February 2021 - Early Spring Cleaning
I don’t know about you, but I LOVE Spring Cleaning. There’s just something really cathartic about taking a look at all my clothes, makeup, skincare - and just all the stuff I’ve accumulated (cough hoarded) over the year - and make the call about what to keep, what to donate, and what to toss.
I realize I am a little bit early to Spring Cleaning, but with our wedding coming up, we’ll need to start moving and organizing things into our new home soon. But I can’t do that if I’m moving in the contents of the last 25 years of life. I usually hate wasting and throwing away products (especially if they’re more than 50% unused.) But recently, if I notice that I’ve just been keeping something for too long and I haven’t used it, I will delight in just tossing it.
Here are some of my guidelines and general tips I’m trying to follow this Spring:
Clothing
General guideline: Anything that you haven’t worn in 1 year needs to be re-evaluated. I say 1 year because some years you don’t get to cycle through some clothes that may be seasonal.
Since my college days, I’ve begun to invest in higher-quality (sometimes, more expensive) clothing that I’ll want to wear and keep for a long time. I know fast fashion is super trendy and affordable nowadays, but most of those clothes are cheaply made and will have to be tossed after a few wears.
Anything that no longer fits can and should be donated! Each year, I donate some old clothes/shoes to The Salvation Army - you can find their donation boxes in many locations across the US. However, anything that is beyond normal wear and tear (i.e. is ripped, has holes, is falling apart, etc.) should NOT be donated. Although I’m sure anyone who receives these donated clothes would be grateful for any kind of clothing, it’s really important to treat your donation as a gift. If you have good clothes that could use a new home, please wash them and donate them to people in need!
Makeup
Mascara and Eyeliner - 3 to 6 months! I am SO guilty of not following this rule. Although, I have wisened up over the years - I’m not buying $30+ mascaras anymore! In fact, the mini or trial versions of full-size mascaras will probably give you the most value!
Cream/Liquid/Stick Products - 6 months to 1 year. This applies to foundation, BB creams, highlighters, etc. I would even say that products that get exposed to light and air (products that come in stick form) should be thrown out even earlier.
Powder-Based Products - 2 to 3 years. Eyeshadows, blushes, and bronzers. Wow - I really need to take a hard look at myself, because I have loads of eyeshadow and blush palettes from the gift sets my mom received from her Estée Lauder purchases. (Remember those?? Yeah, definitely 5+ years old.. Typical sentimental hoarder me decided to take a family photo of them all - see below - before I say goodbye to them.)
Lipstick - 2 to 3 years. Luckily, I am a lipstick fiend so this is the only category that I might pass. However I will admit, along with the Estée Lauder-gift lip glosses I’ve collected over the years, I also have a few Kylie Cosmetics lip glosses that are a few years old now.. yikes.
*Tim and I will have been together for 3 years this coming April - so funny enough, I’ve been using our relationship as my guide post. “Hmm, if I bought this before Tim and I started dating, it’s time for me to throw it away.” LOL!
Skincare
Cleansers - 1 year.
Toners - 6 months to 1 year
AHA/BHA Exfoliants - 1 year
Serums & Moisturizers - 6 months to 1 year. I definitely think cycling through skincare is easier for me than makeup - just because I use it everyday. Also, if you’ve read in my previous posts, I buy way too much skincare. So for me, the problem is that I’m buying new products faster than I can use them and throw them away. One way I’m trying to combat this is by sticking to a simpler but consistent routine.
Skincare Samples! I get so many of these as gifts or included in my purchases throughout the years. I feel like I’ve been hoarding these in a cute gift box for my entire life - some of these are definitely 5+ years old. (See photo on the right above!) It’s so so tempting to keep them because they’re so small and “I’ll use them when I travel” (which maybe has happened a handful of times), but remember - even samples have a shelf life! You also don’t know how old they already are by the time you receive them!
I definitely need to keep these expiration timelines in mind when I’m buying skincare/makeup products. Even though something might be value-size, if I don’t think I’ll finish using it by the time it goes bad, it won’t really be saving me any money at all. I definitely feel bad if something had to go to waste, but in the long run - if it goes on my skin, I definitely want the product to be “fresh.” Lastly, if you haven’t touched a product in over 6 months (i.e. this Dior Peony Cleanser and Toner set I got years ago), chances are you probably won’t ever use it again and you should keep in mind to not repurchase the product. Note to Self: After this year, don’t buy these 1234567890 products again!!
XO.