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?

Loads of empties to report here . They're all only sample or travel size, but every little helps! DS has been having very opulent baths with molton brown bubbles lately, and I have slathered 15 ml of Ren face cream over my body, which actually went a very long way! Wouldn't have persevered with it on my face, but it feels good to throw away an empty.

I have loved the generous sample size of rituals rice milk body Creme, and I will definitely re-purchase once I have got through more of my seemingly never ending body lotions.

I will not re-purchase the molton brown bubbles though. I realise that I much prefer Champneys for less than half the price. I have unsubscribed from their email offers too.

I have an empty to report - a body butter. When I went to the cupboard I had a choice of five others to use next.

I'm going to tag along here too :-) Love the idea, love reading the 'mini-reviews' of products that people have got to the end of.

I have a seemingly never ending supply of beauty products and am trying to orchestrate a no further purchases policy while I try and get through some of them...

Here's what I've used recently:
Pai rose hip oil - really great, have already repurchased a bottle (have it in my stash!) ended up using it predominantly on stretch marks rather than my face

Diptyque Figue candle - a mini version, smells really nice, probably won't repurchase a full size as I have a million other candles to get through

ReVive moisturising cream - horrid, gave me a terrible rash on my neck and chest. I think the glycolic acid was the culprit but I've never had a reaction to anything before ever (and I use a lot of acid products!)

Clarins blue orchid face oil - really nice, made my skin plump and beautiful and didn't give me spots (I am particularly spot-prone). Won't repurchase for the time being as I have about a million face products to be getting on with...

Welcome, jj . I have also worked my way through 15 ml of Estée Lauder time zone moisturiser by slathering it all over my body. It wasn't right for my facial skin type, so better to just use it on my body. It was a GWP and obviously I won't be repurchasing.

I will shill be using my eyeshadow collection in ten years time at the rate I'm going. Similarly, my body lotions.

I've noticed that some of the makeup I've cast aside and bought something else before it's finished, reflects the fact that my complexion changes so much now. The obvious is that it's constantly ageing but also, stuff that looked fab (Clarins Extra Comfort Foundation-I'm thinking of you here) now shows every line and I look better without it. Hormonal changes have made big changes, for sure. There's really no point in persevering with some products, not for me. Also, a blush I used for years and bulk bought as I was afraid it'd be discontinued, is now too bright on my 53 yr old complexion. Have just given a new one to my 27 yr old neice! She LOVES it!

Eliza22 - you make a valid point: I have been guilty of piling up products for fear of a discontinuation....I hadnt thought about possible changes to my complexion so must take that as a cautionary tale for future purchases!

Thanks Hiawatha :-)

Like lots of you I'm also really guilty of stockpiling - especially products that I absolutely love now - I guess because I can't imagine myself not loving them in the future... But yeah, like you say, we can't really predict how our skin will change (and I guess how our tastes etc. change) and so it's such a false economy to have spares of products that we could end up chucking in a couple of years!

My new resolution is to stop buying spares, to get through all the products I do have, and in the process try and work out what my absolute essentials are for the moment, and only repurchase them as and when they run out! (I.e. behave like a normal human being rather than hoarding away!)

Empties today:

Balance Me eye cream - ended up using this on my neck (and then eventually legs!) because it really wasn't doing anything for me. I've heard that the molecules in 'natural' skincare are often too big for the skin to process and as a result aren't absorbed/ can causes clogging etc. I would say this is true for this eye cream which just didn't have a noticeable effect when used on my eyes, and gave me some milia (which I never usually get).

The Body Shop grapefruit shower gel - I used to love these fruity body shop smells, but I found this just a bit too synthetic and overpowering. Won't repurchase - certainly didn't do anything that a cheaper and perhaps less overly-scented body wash could...

Eve Lom age-defying capsules (sample packet) - used these on my neck/decolletage - really lovely (noticeable difference the next morning). I haven't dared look up how expensive they are (probably £££), but either way don't need another face serum for the time being!

Boots own spearmint lip balm - smells yummy, dead cheap (a quid or so), but didn't really help. I think I'm having a U-turn on pretty much all lip balms/products - they ALL seem to leave my lips worse than before I started. Not sure how to use up all the rest of my lip balms now that I've worked out they're making my lips drier? Cuticle balm?! Any ideas welcome!

One more empty here - Sephora Triple Action Cleansing Water I bought this when I was in France used a few times decided I was not a fan of micellar water and forgot about it.

Started to use it again and love it. It is so gentle, refreshing and really effective even for eye makeup. Other micellar waters I've tried were a total let down in comparison! Won't order one at the minute as I have loads of cleansers but I think I will buy another when I'm in America later this year.

I have finished up a couple of things. It is so satisfying. take the day off clinique make up remover, lancome facial cleanser.

JJ

(I.e. behave like a normal human being rather than hoarding away!)

I actually thinking hoarding is a normal behaviour, some of us are just "better" at it than others!

Haha IPokeBadgers - great way to look at it!!

Finished l'occitane ultra rich moisturiser sample. Full of Shea butter and had high hopes. Will NOT be repurchasing as was thick and heavy and not luxuriously moisturising, it didn't sink in well so felt more like a barrier cream (think sudocrem!) boooooo!

Finished:

L'Occitane repairing shampoo & conditioner. The shampoo smells horribly herbally and left my hair quite dry and the conditioner was crap - nowhere near conditioning enough.

Garnier body lotion in the red bottle for extra dry skin. Great product, dreadful packaging. Needed to squeeze like mad to get the last half out and you couldn't store it turned upside down cos the cap was rounded. Really irritating so won't be repurcasing any of the line in the future even though its nice lotion that sinks in well. Not worth the hassle!

Olay Regenerist 3 point moistuiser spf 30. Did absolutely nothing that the Olay Complete Care spf 30 did at half the price! So have repurchased the latter for the squillionth time.

Mark Hill dry shampoo. Er, isn't a dry shampoo meant to make your hair look cleaner? Not sure what this did except make my hair reek of church inscense! (Yes, really!) Not a patch on Batiste.

The good news is that I have only single replacements of each thing except shampoo/conditioner (2 & 3 respectively ) so am getting closer to my "one out/one in" plan!

Have also used my Naked 2 palette every time I wore eyeshadow since this thread started! I have some nice dips in two or three shades and even forced myself to use the gold shade which I'd been avoiding, cos......gold. And its subtler than I feared! Feel really good about getting proper use out of it.

Flip me, Annarose you are really going for it, well done! I am making a big effort to use my bath/shower/skin stuff but will prob never make it through the makeup I have. Your post reminds me that I need some more batiste, but am trying to finish a can of superdrug dry shampoo, but it really doesn't cut it compared to the batiste. Although I do have another empty to report:

Super drug B. Nourished night serum. I actually really like this range as a budget offering, thing it works quite well for me. The night serum feels quite nice to use, sinks in well and smells pleasant. This is the second bottle of it I have used up and there is a spare in my stash.... As well as the corresponding day cream. The night serum, and I assume the rest of the range, carries the bunny mark for cruelty free and says it is suitable for vegans/vegetarians in case that is of interest to anyone.

anyone know where to get impartial advice about products so I don't waste money on stuff which isn't that great and is overpriced hype. I recently had a makeover at a couple of beauty counters and I looked great. I was very tempted by the serums they offered.

any thoughts

thanks

MakeUpAlley. Its got loads of reviews of seemingly every product ever created. I often check it first if tempted by something spendy.

Two empties here to report:

Estée Lauder advanced night repair. I have been using this for nearly 20 years, so i will definitely repurchase. I have finished one of my many 7 ml GWP, which pleases me. I have loads of the GWP and I still keep on buying the full size whenever a store does a GWP. Not any more.

Murad face cream. I used it for days on my neck and chest. Nice, but noting special and I definitely will not repurchase.

I am trying like mad to get through a 50ml tub of h2o face oasis moisturiser. It was another GWP from m&s. It is taking forever, and I'm using it all over my body. It would take years if I was using it as a face cream. It's like a gel. Again, nothing special but I will plough on.

Make up alley just makes me want to buy more!

I'm a buyer too. Not sorry about it though :)

Why don't you all swap your items you no longer want/need?
That way you get something but you haven't paid money for it?
Or give samples of stuff?

thanks looks great

bought the clinique gwp with Boots ooints. dd wanted foundation for Easter, may give bits to other dd, got no 2 toner

For impartial reviews: definitely have a browse on makeupalley, also worth checking Paula's beautypedia ingredients list analysis- sometimes has useful reviews of products (although not 'impartial' because she's fundamentally selling her own skincare range) and always good to have a glance through the ingredients before buying.

Used up a couple more things:

A hair detangling/shine-booster spray from Aubrey. Fine but won't repurchase. Already have a bottle of Kerastase oleo-relax serum in my stash- which I really like.

Jurilique oil control serum- a bit 'meh' won't repurchase.

Strivectin anti-aging cream- really didn't rate this (it was a sample size thank goodness). It's really expensive full size and just did nothing. It also peeled off/balled up every time I applied it (onto clean, exfoliated skin so definitely a fault of the product itself). Reminder that a lot of £££ products are rubbish.

Caudalie anti-age eye and lip cream- quite nice (delicate smell, nice texture) but very light weight and seemed to have basically disappeared into the skin within a couple of minutes, leaving the lines just as apparent as before. Not hydrating enough so won't rebuy.

Cire trudon Abd El kader candle- mint tea scented candle. Expensive. Won't repurchase because it really didn't do it for me. People rave about this online (eg Caroline Hirons) but I thought it was actually quite an acquired taste kind of smell and I didn't love it.

Loving reading everyone's mini-reviews!

I've managed to finish a few bits by offloading them to my sister and DH (he moisturises his body more than I do :/)

Also finished a sample of hair serum which was lingering on my bathroom counter for too long, I use nuxe and loreal hair oil which are both great so won't be buying anything else serum wise for my hair

I've got some empties to report:

Antipodes Grace Cleanser : so so lovely, but very expensive. Will repurchase one day if it is on offer and I don't have 4 other cleansers waiting for their turn.

Antipodes Avacodo Night Cream : just a mini size because it came in a set with their Joyous Night Serum. The Serum is gorgeous and I will definitely repurchase when it runs out. The cream is Ok, but a bit greasy. I'm moving onto Trilogy Rosapene night cream now, which I much prefer.

Aveeno body lotion (in the blue topped bottle with a pump) : This is a really good basic body lotion, very moisturising without being greasy and fairly odourless so it doesn't interfere with whatever perfume I'm wearing. Annoying packaging though, the lotion was so thick that the pump stopped pumping when there was still about a third of a bottle left.

Simple Toner : OK. I don't know why I persist with toners, years of habit I suppose. Simple is cheap and doesn't cause any problems, but doesn't really seem to have much effect.

Have sorted out my makeup drawer and now everything is nicely organised and has its own place. So far it's a good disincentive from buying anything new as I haven't got space for anything else!

I've been wearing Revlon Pink Truffle almost every day for the last couple of weeks as the tube is getting low. I already have a couple of backups though, which I did feel bad about, but now I've noticed that Revlon seems to be discontinuing the colourbalm lippies here in NZ, so I feel the hoarding itch coming on!