All and none, LOL! I keep a lot less than I ever did in the past, and I’m trying to stay that course. It’s become more and more unnecessary to keep past products (better, more consistent photography on my end but less mega-hits that need to be kept to compare in the future).
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
Yes. I’ve working on certain areas of my collection for years now. Mostly concealer, powder, foundation, primer, mascara, eyeliners, lip balms , lotion, haircare, skincare, hand soap, hand sanitizer and perfume. I want these areas my collection relatively small and I want to avoid having multiple products or partially used products. I want to have 1 bottle of shampoo not 3 somewhat used bottles for ex. When I use up what I have, I can purchase another. That sort of thing.
Right now for concealer I have a spot concealer, an under eye concealer and a more emollient concealer when I’m more dry. That’s it. I cannot buy any more until I use them up. I’ve paired down my eyeliner collection massively. I’m working towards but not quite there yet of having a black, a brown and a grey. Maybe 2 two more fun colors.
Mascara has been the hardest. I have like 5 I haven’t opened. Got them as birthday gifts. But I promised myself I cannot open them until I use up what I currently have. It’s challenging.
I haven’t been to a Bath and Body Works in like two years. Still working on using up so much lotion (and candles too). I’m not going there until what I have is gone.
I don’t bother with eyeshadow, blush, bronzer, highlighter or lipstick. I know I will not make a dent in that area. I just periodically declutter my collection and pass on what I’m not using. Recently I gave my daughter the Too Faced Just Peachy Mattes. It’s a decent palette. I just have other all matte palettes I’m using more.
Makeup takes so long to use up!
Wow Erica, Kudos to you for buckling down and using what you have. I inherited all my Mother’s Avon when she passed. She used to sell it and had quite the collection. No one else had the room so we went through it and got rid of anything that was outdated. It is all skin care and I will not have to buy anything for quite some time. It will be interesting to see when I run out of shower gel lol!
Liquid lipstick. I stopped buying them after I realized how inconvenient and fussy they are. They require a mirror, a steady hand, and extra time whereas with a bullet lipstick I can apply without a mirror in 2 seconds.
Lipstick. I am always trying to downsize my lipstick collection but as soon as I do any major downsize I end up buying more. It is my favorite part of the makeup application process so I get a lot of joy from buying and wearing lipstick but no one needs over 200 lipsticks.
All of it! At least for the foreseeable future. I have way too much in almost every category, except for foundation and powders. I may have gone just a tad overboard buying lipsticks and glosses, and now comes the fear of those turning rancid. Therefore, I’m being far more choosey when and if I decide to buy any lip products going forward. And I’m also trying to curtail buying much, if anything, in the way of eyeshadow palettes and singles for the time being.
I’m trying to minimize eyeshadow palettes. I don’t wear eyeshadow every day, especially working from home so I really don’t need more at this point. I recently downsized to a small studio apartment so large palettes are difficult to store so when I do buy one, I find myself gravitating to smaller palettes like the viseart edit palettes or 9 pan huda palettes.
None, my collection is already minimal; except eyeshadows, eyeliners, cheek powders and lipsticks (and even those in limited counts), I only own one of each and I’m quite happy with it.
Highlighters. I don’t have all that many compared to other areas of my collection, but definitely have more than I need. I use just a small amount when I do use them (blinding/glittery does not look good on me) and find that while every shade I have looks different swatched, they look pretty similar on my face color wise – the pinky ones are cool and the gold/champagne are warm. I could likely live without highlighter yet still get sucked into them because “ooh pretty shiny”. I haven’t bought any in a year so I’m very proud of myself for that. However, I have gotten them in subscription bags and can’t resist the urge to play with them instead of donating so here I am with a pile of highlighters.
Everything that doesn’t look good on me. I’m taking this year to try things on and sort them into bins based on my complexion. Some items look good in the summer when I’m tan, but not when I’m my fairest. If a product doesn’t look good at anytime of the year, I’ll discard it, Franken it or, put it in my costume makeup.
*I’ve been decluttering drugstore neutral palettes, as I have great high end ones I use instead. I try to resist neutral palettes across price points, because I have more than enough.
*Matte liquid lipsticks. I have enough and I need to use them up. Plus, I’ve always preferred bullet lipsticks, and I’m getting more into glosses. So unless I find a really unique one, I haven’t been buying them.
*Eyeliner pencils. I don’t find myself wearing them as much as I used to, and I need to use what I have. So unless the color is more unique, I haven’t been buying them.
*Bronzers. I don’t wear them a lot, and I own a few I love. I shouldn’t buy any more out of curiosity until I use up what I have. Fortunately, with my pale skin there isn’t a lot to tempt me, but I had to really fight myself to not get the adorable Sun Puppy bronzer from Too Faced!
*Cream blushes. Most of them don’t work on me, so I’m trying to be more discerning. The Fenty ones are fantastic, though!
Well, I ought to never again buy anything neutral for my eyes. No more mascara for a loooong time. (and never again buy the multi-pack Sephora mascara gift thingy they have during the holidays.) No more liquid lipsticks, I don’t the look or the feel. I may need a concealer again in 2021. I have enough of everything else. Uhoh. I think I’ve just backed my way into a no-buy.
I often try to reduce my blush collection but it is my Achilles heel when it comes to makeup. And as much as I think I’m going to like coral/peachy shades, they just don’t look good on me. I’m better suited to rosy shades, or rosy brown shades, something in the neutral territory for me. No intense pops of color for me either.
Sunscreen; I have about 10-12 in current rotation… I’m trying to narrow it down to one, maybe two, that work in all weather, and under makeup…
Nail polish; I honestly only wear a few types of shades.
Lip Gloss; realistically, if I’m not wearing color on my lips, I’m just wearing a lip balm, which is another product I’m working through… That said, since lockdown, I’ve been making some real progress on both, and have finished 4 glosses, which I constantly reapply all day, and a lip balm, which I use at night.
“Warmer” lip & cheek products; I have a drawer that I’ve been housing products I like, but don’t absolutely love the shade of, so that I can make more of an effort to use them, and make a final decision whether to declutter. I’ve also decided I’m going to start putting in products that are okay, but I love the shade, for the same purpose.
Drugstore products, overall… It’s not that I don’t love anything from the drugstore, and the fact is several of my absolute favorites are from there, but because of the relatively low cost, I end up buying alot more without a second thought than if I were shopping at Sephora… However, I will still favor budget-friendly lip products!
At this point, I don’t think I’ll be buying anything, aside from eyeshadow palettes, for the rest of the year, unless something incredibly unique comes along…
I am not currently looking to minimise my eyeshadow and lipstick stash, but just use them up. With the lipsticks, I have quite a few that are more than half way used and when they finish, I will probably not repurchase them. This is because they are either not quite my preferred shades or they are dupes for other formulations I now like better (often these lipsticks were purchased before I discovered CP’s Lux lipstick range).
Undoubtly I have way too many eyeshadow palettes of varying sizes, but now with combining a couple to create looks, I am actually using more of them.
I don’t have multiple blushes and I don’t use concealers, highlighters, bronzers etc, so that area of my collection is pretty good.
Since this pandemic and the extra time at home I’ve been lurking on the internet looking at organizational ideas for makeup and everything else. I finally cracked and bought a spinning lipstick tower. Lip products are my #1 weakness for sure and I should minimize. I keep everything in clear Sterilite drawers that I found at Walmart years back. They keep the dust out but it’s a pain to find things such as a lip color. I need something better and hopefully this is it. I think I’m on an unintentional no buy due to always wearing a mask. I haven’t been wearing anything but sunscreen. Everything else transfers onto my mask so I’m taking a break.
i’m trying to destash my tinted lipbalms / sheer lipsticks. i love their ease of application, convenience and comfort and have more than 15 at last check. to use them up, i’m using them as home lipbalms. i used to apply clear ones at home but with lockdown now, i look sallow at home without makeup! the tinted balms help to perk up my face and i apply every 2-3 hours.
Lipsticks. I find I just don’t wear them much. I have favorites for a while then sometimes go back to an older one. Also, I just don’t see them as I do eyeshadows, as they are more limited in shade range and effects.
I recently set aside quite a few eyeshadow palettes I never reach for. Back then I wanted all the palettes and fell for the trendy, very warm tones that aren’t super-flattering with my skin tone. I plan on pulling them back out after a while to try a few looks and see if I still feel the same way before decluttering them permanently from my collection.
I also seldom buy liquid or pencil eyeliner or any kind of pencil brow products. I have my HGs for those types of items and haven’t had the urge to hunt for an ‘upgrade’ yet… haha