The first of the 2022 Eyeshadow Palette Declutter

I know, I sort of got on a roll with the decluttering thing. To be honest, I have recently picked up several new eyeshadow palettes and I realized i had no where to put them. I’m one of those people who can stand a bit of mess for a while but then I reach the point where I just can’t take it any more and then suddenly I have to not only clean up the small mess that is currently irritating me but I have to take everything down to empty and go at the containers with disinfectant before I can feel settled again.

If I keep things tidy in the first place I’m good, no real compulsions but once something has reached that irritation level I enter cleaning monster mode. And the fact that i couldn’t put some eyeshadows away because there was no place to put them managed to get under my skin.

While this is just about the palettes I am getting rid of, if you want me to do a kind of collection post about the ones I am keeping let me know. I’d be happy to pull one together. However given how many are in the pile I just decided to focus on the ones I am getting rid of and why.

As you can see from the pile above, there are a lot of palettes. I didn’t count them because this is the first declutter. At Christmas there are several of us who get together and everyone brings the gently used palettes they want to get rid of. (sometimes other makeup as well, but it is the great shadow exchange). Everything is cleaned and disinfected and things change hands. So the palettes I declutter today will go in a box and then after thanksgiving I will do another pas through. I will count up everything then and there will be more added to the box. then I will clean every palette as well as counting them. I will say that fifteen are leaving me now with several on the watch list. (which basically means if i don’t find myself reaching for them before the final declutter of the year they will be going into the box for the great shadow exchange. So first, the official declutter items…

Several of these palettes are really good. In fact most of them are really good. If I really don’t like a palette it tends to leave pretty quickly. So I keep the ones that I liked using. Most of the ones I am decluttering today I either simply don’t reach for or I have the same shades in a different format.

Let’s start with the Shop Miss A AOA Palettes. I recently tested all four palettes in the Orbit line. Two I am keeping because they have colors I will reach for and they are quads I can create quick and easy looks without much effort. Two of these, The Saturn and Neptune Palettes, I know i will not be reaching for so i am passing them along.

While I love Huda Beauty Shadows, I am getting rid of these two obsessions palettes. I have two full sized Huda Beauty palettes and I found that all of the shades that I reach for in these two small palettes are in the two larger ones. So I am keeping those and getting rid of these two little ones.

I found the same was true with the Ciate London Palettes. I am getting rid of these two smaller palettes because I have one larger Ciate Palette that has all of the colors I use in the two smaller ones. So I am keeping one pig one and losing two smaller ones. Ciate shadows are interesting. They are hit and miss actually. Not only are the colors similar but i do like the formula of the pans in the one larger palette.

I like the small wet n wild color icon palette but I generally find myself reaching for the 16 pan icon palette rather than this little one. the pans are smaller but there are more shades. The formula is good and I really like the color story but I have all of these shades in numerous other palettes.

The Pretty Vulgar Early Bird Eyeshadow Palette is a cool toned palette and the colors tend to work well. I have all of these shades in other palettes though and just don’t find myself reaching for it. It was great for creating soft looks though.

The IBY Enlighten Palette I generally think of as my Easter palette. All of the shades are pastel and honestly I only reach for it at Easter. And while the shadows are really good, I have actually been reaching for the five pan Sweater Weather Palette from Dominique Cosmetics more than I am for this. In fact it has become my go to pastel palette and so i am going to send this on to someone who will enjoy it more.

With the Tosca palette from Nomad I found myself reaching for only one shade. i might use the other shades if i was ther but really I only reached for the brownish red tone. And now I have a palette with that one shade in it so there is no need to keep it. I like Nomad cosmetics and their shadow formula. I will say that while I will use most of the shades in the Berlin Underground Palette, I find it better to go for single shades than their palettes. I just don’t really care for the full palettes (except for the Berlin Underground) Most of their palettes I will like one or two colors. It is a great formula but for me it is better in single pan rather than palette purchases.

The Zoeva Caramel Mélange is again a shadow palette with a good formula. It is pigmented and blendable and the shadows all work well together without being muddy. However every shadow in this palette I have somewhere else so I am just not reaching for it.

I have had the Glam Reflections Palette from BH cosmetics for a while. It keeps slipping past declutters because I open it and think, I don’t have those shades elsewhere. And I tell myself i really need to use it. However I never do. Most of the shades I have elsewhere, but the truth is I keep promising myself to use it and then I never reach for it. So now is the time.

There are two Tarte Palettes in the declutter. One is the Tarte Tease. It is a six pan palette. It was for a long time my travel palette. I don’t think it can actually make it to the great shadow exchange because it is really old and worn. It was an excellent travel palette and I would certainly buy it again but it is so old I would not put these shadows anywhere near my eyes. The larger Tarteist Pro Remix is also going in the decultter. In general I reach for the Tarteist Pro and never reach for this one. I like the shadows but they aren’t shades i use. I see it and then I reach for the other tarte palette right next to it since they ae the same size and stored together. So This one is going away.

And finally in the definite declutter pile is Nude Prism from Lunar Beauty I wanted to like this but the truth is I have everyone of these shadows in formulas that I like much more than I like this one. I found the shadows powdery and streaky and I just wasn’t a fan. They are shadows I felt I had to use an eyeshadow primer with and while I sometimes use eyeshadow primers I don’t always. So it felt like an extra step to use this palette. And since it wasn’t my favorite color story either, I haven’t actually reached for it since I tested it out. So Away it goes.

But then we have this trio.

The Jessica Rabbit palette I am keeping as a keepsake but it is leaving the shadow drawer. it is a nice palette but it is old enough not to be usable anymore.

The Storybook cosmetics I only reach for to use two shadows. I like the shadows but the packaging just takes up too much space. So it is going to be decorative instead of in the shadow drawer and occasionally i may still reach for them. The Brand Storybook cosmetics is very problematic anyway. its an interesting story but too much to add here. I won’t be buying anything else from the brand ever, but I have a fondness for this palette.

And then we come to the ABH Norvina palette. The shadows are a good formula, which is no surprise as ABH makes great shadows. These are colors that I don’t have anywhere else. Mostly because I don’t tend to wear them. As much as I love them and the idea of having them. I am putting this palette on probation. I will keep it for now, but if I don’t start reaching for it, I will need to declutter the palette. What is interesting is that this was the Norvina line and now ABH has come out with a regular ABH palette called Norvina. the color story is similar but the the shades in it look more grown up and less childish than the large palette. Some of the clors may be the same but i find myself drawn to the new one rather than this large one. The colors tend to lean into more primary shades while the new one seems a bit more sophisticated. But that is another story of course. The first link in the paragraph takes you to the big palette while this one will take you to the newer release if you are interested.

And that is the end of this first run declutter. I am sure more will join the pile, but for now this is what I am getting rid of. I find it really hard to get rid of eyeshadow palettes. i think it is because there is always just a slight color variation and I really like having all the colors to play with, even if I deep down know that some colors I am simply not going to reach for. But if things are not pared down to a workable level then I will just reach for one palette constantly and forget all about the others. And there will be no room for new items. Now at least i feel like I have a little breathing room where as before I was overwhelmed, So for now, i am happy with this declutter.

The 2022 Primer Declutter

I love primers. I put them under every foundation and when i don’t feel like wearing foundation, I apply the prime and then dust with powder and call it good. As strange as it seems this is my actual favorite category of makeup. However I also have a habit of just putting primers i don’t like in the drawer. Unless they break me out or cause a major skin irritation, I will keep them around hoping that this next time they will work better.

While I knew there were a lot of them, after I cleared out the foundations yesterday it made the primers look that much more out of control so I went ahead and dove into the primers. It felt really good to clear things out and to be honest, I may just start my end of year declutter now. I’m sure I’ll do another one just before new years, but at least a preliminary purge is long over due. so let’s get started.

First up we have three primers I have never used.

Two of them were actually still sealed and one I think I opened to see the consistency but never used. These three are staying and I will try them out to see if i like them. Then they may or may not stay.

So on to the primers I have tried. First up we have two sample sizes. The first is the YSL Touch Eclat Blur Primer. I really love this primer. I know it looks like there is half a sample left but it is not. When you open the cap and take the wand out the product level drops to almost nil and is really hard to get out with the wand. I really like this primer and even though it is expensive, it is one that I will be adding to my collection. In truth the only reason that I kept it in the drawer was to remind me of how much i like it and to remind me to order a full size once i had whittled down my primers to a more respectable level. I really like this primer, bit this almost completely empty sample needs to go.

The second sample size leaving me is the Unicorn Glow long wear primer. This sample is alas empty. However it too is in the drawer because I want to purchase it in the full size. It is less costly than the YSL. It is only $12 retail for the full size (as opposed to YSL’s $57). It blurs well and does extend the life of the makeup worn over it. It is a very good primer actually.

The next two primers I am getting rid of because they simply don’t suit me. The Ciate Watermelon Burst Hydrating Primer is far too hydrating for my skin. The watermelon scent is lovely and it feels great against the skin but my skin is not dry enough for this primer. It is simply too moisturizing.

The Rodial Glass primer is also quite hydrating but to be completely honest it is the smell of the primer that is causing me to pass it on to a friend of mine. It is good, but it has a very menthol scent to it. If the scent dissipated quickly then I would be okay with it, but the scent lingers and I do not like the scent of menthol. Plus it is very hydrating and so it is getting passed along.

And then we have the primers that have expired. First up is the Stila Sheer Illumination Lingerie Soufflé Primer. This primer is no longer made and I don;t think it has been for quite some time. I loved it and it is down to just a film of product on the inside of the glass. I honestly kept it because I liked the container and not because there was any usable product in it. I don;t think I have actually opened the jar in 2 years let alone used what I’m sure was expired product two years ago. I just really like the jar. I will either send it to the rubbish bin or I will wash it out and use it for something else. To be honest I actually have a small succulent that might do well in this jar and look lovely in the sun room. Wheter the jar is reused or thrown away it very much needs to leave my makeup collection.

The LYS Serum Gripping Primer is not a very old product. It was an okay primer that felt like a serum but didn’t really do much gripping. It was more of a hydrating serum that was supposed to have skin care benefits. It had more use as skincare than it did as a primer to be honest. And when I went to test it before deciding to keep or get rid of, the formula had already separated. And so into the trash it goes.

Sadly the elf puff puff primer is also expired and separated. It was a really good primer and I am sad that it got buried and forgotten. I enjoyed using it and found it soothing to the skin. It was an excellent primer to wear after too much sun or if you were suffering from windburn. It is a cannabis sativa infused primer and it was just fantastic with any kind of skin irritation i had.. At some point i will repurchase this primer. My go to for Elf is the Elf putty primer. however i did finish that prime up and have not yet picked up a replacement. I meant to and probably will soon but the number of primers i had on hand made me restrain myself from repurchasing it. However it is a fabulous primer that i highly reccomend.

And finally in the expired category is the Too Faced Hangover Replenishing primer. I received this in a subscription box and I was very happy to get the chance to try it. Everyone raved about it and how fabulous it was. To me it felt like a light weight moisturizer but not a primer. But any time i looked it up everyone was saying fabulous things about it. So I held onto it thinking that if i kept trying it maybe I would see what the big deal about it was. And then after a while i stopped trying it. I think the issue is simply skin type. It may be fabulous for some but i really think that it is a product that works best with dry skin. I you have dry skin then using this to hydrate before applying makeup may help. For me it did nothing. I should have realized that in time to pass it on, but alas I did not.

And now, for the ones I am keeping. Some of these are not going to be a surprise. I have both the Liquid Silk Canvas and the Protective Silk Canvas balm Primer from Tatcha. I love both of them. I prefer the balm. It is hands down my all time favorite primer. It makes my skin look and feel good. I like the Liquid Silk canvas and while I have the travel size I will be ordering the full sized when it is empty. I do like the balm version just a little bit better though, but it is really a personal formula prefrence as they are both fantastic.

The Glamglow Super Matifying Primer is also one I am keeping in my collection. i like the primer and I like the way it works with my skin. However the packaging is really bulky and for the size of the packaging (and the price) there is not a lot of product in the container. I am about halfway through the container and I will finish it out. As much as I do like it, I probably won’t repurchase it. It is fantastic with oil control and makes a great summertime primer, but there just isn;t that much product in the package so I don’t personally feel it is worth the cost.

The Yensa Tone Up Essential Glow Primer and the Touch in sol No Poreblem primers are two that have been in my collection for ever. I have repurchased these two primers repeatedly. They are also the two i will reach for if i don;t actually feel like actually wearing any makeup. they have a slight pink tint to them which blends out with my skin and blurs the pores without looking like i have anything on. then I’ll add a little powder to control the shine and consider it job done. I really enjoy both of these products and like i said before i have lost count of the number of times I have repurchased them over the years.

If I am looking for a primer that will grip my makeup through anything that comes my way I go for the Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer. through various subscriptions I have gotten so many samples of this primer that i have never had to pick up a full size. This is the last of the samples i have though so once it is gone i will be getting the full sized version. It has a clear gel like texture so it works with any skin type and it locks makeup down tight. if I have to wear my makeup for longer than usual, this is my primer.

The Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Primer does exactly what it says. It smooths out your skin and leaves it ready for makeup. I really like the pore blurring nature of this formula. It actually has a texture very much like the Stila primer that I loved so much so it shouldn;t be a surprise I like this one.

Even though Marc Jacobs is no longer making makeup I do like this Undercover primer. it smooths and fills pores well. It is unfortunately no longer being made so I will use up my tube and let it go. But it will be nice while it lasts.

The OleHenriksen banana bright Primer is a classic and one that i will always keep around. It is especially useful for brightening the skin in the winter when i tend to look a little dried out and dull. It is one of the few hydrating primers that i really love. Perhaps it is because it focuses more on brightening.

And finally we come to the last primer currently in my collection. It is the Figs and Rouge Blurring Primer. I think it would be best to say that i am keeping it for now. It isn’t my favorite, but i want to play around with it a bit more before passing final judgement on it. And so for now it stays.

And there we have the primer declutter. I’m sure as i test out the three new ones and continue using them that more will end up empty and a few more will leave me before the year is out. But for now i am much happier now that i have eliminated some of the products from my drawer. Plus it gave me a bit of a chance to talk about primers. Hopefully you enjoyed it as well.

The Daily: November 2nd, 2022

Today my darlings we are going to do something different for my daily post. I had planned on a bit more normality, my first use of the the paid My fitness Pal app, lie in general, and my daily makeup look. You know, all of the usual stuff. Then I went to get my makeup for the day out. I first came across the Becca Foundation I planned to declutter on monday. It was still out. I promised myself I would throw it out this afternoon. Then I reached into the drawer and pulled out the RealHer Foundation thinking I hadn’t used it in a while. It was seperated. So I reached for the NYX and found the tube was really light. I dispensed some into my hand and found there wasn’t enough left to use for one last time.

And so instead of putting on my makeup I laid out all of my foundations and did an impromptu foundation declutter. I know, My plan was to wait until December and go through my decluttering so that everything was fresh for the new year.

But I was annoyed. So Foundation declutter today. As a warning there may be a primer declutter for tomorrow as they are in the same drawer and there are several products that either need to go to a new home, tried out or simply thrown out because they have reached the end of their lives.

But for now, we are doing a foundation declutter.

Before we start I would like to say that a lot of these foundations came in subscription boxes. I did purchase quite a few of them because a few years ago the foundation I used routinely was discontinued so I went on the hunt for a new everyday foundation. Then I stopped and began rotating through products to use up the ones that I had. there are two powder foundations I didn’t take out for the declutter. One is the KVD Lock it Powder foundation and the other is the One Size Powder foundation. I like both of them and will be keeping them. Also I have two foundations that I did order. One is the Bounce from Beauty Blender. I tried the sample that came with a Sephora order and I liked it enough that when I saw it was on sale for half price and there was a $5 discount for first time purchases I went ahead and bought it. The second I have on order is the Koh Gen Do Aqua foundation. It was out of stock for a really long time but now it is back in stock. It is a fantastic high end foundation and my go to for event foundation. I tend to go through a bottle during the holiday season.

So this is everything else.

Just seeing them all laid out like that is a lot. But let’s dive in. There are a lot to go through so there is only going to be a few little bits about each so this isn’t a mile long. First we have the empties and expired products.

RealHer I am Divine is expired. It is an okay foundation but not one of my favorites. It tends to sink into the fine lines and isn’t all that long wearing.

The QMS Medicosmetics Active glow is also expired. It is a decent tinted moisturizer. It gives pretty much no coverage. it is great for a no makeup day, but aside from taking down redness it doesn’t do a lot. I liked it on no makeup days, but it is a pricy product that I won’t be repurchasing because there are less expensive products that perform better.

The Becca is discontinued, almost empty and on the verge of expiring. It was supposed to leave on Monday, but it was apparently just waiting for some friends to join it.

The NYX Bare With Me tinted skin Veil is empty. Completely empty. It is a fantastic product that I leaned on all summer. It is a great tinted moisturizer that works as a light coverage foundation and in the spring i will be repurchasing it. For now, the tube is empty and going away.

The Purlisse Perfect Glow BB Cream is also a summer time favorite. There is a smidge left in the tube but I am going to go ahead and declutter it. It is a good light weight formula that gives light to medium coverage (my preferred coverage actually) and I will definitely be repurchasing it.

The Catrice HD Liquid Coverage is a product I am sad to see go. I love the formula but had so many problems with the dropper. It is quite honestly a packaging problem. I am sure i will end up picking this up again in the future simply because it is such a good formula, but I have had two bottles of this and each of them has had issues with the dropper. since I don’t reach for it, this foundation has expired. I think if I had fewer foundations I would go to the trouble of having a replacement dropper next to the bottle to use but it is messy and with other foundations to choose from, I just chose other foundations.

Too Faced Dew You Full Coverage foundation is a good full coverage foundation. I don’t go for full coverage a lot and this foundation is light with kind of yellow undertones. There are about two weeks out of the year where I can make this work (this came in a subscription box). Because of that I don’t use it often and it has expired. It is very long wearing and very full coverage. It is just the wrong shade for me. I also think that Too Faced discontinued it.

I have two foundations from Yensa. One is the BC Skin on Skin Foundation. It is fantastic and I would wear it everyday if I could. Which is why the tube is almost empty. It is staying for now but i will use it up before the new year and immediately repurchase. The Yensa Super Serum Silk Foundation is growing on me. I don’t like it as much as the BC foundation, but I like it enough to finish the bottle. I am still on the fence about whether or not I want to repurchase, but it is staying and I will continue to use it.

The No 7 Lift and Luminate and the Elf Acne fighting foundation are my two drugstore favorites. The No 7 is reordered as soon as it gets low. I like the Elf and will repurchase it but I don’t feel as intense a need to replace it. The Elf is getting low and I will probably finish it out before the year is up. Oddly this is one of the only Elf foundations I do like. While I don’t have that big a problem with acne, this feels lighter than the other elf formulas and one that I would use again,

The Ciate London Extraordinary Foundation is a good foundation. I like using it but you have to go sparingly with it. A little does go a long way. You can build it to full coverage if you want to though. The more you build it though, the more it is going to settle into fine lines. I always use a pore filling primer with this foundation and I always go with a lighter application. For me the big draw for this foundation is that the shade I have perfectly blends with my skin tone.

The next three foundations I like and will use, but I probably won’t repurchase. I reach for them often enough that i will use them up, but I’m just not going to buy them. Two came in subscription boxes and one came from Influenster. The first is the Charlotte Tilbury Air Brush Flawless Foundation. It is nice but tends to feel a bit heavy and oddly enough looks a little powdery even without setting powder.

The Tom Ford Traceless soft matte is a beautiful foundation. It is a serum style and looks fantastic on. It is however quite pricy and to be honest the No 7 Lift and Luminate is almost on par with it. The Tom ford is a little bit better but only by a slim margin. while I don’t mind paying more for a great product, the difference between the tow is too slim for me to justify. I will however use every drop from this bottle.

The third in this group is the Natasha Denona Transformatte. It is a good formula but feels a little heavy on the skin. It is supposed to be pore vanishing but I still need a pore filling primer if it isn’t going to sink into fins lines throughout the day. It looks beautiful for about 8-9 hours and then it sinks into fine lines. I like it enough to wear, but not enough to repurchase given the price of the formula. It is good, but I am not repurchasing when it is done.

The bareMinerals Complexion Rescue is a good tinted moisturizer. It is great for a no makeup look and blends into the skin well. I like it, but I have other products that do the same. I am still actually on the fence about this product though. I don’;t think I have actually used it enough to really decide if I would repurchase or not. I do know my skin loves this more than it does my other tinted moisturizers. I think I might just have to see how I feel after more product has been used.

And then we have Bite Beauty. I love their Changemaker foundation. Or at least I love the formula of the Changemaker foundation I have. I know they changed a lot of their formulas. I don’t know if this foundation went through a change as well. I adore this formula and would purchase it repeatedly. If it hasn’t changed. Also I think the brand has started to go out of business. So this is a conditional love but might not be able to ever repurchase.

Also in that boat is the Kristopher buckle Triplicity Foundation stick. the brand is no longer in existence and I am finishing out the last of this stick. It was a fantastic formula and I will probably cry when the stick is completely depleted. It will not follow me into the new year though.

The Revolution Fast Base Foundation Stick i love and will repurchase repeatedly. I purchased it initially just to have something spill proof that I could travel with. And then I fell in love with it. it is creamy, blends beautifully and looks great. It isn’t the longest wearing foundation but when it wears off it just sort of fades away instead of peeling or sinking into fine lines.

And then the final stick foundation from Anastasia Beverly Hills. It is the Caramel Stick Foundation and it works really well with my skin. It is longer wearing than the Revolution but it also needs a little warming up before using. If you warm it up then it applies well and is very creamy. Again it is also the prefect shade for my skin so that helps.

and so there we have it. A quick and dirty impromptu declutter. It wasn’t what i planned for the day, but it was definitely needed. So the end result: Seven foundations are leaving today. There are thirteen remaining. One is discontinued and will be used up and let go. three are almost empty and will be gone before the end of the year. And five of them will be used up and never repurchased again.

It is still a lot, but as I empty out the ones with low product in them, even if I like them they will not be repurchased until the ones I want to use up and not repurchase have been used up and sent on their way. I’m sure there will be other foundations that come my way in the year but I feel pretty good about knowing what I have, the product level of what i have remaining and the fact that I have gotten rid of items I simply won’t (or can’t) use. Just before we roll into 2023 I will do a brief review to see what is going to actually make it into next year with me but for now, i feel really good about this, even if it wasn’t part of today’s original plan. Hopefully you enjoyed the break form the norm as well.

Starting 2022 off on the right foot…

Good morning my darlings and welcome to the first post of the new year. well my first post of the new year. I’m sure others were more on the ball and woke up early on January first to get things started as soon as midnight flew past. I’m not that organized. But I hope to be a little better organized in the coming year.

Every year millions of people make New Year’s resolutions. This is the year I am going to lose weight. This is the year I’m going to start…eating right…taking better care of myself…saving money…writing my great novel. Everyone always has something they want to do better or more of or try in the new year.

Personally I love this. The turning of the calendar year gives us all a fresh page. It is hard not to look at a brand new calendar filled with twelve months of days that have yet to be filled by the actions of daily life and not feel like this is the year where you can do anything.

One of my grandmother’s favorite phrases when i was little was. “If wishes were horses even beggars would ride.”

This always made me laugh as she was also deathly afraid of horses so I knew even if she had an entire stable filled with the finest horses she would choose to walk instead.

But the the truth is that a resolution without a plan is just wishful thinking. And planning sometimes involves picking up the right tools for success. I have many plans for 2022. Some large, some small, and some that are simply things I think i could do better in the upcoming year. I even have a few habits I’d like to build or leave behind.

I know that waking up on January first and starting every new habit off with a bang isn’t going to work. If I actually remember to do what I planned, and stick with it, then in a few weeks time fatigue will set in and chances are the plan will fall to the wayside. Instead I phase my plans, roll the new in slowly, building the habits over the coming months.

Think of it like training for a marathon. You don’t wake up on day one having never run anywhere in your life and suddenly decide to run twenty-six miles flat out. You have a plan and slowly build up to marathon level. You train. I tend to take this training into other arenas as well.

For me, organization is something I want to work on in the new year. I want to be able to find the things that I want to use easily. I want to be able to go through products, like sheet masks in a timely manner. I know that saying I want to be more organized isn’t really going to cut it, so I made a plan to deal with some of my worst offenses.

One of the things that makes me feel disorganized is having lots of little things floating around everywhere. Like hair pins and elastics. So I picked up a couple of jars to help contain them.

Putting my sheet masks in a drawer where they were laying flat made them easy to ignore. It also made the drawer somewhat messy and when I went into the drawer I just felt like I was digging through an overstuffed drawer no matter how many or few items were in there. So I picked up a small plastic bin where I can set the masks upright. Not only can I see them but I can flick through them easily to find the one I am looking for.

I also picked up a three drawer unit. The drawers have frosted plastic fronts so I can sort of see into them but not completely. I don’t need to have everything displayed as that would kind of bug me, but I can see enough to know what type of items the drawers hold. I have also divided the items up by category. Hair care products are in one, skincare products are in another.

None of these items were very expensive. I thing the three drawer unit was the most expensive of these items and it was less than $30. But each of them will help me be better organized. Does this mean that because I start off with it organized at the beginning of January that it will stay that way? No.

But in my planner, I have scheduled a time to put things away and to make sure they are in the right drawer. Do I hope that I can teach myself to put things back where they belong after I use them so things remain tidy? Yes. But I also understand that life happens and I may not put things away right after using them. So on my schedule every Friday I have written ‘Tidy up Beauty items.’

I scheduled it right before my Friday Face Mask. This way I stop what I am doing and get into the habit of putting everything back where it belongs, then I feel rewarded by having my relaxing face mask. I find a little positive reinforcement doesn’t hurt when trying to build a new habit. So while it may get messy during the week, I know that Friday it will all reset. The goal may be to get myself to remember to put things back where they belong each time I use them, but for now I will settle for the weekly tidy instead of waiting until things get so messy that I can’t find a single thing I was looking for.

There are of course other organizational issues I want to tackle this year, but this is my first step. As it becomes habit and no longer something I have to think about, more steps will be added making my world run just a little bit more smoothly and turning some of my wishes into reality.

Single Shadow Declutter, Autumn 2021

This will not be the most dramatic declutter I have ever done. While I have an odd collection of single shadows and there are a few that I do reach for on a consistent basis such as the KVD Lolita, over all I don’t reach for single shadows much. I will use shadow duos though more often than I will reach for singles. I think it is because they look more substantial and I have a better chance of creating a look with a well paired set. The few single shadows I keep tend to either blend well with others or work well on their own.

But this isn’t about what I am keeping, but what is leaving me.

The first item leaving is actually a duo of shadows. It is the Mesmerizing Mineral Duo from Pixi by Petra. I had to think long and hard about this one. They are good shadows but they are both shimmers and both in shades of bronze. I know it is a mineral bronze duo, but the thing is, while I like the shades and would wear the shades I would need to pair them with something else. I know it sounds odd, but I really like my duos to work together. These are a darker and lighter shade of shimmery bronze. For me it doesn’t work as a pair and because of this I never reach for them. Luckily they are shades my mom will reach for often and so while they look relatively new I will clean them and send them to her to play with.

There are three single powder shadows that I am letting go of. The first I am so sad to see go. And truthfully the only reason that I am letting it go is because it is broken. And honestly, I may try to repress it just to keep it a little longer. It is the IBY Fire and Ice Lush Eyeshadow. In the pan it looks awful. It just looks muddy brown. On the lids it goes from brownish to shimmering green like a beetle’s back. It looks absolutely fantastic. I will try and press it, but I don’t know how well that will work and suspect it will still be making its way out of my collection.

The second powder is The Rundown from the What’s the Tea collection from The Balm. I like the shade it is like a brown with a purple-y tint to it. And I like the Balm shadows. If this were in a palette I would use it. But as a single shadow I just don’t find myself reaching for it. I suspect that I will end up purchasing the What’s the Tea? Palette at some point, because I like a lot of the shades, but I just am not reaching for this and I think it should be passed on.

And the third powder single I am passing on is the Colored Raine Champagne Life. It is an okay shadow. Not my favorite but it is one of my few light colored single shadows so I kept it around to pair with the darker ones. The thing is, even when I use the darker shadows I find I’ll reach for a light tone from a palette, or use a highlighter rather than reach for this. It is okay but I have better products and it is really old. I think it has been in my makeup drawer for well over five years. So it is time to let it go.

There are two liquid shadows I am decluttering this round. The first is the LOC liquid Shimmer shadow. I believe it is a Birchbox owned brand. It is actually really good as far as liquid shadows go. It went on smoothly, dried fairly quickly and if you let it dry before blinking it didn’t really crease. It is a sample size and it is also almost completely empty. It is one I could see myself buying a full size of at some point. But for now, the almost completely empty tube needs to go.

The Liquid Metal eyeshadow from Model Co is also going. It is a decent enough bronze shade but it is older and starting to get clumpy. So I don’t really want to put it on my eyes. In general I didn’t reach for it much because it took forever to dry down and I almost always ended up with lines where I blinked before it was dry. It kind of drove me nuts to be honest. And now it is drying up so I feel a little bit bad, but I don’t think liquid shadows are sanitary to pass on so it was never going to be used by another.

And finally there are two loose powder pigments that I am passing on. These can be used as shadows. They can be used as highlighters. Either way, I am not going to use them. The bellapierre is a very glittery pink that just isn’t something I am going to reach for . The Artist Couture is also lovely, but it is two glittery a shade for me as well. And to be honest, loose powder shadows just aren’t my thing. I’ve had several where the color was fantastic and the application lovely, but I just don’t reach for them. I am just not a loose powder eyeshadow sort of person. And so as stunning as these are, I will be rehoming them to someone who will get far more use out of them than I will.

I know, it isn’t a massive declutter, but it does clear out a few products I am not using. A few will get send to new homes where they will be used and loved while a few others will sadly go the way of the bin. But quite frankly, I really am enjoying getting rid of the items that I know I will not use. It’s kind of a lightening up process for me. And it makes me feel better about the products I am keeping. Several of which I forgot I had and am now excited to find again. It’s a bit like shopping without spending any money.

Sweet Sunrise Shampoo and Conditioner trial sized

Autumn 2021 Eyeshadow Palette Declutter

Let me start by saying, I am not a minimalist. I know I have way more product than I need. I like trying new things and well, occasionally there is a buildup and it needs to be sorted. With the exception of the few items that have expired, everything is going to be cleansed and disinfected and passed on to someone who will use it. So this isn’t me trashing any product just because I don’t like it.

Oddly enough, most of the products I don’t like, I tend to pass on pretty quickly. If I know I am not going to use it, I like to keep it as pristine as possible, disinfect it and pass it on to someone who will use it while it still looks as new as possible.

Where I fall down is that sometimes I will keep a palette because I like one color. I am actually quite bad about that. I will convince myself that I will reach into that palette solely for that one color I like even though every other color in the palette is something I have in several other palettes and never think to reach for the single one I like. This time with my declutter I set all of the palettes that I liked with only one or two shades in them to the side and if I could find a comparable color in another palette then I let it go. To be honest, that was the bulk of my declutter.

There are also some palettes that I just don’t reach for. The shades may be lovely, the formulas great, but for one reason or another I just don’t reach for them. And so, while they are still capable of being used, it is time to let them go.

So I am just going to list them below as the palettes I am passing on. Ready?

Cargo Nude Beach: I like the cargo formula but I never reach for this palette. It is a nice neutral palette and the black is highly pigmented (which is why I held on to it) but The other shades are cool toned and in general I don’t wear a lot of cool tones. So I kept one cool toned shadow and found a black I like in a palette that has other shadows I like.

Makeup Geek Peach Bellini: I like the formula of Makeup Geek shadows but I have every shadow in this palette in another palette. It is a great peachy neutral palette and I know exactly who will get the most use out of it so I have no problems passing it on. It is a great palette, I am just not reaching for it.

Golden Hour by Beauty For Real: A recent trial I found I wanted to keep it for the blue shade. Everything else I had elsewhere. I found a comparable shade in a blue palette and so I am passing it on. It is a decent every day palette with one pop of color.

Fenty Beauty Moroccan Spice: I wanted to like this palette, I really did. The gold shadow is stunning actually and the formula isn’t bad. I have every shade in the palette in multiple versions elsewhere and I simply never reach for this palette. I used it a few times and quite frankly I put it away and forgot about it. It has beautiful packaging, but it isn’t very exciting.

Eloise The Queen Palette: This palette is stunning. The shadows are pigmented and blend really well. I just never reach for it. This is one of those palettes that I love looking at, but rarely reach for in order to wear. I have a couple of colorful palettes and the shades I use in this one are replicated in those colorful palettes so despite how good the formula is, I feel happy letting this go to someone else.

One Size Patrick Starr Visionary: This is an okay palette in terms of performance but to be honest I was keeping it for Olive it. It is a lovely green shimmer. I don’t quite have an exact match but I know it is the only shade I like in this palette so it is best to pass it on. I will look for the green elsewhere, but I am just not going to reach for this palette. Everything other than Olive It is easily found in another palette.

Illuminati X ISA: I was keeping this for shades I didn’t have elsewhere but truthfully I don’t really care for this formula. The shades are nice but they look better than they perform. This is more of a nice in theory palette but I am never going to use it. The colors are nice but the formula just doesn’t deliver.

Revolution Pro HD Amplified 35 Palette: This is a cool toned palette and honestly there are two shades I use. I have both of those shades elsewhere and so I don’t reach for this that much. Part of why I don’t reach for it is that I find I don’t really like large palettes. Whenever I pull out the larger palettes I end up just staring at them a really long time as I try to make a decision about what to do with them and then I use the same few shades as I used the last time I pulled out the palette. Over time I have gotten rid of most of my really large palettes because I find I just don’t use them.

Rimmel Magnif’eyes Crimson Edition: I’ll be honest I planned to declutter this one because most of the shadows I have elsewhere but I decided I’m not going to. I really like it and am going to try to use it more. If I haven’t used it by the time the next declutter rolls around I’ll let it go, but for now, I’m doing a last minute save and returning this to the shadow drawer

Elf Need it Nude: I have these browns and golds in so many palettes. It is a great palette but I just don’t reach for it as much as some of my other browns. In fact I reach for the Elf bite sized palette when I want these colors. It is the same nice formula, just fewer shades. So this is getting passed on.

Wanderess Rush Palette: Again a good palette and one I got a lot of use out of. In fact I am not so certain I can actually pass this one on. It is worn out and beat up. And one of the shadows is busted. It is time to let it go not because I didn’t like it but because I perhaps liked it a little too much. It is a good little palette but it has served it’s time and now it must go.

Violet Voss Fun sized Palette HG: I really do like the formula of Violet Voss shadows and I have kept another Violet Voss palette because of it. However I have all of these shades elsewhere and never reach for this. As a result the palette looks virtually untouched. So I am going to clean it up so it looks less touched (and is disinfected)and give it to a friend who I know will use this down to pan. There are her colors and she loves the Violet Voss formula (which I do too, actually). So I feel really good about it.

Wet ‘n Wild Coloricon Quad: I love wet ‘n Wild Eyeshadows. And I don’t know if you can tell but this has been well used. I really liked that the shadows were named for the parts of the lid they went with so I tried to avoid erasing the name with the shadow brush. I have had this for years. It has seen a lot of love, even if in the past couple of years it has fallen to the bottom of the drawer. Yes, years. It is old enough now that I won’t be passing it on I can only say a fond farewell. I really love wet ‘n wild shadows but I would be hesitant to put this one near my eyes at this point. I will end up picking it up again in a new incarnation, but this one has to go.

Sleek When the Sun goes down twelve pan palette: Oh yes my darlings, this is a twelve pan palette. I attached a photo of the interior with my thumb in frame so you can see the reference for pan sizes. I can tell you that this palette is at least ten years old. When I picked it up I was in a job where I was traveling nearly constantly. I had to drive long stretches and then had a few minutes to clean up from the drive before I had to conduct a meeting or a workshop. I picked up this palette because it was tiny and fit well into the small purse I kept in my work bag. It has a surprisingly large mirror and the colors are basic enough that I could touch up almost any work look I was wearing with no problem if I smudged on the drive. It was chosen for its base neutrality, its mirror and because I thought those tiny pans were just super cute. It was often a lifesaver and even after I stopped traveling so much, I kept it in my purse as a compact. I would never use the shadows anymore and honestly they are starting to smell a little off. The shadows were good when I used them. Neutral enough to blend with any of my work looks and the mirror was often a lifesaver. It is however time to let it go and sent it on a journey far away. Its time in service has been complete.

And with that we reach the end of the eyeshadow palettes. I did a quick declutter of my single shadows but I think that as this post is long enough, I will post that one a different time. For now, this is the end of the 2021 eyeshadow palette declutter.

Face Palette Declutter, September 2021

To be honest, face palettes were an interesting category for me to declutter. When I started to get them out, I thought that I had only one or two. Mostly because there are about two that I use on a regular basis. The others were more or less tucked in with my eyeshadows and tended to blend. If you include the blush and highlighter palettes, the sum total of my face palettes came to twelve.

When all was said and done, two are instant declutters and one is a ‘try and see if it is still usable, but I think it might be expired, so possibly declutter or just put away for nostalgias sake’. I know it’s a strange category. Let’s start with the two simple declutters.

The first is the Highlighter duo from Complex Culture. Complex Culture is a brand owned by IPSY and some of their products filter into Glam bags now and then. I actually really like their brushes, but thus far I am not a huge fan of their products. I found their eyeshadows patchy and hard to work with and this highlighter duo is just, meh.

It has one gold and one silver shade of highlighters. The pan size is large, the packaging sleek modern and luxe looking. In fact I really like their packaging. It makes me that much more sad when I don’t actually like their products. They aren’t bad, just ordinary.

I have these shades in the same shades in formulas I like a lot more. In fact I think I have repeats of these shades so I’m probably going to declutter some of these as well. I love golden highlight, but there are only so many you actually need. And this one I don’t need. I tried each shade once and decided to set it aside. I will clean it with disinfectant wipes and set it aside looking as fresh as possible for someone else to use. But it will be passed on.

The second item that is being decluttered is something I wasn’t entirely sure what category to put it in. It is the shimmer palette from Kypris. I love Kypris skincare. Their serums are absolutely fantastic. These shimmer/highlights, not so much.

If you use them as an eyeshadow then no matter what sort of lid primer or setting spray you use, they will dribble down your face in about two hours. With lid primer, you might get two and half hours. If you use them as highlighters, then they tend to blend in until you lose all color from them and just end up looking like a glittery vampire from one of the Twilight movies.

Don’t get me wrong, the look has its place, but that place isn’t really in my day to day look. As much as I really wanted to love this, I just didn’t. I think I really wanted to love it because I love their skincare. I think I kept it in the drawer so long because when I looked at it I saw Kypris on the top and thought ‘oh I like Kypris.’ But the truth is I like Kypris skincare and this is a whole different thing.

And finally we come to the thing I ought to declutter and am trying to convince myself I don’t need to declutter. And that is the KVD Shade and Light Cream Contour palette. Here is the thing. I have had this palette forever and a day. I know it has almost definitely reached the point of expiration. And to be honest, there was one contour shade that I used in this palette. Even when contouring was at it’s height, I never went in hard on it. In fact the way I use my bronzer now is more or less how I always used my contours. I really enjoyed the product actually and I have been liking more cream products in general lately. I never used the lighter whites and pinks and I used my one bronzer shade. That shade is showing pan and has only a little product left. The other pans look virtually untouched. The other dark shades are just not suitable for my skin tone and the pink and whites I just didn’t use.

I think what I am going to do, in an effort to get myself to let go, because I really need to, is attempt to use the contour one last time. I’ll remind myself how it works and then if I still like it, then I can look on the new updated KVD site. I know they sell the single contour shades in smaller palettes so I might just go for those. Or I will just get a refillable pan and take out all of the expired pans from this palette and just put the single pan in. I’ll have to took at options. I know they have a huge Labor Day sale going on this weekend so I may just pop in and see what variations they now sell.

With the changes I am not certain if it is still sold. I will have to check. Aside from that one use, it will not be used again. If I keep it, it will be for sentimental reasons. In general I am not sentimental about makeup, but I picked it up when shopping with a friend and that friend is no longer with us, so it is more a sentimental remembrance of her than of the makeup. So if it is kept it will be for that reason alone. But there will be one last attempt to use it, if only to convince myself that I shouldn’t and that it is time for it to go away.

And that is it for my face palettes. I don’t have a lot of face palettes to be honest, but the ones I do have, I really like. I suspect the bronzer and contour palettes are going to end up having only one or two pans used out of them before I end up letting them go. With the Ace Beaute there is really only one pan I use for my bronzer. I do occasionally dip into the darkest bronze shade in that palette when I want a quick eyeshadow without bothering to find eyeshadow, but as it is a full pan of bronzer it would take forever and a day to use it as eyeshadow (and to be honest it isn’t very good eyeshadow it is just laziness or a time crunch that has me using it.)

With the Park Avenue Princess Palette I can use the lighter shades as face powder actually so it will actually see more use. And quite frankly I do love that palette and I’m glad that it is now no longer buried and I can reach it more easily. I don’t think Tarte still sells the large palette, but all of the shades are sold separately so I would probably just pick up Princess Cut when I go to repurchase.

And that is really the point of the declutter my darlings. It is to look at what has, in one way or another come into my house and decide what it is that I enjoy using, what I would like to pass on while it can still be used by someone else and what must, regrettable be disposed of. Of the three things leaving, two can easily be passed on. It is only the sentimental piece that will either linger in the drawer or regrettably be disposed of in as environmentally friendly a way as I can devise. This wasn’t a massive clear out by any means, but as it wasn’t a large category, I am satisfied with what I am getting rid of overall. I suspect other categories may end up being a lot more dramatic.

It’s Prime Time: Primer Declutter

That’s right it is time to take a good hard look at primers. I know, I love a good primer. And really only a few are leaving, but I will talk about the rest as well. So with them all laid out in front of me, let’s take a good hard look at what we have.

First let’s look at the top six currently in my collection. These lovelies are staying until the last dregs of product have been cleaned out of the container. First we have the classic Porefessional from Benefit Cosmetics. This is just a good all round primer. It sits well under just about any foundation and it eliminates redness. To be honest this and the Elf poreless putty primer are the two staples I will always have in my makeup drawer. Between the two of them they do everything a primer should do. I have repeat purchased both of these and will continue to do so.

Marc Jacobs Undercover (currently on sale BTW) is one of my favorite hydrating primers. While it is good in the summertime, it is better in the winter. It primes as well as helping to prevent skin from looking dry. Touch in Sol ranks pretty high on my list of products and I think this might be the third container of this primer that I have purchased Oddly enough while I adore the No Poreblem primer, I don’t really care for the other primers in the Touch in Sol line up. For me this it their hero product and the one I will repurchase.

This is the first Clarins Instant smooth primer I have tried and it will not be my last. Technically I think it belongs in my top three products. It takes down redness, fills pores, adds a healthy pink tint to the skin and feels super luxe to use. I am about half way through the jar and know I will be repurchasing it. The final product in the top six has to be the Tatcha Silk Canvas. While this one is new to my collection, I have used it before and adore it. It smells fantastic feels and looks good on the skin and just feels luxe to use. It is the priciest of my primers so while I will use it and I love it, I actually have to think about it before I repurchase it.

Needless to say all six of my top products are staying.

In my collection there are two mostly used up samples. One is the Milk Hydro Grip Primer and the other is the YSL Touch Eclat primer. I think I have two more uses in the Milk primer and maybe a week’s worth of the YSL. I need to actually keep them out and use them up. I have already reordered the Milk Hydro Grip primer. I have it secreted away in my unopened products and am trying to forget it is there until I use up a few more of the open products. I really enjoy it and love the way it holds my makeup in place all day. I like the YSL primer as well, but it is pricy and I am not entirely certain it is worth the price. I think if I found it on sale, I would repurchase it, but I am not entirely certain I would pay full price for it. The Tatcha, I would pay full price for.

There are also two unopened samples of primer that I have not tried out yet. One is the Glam Glow glowStarter Nude Glow and the other is the Hard Candy Hydrating primer. I will keep both primers until I try them out and get back to you on whether or not I would want to order them in a full size.

Speaking of haven’t tried out, when taking the primers out of the drawer I found the Dr. Brant Luminizing primer. I honestly can not remember if I tried this out or not so I am putting this in my to be tried pile before I decide. In general like Dr. Brandt so I have high hopes.

The Urban Decay Optical illusion Primer just makes me sad. For a long time it was my go to primer. It honestly was the only primer I bought for years. I believe it is now discontinued so I will be using up my travel sized container and then I will let it go into the land of makeup that was. It was great, I loved it, but it is time to finish it out and let it go. I actually may put this with the Milk and YSL so that I can work on using it up and sending it on it’s way.

There are two products I am on the fence about. One is the Ciate London Watermelon Burst Primer and the other is the Too Faced Hangover Primer. The Ciate London primer I think is a seasonal use primer for me. I think it is too hydrating in the summertime, but I think my skin likes it better in the winter. I am holding on to it to try out again this winter because I remember vaguely that I liked it in the winter. The Too Faced primer I think might also be better in the winter as well. I think I was more on the fence about it than I was with the Ciate. So those are both in holding patterns until the weather changes. Once it grows cooler, I will try them again and make the decision on whether or not to use.

And finally we come to the getting rid of category. There are three in this line up. The first is the Master Prime by Maybelline. This is a good primer. The only reason that I am getting rid of it is because it is really, really old and I very expired. It fell to the bottom of the drawer and was not seen until I dragged everything to the light for this declutter. (This is another reason why I will be using up a few more products before opening new ones). I can see me possibly repurchasing it but for right now it is good bye.

The second departing product is the Studio Makeup Silk Hydration primer. I just didn’t like it and found nearly every other product that I used to be better. I see no reason to keep it around. It is in good enough condition though (as well as being recent enough) that I can pass it on to someone else who may enjoy it more.

Nice but I am fairly certain I am allergic.

The third product I am passing along is the Vesca Beauty Primer. I know, I started using it and never got around to reviewing it. The thing is, I am fairly certain I am somewhat allergic to something in it. After using it I realized my skin itched. I didn’t think anything of it, but I am fairly certain that it was the itchy culprit. It looked lovely under a flat matte foundation but far too shiny under an illuminating one. It has an almost iridescent look to it and on a light makeup day it worked really well on its own with just a light layer of powder over it. However lovely it looked, it wasn’t worth the itchy skin so it is being passed on to someone who will love it and hopefully not have the same issues as I did.

So that is my primer line up, the good, the bad, the not yet tried out and pretty much everything in between. While not many products are leaving, I feel really good about going through them and seeing what is in the drawer. because i really enjoy primers, I tend to keep a lot of them around, While I rotate through, a lot can be lost. I am going to concentrate on using up the samples and clearing out the open ones while trying the untested. I do roll through these pretty fast as they are my most used makeup category. Primers, powders and mascaras will always get used. I did have one primer expire on me which is really rare for me and kind of makes me feel disappointed. It also makes me want to do better. And is a reminder that will stop me from opening new products before I have used up some of my older ones. I’m sure I will forget as I sometimes just can’t resist, but hopefully the reminder will help.

The Autumn 2021 Lip Product Declutter

Ah, can you feel it? A new month a new season even and so it is time now for the first of the Autumnal declutters. And because it is the one that I always put off until last, this time I am starting with the lip declutter. I find this one really hard and in fact I often skip it.

First off because I love lip products. I do and I will often pick them up in the grocery store, or add one onto another shopping list eight to get the value of the cart to the level of free shipping or because I want to try a new formula. Sometimes I will simply see a color and say OOH. Then before I know it I will have added it to the cart.

In addition there are a lot of lip products that end up in my collection due to subscription boxes. I don’t mind that as I often get to try products from companies I haven’t tried before. Or I will get a color that it would never occur to me to buy that I find looks good on me.

I also get a lot of colors that I just don’t like.

And they end up staying in my collection to. A lot of times it will be because I like the formula of the product even if I don’t like the color. Then I keep it so that I remember it is a formula that I like so that I can order a color that suits me. And then I forget why I saved it.

It has also been a really long time since my last lip declutter. I keep promising myself that I am going to and then I schedule it so in the back of my mind I will think that it hasn’t been that long since I went through and got rid of things, but it really has.

So as a consequence the first pass through the lip products involved getting rid of anything that was expired, used up to the point where keeping it was somewhat pointless or that was simply a shade I didn’t like. That actually cleared out quite a lot.

It also added loads of color swatches to my hand and arm as I tried to determine if a product was worth staying through that first pass.

Then I separated out a few products that I either hadn’t tried (or don’t remember trying) or that I hadn’t fully made my mind up about because they were still new to me. There actually weren’t that many. Five actually: The Roen lip gloss, KAB Hydrating Lip oil, the Zoeva Lip crayon, a YSL Lipstick and a M2U NYC matte lip that I do not remember actually seeing before. I’m sure it came in a subscription box but it is unopened and looks like a good color. I just don’t remember getting it.

Most of the time if I don’t like a lip formula, I get rid of it pretty quickly. There were however a few hanging around that weren’t my favorites. The first was from a Live Glam subscription. I found the formula, once it dried down, to be a bit on the crumbly side. I left little flakes of it everywhere my lips touched and I just wasn’t a fan. The Jules Smith Lip Gloss and the Arrow lip balm I just didn’t like the feel of on my lips. They were sticky and made me feel like I needed to wipe off my lips. The Feel lip balm was just a little bit on the slimy side for me.

The Butter London Lip Glazen I really wanted to like. I love the way it looked and felt, but I just didn’t like the taste. Normally taste isn’t a thing with makeup, but with lip products it matters and I simply couldn’t take the taste of the butter London one no matter how much I liked the formula.

There were three interesting products in the lipstick collection. One was the Elf Lip scrub. This one is worn down to the nub and no longer usable. I kept it to remind me to pick up another one. The Perricone MD No Makeup Makeup Lipstick is also beyond expired. It too is kept soely to remind me to pick up another one. It is a fantastic barely there product that just makes the lips look like your lips but a little bit better. But it is beyond expired so I marked it down and will order a new one at some point. The Refil from Birchbox I kept because it is a refillable lip balm. I like the lip balm well enough to use and I want to keep it to see if I will use it up and then feel like refilling it. I am going to try to keep it out and try to use it more often. I like the thought of a refillable lip balm, I’m just not sure I like this one enough to refill it when it is empty. But I will try.

You may also notice the stack of Trestique lip products. Yeah, I’m keeping all of them. They are easy to wear and easy to use. Some of them are sheer in color while others are more matte. All are in various stages of use. A few don’t really have long for this world actually. The sheer ones I tend to grab and dash on over whatever else I am wearing just before I run out somewhere so those are the most used. In fact the sheer pink (Shell Beach Sheer) goes on well over almost any lip product. It has almost no tint to it and if you have a drying liquid lip on, it really helps keep your lips moist. It has reached the tiny nub stage and will be used up. The other sheers will be used as well (and have been actually). As they are used up completely I will get rid of them but as a collection I highly recommend the Trestique sheers they just work so well over any other lip product that they are worth keeping around for that alone. Although I do like wearing them on their own as well.

Colorpop, Bite Beauty and Elf are staying. I got rids of all of the ones that were almost out of product and/or expired so there aren’t many of any of them left, but I do have a few I consistently repurchase. With ELF that is the Sheer Slick in Black Cherry. I love this as a simple low key color on my lips. I also love the vibrant red matte of Red Vixen. It dries down and simply doesn’t move. It doesn’t dry out the lips though.

Yensa may be my favorite lip oil. So I am happy to keep that along with my favorite Buxom Plumping lip stick. One of the reasons that I actually wanted to go through my lipsticks was because there were other colors of the Buxom plumping lip stick that I wanted to pick up. I just knew I didn’t have room.

There are of course many, many more lip products I kept, but those are really my highlights. I’m going to try to rotate more through my lip products, not that I have cut them down and they aren’t so overwhelming. I actually like being able to see and use all of my lip products. Lately I have found myself reaching for the same three or four, mostly because they were easily accessible. At this point I have actually gone through and gotten rid of two thirds of my lip products. Which actually makes me feel really good. Now I feel as though I can actually see and use them.

For me this was a hard declutter to do. I know it isn’t as in depth as some of my other declutters but the truth is I tend not to keep lip products I don’t like so pretty much everything I had was a product I liked. Age and color were what took most of the products out of my collection this time around. And as difficult as it was, I feel much better because of it. Let the Autumnal Decluttering Begin!

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The Spring 2021 Eyeshadow Palette Declutter

<y collection of Eyeshadow Palettes All laid out so I can actually see them

I am generally not a big decluttering fan. I generally don’t purchase a lot of extras and wait until I use things up before I purchase more. It is why I keep my lists of things I want to pick up handy so that once I use things up I can move on to new things I want. I do this primarily because my big addiction is really skin care and if you keep skin care too long it can easily go bad on you.

However with so many subscription boxes, eyeshadow palettes arrive on my doorstep with great frequency. I have one drawer in my dresser where I store them. I like to keep them in one row so I don’t forget about them. Recently I noticed that drawer was getting very overcrowded and I was forgetting I had things. Part of that was that face palettes were getting mixed in and lost in the craziness. Part of it was disorganization and part of it was that I had palettes I just wasn’t using anymore that were taking up space.

So I decided to do a declutter. I am not going minimalist, but I am getting rid of a few items. I probably should have been more cut throat, but there were some I just wasn’t ready to part with. I will sort through them again in the fall, but for now this is what I am getting rid of. It doesn’t mean these items are bad. Some of them are quite good, but I find that I am no longer reaching for them or I have the same colors in a formula I like a little bit better. All of them will be cleaned up and passed along to family and close friends who will get use out of them before the products expire.

Over all, I am getting rid of eight eyeshadow palettes which, is about 15% of my eyeshadow palette collection. Here is a brief run down.

Soph x Revolution Ultra Eyeshadows:

This is a nice palette that performs well but I just find that all of the colors I like in this palette I have replicated in outer palettes. The only one I don’t have elsewhere is the shimmery green called Pine Tree. As you can see it is the only shadow that actually looks like it has been touched. Which is mostly because I will pull this palette out just for that color. All of the shadows are soft and buttery, but I really do only reach for this for Pine Tree, so I am going to pass it along and see if I can find the one color I want elsewhere.

Autobalm Pic Perfect from The Balm:

Again, these shadows are great formulas. All except the one cream base called Neutral Primer. I despise that product. It doesn’t perform well and it collects fall out from other shadows so it always looks dirty. The shadows work really well and I will be picking up St. Charles elsewhere, possibly in a single shadow. I never reach for this palette mostly because of the metal container. While I think it looks adorable, it is really hard to open and each time I look at it, I recall how I have split several nails trying to open it and just pass it by in favor of another palette. So it never gets used. I will pass this on to someone who will really enjoy playing with it and not mind the container. I will be getting a single of St. Charles though and I still love The Balm formulas, just not this palette. It’s a cute idea that just doesn’t work.

Doucce Freematic Palette:

I love the way this palette looks and the way that it is magnetic and can be replaced. I really like the highlighter and the shimmery maroon shade in the lower row. That shade is absolutely stunning. However, I don’t like the other shadows. They just didn’t work for me. I have other highlighters that I like as well and I did find a shadow that almost identically matched the maroon shade I love, so I am passing this on. It is actually going to my mom. She has been looking for a good magnetic palette and I think she will really like this one. I also have a blush that goes with the freematic system that I am passing on to her unopened as it can be used with this set up. I know these are her colors and I know it will be well loved so it is no hardship to pass it on.

Complex Culture Full Time Eyeshadow Palette:

The palette itself is lovely. It feels really luxe in the hand. I just didn’t like the shadows. They didn’t perform well for me and I simply don’t see myself reaching for this palette. Therefore I am passing it on to someone who might get better use out of it. I would rather dome one take it in looking new and shiny then let it knock around the drawer for a few months while I dither about trying to make it work because the outside is so pretty. And truthfully even if I did make the shadows work, none of them are unique. I have all of these shades in other formulas that I like more. So decluttered the palette gets.

Deck of Scarlet Edition 04:

This is an interesting palette. It is more of an all in one palette. The two cream products on the side are lip products and as you can see I liked one of the, I actually used a bit of the purple lipstick to mix with the neutral one. The shadows are nice as is the blush, but I simply don’t reach for this palette. It was great when I was going on a quick over night trip because it has everything combined, but it is so limited that I quickly get bored with it and just forget about it. To be honest I may have to check on the dates of this as it may be too expired to risk passing along.

Pur Festival:

Again this is kind of old and I am simply not reaching for it any more. I liked how it performed and the shadows were great. I really liked that red glitter shade and the hot pink under a brown smokey eye was absolutely fantastic. However it is old and I’m not reaching for it and to be honest when I pulled it out of the drawer to look at, there was a not so pleasant scent coming from it. I believe that regardless of the date on the palette, these shadows are expired and should not be worn. I still like Pur Shadows though, this palette however must go.

LA Splash Magic Eyeshadow Palette:

I love the colors, but absolutely hated the formulas. They were patchy and difficult to work with. This is one of those palettes that makes me a little sad as it looks so ready to be my everyday palette, but just failed miserably. I really wish it had performed better. Perhaps someone with more skills can work with it, but the patchiness was just too much for me to overcome. And I do have these shades in different palettes. Still it made me sad as it is a good everyday mix of colors and is the perfect travel size.

Laura Geller Central Park State of Mind:

I know, technically this is a face palette. I’m still including it in the bunch because of the eyeshadows. I liked the Cherry Hill rose shimmer and I liked the blush. The other shadows and the highlighter I didn’t care for. As you can tell from the state of this palette the mattes have a lot of fall out. It looks far more used than it actually is. All of the shadows, including Cherry Hill I have elsewhere so those are not a loss. I really did like the blush shade though and will have to look and see if Laura Geller has that shade of blush elsewhere. It was a great color and performed really well. It is the one thing I will miss in getting rid of this palette.

So there you have it, the eight palettes that I am decluttering from my collection. All had their highs and lows and now it is time for them to be passed along. Those that can still be used will be sent to close family and friends who will use them after they are cleaned up and sanitized. The ones that are expired will be dealt with, as much of them going to recycling as possible. A friend of mine actually does uses powdered products in his art and jewelry making. He grinds them up and used them as pigments mixed with epoxy and resins so I might see if he wants the expired ones as they will still be useful but cause no harm to the skin. Plus I like to think of the glitter eyeshadows of the Pur Palette encased in a ring or pendant. It makes me happy that they can still be used and still look beautiful.

Even though I didn’t get rid of a lot, taking everything out and looking at what I have, reminded me of what was in the drawer and let me think about what I really was going to use. I found several palettes that were buried that I want to use again as now I can find them. Mostly his gave me the chance to reorganize the drawer and put everything where I can see it so that I am not always reaching for the same item all the time. It wasn’t a massive declutter, I know, but it suited me and I am very happy with what has been done.