Clearing out my Makeup – Forgotten makeup favourites
As per my post on Instagram at the beginning of February, (see below) I was disguised at how much makeup I had stashed away. I know that I am a professional Makeup artist and have spares of my holy grail products but I’m actually talking about all of the makeup in my personal collection. I am a makeup hoarder and I admit it. And no, I don’t need help! Well maybe a little!!!!
After writing the post on Instagram I then discovered even more makeup in my bedroom!!!!! At this point I have to admit that I need help with my fixation with makeup!
My problem is that as a makeup artist and independent blogger (and a woman!) I like to try new products. Some because they are raved about by other people, some because they are new products from favourite brands, some because they are new brands to me and finally because I like to have a mix of high end and high street products.
My actual problem is that I can have used a product for a few weeks to try/test it and even though I loved it, I will try a new product and put the current one in my makeup draws to never see the light of day again!
This is, in my opinion, despicable as there are many women in need of makeup including my sisters but also Womens’ shelters etc., and so my resolution for this year is to sort out my makeup (de-clutter) and pass it on to people who can and will use it.
I must point out that there are hygiene issues with passing on used makeup and so products which cannot be sanitised are always passed onto my sisters. They will obviously get first pick of the other makeup but things like eyeshadow palettes, lipsticks, pressed powders and products in bottles with nozzles or spatulas can be sanitised or used hygienically (and are not wanted by my family) can be passed onto my local women’s shelter for women who are in need of a little TLC.
So now that I’ve rambled on for a while, here is the pile of makeup that I’m going to be sorting out. And yes, I also gasped at the amount of products sat in my draws!
Once I had tipped everything out I put it into piles of ‘similar’ products such as all foundations together, all lip products together etc. This allowed me to see what I was actually dealing with.
I took each pile one at a time and went through quickly to see which products were out of date and then threw them away immediately.
I then used extra large lunch bags to put the products that I no longer wanted into, in their categories: Sisters, Mum, Donate, Keep. Each item was swatched and this task took me over 2 hours. Some products I knew that I wanted to use again and some I had completely forgotten how good they were or how lovely the colour was. Some products and palettes I again knew immediately that they were to be donated. It’s amazing how seeing and feeling the products makes you remember whether you loved or hated them!!!!!!
I also found a few items that I wanted to put back into my professional makeup kit
The process took a lot longer than anticipated; not just because I was testing and sanitising the products as I went along, but my cat Gladys, also wanted to help!!!!
My Forgotten Favourites
So now onto the actual purpose of this blog post which is to discuss/show my forgotten top 5 makeup favourites.
- Clinique Chubby Sticks: I found that I had 9 of these however I personally only wanted to keep 3 of them – Super Strawberry, Chunky Cherry Plushest Punch.
These Chubby Sticks are moisturising coloured lip balms in an pencil style applicator which twists up therefore making them easy to use and carry about in your bag. (£18.50 Clinique.co.uk)
2. The Chubby Stick Shadow Tint for Eyes I’m glad that I discovered again as I used to love using these for a quick and easy application of colour for a simple day look.
The sticks are long-wearing and non-smudging which give a sheer wash of colour. Just like the chubby sticks for lips, they are in a pencil-style applicator which is really easy to use and the product blends beautifully on the eyes.
I kept bountiful beige and donated the rest to my lovely sisters who will enjoy them.
(£18.50 Clinique.co.uk)
3. Garnier BB Creams are probably about to expire as I purchased them last summer but I will definitely be using these again this summer and on days when I want a lighter coverage of foundation. The BB creams are mineral based with added vitamin C and SPF15. The BB cream evens out and illuminates my skin whilst , having 24hr hydration. BB Creams are perfect for lighter coverage on normal to dryer skin and I absolutely love these for the summer. I cant wait to use them again. (£9.99 Superdrug)
4. MUA Whipped Velvet lip Lacquer. I again have a few of these in my makeup kit however I don’t rush to grab them and use other brands first, however that is about to change.
These liquid lipsticks are richly pigmented, silky smooth and dry quickly. They also glide on effortlessly to leave a gorgeous velvet finish that is smudge proof and long-lasting. (It took a while to get the swatches off my hand!!!) I think I have saved the colour ‘Spry’ which doesn’t seem to be available on the Superdrug website anymore but I have seen lots more colours that I am going to be purchasing and for only £3 each they are an absolute bargain.
5. W7 Keep Em Dry Waterproof Mascara Top Coat. I actually tried this out last year when I tried a handful of W7 products as I wanted to see what the hype was about.
I must confess that I usually use Clarins double fix Mascara seal however at £3.99 I thought that Id give it a chance and review it. I remember that I was totally amazed. This top coat does actually waterproof your lashes and keeps your mascara in place all day!
I cant remember why I stopped using it other than I had one of the Clarins products open but Ill be purchasing another one as soon as they are back in stock at W7makeup.
Above is the only products which I saved for myself and below you can see the bags of makeup to be donated. I cant believe that I had that much makeup sitting in my drawers which is all new or in date and I haven’t used it. That being said I have purchased a lot of makeup over the last 6 months as I have been writing a lot of blog posts (some will be posted soon) but still, that’s a lot of makeup sitting about.
I encourage all women (and men who wear makeup) to sort out their makeup hoards at least twice a year and do something good for your family and women in need.
Not only does it make you feel better for ‘sharing the wealth’ but it also means that you can see your makeup products more easily and therefore will use them before they go out of date and save yourself some money.
Let me know in the comments if you have taken my advice and de-cluttered your makeup/skincare and what products you have re-discovered and why you love them.
As with all my blog posts this is my opinion and is not sponsored or paid by any brand.
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Thank you for reading 💋
Claire xx
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