Not really! I keep some go-to cheek products in my vanity drawer, and I’ll move some out if I haven’t used them often during the year so I can move a few new(er) ones in. Otherwise, it’s mostly just new-new-new.
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Is “chaos” a particular way??? In my case it’s a combination of “whatever mood takes me”, “can I find it/remember where the heck I put it” and “chaos”.
Well, I have too many palettes even after decluttering and keeping just the ones I love. It turns out that I love too many! So to use them all I’ve recently decided to start rotating groups of them. Like for October I focused on my Urban Decay palettes. For the holidays I’ll do a different grouping that focuses on the rich colors I tend to use more of during that time of year. Hello Sydney Grace! I keep the ones I’m currently using in my main makeup drawer, although I always have access to my entire collection. Making this effort seems to be working as a way to use and appreciate all my palettes because none get stuck forgotten at the bottom of the drawer!
Nope! I just use whatever it is that I’m in the mood for, most of the time. Or, what goes well with a specific outfit and/or event or activity. I will sometimes pull something out of my eyeshadow palette drawers that I feel that I’ve been neglecting. With the pandemic, that sadly extends to most of my stash in general, as I go out far less often. Oh, and also because living on this side of town means way less cool places to go to. It’s “boring-ville”.
I have standby reach fors .. basically all my core products immediately avail in my vanity drawer and everything else (special wear) stashed in an Ikea Alex sorted into drawers by product type. I’ve gone through some major stash purges and have ample room both in my vanity and the Alex. I usually venture to the Alex when I am looking for something to pop my e/s look or add something different to a cheek.. like a special finish from a PMG palette or a not so natural highlighter.. If I do not find myself either using a product as core or as an special add-on, I ruthlessly purge. Keeping my head straight with two simple groupings helps me stay on track and keep a tighter more curated collection than I have in the past and I get to show everything I own some love.
Since I have a small and curated makeup collection, I don’t feel the need for rotating products, since most I use everyday.
I usually try to rotate my eyeshadows and blushes, so no more than 2-3 weeks pass without me using each shade, especially the colors that are not so used / easy to pair with every outfit (like a blue eyeshadow or a dark smoky shade).
Last week I realised I needed a primer and, lucky me, I had 4 or 5 from different brands! (Side note: I don’t wear primer under foundation and never have, ever.) At some point I read somewhere they were “essential”, so I felt I should get them too, because “they’re really good”, so why not?! Anyway, now I’ve tried all of them -they were utter rubish btw- and, at the same time, I’ve come to the realisation that my little boxes and trays of things “I don’t wear regularly but I might want to wear at some point (eventually) in the future” are basically expensive cr*ap that gathers dust, wastes space and doesn’t make me happy at all.
So, to finally answer you question: I don’t rotate anything. I used to delude myself thinking I did, but really I don’t. The only things I put aside are those I don’t love, don’t need and don’t wear. If I loved it I would gaze at it adoringly on a regular basis, i.e. I would at least store it where I could look at it daily, and I would find a way to wear it. I wear whatever I feel like wearing under no particular order and I’m going to keep it all in front of my nose & eyes (it’s still a work in progress!). Like Christine said: organisation is key!
*in not under
I think primers are a special occasion thing more so than everyday wear. If you really want your skin super perfected, they can help. If I want to feel more glamorous, I use a bit of pore minimizing primer on sides of nose, beside nose, chin.. anywhere my pores are more visible and you know, I do end up looking more perfected and sometimes that boost is a good thing. I don’t feel that is necessary daily, but hell, I don’t wear makeup every day either.
Another non-primer primer that I love is Sisley Double Tenseur. I don’t know exactly what is does, but face and makeup just gets kicked up a notch. I wear it OVER sunscreen so it’s not like it is doing anything for my skin, but it makes my makeup last until the next century and I went out for dinner last night (sit down, not take out) for the first time since Covid and I did the Double Tenseur and my friend even commented on my makeup which she never does because we know each other that well and it doesn’t matter.
Anyhooo, apologies if feeding into product holding frenzy. Not intended that way. I think there are ‘primers’ that can be used occasionally and loved; my lousy 2 cents (which surely by now should be nickels).
Hi! By all means, go ahead and add your 2 cents! Hahah! My problem isn’t holding things per se (I often buy nice skincare when it’s cheaper, I have like 3 shampoos put away) but certain makeup items I haven’t worn once for over 5 years because, in my case, it means I bought it, tried it but didn’t love it enough to wear it once and that’s why I “hid it”. It’s not easy to accept because it means I’ve bought a lot of wrong stuff and then held on to it knowing I didn’t want it.
I had a bunch of primers at a time when I didn’t even feel I needed them- the only one I ever wore was this Clinique one but that was ages ago and doesn’t mesh well w/ foundation. Whenever my pores were a bit too noticeable I just dabbed a cotton of this antisseptic on them and, in my case, it worked like a charm (tbh they never bothered me much). Now I can’t escape my nose, my forehead, my cheeks…! They’re literally in my face everytime I look in the mirror! So, thank you very much for you advice, I’ve ordered one from Clarins though I’m still waiting for it, yours is next on the list!
Finally saw a dermatologist -today actually- and she thinks my skin’s too unstable to do anything major at the moment so I’ll have to stick to a primer. Thanks for the Sysley advice and feel free to add another 2 cents! Good advice is always welcome.
I do rotate my eyeshadow palettes quite a lot, but not in any particular organised way. As I co-ordinate my eyeshadows to work with what I am wearing, I try to use diferent eye palettes to achieve the look I want. So each palette gets a bit of love.
As for my lipsticks, I could probably rotate them more, but with mask wearing still on the agenda for indoor shopping, it’s definitely trickier.
Lately I’ve been using the Tiny Decisions app to make a lot of my makeup choices. I made a bunch of roulette wheels for different categories-bloggers and YouTubers I get look inspiration from, eyeshadow palettes, blushes, highlighters, lipstick brands, shades within a lipstick brand, etc.-and on days that I’m not wearing a look from a makeup book, I’ll spin whatever wheels need to be spun and create my look.
I just use what I’m in the mood for ,…but if I haven’t used a product for a while I reevaluate if I even want it .
After getting frustrated every time I went searching for certain products, I finally started organizing and purging .. also an eventual move in the Spring is very motivating for organizing… lol…
I sorted and kept the remaining products in see through bags and I’ll probably
edit again …
I try to change things out seasonally. There are just particular products and colors that I want more at different times of the year. My base products always stay the same year round though.
I try to rotate though my palettes and my lipsticks, I should do it with blushes as well. Generally I use what’s new for quite some time, and when I start feeling bored, or get something newer I change to the new, or find something in my stash. So yes, but not in any real order.
There’s only one palette, it’s a quad, or was until hard pan hit two of the shades, so now it’s a duo, that rotate to regularly, my Tom Ford quad. I don’t really like it and now it’s boring when the two topper shades, or one and one “normal” I don’t recall how it was set up have dry pan. But it was so ridiculously expensive that I will keep using it until it all goes bad. 😀