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?

Vv impressed with your empties ladies!

Back here after a longish trip to the US. I packed very light so nothing used up except a mini shampoo, a mini shower gel and a mini bottle of sunscreen picked up at Heathrow.

My destination was a shopping paradise. US Sephora was too hard to resist - lots of lovely product lines that we don't have in Europe and a full aisle of incredible high end mini products and lots of perfume available as rollerball purse minis - so I ended up buying two lipsticks, an eye shadow duo, a blusher, a Bobbi Brown under eye concealer and a mini Dr Jart BB cream and a mini micellar water. The latter was handy because my travel bottle of Bioderma exploded when I took it out. So I am a beauty product hoarder and I think this cosmetics shopping binge officially qualifies as a relapse . The problem of course being that I love the new stuff and that it does bring me joy Also happy that I did not buy any backups and nothing in drugstores...

BTW saw the Narsissist eye palette there irl and it looked fantastic, very tempting. But decided just to buy an eye shadow duo as those are far more portable.

Now getting back on the wagon...

Well FF, if you're going to fall off the wagon, best to do it in style! Enjoy your lovely new products.

Well FrugalF you were in the States, it would have been rude not to go shopping in Sephora!

If it makes you feel any better, it was my birthday last week and i bought a full size Elemis cleansing balm [with money off and free P&P] to "replace" the small one i have in the bathroom and that isn't quite finished yet.... i really need more cleansers like a hole in the head but I REALLY love the Elemis one and it is more of a spa-in-my-bathroom treat than the day to day stuff. She said, justifying the spending

PS The Narssissist eye palette looks lovely but my eyes are watering at the price....well done on just buying the duo

Thanks for the sympathy Hiawatha and Badger! Totally understand the rationale of replacing the almost-used up Elemis product. My stop at Sephora was to replace an almost used-up lipstick. Two shades felt equally compelling and you know how it goes Many lipsticks come with women's names these days and of course a cool muted pink was literally calling my name So far, loving it - it's very close to my old shade but the semimatte highly pigmentend texture makes it feel all modern. I also impulse-bought a bright tomato red lipstick after sampling the new J Crew lipsticks I am less sure about it. It's high impact visually but not super practical to wear as the fade phase is not pretty. Buying new shades is an error-prone process... I guess this is why I ended up with so many lippies that I hardly wear.

Anyway doing penance tonight by using up more face creams on my body.

Well FF, I too fell off the wagon today with the Bobbi Brown Extra SPF 25 Tinted Moisturising Balm. Have lusted after it for many moons and read last week, it's to be discontinued. Would have been a terrible lost opportunity not to buy Oh God, the shame!

Plus side.... An empty Lloreal lippy was slung today along with empty EVO Organic hair conditioner (excellent stuff. I have two back ups to use).

It's being discontinued? ! Oh God that was one I was always tempted by. I only refrained cos I heard the coverage was barely visible - please report back on this suddenly very urgent issue!!

I have a finished perfume to report. An actual full size perfume! How often does that happen?!

It's Vera Wang Princess and is actually a bit fab as it has undertones of chocolate. It's what's called a gourmand fragrance and is quite moreish. Also very office appropriate, as all VW scents are. Would definitely repurchase except I may have bought the Caudalie Divine fragrance just after Christmas so am BANNED!!

Eliza I think you needed to have that - after all, you've lusted after it so long! I usually do not regret things that I have considered for a longer time, it's the impulse purchases that clutter up my place. So hoping that you will enjoy it!

Zachary most of the lipstick I have and wear have been discontinued and the new shades are not at all as tempting (used to be a Chanel fan, now giving Nars a try and liking it so far) and this somehow makes me feel better Trying to resist backups though as I usually find new stuff I prefer. My skin has changed but there seem to be periodic seismic shifts in what people prefer too - remember the early 1990s mocha and latte shades, they felt really grown-up and sophisticated back then but now just a bit tired. I read a bunch of American fashion mags on the plane and noticed that one of them repeatedly mentioned frosted pinks - hello 1980s?

Annarose I'm impressed how determined you've been with the Naked2!

Few more empties here.

Guerlain La Petite Robe Noir 30ml - was a freebie and not something I probably would have bought as I tend to stick to some tried and tested favourites when it comes to fragrance but I ended up quite liking it.

Lancôme kohl eyeliner - perfectly fine but nothing special won't repurchase as there are others I like better.

Benefit they're real push up liner - sample size definitely wouldn't buy it's gimicky. The product itself had nice staying powder but would rather apply with a brush.

Origins Incredible Spreadable smoothing ginger body scrub. Love this and will repurchase, this is probably my 3rd time buying it. Effective but not harsh and the fragrance is gorgeous. Have a few scrubs to use up first though!

I'm determined to pan that palette this year. It's a bit shimmery but some shades are great. I really want to make a dent in make up as well as bathroom bits and bobs. If only to justify replacing the thing with a shiny new thing! (Am planning on replacing the No with that palette that's 50/50 mattes/shimmer - is it the Lorac Pro?)

Blushers are a massive problem though. I must have 12 and probably 10 of them are similar peachy-pinks. And one I have for about 10 years - I really really want to use up that one this year.

I've binned another repurposed eye cream today - also using it on my throat and décolleté now the sun's getting stronger and the temps are rising, due to hit 30 next weekend!

Well ladies, the Bobbi Brown Tinted Moisturising Balm is lovely. At 53, my skin issue is lack of "glow" but, I actually have relatively good skin. A few lines, no problems to require full on coverage. The balm is buildable and it's suggested you use it as an actual moisturiser with nothing underneath so on me, it's not too greasy, absorbs well and is a true light base for blush to go on top, in a not-too-made-up kind of way. I like. Very much. Money well spent!

Will use up my (nearly finish No7 Protect & Perfect Day Cream) on my crinkly neck now. Should be through with that by the end of the week

Wearing it. Not much coverage but enough to even skintine and then liven up a bit, with blush.

Looking great Eliza! Happy that you are happy!

I snapped up a Real Techniques stippling brush at Heathrow, I have quite a bit Revlon Colorstay left and wanted to see whether I could get a sheerer coverage with a good brush. Haven't worn liquid foundation in a long while but found in the US that a BB cream or good ole CS works much better than mineral foundation when it's really hot and humid. (My makeup basically melted away.) Anyway, quite happy with the results, mixing it up today with very sheer liquid foundation (old bottle), my oldest blusher, and my new Nars lippy and pale golden eye shadow. I love it when trusty old make-up staples feel all new! Oh and ancient face cream on my legs

Oh please revive this thread! Couldn't be more appropriate for me. I go on tangents where i get obsessed with a particular thing and buy scads of it. I'm currently on foundation... Bought 3 high-end ones in the last 5 weeks or so

It has to stop... I went on this foundation binge despite a huge outstanding bill. I was totally ashamed of myself for that one, so I've given myself a good talking to.

I've instituted a new rule - 2 out 1 in. I won't buy anything till I've used up 2 products.

I'm also entertaining myself by mixing and layering things that are slightly not right so I can wear them.. Mixing foundations to get the right texture and shade, and layering colour products. I've been able to use a wider variety of my stash in this way.

But mostly I have to stay out of shops. I have no resistance in the face of those glamorous ladies at the cosmetics counters.

Oh sorry- didn't realise thread was going strong, I thought I had gotten to the end with posts dating start of the month! I'm delighted it's still going strong.

I've spent the last hr reading and I've a new determination!!

Since I started my 2 out 1 in I've used up Max Factor clump defy mascara- loved & repurchased as I had to bin all my old mascaras. I'm determined not to go experimenting again... It's the one I keep coming back to.
Also finished a cleansing oil from boots- the vit c one... Worked well but wouldn't get again as it smelled a bit like cif.

Finished concealer from maybelline - luminising one in clicky pen/brush. Good but will stick to Clarins in the future, better on my dry skin.

Welcome to the group Late! I like that you're rewarding the behaviour with a little less of the behaviour. It's working for the Chinese...

No empties to report, but loving the mini reviews. I echo the Real Techniques brushes- so fab and so affordable!

I fell off the wagon! I came across a bronzer I'd heard about for years as great for fair skin - NYC Sunny.

But I made myself throw out an old bronzer that always looked a bit orange and I never loved. So still one out/one in.

Thats ok, right?!

Loving reading everyone's progress... And welcome Iatemyskinnyperson :-)

Eliza22 your skin looks fabulous... really beautiful! What products do you use (cleanser/moisturiser etc.)?

I have only one empty to report:

Diptyque Mimosa candle. Won't repurchase. I went through a bit of an obsession with Diptyque candles and bought loads of them. As time has gone by I've realised there's only really one or two that I like my flat to smell of (e.g. Feuille de Lavande - lavender leaf). Lots of the other scents are very beautiful at first glance but are just a bit OTT as room fragrances. This mimosa one is a perfect example of this - spells beautiful when you give the candle a sniff, but very quickly becomes over-powering and a bit sickly when lit... it's a very heady 'white' floral.

On the subject of Diptyque candles I also found the following ones over-rated and too over-powering: Chevrefeuille (honey suckle - although may be nicer come the summer), Lilas (lilac - smells a bit like washing detergent - so not worth it for £40!) Baies (people rave about this!), Roses (a bit 'meh'), Foin coupé (cut grass - smelt artificial) and patchouli (really strong!!!)

I think once i've got through my current (ridiculous!) stash of candles I probably will only keep repurchasing the Diptyque Feuille de Lavande one and possibly their Figuier one for summer...

Has anyone else tried Diptyque candles and if so, what did you think?

I am using a clarins cream blush and put on with a brush hut somehow it always looks patchy

Thanks. Using Liz Earle at the moment. Was using No7 Beautiful Skin stuff and Protect and Perfect. I don't think it matters too much as long as you're consistent. And sunscreen, always sunscreen!

Eliza - do you use sunscreen every day? What do you use and where in the proceedings I.e. do you use it as well as a moisturiser/day cream?

In the summer I'd use spf 50 as a moisturiser. The rest of the time, I use moisturisers with spf15 and above, whatever one I'm trying at the time. I don't smoke. Never sunbathe, as it brings me out in hives. All makeup off thoroughly at night.

I drink too much wine. Not good!

I have been strong and resisted rejoining a monthly beauty box scheme. so tempting. I will keep looking each month and re join if I start to run out of things.

Great :-) I'm going to have to be a bit more self-disciplined about SPF I think :-S

Another empty: Clarins beauty flash balm. I had a travel size of this as a GWP from Clarins purchases... I won't buy a full size although will happily use any future travel sizes I get from Clarins. I found that it looked a bit too shiny on my already fairly shiny/spot-prone skin, so I ended up just dabbing a little bit around my eyes and otherwise using it on my neck and chest (where it looked nice and 'glowy').

If you have otherwise really perfect skin but just want some 'radiance' this could be really nice for you. If, like the majority of the world, your skin isn't perfect and has any imperfections (spots, redness etc.) I think it kind of draws attentions to them (unless you put makeup on over the top, but in general I don't like wearing a full face of foundation unless really necessary!)

Slowly getting through my stash...Bathroom is looking bizarrely uncluttered!!

I've been doing quite well on the empties this month - an Olay moisturiser, a Clarins powder, a bottle of heat protector, some hairspray and a deodorant. I'm using up 2 lipsticks and I've never been so well moisturised!