Ashamed of my beauty product hoard!

[IPokeBadgers]

I have spent some time this morning trying to sort and tidy my beauty and toiletries cupboard and I am actually feeling very and at the sheer volume of stuff that I have, much of it lovely and expensive and unopened!

I reckon it could take me a couple of years to get through it all!

Buying make up as well as lovely bath and shower stuff seems to have become my go to/default pick me up when I want to impulse buy...... but seeing the hoard has brought me down.

anyone else like this and are there any threads that would encourage me to stop buying stuff and use all the lovely products that I have?

please tell me I am not the only person like this?

[PunkrockerGirl]

You are definitely not the only one, IPoke
My stash consists of mostly make up rather than bath/shower stuff but I am absolutely unable to resist make up. I have got 2 big drawers full of the stuff. I honestly believe if I never bought any ever again I'd have enough to keep me going till the end of my days
I can't seem to stop myself though. Every time I see a new product advertised or someone recommends something on here, it's like I go all twitchy till I can get to try it!
I justify it by telling myself that I work damn hard for my money and there far worse things I could be spending it on

[YoungBritishPissArtist]

I used to be like this. Now I get my buzz from recycling the empty containers when I've used stuff

You could sell or donate (to food bank, refuge, homeless shelter) any unused and unopened stuff.

Think how much money you will save by not buying any new items while you use up your stash!

[Picastyle]

I'm the same.

I'm always on the lookout for the next best thing. I've bought and thrown away the Philip Kingsley Elasticizer twice now. I regularly go back to Bare Minerals and then get bored and throw it all out. QVC is a particular problem as I love good skincare.

This morning I dumped a load of stuff by giving myself permission to chuck out the things I don't love and then I filled (FILLED I tell you!) a vanity case with stuff I'm not currently using but might.

It's not good for my psyche to see it all hoarded. It's depressing and wasteful.

I'm on a self imposed skincare and make up ban as a result

[Saurus72]

I used to have this issue with make-up, until I realised that I wear pretty much the same stuff every day (which I like and I think suits me!). Now, I pretty much only buy new make-up to replace things that I have used up. I definitely used to buy lipsticks as a treat, but at one point I had about 10 lipsticks/glosses, scattered around my bathroom/bedroom/in various handbags. I bought a lovely little tin and put them all in there so I could see easily how many I have, and how similar the colours are. I have slowly been using them up over the past 2years or so. Every time I got tempted to buy a new one, I would just think back to the tin and realise I didn't need one. This has worked really well. I have about 3 lipsticks left to use up, and then I'm going to allow myself to buy a couple of new ones.

I think if you use up your stash you will a)get the benefit of using all of your lovely things and b) feel really good about not wasting money. If you can gather similar things together in categories, eg, eye creams, you will easily see that there is no justification for buying any more until the ones you already have have been used up. This works a lot better for me than having random products all over the place so you can never really face up to how much of the same you actually have.

[Lovewearingjeans]

I am a make up/ product addict who ends up wearing the same things all the time. A good tip I read about, but have yet to try out is to buy a see through hanging shoe rack, so you group all your nude lipsticks together etc, the idea being that you can see what you already have. My quest is for the perfect cleanser, base and lipstick!

[Itscurtainsforyou]

I am similar. A few many years ago I stocked up and it has taken me quite a while to work through my stash of face washes (only 2 to go!). I still have over an entire drawer full of stuff but I have a spreadsheet to remind myself of how much I have in a attempt to dissuade me from buying anything else.

I've also sold on eBay stuff that doesn't suit my skin any more

[IPokeBadgers]

Thanks everyone for your comments....glad to know it isn't just me. I have the works: beautiful shower/bath products, a huge range of skincare (nothing too high end, mostly picked up in Boots 3 for 2 although have to admit to a couple of QVC TSVs for Elemis and Liz Earle waiting to be used up).... as well as shitloads of make up, from Rimmel to M&S to Laura Geller & Ester Lauder.

I think a total ban on buying anything even remotely toiletry or make-up related is required. I have already bagged a few bits of the basic stuff for food bank donation but I don't really want to sell on/donate a lot of the things I have because I genuinely do want to use stuff. I also kind of go in phases with products....and do get bored so tend to rotate the stuff that is open.

thanks for the suggestions re: clear storage and grouping together all similar products eg all lippies together in order to see what I actually have. I did do this at one point but everything has kind of got muddled up again....it was a useful step today to just take things out of the cardboard boxes things were delivered in: has made me take an honest look at what I actually have!!

[IPokeBadgers]

I am scared to say that I am also thinking a spreadsheet might be a good idea.......

[goodasitgets]

I have a tub with my everyday makeup in. But I switch it up so last night I put some different eyeshadows, a sachet of primer and a lip balm in there. That makes me use things up
Official makeup/perfume/beauty hoarder here

[FrugalFashionista]

I estimate it will take me a decade to use up what I have I started a total cosmetics shopping ban more than a year ago but some things - eye palettes, blushers, loose powder, pencils - take years to use up. That said, I love my makeup stash. Fab products, colors that I love, and such versatility...

I love empties. Used up a L'Occitane hand cream last night. Will never ever repurchase

If you want to use up stuff, pick just one product in each category and keep them somewhere where you tend to grab them.

[Skivvywoman]

I'm the same but it's hair products, mouse,serums anything on the market to try and make my hair easier to straighten! If it's rubbish which it normally is it gets put in a box until I decided to clear out

[Costacoffeeplease]

I have tons of make up and lotions and potions, years and years worth, but I am being very strict with myself now, and using stuff in rotation - I love the feeling of having used something up and throwing away the empty container

I justify it by dividing the cost of the individual items in a tsv, for example, and if there are 5 or 6 I know I'll use for £30 ish then I know I'm getting a better quality product cheaper than I'd get fewer items in a supermarket

I have narrowed down what I buy, so skin care is mostly elemis and Gatineau, and make up is Laura geller with a bit of bobbi brown and mally - so it is all stuff I'll use eventually rather than impulse buys

[IPokeBadgers]

Funny that, I finished a l'occy hand cream and binned the empty tube earlier today.

[Shop]

I'm like this! I see it as a hobby and allow a certain amount of spends for it each month.
I enjoy trying new things, reading reviews etc so I don't beat myself up about it.
I am in a few secret FB groups for buying/selling & chatting about products too. This helps me not to impulse buy as much but also means I can try different things at a fraction of full price.
I've also sold off a fair bit of what I had stashed.

[Saurus72]

One of the scary things about starting to consciously use stuff up is how Freakin long it takes! A lipstick, with multiple applications per day, lasts for about 3 months. I use Bobbi Brown cream eyeshadow, and each one lasts at least 10 months. The last Clinique blusher I bought lasted 14 months! In some ways this is good - shows that actually, once you invest in a spendy product at least you will get good value. But it is sobering to think that if, say, I splashed out on two new cream eyeshadows they would last for over 18 months

[fredfredsausagehead1]

I'm the same!

Definitely my comfort splurge no advice sorry x

[StayGoldPonyBoy]

I'm a nightmare too. I have a £50 contouring powder in my collection. DH made me sit and work out how much my whole collection including skincare and hair products cost when I told him he was spending too much on his hobby. Put it this way, I could book our honeymoon again and then some.

It's only a huge problem if it's all gross and you don't use it. I use and sanitise every product regularly, don't dip fingers into moisturiser jars etc. Plus, I don't smoke, I have no other outside hobbies that cost money and as a hairdresser, my colleagues do my hair for free so I justify it as my 'thing'

[FrugalFashionista]

Saurus exactly! That said, I've changed my daily makeup a bit (did the fresh-faced natural look for more than a year, now into brighter lips and more defined eyes) and could find almost everything I needed in my stash. I don't throw products away unless they are off, chances are that I will rediscover them after I get bored with my current look.

[Picastyle]

I've never used a lipstick up, I get bored quickly and move on to the next one.

I spent £30 on a Dior blusher and binned it this morning because it was too pink. The £43 clinique smart serum gave me spots so it got binned too. As did the Gatineau £28 mask, the £19 clinique toner, the £40 hair mask, the £34 Clinique moisturiser, the £30 stupid pedicure gadget, the £40 micellar water, the £20 high street moisturiser.....it goes on and on.....and on.


There, I've shamed myself into stopping buying :(

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

There was a thread on here a while back, a pledge to buy no more until the backlog was used up.

I keep mine in baskets in the clutter room, (in hair/body/teeth/face/soap/shave) for the whole family .
DD is the worst offender with her Aussie 3 for £10 bargains .

I have a small drawer of make-up, but I really don't buy much , the only thing I re-buy regularly is mascara and moisturiser/serum

[WaxyBean]

Same here - the cupboard and drawer in the bathroom, several baskets in the bedroom, at the top of the wardrobe, almost all of the bedside cabinet, and several ccosmetic bags full around the place.

Shall we have a mutual use-up and support thread. I reckon I could go most of the rest of the year without buying anything bar deodorant.

[theowlwhowasafraidofthedark]

I have depotted loads of my eye shadows/blushes into these www.makeupgeek.com/store/z-palette-black.html
Means that it takes up much less space and I can see what I have. It's a more efficient way if hoarding!

[GinSoakedBitchyPony]

Thanks for the thread OP. This is me too.
I didn't realise I wasn't alone but it's comforting to know that I'm not.

I keep tellng myself not to buy any more of anything until I've used it up, but can't seem to stop myself.

[jasmine1979]

I got round this problem by making myself sit down one evening and write down an actual inventory of what I owned. It meant that next time I was going to buy a shampoo or lipstick for example I would make myself look at the list and see that I already had x amount of items that already did the same thing or were a very similar colour!

I made an effort to use up products and kept a big box to put the empty products in when I used them up, with the intention of then seeing just how long it actually does take to use up a blusher or mascara etc. The satisfaction of throwing an empty bottle into that box was huge!

Watching youtube videos also helped. Not the usual videos by standard beauty "gurus" that are actually just trying to sell you stuff, but instead watched people doing something called "project pan" where they try and use up the make-up that they have.

A youtuber that I enjoyed was called "pinksofoxy". She had a massive amount of make-up, and gradually used it all up or gave it to charity. With the money she saved from doing this, her and her husband took a 3 month trip around australia and asia. They also downsized their house etc and have changed a lot since she first posted those videos. Her overall look isn't one I go for myself, but I appreciate the thinking behind her videos.
She still posts on youtube, but her focus has now shifted to gardening and diy projects. She lives on Hawaii so the scenery in her videos is lovely!

Put declutter makeup into youtube and you get lots of inspiration.

[Lovewearingjeans]

I have an 'everyday' makeup bag which includes BB cream, powder, blusher, mascara, naked eye palette and eyeliner. Then a makeup basket with alternative everyday make up including heavier bases, concealer, highlighter, pink blush instead of peach, more nude lipglosse, bronzer, mascara I have forgotten I bought. I then have a make up bag with going out lipsticks, eyeshadow, eyeliners. And this is after a clear out. I have just purchased a cream blush, for days that I just use base with no powder, forgetting I already have one.