Throughout December I used several items that were on their last legs. Some of them were getting ready to expire, some were products that were discontinued and others were from entire brands that had gone the way of the dodo.
I have to say it felt really good to use up the last remnants of those items and send them on their way. In the process of using them up I found quite a few items that were ones I liked but never remembered to reach for, some from defunct brands and a few that were mediocre but still worth using, just not repurchasing.
It is oddly the items that are only so-so that seemed to be taking up so much space in my collection. I think that is the down side of subscription boxes. While the subscription boxes often introduce me to brands I didn’t know and help me find new favorites, they also sometimes send me duds or even just okay products. The duds don’t stick around long. They are tried out and passed on to friends in the hopes that they will find the product more to their liking. The mediocre ones are interesting. They are products that are good enough to use but not to repurchase. I tell myself I will use them and then let them go. The problem is that I end up reaching for products I like more and only occasionally remember to pull them out of the drawer.
So I decided that this year I am going to try something out. I am going to create a small box to keep out on the surface of my dressing table. There where I can see it daily, I am going to place several items I am going to reach for with the goal of using them up. My plan is to pick one item from this box each day to incorporate in my makeup. Then at the beginning of the following month I will reevaluate the items. Some I hope to have used up, some will stay in the box to continue to be used up, and if I find that even with them right there within sight I am still not reaching for them, they will be sent along.
At least that is the plan. And so we set January’s Use Up Box.
Given the number of brands that have gone out of business recently I decided to start my box with a few of those items. While I like these items they are no longer being produced.
The first is the Becca Pink Haze Setting powder. I love the pink tinted setting powder for adding a bit of life to my skin when I feel pale and wan. I am almost finished with this container but I also know I won’t look at trying out and finding a new pink toned powder to replace it until it was gone.
The second item is the Marc Jacobs Under(cover) Blurfection Primer. It is a really good pore blurring primer, but alas no longer made. The third item that is no longer being produced is the Bite Beauty Changemaker foundation. While I adore the foundation, Bite beauty is no longer in business.
The next two items on my January’s list are the Pretty Vulgar Eye Shadow Primer and the Colorpop Ultra Matte Lip. I really like both of these actually, but I have had them for quite some time. Both are about half empty. I love the color of the lippie and this is one of the more reliable eyeshadow primers. I don’t want them to go to waste.
There are three products that I tried out when they came in but then set them aside and forgot about them. In truth I don’t really remember how they perform. They are the Eyeko Spotlight Highlighting Stick, the Brow Bar Palette By Reema and a Josephine Cosmetics Liquid Lip. To be honest I vaguely remember trying them, but have no recollection of how they performed. So it looks like January they get their chance to shine, or to fail.
There are two final items in my to be used up box and these, I expect to be rotating in and out of the box actually. I have the tendency to forget about single shadows. Some of them have formulas I love but I just never seem to remember to reach for them. And of course there are several I can’t remember too well as I tried them once or twice, put them in the single shadows box and then promptly forgot about them. So this month I am putting the Too Faced Melted Chocolate Matte Liquid Eyeshadow and the Real Her Dreams So Big Eyeshadow Duo in my Use up box. All three of the shadows work well together so I can reach for all of them at once, or perhaps use one of them with the eyeshadow palette I have taken out for the day. At least that is the hope.
And there you have it, the Use Up Box for January. It is my hope that I will be able to work through some products this way, reducing waste by using the products up before they expire and making room for new products all at the same time. At the beginning of February, we’ll see how successful this plan is.
Ms. Mimsy Reviews 