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?

Have used up a Garnier miceller water (loooooove, have repurchased) and a Garnier eyeshadow removing lotion thing (very good but am trying not to buy a seperate eyeshadow remover as its just another bottle)

Also finished a Time Delay cleansing oil (wasn't great - left some eyeshadow behind and smelt a bit plasticky). Have purchased Mac Cleanse Off oil to replace it which is much better - it'd take tar off your face!

Also finished a Sanctuary Illuminating Moisturiser spf 15 which was great - really glowy and fresh looking and no probs under makeup. Smelt orangey which isn't my fave scent, but would definately recommend if you have dull grey skin.

Also unexpectedly hit major pan on a pressed powder!

Still using up the same blusher, BB cream and N2 palette. Really loving using things up!

Ooooh- almost forgot! I took a bronze nail polish that didn't suit me and mixed it with a taupe that didn't suit me. I got to toss an empty nail polish bottle for the first time ever! And now I have a whole new shade to play with!

It's annoying. Because I'm on full size products now. And desperately want to free up space/use them up.

Was tempted to just throw some away but when I think of how much I spent on them....!!!

An trying to train my hair to only be washed twice a week. So my plan of using up shampoo quickly has also backfired.

The nail polish collection....

I have only one empty to report this week - protect and perfect serum. Now that I'm using up full size products I think I'll average one empty a week.

It sounds like we're all in a similar situation - using up full-sized products - and it can be a little bit disheartening when it takes so much longer to get that sense of satisfaction of chucking something away!

That said I can already see more space on my shelves and I'm finding that making a point of using more of my products means I spend a little more time everyday just focusing on taking care of myself which has been nice :-)

I'm also learning a bit about what products I actually use and what products I am drawn to buying but don't really use when I've got them... So cleansers, mascara, moisturiser etc. I seem to get through pretty well, but it's the skincare 'extras' (serums, toners, treatment products) and more 'dressy' makeup (eye shadow palettes, bright lipsticks etc.) that seem to sit and accumulate... Quite interesting to know and in future I will try and avoid buying the things that I don't really use!

This whole using things up/not buying new products has been really good for me and I think has made me take stock of my buying habits... Hopefully in the long run it'll save me money!!

Yes, I have a serum I never use. I've realised not only am I too lazy to put on serums, but they don't seem to do anything. Its a moisturising one and I've started using it as body lotion instead.

And I'm definately not going to buy another one.

Also ditto re: the bright lipsticks. I have a massive bag of Mac empties accumulated for years (6 empties = a free lipstick) and I think its enough for about 3 lipsticks. Whereas before I'd have picked a bright more experimental colour cos its free, now I'm going to go in an ask for all the most boring rosy-nude lipsticks they have. Cos at least I'll wear them!

Ginger that collection is only a third the size of mine.

I think everyone is doing so well! Using up full-size products is much bigger a challenge than testers and trial sizes - so although everyone is making progress, there are far fewer empties. And agree about nude pinks - I'm almost done with a neutral pink lipstick, probably the first I have finished in a decade. But have a hard time staying as his time of the year is perfect for brights.

Just two empties this week. I've used up another travel-size bottle of mouthwash and a Korean hyaluronic sheet mask. The mask was a bit meh. Wet and cold and slimy, definitely cooling after a windy day spent at seaside, but I'm not big on facemasks and won't repurchase. It also seemed to irritate my eyes a bit - not great. I went through a cupboard in the bathroom - found a couple of tubes of face masks and a few sheet masks left over from the time when I had a sauna/ steaming room in my apartment. In theory, it would be simple to unwind for half an hour watching TV and wearing a face mask, in practice I haven't done this in years. I am, however, loving sleep-in masks. No mess and no waiting around, and they seem to soften and brighten my skin. Anyway, going to try to do a traditional face mask weekly until I finish these products or bin them

Oh and I agreed that serums might be a tad overhyped. I use one on and off but never see a big difference when I forget to wear it. And yes, lots of bright lipsticks and colorful eye palettes gathering dusk in my cupboard too.

A shameful stash I haven't mentioned yet is my collection is lip balms. The consevative estimate is a dozen of them... I wear lip balm every day, but love just two of the many options

New empty today (yay!!)

Caudalie Polyphenol c15 Anti-Wrinkle Defense Serum: Basically a light weight, hydrating serum that you use under a moisturiser. Quite strongly scented (not unpleasant but I generally avoid scented products). Nice, quite watery texture. Skin does look plumper and more moisturised the next day after using it although it's hard to know what's the serum and what's the moisturiser that I layer on top. All in all it was nice but a bit of a luxury extra and probably not worth the money/extra skincare step for me atm. I won't repurchase but say I found myself in a couple of years time wanting a hydrating, 'anti-ageing' serum I would consider buying this again.

Again, for me a bit of a reminder that I'm never all that impressed by serums (esp. ones that dont include a chemical exfoliant, e.g. glycolic or lactic acid).

Ooo, I forgot, I also got to the end of an Aesop pump hand soap. It was beautifully packaged (looks lovely in the bathroom) and a nice big (perhaps 500ml) size. The soap itself smelt amazing - mandarin peel but also herbs (maybe rosemary, lavender etc.) It felt like a real little luxury every time I washed my hands... That said, for me £28 is a lot of money for hand soap, so my plan is to keep the really nice bottle and buy the refill packets (soap that comes in squishy tubes rather than the pump bottles themselves) not from Aesop but cheaper brands. Out here in France I just got a really nice Le Petit Marseillais refill for one or two euros that smells lovely.

I've just finished a lovely hand soap too. And have rinsed out bottle and filled with carex.

The soap was given as a Christmas gift while away in nz. All natural products. Really lovely. And pretty bottle.

Have slathered Nivea in big blue pot all over my feet today (was using it on my face but it started breaking out so switched back to clarins...) am currently wearing Nivea on feet, which are wrapped in cling film, with thick socks and warm slippers. Hoping for baby soft feet when I take off in an hour or so.

Also trying to use up a Crabtree & Evelyn rose hand cream. I hate it (far too flowery for my liking) but have put it in bathroom so I can moisturise hands after washing (and hoping everyone else also uses it...!)

I have been following this thread for a while and have been inspired to take stick of the ridiculous amount of products that I have. This week I've finished a bobbi brown face base which was lovely , but I have other primer type products to use up before I repurchase. My other empty was a bare minerals bb mineral veil which was lovely but again more things to use up first!

Hello new posters! Glad this thread is inspiring ladies across the land to use up their existing supplies!

ememem84 great tip about the cling film in socks foot mask. Last night I tried to do a foot mask using empty plastic bags tied around my feet - not a great success! i think my partner thought I'd completely lost the plot... Although they did double up quite well as I wore them while I was polishing our wooden floor and as a result didn't trek wood polish around the flat - great success! However from now onwards I'll be taking the cling film approach ;-)

Agar ire Micellar Water finished but another in stock as it's great for gentle eye makeup removal.

Maybe a weeks worth of Liz Earle skin cream to go. Not great for me and won't repurchase.... I'll be glad to use it up tbh. Have had better results from Aldi Lacura (and the LE is soon expensive).

Garnier Micellar Water, that should say! (Bloody iPad updates that leave you worse off than you were before!)

Really interesting how many people have been using/have used up the Garnier Micellar Water and how pretty much everyone has liked it. I'm also half way through a bottle and I really like it too. I've used lots of other micellar waters (inc. Bioderma - supposedly the best) and general makeup removers (again, including highly rated ones like Clarins, Lancome etc.) and this Garnier one is excellent and one of the cheapest by far! So yeah, anyone looking out for a makeup remover/cleanser - this is worth a try.

jjwhite just be careful moving about if you cling film your feet. it s a bit slippery...

jj, I find I get on well with Garnier products but Lloreal does nothing for me. Strange.

Another empty: Elemis Cleansing Balm 30g size out of a QVC TSV. Really liked it, think it leaves skin very soft and has a lovely spa scent and feel to it. Already bought a full size version which is in the cupboard stockpile. Might decant from the big size into the little pot....take up less space in the bathroom cupboard!

Ta da!! I have an empty! Bye bye huge bottle of Aromatics Elixir...

New empty for me - joules bath foam. Given as a gift for Christmas. Dumped the remainder into bath last night. As didn't think it was previously very bubbly. I was wrong.

But. Another empty

An empty today: a full-sized Lumene Vitamin C Age Defying Arctic Cloudberry Protecting Day Cream.
This gave me whiteheads and cysts even on my decollete area, so I used it up on my legs. Pleasant smell, absorbs quickly, but what a disaster product for face and neck.

Because full size products take forever, I chose a few products for targeted using up in May:
*Two Chanel lipsticks, very little left in both
*A Chanel lip pencil, almost gone
*A Lily Lolo gloss, almost gone
*A peach /bronze Chanel eye palette. No chance that it will be finished in a month but I'll wear this every day and see how far I can get. The colors are lovely for spring.
*Meteorites powder pearls, about two teaspoonfuls left
*Effaclar H, to be used up on my legs and body, it really clogs my face

How are you doing ladies?

I'm not doing very well at all! I think the problem with being a CH fan is that you end up with so many products on the go depending on what your skin is doing that using up the full size ones seems very daunting!

Well done ladies with your using up make up. Makes me wonder if I've ever actually used up an eyeshadow in my life!

Naboo I hear you. I have the same problem with my newfound Korean beauty obsession. Luckily they do trial sizes a lot so lots of small tubes and jars and single use samples as opposed to unwieldy full size products. I get bored really fast so gigantic products are nearly always a waste of money for me.

This thread is great though, I have shedded so many unloved products, and now getting to have a lineup of all star goodies...