Beauty Declutter

It’s the new year and I’m ready to clear out every room in my house! Do you ever get that way? February rolls around and you have been stuck inside for weeks because of the snow and all its glory!? Winters in upstate NY can be brutal but what I love about it is its beauty. Everything is quiet in the mornings, you look outside and everything is white with a bed of fresh fluffy white snow. I love being stuck inside on those days, in my pj’s with a cozy blanky, reading those books I had been wanting to finally read! It’s lovely, but when I sit for too long I get antsy and I look around and see the clutter and then – the book goes away again for the time being.. Cleaning can be really relaxing to me, when I’m in a cleaning mood that is! Lol And as such I, of course, went up to my office and started going through all my products – makeup pieces I haven’t used in over a year! I love taking everything out, laying everything out on the office floor and going through each piece – how long has it been since I last used it, if I can’t remember then it goes in one of two piles 1. Giveaways or 2. Garbage!

I get a lot of questions about how long I keep products for? Now, I’m certainly not perfect but the general rule of thumb is :

Foundations / Primers / Blushes / Eyeshadows are all generally good for about 2 years
Lipsticks are good for 1 year after opening
Mascara / Liquid eyeliner is good for about 3 Months

Sometimes it is hard to part with certain pieces! I still have my first high-end eyeshadow palette I had purchased. I spent over $50 on it, and at that time, for me, it was an insane amount of money to spend on eyeshadow! It was the Smashbox Full Exposure Eyeshadow Palette with the brush and eyeshadow primer included. I felt so special opening that box up and using those products! Some products just hold too many memories. I look back on that palette and I still love it! It was purchased almost 8 years ago now but it’s still a classic! I would repurchase it in a heartbeat. But for most of the products that go in those 2 piles are products I tried, liked, but aren’t something I regularly go back to and would be loved much more with someone the products are better suited with. The products I love generally get used up faster than any others, naturally.

I go through my makeup about once a year to declutter and pass on or toss. What do you girls do?