Are there ever moments where you don’t enjoy your makeup collection?
I can’t recall feeling that way in a long time (hard to say never!). I do get overwhelmed with the products that need to be donated/given to friends and family (cream/liquid-based products, anything older, e.g. a brand replaced a previous formula with a new one, I’ll get rid of the original and either recycle/give to family, depending on just how old!). I also get overwhelmed by all of the new products that I’d like to review, as it often feels like makeup is everywhere and is slowing taking over my house. It’s just hard to contain it, even though I try.
— Christine
I love my stash since paring it down to a fraction of what I had. I feel like I actually know my products.
Same for me as well! I was overwhelmed by my sizable collection in the past, but now that is much smaller I love everything in it again.
Nope, never! There have been times when I’ve gotten over a specific product and threw it out or gave it away, but that’s about it.
I’ve said here in past that my collection is so large that it’s sometimes overwhelming and while I love having everything I have, I don’t feel I enjoy it to its full potential just because there is so much and yet I love having so much. Doesn’t make much sense, does it? But I’m sure I’m not alone. And because it can be so overwhelming, I often end up using the same products day in and day out and I have to make an effort to use other items.
Completely agree.
Ditto
Oh, ladies, thank you for the affirmation! I knew/know I’m not alone and that many, many of us are on that hamster wheel of makeup overload that I mentioned a few days ago!
Yep, me too!
Very much so, totally agree. I either need to pare down or organize better.
While there are individual products I get bored with, or don’t particularly care for (for one reason or another), I do enjoy my collection as a whole. I am in the process of working through a handful of those products, just to get rid of them, because while they are great products, I have comparable items I like more, or just want to try something new. I’ve also set a time limit; if they’re not used by the end of the year, I will likely just toss them. For example, Stila “In The Light” is a beautiful palette, but I have several neutral palettes I just prefer more, so I’ve been “panning” it since last Spring, and have made significant progress, but I don’t “love” it. On the upside, it’s perfect for work, so I keep it in my “work bag”, which motivates me to use it at least twice a week, but I can play with others the rest of the week.
I also just made a drastic change to my hair, cutting off about 2 feet of length, so makeup style will change a bit, so I am looking forward to that.
Yes, off and on I’ve felt that way. Mainly a few years ago when I got interested in makeup again after years of not really caring. I then went overboard (for me) over-acquiring some of it. After learning what worked and what didn’t, I started giving away some of the ones that didn’t work for me. Then I learned that a particular ingredient in many of makeup products was making my skin react very badly, so had to pare my collection even further. I then redid some of it and found I got too much lipstick and had kept some things w/o the problematic ingredient even though the items didn’t really work for me. I’m still getting rid of things but my collection is so much smaller that it feels more comfortable to me.
Usually I’m pretty happy with my collection, but every now and then I’ll be trying to create a specific look and I’ll be like “Wait, how do I not have this particular shade of green eyeshadow?”
No, it’s great fun! Sometimes keeping it organized is a PITA, but I still love what I have.
Overwhelmed, yes, but not enjoy most of it? Nope! I’m very, very picky about most of what I buy. By “most”, I mean roughly 90-95% of the time I’ve already read your review, watched several YT’ers, swatched it on myself in-store, and possibly even looked at customer reviews or Makeup Alley. I am thorough, if nothing else.
Of course, there are pieces in my collection that I am less than enamored with. Some are super loved by most in the beauty community and well praised in various reviews. Yet, those may either be lackluster on my medium neutral complexion or more difficult to use than I had anticipated. It happens! Overall though, I am very satisfied with my makeup collection.
I like to think I’m the same, Nancy. I don’t make it in store often but I try to make up for that by reading/watching many reviews. Very rarely am I truly disappointed in a product so I feel like my collection is more manageable.
I love looking at all that I have, seeing it displayed, remembering the last time I wore this to that event, or just because, or how or when I bought that piece/collection, etc. I don’t enjoy it when it’s cluttered and messy and unkempt. I shop my own personal MAC or Sephora every Sunday night so I can set up my glam tray for the week and I look forward to doing it. It ruins it if it’s just digging through bins instead of selecting from displays around the room BUT, bonus because that just means I get to touch and handle everything when putting it back (weird sensory comfort thing – don’t judge).
Also I don’t like my stash when I see it cluttered with products that I won’t use or I know I won’t use and yet I still have them. I’ve learned to purge regularly and have a give-away bin that I donate from monthly. I don’t feel the guilt that I used to about how much I buy because now if I don’t want or won’t use something, I can always find it a good home.
Random thought: purging has gotten a lot easier because since I do it monthly, I’m able to be take the time to decide rather than have to be so immediate about, like I have to make a decision right now, yes or no. I’ll pick something up and think, ‘I’m not ready to give this away yet. Maybe next month’ and put it in the give-away bin. I don’t have to worry about it anymore because I know it’s in the bin that I will look at again in a few weeks and I can decide then. There’s something about taking it out of the stash where I worry and feel guilty that I’m not using it but it’s in my main stash so I should be using it and round and round I go, to setting it in that bin and then all of a sudden I don’t worry about it anymore and I’m able to forget about it. Some things have lived in my bin for 5 or 6 months before I’ve finally let go and given them away.
I shouldn’t say never but in my memory, no I have never not enjoyed my collection. Organizing it or de-cluttering are not my favorite things to do but I am daily thankful for the ability to not only have so many beautiful products but to be able to afford them without stress to my budget. I know that makeup as a collection is not everyone’s cup of tea and sometimes I will have family mention how much money I “waste on makeup” but I don’t listen to them. I know that they “waste” their money on things that bring them joy and I don’t feel like I should have to be any different or subscribe to their way of thinking.
No, I don’t – I just love my stash. Every single bit of it. The only aspect that is a bit over the top is my eyeshadow palette collection, but in the past few years I have been fairly restrained, so it’s not too overwhelming.
Well, we might be moving in the next few months and I certainly won’t enjoy packing it up. Part of the problem is that I have gotten to the point where I love almost everything I have so it is going to be very difficult to pare it down significantly.
Because of the size of my collection, I am much less likely to purchase new things that interest me, that does save me money but also takes some fun out of the whole makeup experience.
I could live in a Sephora store. That is how much I love make up and no I don’t have that much but I do have a lot.
I love colors and also makeup. I’ve been like that since i was a child. I used to draw eyes and put different colors on in different combinations.
I’ve become bored with a bit of my collection here and there but have always had fun products waiting in the wings.
This may be a strange hobby for a now retired RN but it is what it is.
I don’t recall ever not enjoying my collection, I always feel joy when I look at / use my products 🙂
I do enjoy my stash but I find it overwhelming sometimes. I just have way too much and know I can’t possibly use everything up. I’m coming up to a point where I’m just not tempted by Sephora anymore and the only items I have been buying to take advantage of sales and promos are skincare that does get used up.
No, not that I can remember.
There have been times when I didn’t enjoy my collection because I had reached a point where I didn’t even know what I had anymore (I had so much — all stored together! — that I didn’t know what to reach for). Earlier this year I made a concerted effort to wear each of my lip products and to classify them by color family; I didn’t finish that project, but I made a lot of progress and now feel like I understand my lip stash a lot better. I’ve started doing the same thing with my loose eyeshadows (not wearing each, but swatching each, and then classifying by color family), and I’m finding that I’m regaining interest in my eyeshadows. This should be a good year for “rediscovering” my favorites.