyeshadows and blushes and other items that I thought I needed but decided I didn’t? What was I going to do with those?
I started doing some investigating, and I came across a really cool organization — Project Beauty Share. You can send gently used makeup and other beauty items to them and they will sanitize them and hand them off to women in need. These women are working to overcome addiction, abuse, and/or homelessness, and the gently used makeup that still has lots of life in it can really be a great confidence boost for them.
There are restrictions on what can be donated, and their website lays it all out in detail. I was able to donate a ton (as in an entire box full) of pressed eyeshadows, blushes, bronzer, some foundation, and some eye and lip pencils, as well as some hair products that still had quite a bit left in their bottles. This made me feel so much better than if I were to just dump them all in the trash.
I did fill an entire large trash bag full of items that needed to get tossed — old, broken, dried up cosmetics had to go, and unfortunately there isn’t much you can do to sanitize certain types of makeup, rendering them unable to be donated, so I decided to just let them go. Specifically, cream blushes, eyeshadows, and foundations (in a pan, not in a pump), can’t be donated to Project Beauty Share, so I pitched them. I also have not found a great place for nail polish. Shamefully, I will often buy a color and only wear it once. This leaves me with many near-full bottles that I most likely won’t use up. What to do with those? If you have any ideas — let me know!
I put all of my everyday makeup (just the few items I reach for on normal days) into one small bin in my drawer, and then I transferred all the special occasion, more elaborate palettes and items to a small plastic tote in my closet. I simply do not need to see all of that everyday, and it also keeps it away from little hands. They always want to play in my makeup, and they never seem to reach for the $1 Wet N Wild lip gloss but rather the $22 splurge. I kept one, older drugstore eyeshadow palette in a separate drawer with a little brush so that my Shiloh can put her makeup on with mama when she feels like it.
I also streamlined my brush collection. I washed all the ones I wanted to donate and put them in the box headed to Project Beauty Share.
Now my vanity is streamlined and only displaying the products I actually use and love. I don’t have to “organize” anything because there simply isn’t a need for elaborate systems or storage containers. Looking at this clutter-free space will be a great way to start and end my days.
One lesson I am learning through my decluttering experience is that the waste of money comes from buying the item in the first place. I have had to retrain my thinking and understand that I cannot get upset about ridding myself of an item that no longer has value to me. I simply should not have purchased the item in the first place if it wasn’t useful. It is a lesson to learn for future spending. And if the item had a purpose and was well-loved and simply ran its course, great! That was money well-spent anyway.
No guilt. I am simply trying to follow the happiness and forget the rest.
Are you a makeup hoarder like me? Are you willing to part with any of your unused products and hand them over to Project Beauty Share or another deserving recipient (like your mom, sister, or friend)?
