how is your make-up bag looking?

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how is your make-up bag looking?

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Started 2 years ago by bandicoot
Latest reply from chacha1
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bandicoot
Member

or your bathroom cabinet or that grimy little drawer where you keep it all?

why have i got fifty thousand mineral make-up eyeshadows?
none of them are used....i never wear eye shadow! ever!
i am marching in there right now and scooping them out and sending them on to a good home. someone else's home.
and i have about seven lipsticks.
i don't need seven.
i don't wear it enough to warrant seven.

and while i'm at it....i am washing out the 1 litre amber glass bottle that has a teaspoon of lotion in it that i made exactly 12 months ago. what is that all about? hoarding alert!! sure, i'll keep the bottle and make another litre of lotion and enjoy that too. but this time i'll try not to let it sit there mostly empty for two months.

i make handmade soap for a living. i participate in a lot of swaps with a lot of other bath & beauty people. it generates alarming amounts of clutter.
yes, it's all consumable and it's all handmade and the very best of everything and i share it around a lot....but this year i am forced to consider all this production and posting and stuffstuffstuff that winds up here.

yes, once i've got that all emptied out, i can really spread out my perfumes.

Posted 2 years ago #
Laetitia in Australia
Member

Hahaha bandicoot - how many perfumes do you have and do you need them all? :-) Or are they for your soap products?

Posted 2 years ago #
zchristy
Member

Bandicoot, my makeup bag is minimal, but it does need to be cleaned out. I have only 2 lipsticks - one for every day and one darker colour for performing.

I'm curious who takes your eye shadow? Maybe it's all the pink eye going around, but I'd pitch the eyeshadow...For hygienic reasons no one should wear anyone else's eye makeup.

Thanks for the reminder to clean out my makeup bag - I organized all my toiletries a couple of weeks ago and all my every day items are in one small basket, but I had forgotten to clean my makeup bag so it looks neat and clean.

Posted 2 years ago #
Lori Paximadis
Member

How funny -- just yesterday I took a look at my makeup drawer and decided it was time to start fresh. I went out and bought four new eyeshadows, a new mascara, and an extra of the one eyeliner that really looks good out of the last several I bought. Trashed all the old eyeshadows and mascara and less-than-stellar liners. I don't often wear base or lipstick, and what I have is still good, so I kept those.

It's already on today's list to take everything out of that drawer, clean it, and reorganize it.

And yeah, used eye stuff should be tossed, not passed along.

Posted 2 years ago #
themusiclivez
Member

Do you know how long you're supposed to keep eye shadows once they have been used? I have some fairly old, expensive ones but wonder if they need to be tossed.

Posted 2 years ago #
Lori Paximadis
Member

themusiclivez, most places say 2-3 years for powders, 6-12 months for creams, and to toss anything that starts to smell funky. (Can't say I've ever had an eyeshadow smell funky.) I wear the same four or so regularly, so mine don't often last that long before they're gone or I get sick of them.

Posted 2 years ago #
themusiclivez
Member

Lori, thank you! I have some MAC eyeshadows that are probably 3 years old... but they don't smell or anything. Everything else is used pretty quickly though! I think the key for me is to stop buying anymore and use what I have!

Posted 2 years ago #
Sky
Member

I think I've finally figured out what makeup works for me and what doesn't so that has cut out a lot of mistake buying. I narrowed it down to the basics, bare minerals for my face, eyeliner, mascara and 2 lipsticks. It is so much simpler and takes up less space. I have a basket in my bathroom and a makeup bag in my purse.
I try to buy when I find something on sale and keep a extra supply.

I was tempted at Christmas with the huge box of Estee Lauder makeup at department stores all wrapped up and glitzy. But I resisted and walked away. Saved my money and didn't end up with a ton of crap I would never use.

Posted 2 years ago #
zchristy
Member

musiclivez, I use MAC too and they last a LONG time. Because they are pressed and they close with no moisture and are not open to the air, I have some like new after 2 years!

Posted 2 years ago #
bandicoot
Member

none of the eyeshadows have been used or opened....they are all mineral make-up and untouched.
people send me samples when i order MMU face powder, and they just sit there in the cupboard.

laetitia, at any given moment, i've got about 9 or 10 perfumes on the go.
they are all essential oil perfumes handmade by friends or myself, nothing commercial.
usually i wear them for pleasure, but because i work with aromatics, there is an element of business in there too.
i've got a whole gigantic workshop stuffed full of essential oils and herbs, and a certain degree of clutter...but that's a whole other story.

Posted 2 years ago #
charmed2482
Member

i guess things are really easy for me, i don't wear any makeup at all, so i don't have to deal with all of this.

Posted 2 years ago #
badkitti
Member

I have a small window sill. On that I have a wooden ikea desk tidy that holds all my make up. There is a dish that holds often used earrings and hairbands, and the remaining empty space holds hair products.

Here is a photo of the ikea tray just after I sorted it a few years ago:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/badkitti/1477612595/

Posted 2 years ago #
themusiclivez
Member

zchristy - I was wondering what made MAC eyeshadows last so long! They still look fantastic after all of this time!

Posted 2 years ago #
kbfenner
Member

Okay, this is the project for today. I am a serious make-up junkie. I will read about some new make-up, or feel old and over-made-up, or washed-out and under made-up, or greasy or dry....all excuses to buy more, "better" stuff....and then I get free samples, too....
I just can't see how powdered eyeshadows used with a brush and kept in a stable environment are only good for two years--I've seen some pretty skanky looking shadows kept in cars and the like, but mine look fine. That said, I have enough makeup to meet the needs of a production of Cats, so maybe I need to use Erin's mantra of only keep the best.
I just treated myself to new Bobbi Brown eyeshadows and a blush in the new square palette. I bought some other new high end makeup just last summer based on How Not to Look Old, but since I feel like it is more suited to a blonde than dark-haired me, perhaps it needs to go anyway. The Nars blushes, though are great, and I'm having trouble letting go of some Cargo shadows I use for evening, except that I don't do much for evening, so....then I could actually use the bamboo drawer organizers I bought for my vanity and clear off the countertop....
Only the best, right?

Posted 2 years ago #
Lori Paximadis
Member

@kbfenner, the problem is the ingredients. Some stuff (oil, wax, emollients) just doesn't have a long shelf life. And I don't think anyone washes and sanitizes their brushes after every single use, so unless you're using a new Q-tip for every dip into the shadow, you are introducing bacteria and skin oil and stuff like that into the shadow.

Posted 2 years ago #
IvyLeagueGirlie
Member

4 Bare Escentuals powders (2 colors, mineral vale, and "warmth")
2 Bobby Brown eyeshadows (2 shades worn together, 2.5 years old and going strong!)
1 DiorShow mascara (black)
1 Revlon eyeliner (black)
1 lip gloss (clear, cheap, hydrating)
1 set good makeup brushes (stored upright in a nice holder)

That covers all the bases, and everything but the brushes fits in a small makeup bag. I really don't see the need for multiples of items. A big makeup collection is bound to be cluttered with some dated or too-trendy items!

Posted 2 years ago #
rueishness
Member

I keep all my makeup and toiletry items in a little drawer organizer (like this: http://www.stacksandstacks.com/sterilite-3-drawer-organizer-clearview-wide-20938003?id=176&sku=11565&utm_medium=shoppingengine&utm_source=googlebase) under the bathroom sink. Makeup is in one drawer on its own. It's been like that for several years because as I've moved around I've never had a good, permanent place for it. I loved my last apartment because my bathroom vanity had real, live DRAWERS that I could put it in. But my new house does not, so makeup has been banished back to the plastic drawers. The good thing is that I can just pull the makeup drawer out and set it on the vanity while I'm getting ready, and then put it right back when I'm done. It also makes it easier to clean out the drawer itself - since it's plastic I can just wipe it down, whereas a fabric makeup bag would have to be washed.

I probably do need to clean it out. I really don't have much (a handful of eyeshadows - maybe four?, a couple of liners, lip gloss, blush, two concealers, and a few brushes) but I no longer wear a few of the things there. I need to go out and buy myself some really nice makeup basics and just keep those.

Posted 2 years ago #
egage
Member

This is one area where I am happy with excess. I love makeup and cosmetics and was a counter manager for the Origins brand for awhile. I enjoy getting the gifts with purchase that some brands offer but this has resulted in overages. For example, the lipsticks are rarely a shade I can wear. I usually donate those, untried, to a thrift store. I also just unloaded about half a dozen makeup bags.

For the rest, I have the pared-down set of treatments (creams, etc.) that I use regularly in the medicine cabinet. Most makeup is in an organizer thingy in the drawer, and I know I have way too much that I will never use, mainly eyeshadows that I collected while I was at Origins in "what was I thinking" colors. I pull from the drawer to stock a makeup bag on the counter and a compatible one for my purse.

I also have a case divided into compartments where I store samples, mostly of creams rather than makeup. These are useful when I travel. Finally, I have a cupboard in the bathroom for full size extras of facial and bath products. I stocked up while I got a discount!

I am, however, being restrained and not accumulating any more. I mainly use things up, since even if it is not a top fave, I don't want to send it to the landfill.

Posted 2 years ago #
kbfenner
Member

Oooh, Rueishness! I like it. They have them on sale at my local Target. They fit under my sink. Good stuff.

I got my makeup down to one small vanity drawer and two cups -- one for pencils and one for brushes. I cannot bear to throw out the recently purchased stuff--palettes of eyeshadow, two powder blushes (one peachy and one pink) and one cream blush, and lip glosses I actually wear, and lipsticks I just bought and will wear in the evening. As I use them up or they expire, I will not replace them until I get down to what will fit in my Bobbi Brown six slot palette. The palette has a blush, a light base shadow, two medium lid shadows--one slightly darker than the other, and two liners--a basic espresso and a forest green/gold metallic (I was skeptical about it so I bought the espresso. I will stick with the forest green next time.It's very neutral on!).

I put away all the brushes I don't use (I have a second set of really good ones for my office desk when I worked away from home and I have some smaller travel sized ones. I put those in one of the drawers of the plastic organizer rueishness uses. I used another drawer for mascaras (I get a ton of samples, and buy one,get one deals) and another for all the other samples I save for when I travel.

Posted 2 years ago #
angelicious
Member

I actually cleaned up my makeup "by accident" last August. I ventured from the drugstore makeup counter to Ulta, where I made my first Bare Minerals purchase. I loved them! (Especially Mineral Veil.) I saved the box, which is now my makeup box. It contains:

1 Ulta compact palette (holds eyeshadow & blush; I only use eyeshadows (2) but it's flat, convenient & swappable)
Mascara & eyelash curler
Brushes: kobuki, eyeshadow, eyeliner smudger (tiny), coverup brush
4 mineral pots (beige, med beige, mineral veil, blusher)
Eyeliner: 1 white (for inner eye), Ulta double-sided (black/brown) eyeliner

All of this fits into a box the size and depth of a regular hardback book, and my total makeup/hair prep time is down to 15 minutes. I have mid-back-length straight hair, so I just curl the ends while applying eye shadow and I'm finished. Way to go for decluttering both the makeup *and* the routine!

I keep a larger palette of eyeshadows under my dresser, pulling them out only to swap new colors when the old ones run out. My purse bag is just a smaller pot of Mineral Veil and the smaller kabuki brush, kept in the same carryall as my packet of tea, flash drive, extra pens, Tide pen, etc.

Posted 2 years ago #

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