What to Do With Beauty Products That Didn’t Work Out

As the old saying goes, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” the same is true about beauty products. There are many reasons why we don’t return products that don’t work out for us–poor return policies, guilt about returns, past return dates, etc. Besides giving products to friends/family or just letting them sit idle, here are a few ways to turn those lemons into beauty lemonade!

Got a moisturizer that broke you out? Your face is often far more sensitive than other parts of your body, so one of the best ways to make use of an acne-causin’ facial moisturizer is to use it on your body. Try using anti-aging products on your hands, which can always benefit from anti-aging ingredients often found in facial moisturizers. (Side benefits are often that facial moisturizers are fast-absorbing, non-sticky, etc. — all things you’d want in a good hand cream!)

Love glitter, but can’t figure out how to use it? Add some to your favorite hair gel/sculpting cream. Mix some in your hand, and then spread through your hair for a fun, glitzy hair-do. Try adding some to your favorite nail polish or make your own glitter polish.

Too much mineral makeup? If you have too much mineral makeup–like loose eye shadows–think about creating your own lip colors and nail polishes. Most mineral makeup is really just loose pigment, so you can combine it with a clear lip emollient (like vaseline or clear gloss), mix it up, and color up your lips.

Lipstick too pigmented, too dark, or too much? Tone any lipstick down by just applying it lighter (or blotting), but you can also combine with any lipgloss to alter the color.

Foundation that’s too thick or just a little too dark? Turn it into a tinted moisturizer! With the summer coming up, tinted moisturizers are a must-have for easy summer skin. In the palm of your hand, add a pea-sized amount of your favorite moisturizer to a few drops of your foundation, mix with a brush or sponge, and then apply it to your face. If you want, you can just use your hands to apply (like you would a normal face cream).

Mascara too clumpy, flakey, or just not what you want? Try using the brush from a mascara you do like to see if that helps the formula stay on/work better. If it’s just not happening, try using it as liquid liner.

What do you do when a beauty product doesn’t work out?