Admittedly, I don’t do spring cleaning as often as I should. As a result, I’ve been accumulating tons of stuff over the years! Some of you reading this will have seen on Instagram that I recently moved back to my parent’s house because I got shingles. The move made me realise just how many things I own, and how I’m in a dire need of a full spring cleaning session.
One of the things that alarmed me the most were my makeup drawers. I don’t buy makeup as much as I did when I was in university (I probably had a shopping addiction back then) but for some reason, I still have pretty much everything I have ever bought since 2015. A lot of this stuff isn’t even cruelty-free! Most of it I don’t use, have forgotten about, or don’t even like. Yet, I have kept them for… Reasons?
I honestly think that one of those reasons is that I have a monetary attachment to them. As you will see, I have lipsticks from Chanel and YSL, both of which are super expensive. I was so proud when I bought them because I felt like I had accomplished something. What that accomplishment was, I don’t know. I don’t think I knew then, either.
Side Note: I would like to apologise for the atrocious pictures that follow. Turns out I’m not a #problogger and forgot to take pictures of the process because I was filming it! So all of the pictures below are screenshots from the video. I feel pretty dumb right now!
Part 1: Choose Your Requirements
This part will be different for everyone based on what you’re wanting to keep. For me, I wanted to clear out anything that wasn’t cruelty-free, no exceptions. I also wanted all of my non-vegan makeup to be removed too but I had to make an exception for 3 products (which I’ll get into later).
I also really wanted to force myself to part with things I genuinely don’t use or like, no matter how much they cost me. Also, foundations that don’t match my skin tone, lipsticks that don’t suit me, etc.
The last couple of things weren’t so much ‘requirements’, rather, common sense. If I had bought the product years ago and it was long since expired, it had to go. If it was empty and I was (for some reason) holding on to it, it had to go.
Part 2: Sorting By Sections
I started by taking all the makeup I own out of my drawers and separating them into three different groups; not cruelty-free, cruelty-free but not vegan, and cruelty-free and vegan. This part took way longer than I expected it to (about an hour) and that’s because for some things I owned, I really just could not find a straight answer anywhere. I ended up having a fourth section I labelled ‘I don’t fucking know’. You’ll definitely need Google to hand.
Ingredients lists are so hard to decipher which is why I ended up creating the Non-Vegan Makeup Ingredients Guide (coming next week!). From now on, I’m going to start tracking any potential non-vegan ingredients so I can refer back to my list later. It doesn’t make it easy that some ingredients can both be derived from plant and animal sources, and sometimes brands just don’t specify which they use.
Once I had my three (technically four) sections, I started assessing what I wanted to keep.
Part 3: Reassessing and Rebuilding Your Collection
My goal was to make sure I didn’t have too much of the same product, even if they were all vegan. For example, at the beginning of my makeup cleanout, I had six different foundations. After rooting out the non-vegan foundations, I had four. Then, after binning the empty ones, I had three. Finally, I removed any that didn’t match my skin colour and was left with only two! One of them is a backup in case I run out of my favourite and need another in an emergency.
Ask yourself if you’re really going to use X product. That lipstick that you love the colour of but hate the texture of? The eyeshadow palette you’ve had forever but never reach for? A novelty product you really like the packaging of but never reach for? Do you really need to keep that? Are you honestly going to try and reintroduce it into your regular makeup routine? I know how hard it is, but you really do need to be that brutal with it!
Aim to separate any monetary attachments you have to the products as well. I know that this part, in particular, is incredibly hard. I had four Anastasia Beverley Hills palettes that weren’t vegan, each priced at around £41. It hurt a lot to part with that amount of money, but gifting them to my friends and family made it so much easier! Which brings me to the next part…
Part 4: Donate / Gift / Bin!
Once you’ve decided on the things you absolutely must keep, you need to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your old collection. Some things may be expired and need binning outright, and some things are best not to donate or regift like mascara.
If any of the makeup you own has never been used, it may be a good idea to donate them to local women’s shelters! I was unable to do this as all of my makeup had been used at some point.
So, for me, the best and easiest thing to do was to just give my non-vegan makeup to friends and family who would really enjoy them! If the money part of the cleanout is especially hurting you, you could sell the makeup. I decided that for one, I didn’t want to profit from cosmetics that had harmed animals, and two, I had already let go of the money ‘loss’, and I just wanted to make some people happy.
And, that’s it! You can now re-organise your makeup drawers with your newly freed up space.
Will You Be Spring Cleaning Your Makeup Collection?
Honestly, I feel so much better for doing this! As I said at the start, I only kept three products that were cruelty-free, but not vegan, because they are the only products of it’s kind that I own (brow gel, setting spray, and glitter glue, specifically!). Once I run out of these products, I won’t be repurchasing, and will specifically look for a vegan alternative!
As a side note, I think I might keep going with a little spring cleaning series until I move house in July. I know my clothes are in desperate need of a declutter, as are my bookshelves, and under my bed!
Will you use my tips next time you do your makeup spring cleaning? I understand that not everyone will have the same criteria as me, but it’s pretty easy to swap out my personal preferences for your own and use the same techniques.
If you enjoyed this post, let me know by leaving a comment below! My DMs are always open if any of you would like to chat in more detail about what you’ve read.
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Love, Flossie ♡
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