Decluttering my Makeup Collection

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that one of my 2018 beauty goals is to get my makeup vanity/workspace set up. One of the things I wanted to do before setting my desk up is to get rid of all the beauty products that I don’t use anymore. There’s really just no point in reorganizing and finding a place to house products that I don’t use anymore, you know?

This may not seem like a very big declutter at first, but I actually own a fairly small makeup collection, especially considering I’m a beauty blogger! Depending on how much I use the products I decide to keep, I might do another declutter at the end of the year. I’ve been seeing a lot of decluttering posts lately, and it’s nice to know everyone else is starting the new year off with a clean makeup collection.

Too Faced A Few of my Favourite Things palette and the Urban Decay Vice palette

EYESHADOWS

Urban Decay Vice Palette

This is an OG palette in my collection, and it’s also the OG Vice palette. I’m 99% sure it’s the second high-end palette I’ve ever owned, after the Naked palette. This was purchased at a time when I was more into wearing colours on my eyes than I do these days. The quantity of this palette is decent – there are two shades that are Glitter Central and a few that has a stiff formula, but overall it’s a pretty decent palette – I just don’t find myself using it at all anymore.

Too Faced A Few of My Favourite Things Palette

When this palette came out, a lot of the shades interested me, but in reality I didn’t really get much use out of the more colourful ones. I liked the idea of having both face and eye products all together, and while I did get some use out of the face products, it wasn’t nearly as much as I use my single blushes and bronzers.

Too Faced Le Grand Chateau Palette

Only in the last two years have I stopped getting sucked into Too Faced’s holiday packaging, but back then, I had partially bought this for the cute Parisian-inspired packaging with the three small palettes housed in the chateau-shaped box. The shades included in the palette are a bit powdery but overall they are good. However, I only reached for this a handful of times last year and I feel like it could be more appreciated with someone else.

W7 In The Night Eyeshadow Palette

I bought this at Winners on a whim. The reviews of this palette were decent, but from doing swatches of the palette, I think the quality is just not there. Most of the shades are powdery and have very weak colour payoff – only one or two were passable. This is going into the trash.

NYX Avant Pop Palette

I bought this in Toronto in 2016, and I’ve only ever done swatches of it to test the pigmentation. The quality is fantastic, and the colours still appeal to me, but I’ve just never even had a chance to use it and I don’t think I will in the future. I wish that I hadn’t swatched it at all, because at least then I would be giving it to a friend completely unused.

MAC Dazzleshadow Eyeshadow in She Sparkles

Ugh, this is virtually untouched. I own two other eyeshadows that are very similar in colour to this, and none of them look flattering on me. I think I’m just automatically very drawn to this type of shade, and forget that it doesn’t look good on my skintone. Oh well, at least I should be able to give this to a friend.

Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter and Glow Liquid Eyeshadow in Peachy Sheen

Even though I just bought the Glitter & Glow set in December, I already know this one is going in the trash. It is the weakest shade in the set by a long mile, and there’s no chance I’ll ever use this.

Does it hurt anyone else to get rid of eyeshadow palettes? For one, they’re expensive so it feels like all of that money going down the drain! Secondly, a lot of the ones I own are limited edition or holiday palettes, so it feels like I’m throwing something away that I’ll never be able to get my hands on again. While I have thoroughly enjoyed using most of these palettes, the ones I decided to declutter are ones that I either barely touched or did not touch at all last year. I’m going to see if a friend would like the UD, both Too Faced palettes, the NYX palette, and the MAC shadow.

NARS Blush in Orgasm (deluxe sample)

Yes, I’m getting rid of this cult classic. I mean…look how gorgeous it looks in the pan. But I can’t stand the straight-up glitters in this blush. I would rather try less glittery dupes of this blush that are out there.

Smashbox Fusion Soft Lights in Rose Gold

I know the pan looks l like I’ve never used this because the embossing is still intact, but I actually used it a lot. I’m just not sure what to do with this product, to be honest. It’s too shimmery to be a blush, but too dark on me to be a highlighter unless I only use the two lightest sections. Unfortunate, because it’s super pretty.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed

I absolutely loved this blush once upon a time and used it tons. However, the MAC blush in Cubic is a similar shade, but is even more pigmented and easier to use than Exposed. As a result, I’ve pretty much abandoned Exposed for the past year and a half, and am going to declutter it.

Smashbox Be Legendary Lipstick in Fig and Posy Pink (minis)

I bought these two lipsticks as a duo set during Black Friday or Boxing Day a few years ago. I used both shades maybe two or three times and it’s so drying, I refuse to try it again! Also, Posy Pink doesn’t look good on me, so there’s no point in keeping these around.

Bite Beauty Lush Lip Tint in Blackcurrant 

Two or three years ago, I didn’t wear lipstick at all, and the only lip colours I wore were tinted lip balms. At the time, this was right up my alley. Now, I’m throwing this away because I don’t really use tinted lip balms anymore, and because the scent has started to go a little off.

Urban Decay 24/7 Concealer Pencil

Years ago, a Sephora employee recommended this to me as an undereye concealer. I mean…what? Back then I didn’t know, but I know now that pencil concealers are too dry to use under the eye. I mostly used this to spot conceal and it didn’t do a terrible job, but overall I think that liquid concealers work much, much better.

Sephora Collection Glitter Liners

I bought these a few years ago and was super excited to do a glittery cat-eye with these. I love that purple-blue shade on the right especially, but the quantity just isn’t there. They are so patchy and not pigmented at all – it’s essentially a clear liner with a few glitters suspended in it, and there’s no way I could do a precise winged liner with these! After taking this photo, I ended up swatching them again and decided to keep the purple and green ones. They’re more metallic than glittery and are quite pigmented. However, if I still don’t use them at all this year, then they’re going in the trash during my second declutter!

Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Polishes in Shine On and Golden-I

I think I only tried Shine On once – it’s so thick, goopy and difficult to use, so I’m not even attempting to try again. I’ve actually used a LOT of Golden-I – more than half a bottle is gone. However, I just don’t reach for it anymore.

Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Nail Polish in Black and Blue

I bought this on sale during Black Friday 2016; it’s been over a year and I’ve only used it once. I’m just not drawn to these types of colours anymore and I don’t think I’ll use it often in the next year or so, so this is getting decluttered too.

I am usually pretty ruthless with my nail polish decluttering, but since starting my blog, I’ve minimized my nail polish collection to less than two dozen polishes! There’s not much more to cut from that, so these are the few I’m getting rid of.

That is it for my declutter! Have you thrown away a bunch of your makeup to start anew, or are you planning to soon?