Skip to main content

How I Pared Down My Makeup Collection

 I think it's safe to say that I have more makeup than the average woman. However, my collection is nowhere near 'professional makeup artist status', and it probably never will be. Especially considering that a few days ago, I got rid of more than half of my collection. And it felt good.


See, a funny thing happens when you have too much makeup. You get tired of wearing makeup. Ironic, huh? There are simply too many choices and you can get bogged down, which results in a makeup slump. You end up wearing the same few products over and over again, never actually using all of that makeup that you amassed, which is kind of pointless, right?

Wearing makeup and playing with makeup, it should be a fun experience, not a stressful one. When you open up those vanity drawers, it should feel like opening up a box of chocolates. It should be exciting. Not daunting. A makeup collection should be well edited and full of the things you love the most. The things you can't wait to use. Not things you only ended up using once, or kept using because it was kind of expensive, or was the wrong color but you never returned it. Those things zap all of the fun out of the situation real fast. So, I bit the bullet and spent a couple of hours one weekend, sorting and purging all of the junk. So what made the cut?


EOS Lip Balms// It Cosmetics Vitality Lip Flush Je Ne Sais Quoi// Nivea Lip Butters// Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer// Benefit Porefessional Primer// 










BeautiControl Eyebrow Kit


Mac Single Eye Shadow Tempting// Wet n Wild Single Eye Shadow Nutty// Sephora Eye Shadow Trio Sunset// Maybelline Color Tattoo (Barely Branded, Inked in Pink, Tough as Taupe, Bad to the Bronze)// Wet n Wild Eye Shadow Trios (Knock on Wood, Silent Treatment, Sweet as Candy, Walking on Eggshells)//


Naked 2 Palette// Naked 2 Basics//


L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black// L'Oreal Shocking Extensions// Maybelline The Falsies Black Drama// Milani Eye Shadow Primer// Jordana Fabubrow// Wet n Wild Coloricon Eyeliner// Rimmel Eye Kohl Jet Black// Stila Stay All Day Liquid Eye Liner//


Milani Luminoso// Milani Rose D'Oro// NYX Pinched// Nars Orgasm//


L'Oreal Collection Privee (Julianne's Nude, Jennifer's Nude)// Rimmel Lasting Finish (Temptation, In Vogue, Airy Fairy)// Mac Lipstick (Viva Glam V, Viva Glam II, Ruby Woo)//


Milani Color Statement Lipstick (Rose Hip, Fruit Punch, Flamingo Pose, Dulce Caramelo)// Revlon Balm Stain (Honey, Precious)// E.L.F Matte Lip Color (Rich Red, Nearly Nude, Natural)//


Rimmel Stay Glossy (Don't have the names)// Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss (Peach Pango, Supernatural)// L'Oreal Le Gloss (Golden Splash, Baby Blossom)// NYX Butter Gloss (Tiramisu, Eclair, Creme Brulee)//


L'Oreal Fairest Nude// NYX Thalia// Revlon Certainly Red// Wet n Wild Fergie Daily// Maybelline Make Me Pink// Flower Beauty Babys Buttercup// Rimmel Showoff Celestial// Buxom Lip Gloss Dolly// Bonnebell Cappuccino// Flower Beauty Lip Gloss Baby's Breath// Milani Lip Gloss Puttin' on the Glitz//


Obviously this is still a lot of makeup to the average person, but it feels like a small collection to me. In some categories I only have one or two of something which feels really, really weird. I do have to say that since I pared everything down, I have been loving it. It brought the excitement back to my collection, and I've been using some old favorites that I forgot I even had. I don't miss what I got rid of at all.

So.. does all of this purging mean that I'm no longer going to buy any more makeup? Um. No. No way, Jose. Not even close. There are some gaps in my makeup collection. Gaps that I plan to fill slowly, over time. Many of these items are holy grail products for me, but many are not. A large number of these items will be re-purchased after they run out, or I will purchase something very similar. I also plan to upgrade a few items as well. I love my drugstore makeup, so my collection will always be a mix of both drugstore and higher end stuff, but there are so many great items out there that I've had my eye on for years and want to take for a spin. I also plan on adding to my collection more items from brands that I've had a good experience with, and want to try more of, like Nars and Urban Decay. They make amazing makeup and I've loved a few of their products, so I want to find more. And then there will be items that I purchase because I just want to, but those will be fewer and farther between. The whole point is that I'm going to be more thoughtful with my makeup purchases, more honest about what I really do and don't like, and return what doesn't work for me. I want to be able to keep adding items to my tried and true list, not my toss pile.

So there you have it. My makeup collection. As of today at least. In the future I'm sure I'll do an updated post. I'll be interested to see what changes. Oh, and don't worry, I told my best friends they could have whatever they wanted from the huge pile that I was tossing so it's not all going to waste. 

What's your makeup collection like? Are you a product junkie? Or more of a minimalist? Do you ever do a big makeup purge? Or are you building a collection right now? 

P.S. I just realized that I didn't include my now one and only lip liner. It's this one. Can't do red lips without it. ;)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

New Photography Gear & Tips

  I think it's pretty safe to say that this blog has created a new love of photography in my life. I've always been a little shutterbug, but until I had a 'reason' to step up my photography game, I simply viewed it as a hobby. In the last year, it has become much more than that. When I purchased my camera, I wanted something I could grow with. I wasn't about to drop a ton of dough on a heavy duty Canon or Nikon when I'd never actually shot anything in manual mode and knew very little about exposure, composition, or editing. So I bought my Samsung (after doing a lot of research), which comes with an 18-55mm zoom lens. The kit lens is great, and I've taken some of my favorite pictures with it, but... I outgrew it. I could have gone out and purchased a new, more advanced camera system, but I still love my Samsung. I think it's a great 'blogging camera'. I opted for a new lens instead ( Samsung 45mm f/ 1.8 prime lens ). I could get pret

The Makeup Mix-Up: American Beauty

  Makeup Mix-Up Day is here! Now, if you're thinking that this look is remarkably similar to my profile image, you're not wrong. I knew when Jaelan and I decided on the American Beauty prompt that I wanted to do a look like this. To me, there is no one single definition of 'American' beauty, and what makes a person beautiful is when they feel good in their own skin, when they're wearing a look (makeup or not) that makes them come alive and feel confident. For me, that often means red lipstick and a subtle wing. I love the look of a bare eye and an ultra strong lip. It's my favorite look to wear and to apply, so it was a no-brainer.  First of all, how funny is it that Jaelan and I are both wearing stripes? When it comes to the makeup, we did not discuss or plan our looks together, but I am guessing that we're going to end up thinking alike more often than not on these prompts. I love Jaelan's smokey brown shadow, her strong brow, and t

Book Buying Freeze

  Book Buying Freeze I've developed this habit. This book habit. I'll go to the store on a random Tuesday. From across the room, I'll spot a book that seems intriguing. Good-looking cover. Interesting blurb on the back. I pick it up and read the first couple of pages. It makes me laugh. We hit it off, me and this book. I invite it back to my place. We open a bottle of wine and snuggle up on the couch together. Things are going great. We're getting to know each other. Maybe I even tell my best friend about this book. How great it is and how much she'd love it. Then something happens. Usually about a quarter of the way through. You know what I'm talking about. The book I thought was going to be so great, The One even, suddenly isn't so interesting anymore. Maybe it's the way it takes forever to get to the point. Or maybe it's the way it uses too many overly descriptive words. Maybe it's just a character thing. Whatever the