GETTING RID OF PRODUCTS. HOW DO YOU DO IT WHEN YOU KNOW YOU HAVE TOO MANY?

[SamanthaDeMuro]

My lipstick collection is completely OVERFLOWING. I will never EVER use every product I have. I want to do a clean out but I can't bear the thought of throwing out perfectly good, pricey products. How do I do this? Has anyone else done this and if so, how do you decide what to keep and what goes?

 

[LiliV]

I've never done a major downsizing but every now and then I go through my collection and anything that I don't use or I have similar colors/products of I put in a big bag and let my mom or friends pick out anything they want. One of my friends never really buys make up so she's always excited to get a bunch of things

 

[SamanthaDeMuro]

Unfortunately, neither one of my sisters are big on makeup nor is my mother. Mom likes routine when it comes to makeup and she really doesn't understand my obsession with all things beauty. My MIL does NADA when it comes to beauty. It has to do with her religion. She's Pentecostal and though she has hair past her butt and I told her she should donate it to LOCKS OF LOVE, she's not going to. So bizarre and I think selfish, but I digress. My best friend loves makeup too but doesn't live in the same state at this time. The upshot is, I have no one to offload my overflowing lipstick collection to. I guess I could add it to a box of products I'm not currently using and may never use. I am just tired of how overwhelmed all that lipstick and lip gloss makes me feel. UGH. Thanks for the advice though.

 

[PixieDancer]

You could always sell/swap them in the clearance bin here and/or swap them on a site like Makeup Alley. That way you could either get cash for other things or swap for items you'll use. And your items will go to someone who'll be grateful to have them.

 

[novocainedreams]

Shelters and women's programs really appreciate donations such as these for women who are trying to get back into the work force and things like that. That's another option.

 

[PixieDancer]

Shelters and women's programs really appreciate donations such as these for women who are trying to get back into the work force and things like that. That's another option.

GREAT idea! I was thinking of something like a charity donation, but I wasn't sure if they took used products... That's good to know that there are places that do! You could easily sanitize the items with alcohol or a product like Beauty So Clean first. I saw a news story on a homeless woman once that would go through garbage and find "used" cosmetics. She made a point to say how women throw out perfectly good items thinking they are gone when there's plenty of useful product left. She held up a Chanel face powder compact that still had about 1/4 of a rim of product around the edge. I was heartbroken and immediately took a ton of my new, unused backups to a local church's woman's donation center. That was well over a year ago. Thanks for the reminder that there are lots of women out there that maybe can't afford these luxuries!

 

[RedLadi]

I just give away what i havent used and dont intend to use to my mom or a friend. Unless it is extremely old a i havent used in in a long time