need help uncluttering personal care products

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need help uncluttering personal care products

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Started 1 year ago by luxcat
Latest reply from djk
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luxcat
Member

Hmmmm...

I need advice, inspiration, a kick in the butt, something!

I have a cupboard full of half or barely used personal care products like shampoo, lotion etc.

I can easily get rid of the unopened stuff (donate! friends!)

I can easily get rid of the expired stuff (ew!)

What I cannot make myself get rid of (or find anyone to take) is that "perfectly good" bottle of shampoo that I can't use anymore because I started dying my hair and that sort of shampoo strips the colour...

...and the body wash that smells good but that I never use because I can't smell like anything at work (long story)... the body oil that I used for a while during a dry winter until I realized that cleaning the residue from the tub was not worth it and using it in the shower was a slip hazard to me and my family.

What to do? what to do?

Posted 1 year ago #
thewritegirl
Member

Well, I can tell you what I do...

If it is a body wash or shampoo or some kind of soap, I use it to clean my toilets! It makes them smell good. Or, use it to clean your shower walls while you're in there.

If I can't think of an alternate use for it, I just throw it away. Throwing away a bunch of perfectly good beauty products just because I didn't like them made me reevaluate how easily I purchase new ones. I try to really buy only what I *know* I'm going to use now, which helps with the flow of clutter coming into the bathroom.

Posted 1 year ago #
bandicoot
Member

if the stuff is really perfectly good, then perhaps a women's shelter might be happy to have it?

i second the idea to use anything like shampoo or liquid soap to clean shower and toilet. even clean the kitchen sink with the stuff!

the body oil....really, just throw it out. let it go. the money is long since spent and you made a decision about the product. don't let it occupy your mind or your cupboard for a minute longer.
and avoid similar products in the future!

i make my living from soapmaking and of course i have dabbled in making lots of other products too.....just for my own use.
over the years i have ditched most of them and now have the most basic routines imaginable.
paring things down has given me a great deal of satisfaction.
there is an undeniable elegance in simplicity.
i don't just buy or make stuff willy nilly any more.
like the writegirl says, i try to only buy what i *know* i am going to use.

Posted 1 year ago #
needtocleanhouse
Member

I might ask relatives and people I know well enough whether they would like an opened bottle of _____ and let them know why I was letting it go. I knew one woman a while ago who would have been thrilled to be offered these items.

Posted 1 year ago #
maryann
Member

I use Freecycle, just mention that the items are 10% used up or whatever. There always seems to be someone ready to take them off my hands. Times are tough these days - you'd be surprised what other people want...

Posted 1 year ago #
trillie
Member

For the body wash that smells good but you don't want to use before work -- use it on weekends and days you don't work? The good smell could become your weekend treat! :o)

Posted 1 year ago #
pammyfay
Member

These things are not working for you! You acknowledge that! You would be using that body wash on weekends or vacations if you truly liked it anyway. Put the stuff in a box, take it to the curb and post a 'curb alert' on the free-stuff section of Craigslist. Somebody who thinks she can use it will benefit. Just wash your hands off this stuff that's cluttering your space and, worse: your mind!

You are wasting your personal energy obsessing over this stuff, I'm sensing.

Every so often, I go through the closet that holds all the medicines, health and beauty products and weed through it, with a trash can right next to me. Some things that I hadn't even opened, I put on a giveaway counter at work. Trust me: The stuff was gone within hours. And yes, it cost me money, but it was another slap on the head to think about what I'm using my money for.

Posted 1 year ago #
Betharu
Member

I agree with using the body wash on special occasions - a night out or over the weekend. If you have 1/2 empty big bottles, why not transfer them into smaller bottles and use for travel or as supplies for company? I have a drawer in my guest room with small bottles of shampoos, body wash, lotions and other personal care items so that my guests don't have to worry if they forget something.

One other suggestion - if friends or family have vacation homes, they are always looking for "extras". And, all those kids going away to college in a month need supplies. It can get expensive stocking up on items so any donations would be appreciated!

Posted 1 year ago #
nickynic
Member

Can you use the body oil after the shower while your skin is still damp? This way it won't leave a residue in your shower

Posted 1 year ago #
Anonymous

I would recommend offering them to friends/family also, but I have also found people are willing to buy this stuff at garage sales. I wouldn't, but I have seen it happen at a neighbor's garage sale. Now I would totally use an opened shampoo offered by a friend.

Posted 1 year ago #
minneapolisite
Member

A "special occasion" is the LAST time I would use a new product or dig out an old product. I like to stick to my tried-and-true products for special events.

I second @bandicoot's suggestion--donate all "perfectly good" used products to a women's shelter or St Vincent de Paul. Whenever I donate bath/beauty products I visualize my products going on to help a battered woman feel pampered, or maybe even feel a little more confident at a job interview. Definitely better than just dumping them down the drain!

Posted 1 year ago #
luxcat
Member

Well, I have a lack of local friends and family members to share it with so I'm thinking the opened bottles that local charities will not take will have to just be tossed out...

Freecycle is tempting but I live in a large city and just can't deal with the freaks, my Craigslist experiences have been challenge enough :)

@nickynic- tried that, but the way the bottle is it spills on the floor or shower floor... tried putting it in a spray bottle but it clogged the bottle and I gave up

Posted 1 year ago #
Olga
Member

Dear luxcat all the suggestions from the member are excellent. The bottom line to
keep your sanity grab a trash bag and be done, except for the unopened stuff place it in a box and give it to your local charity.

Posted 1 year ago #
themusiclivez
Member

I felt the same way for the longest time when it came to beauty products. I had way too many, was receiving body lotions for gifts left and right, and just wanted to clear out some space. (The same thing went for cleaning products).

I went into work one day and asked everyone if they were interested in body lotions, shampoos, etc. I was able to unload 90% of these products at work. I used up the rest on my own, and if something was truly awful I emptied it it in the trash and recycled the bottle so I didn't add unnecessary plastic to the landfill.

If it's weighing you down, I would toss the ones that you can't find a home for. Now I am just super careful about what I buy. I will pick items off of a shelf in a store, walk halfway around the store and end up putting it back because I realize I don't need it!

Posted 1 year ago #
Sky
Member

I tend to over buy shampoo and conditioner. After 2 uses it is clear if I like it or not. I usually don't, so I give my DH the shampoo (his hair is short so it doesn't make much difference what he uses) and the rest goes to the womens shelter.
The ones I really like are expensive but in the long run, more economical that not using what I buy.

Posted 1 year ago #
djk
Member

I don't have many cosmetics because I don't use many, but I do have a couple of things in the medicine cabinet which are going to get dumped in my bag this coming vacation and what I don't use up will get tossed out and not brought home. I have face cream which did not actually make me 24 again, but I think it will be most excellent on my dry feet on holiday! And the nearly dried out mascara has about a week left in it, which will be perfect. I love little glass pots and such but I am giving myself about 10 minutes now to repurpose the ones I have or get rid of them. Hardcore...

am avoiding the closet. It is starting to make me wince. DH's half is perfect, because I always go through his drawers and fold things and switch hangers around to be perfectly spaced, and hang things in order of colour and sleeve length. His stuff is so lovely and uniform and it's easy. My side makes me blue. and not because I have a lot. Just the wrong things, I think. There's another thread on closets, am going to amble over there via the medicine cabinet. Ciao!

Posted 1 year ago #
jbeany
Member

I went through my bathroom cupboard again today. Mousse and two new bars of Dove soap went to a friend who likes both. I stopped using the mousse a while ago, and I've switched to another friend's handmade lemon/honey face soap instead of Dove. I've recently started to use a lovely new shampoo and conditioner suggested by my sister, which has done wonders for my frizzball hair, so all the bottles of new and half-used frizz-inducing brands went to a friend with a handful of kids. As long as they smell clean, he doesn't care what brand they use. I had too many because I had a doubled coupon during a buy one-get one sale, but at least they will get used and cost me very, very little. Out, out, out! Less is less - to pack, that is!

Posted 1 year ago #
pkilmain
Member

I donated all of my "didn't work for me" stuff to the local women's shelter. I now use only a shampoo I like, and since it's pretty expensive, I add water to it. When the bottle gets low, I buy a new one at my next haircut. Then I add the new, thick stuff to the diluted. It's kind of a balancing act, and there's no exact formula except that it's too thick the way it comes, and it is possible to make it too thin. :) It cleans my hair just fine in any concentration....

Posted 1 year ago #
SarahJ
Member

I have used this sort of stuff when I soak my feet. Once a month or so I give myself a pedicure, and soak my feet in (an old dish tub) of hot soapy water. I found out that the shampoo that smelled nice, but left my hair greasy worked just fine for this It may not be a viable solution for a whole lot of leftover, though. Unless you soak every night, or have more than two feet!

Posted 1 year ago #
terriok
Member

The toilet one wins handle down! That is sheer genius!

Posted 1 year ago #

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