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?

Couple of new empties:

Lush Big Blue bath bomb (a gift). Quite nice - turned the bath water blue and had lots of seaweed in it. Pleasant but quite strong 'sea', lemon and lavender smell. Pretty much definitely won't repurchase simply because I think bath bombs are a bit of a waste of money (I prefer bath oils which make your skin feel nicer/ are generally just quite luxurious and per bath end up significantly cheaper!)

Clarins lotus face oil: I have used up two full sizes of this before and have just used up a small (5ml ish) sample vial. I really like it and thoroughly recommend it - leaves your skin looking noticeably better the next day. However I'm finding that while the weather is hot here (28 degrees) the last thing I want to do is coat my already hot and bothered face in oil. This is a shame as I have probably about a litre in total (!) of various different face oils to get through... They will have to wait until next winter - and presumably they dont go off?

Nabootique good luck in your search for the Clinique spray - presumably they're all sold out because there was a lot of hype following the launch? I really recommend it although I have got through this current bottle pretty quickly, and at the price I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for a slightly cheaper alternative! (Although still would recommend trying!!)

ps FrugalFashionista I am also moving this summer and it's serving as a great incentive to use stuff up. It doesn't make any sense to be lugging old products that I don't love to our new place and it will be really nice to start off with a 'clean slate' so to speak!

I really want that oil as well jj, but I'm letting myself buy it until I use some others up.

Damn you, Frugal! I've been lurking on your Korean skincare thread and my Cult beauty wishlist has grown again!

I'm avoiding the korean skincare thread. (because i know i'll bet sucked into it...)

tomorrow I'm going to start wearing lipstick in an attempt to use it all up. . (which i never usually do - i just buy it it seems, then leave it in bag).

Jj great to have virtual support for the stressful relocation. In some way we would just want to leave everything and start from scratch in the new place but as responsible adults we've been going through drawers, cupboards and dressers..

Oh JJ and put your oils in the fridge or somehere else where it is dark and cool! Unless they have loads of vit e or other common cosmetics preservatives, they can go stale quickly. We are at our summer home still and have just found a bottle of stale extra virgin olive oil from last autumn. This happened to a bottle of sweet almond oil too.

I actually finished something - biotin supplements for hair. I think they helped but so did a great haircut so I am going to take a break. I take a daily multivitamin year round, there is scant research evidence that this is worthwhile but I still feel it's a good routine. If you use a dosette for pills it's easier to remember to take them regularly...

Clear a shelf ladies and then celebrate it with a couple lovely new things I keep my Korean stuff in a Madewell shoebox and when the box is full, this madness has got to stop!

Best of luck to all of you who are moving house hope it goes smoothly!

Another empty to report - Clinique All About Eyes eye cream. It was a sample size and while it was okay I didn't love it enough to want to repurchase - trying the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair eye cream next.

Clarins face wash emptied this morning. Hoorah.

I'm a bit scared to get sucked into the Korean thread: it all looks so much fun!

I went on a mini splurge in superdrug and ended up with 2 new eye-colour palettes and a mascara. All very cheap and cheerful: MUA and Sleek palettes but obviously needed like a hole in the head!

I dont know why i have such a weakness for palettes: I think they are just pretty to look at and i think that particular day i just wanted to spend money. Dont know whether to be or

I'm trying to resist the offer on at SpaceNK today

I fell off the wagon yesterday. I'm making a wishlist to stop myself buying things and Mac Viva Glam V was on it as I'd heard it was a great everyday shade. So I happened to be in a dept store and thought I'd just swatch it..........

10 mins later I'm walking out onto the street with it in a shopping bag, in a slight daze.

Feel impossibly guilty as I don't need it! At least it will be a good workhorse though as it goes with everything. And I am ridiculously close to using up a few makeup items.

Annarose that type of daze sounds really familiar - I know what you are feeling like. Sending you an un-MNtty hug. It is a good shade, wear it now.

I received my delayed Mother's Day pressie, a box of Korean stuff yesterday. I thought it was going to be just a few items but with all the samples and freebie masks thrown in I'm not even sure what the total number of items is - about 30? DH is just rolling his eyes and laughing... But this is how my hoards come about, have just about worked through a similar body care goodie box purchased in 2011.

So now instituting a ban that includes sunscreen, skincare, makeup and masks. Everything. Need to use something up before buying something new. And have to consider the entire product category before buying a new item.

Adding two new items to the daily to be used up pile: my old salicylic pads, an almost empty Guerlain primer.

Badgers I have a similar weakness for palettes. I don't eat candy, so they are my version of candy. I love the color combinations, the textures. But determined to use up an eye palette!

So excited about my most recent empty as I've honestly been using it up for months:

Sunday Riley Start Over Active Eye Cream: pleasant texture, pleasant smell, nice 'cooling' metal applicator, but this definitely had no noticeable difference on my eye area - either short term or long term (and I've been using it for months so I've given it a good go). Given that the full price of this is £65 (!!!!!!) I will definitely not purchase this again. Everything about it was really good apart from the one thing that matters - i.e. visible results.

I'm now moving on to a Eucerin eye cream (I love their moisturisers so I thought I'd try out an eye cream - they're also far more affordable!) When that runs out I'm going to try just using normal face moisturiser on my eye area because I'm quite sceptical about the whole need for a specific cream for your eye-area anyway (as long as you're not putting strong AHAs/retinoids etc on there).

FrugalFashionista thanks for the fridge tip... I didn't realise oils go off quickly?! I thought they'd last longer than moisturisers etc. but clearly I was wrong!

I agree re: the Korean skincare thread - I'm avoiding it at all costs, likewise all the Space NK/ Cult Beauty gift bag offers that are currently/will soon be flooding my inbox.

I think the thought of having so many products that things start going off/have to be chucked away prematurely is a bit of an eye opener that I can't keep hoarding stuff Likewise the impending house move!

I've just found out that smashbox have a counter in my local boots. Danger. I thought I was safe as only buy in boots to get points.

Have used up Nivea blue pot. Two weeks of slathering it on my feet. Have left then smooth. And my legs less scaly.

Yes we have a Smashbox counter too. I scurry past with my head down for fear of seeing that Double Exposure palette in real life. I can say though that I wasn't impressed with their Photo Finish primer. Pure silicone so felt a bit wierd and slithery to apply. Didn't notice any difference either.

I've been using up a sample of No7 Night Cream and have gotten loads of milia all over my cheeks. I haven't changed moisturiser so I'm starting to wonder if it may be that? I may have to use it up as a body lotion. I have no idea how to get rid of the milia bar using my chemical exfoliant.

our store has 2 entrances. i'm not only using the one on the other side to smash box. so i don't have to walk past.

I've never got on with no7. they annoy me by changing the packaging of the mascara i use. so i switched brands.

Annerose I have gotten milia from so many creams that I could probably get rich suing the manufacturers. Eye and night creams are particularly bad.

I've been a good girl, diligently using up. I dedicated a shelf in the bathroom for my Korean stuff and piled the to-be-used-up stuff next to the sink so that I cannot avoid it. (I hate clutter.) No empties except a couple of single use samples but tantalizingly close to finishing quite a few things! And then others that will go on forever

Smashbox primer was totally wrong for my skin type, felt like shrink wrap, a product I will never ever be able to finish and expensive to boot. I am generally not a primer girl (invisible pores, dry skin).

Does finishing off a mouthwash count? It was a large 500ml bottle that I have had for years. Still working my way through body lotions etc but will not finish any of them this weekend.

I've double checked - it was a 1 litre bottle. And there was another one waiting in the cupboard.

Yes it does Lego!!!
Has anyone ever used up a bottle of nail polish?

I've never 'used up' (in the true sense of the word) a nail polish - in general they dry up long before I finish them...

In fact, I still have some horrific super glittery/neon pink/khaki green polishes lying around - I really should just chuck them!

For the ones I like and use often they seem to stick around for a while - if they start to go gloopy I add a bit of nail polish remover and then they can be reused again.

Does anyone else seem to have about three or four bottles of nail polish remover kicking around? Goodness knows why I bought so many... I never get through them...

P.S. One more empty:

Diptyque Feuille de Lavande candle: I love this candle, it smells very 'green', like lavender leaves rather than the powdery lavender smell that reminds me of my grandmother. Definitely one of the few candles I would repurchase. That said, I have enough to be getting through so no trips to Diptyque for the near distant future!

I love getting to the end of candles - while still hot I pour out the remaining wax, wipe with a bit of kitchen towel and then clean with glass cleaner and reuse the pots. They look beautiful on the bathroom shelves.

I currently own three bottles of nail polish remover. Why???

Have gone through the rest of my lipsticks, found three that are quite near getting used up - if I dedicate the rest of the year to them, one by one.

One more empty:

Aromatherapy Associates Rose Body Moisturiser: Smelt really luxurious, reasonably moisturising, but probably won't repurchase as it was nothing special and I've got lots more moisturisers to get through.

This week I had to repurchase my fav Eucerin Aquaporin face moisturiser as all the other face moisturisers I'm supposed to be using up are giving me spots :-( At the pharmacy I realised they've repackaged this HG product in a pot (grr!!! so much less hygienic than the tube it was in before!) and reformulated the product (soooo annoying!!!!) I bought the light and rich versions so I could work out which of the reformulated products will work best on my skin. Used the rich version last night and no news spots so hopefully it's as good as the old formula. Still - really miffed after having done so well getting through old products to have to splash out another 35 euros for moisturisers!

Also - at the pharmacy the guy gave me 4 large trial size products so I've had to add them back onto the list of products to use up... Unfortunately they're pretty much all facial skincare things that I dont want to risk using on my acne-prone face so will inevitably be slathering them on my neck and chest for the foreseeable future! Still, all this using up of products on my body means that hopefully when I'm 70 I'll have the body (neck downwards) of a 20 year old... In theory...

Finally something to report: another Eucerin Aquaporin Active spf 15 moisturizer gone!

I got a really crap mascara sample - Guerlain Cils d'Enfer - it's perfumed (why?) and it has given me panda eyes twice so about to bin it. In theory, it lenghtens and separates nicely but that's about it. I too have three new moisturizer/cream samples that look a bit risky. My legs are overmoisturized