If you had to get rid of five items from your makeup collection right now, what would they be?
Easy, the entire MAC x Nicopanda collection (already in a bin for donation).
— Christine
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I won’t “cheat” by getting rid of the lipsticks I have that are starting to smell a bit “off”; instead, it’s all “real stuff” in my makeup collection. I’d start with Tarte Paarty blush – the free Sephora birthday gift – just not a good colour for me. Next, Nars Tokyo e/s duo. MAC Desert Rose blush – I’ve had it forever and it won’t “die” – I’m going to B2M it. A Lise Watier e/s quad that was one of the first quads from any brand that I ever purchased. It’s bland and not pigmented and it’s been so eclipsed by almost everything else. Finally, a NYX e/s trio that I think is called Lake Moss – all 3 shades just turn black and muddy. I’ve no idea why I’ve even kept it (except that it’s one thing I’ll use at Halloween!)
Expired lipsticks! You beat me to it.
This is an awesome question because as I thought of my answer, I pulled these items from my collection and put them in a to-go box.
I hope you don’t mind that I am going to cheat a little on the answer by including “collections” as one item.
1. Maybelline Blushed Nudes eyeshadow palette (I don’t know why I bought this. It is very unpigmented.)
2. Maybelline lipsticks (Last year I bought two greige shades because I couldn’t decide between them, but neither looks good on me. I bought two orange shades for the same reason, but when I want orange I reach for my MACs instead.)
3. NYX single eyeshadows (I bought six of them on sale a couple years ago and have never used them.)
4. Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners (I have seven of them and haven’t touched them in at least two years.)
5. Revlon Colorstay Whipped Foundation (I have four unopened backup jars from the time before I discovered EL Double Wear, my HG.)
I now have 22 individual products removed from my collection…thanks for the prompt, Christine!
1) That white liner from Clinique. Bought to create that bright-eyed effect, but it is so dry.
2) That conceal/correct product from Tarte that doesn’t blend all that well and accentuates all my undereye creases (and yet I still use it! WHY?)
3) That lime-green eye pencil from Sephora. I have used it once. Instead of thinking, “Wow, what a bold color on your lids,” all I could think is, “Wow, look how many crinkles and pores and stuff you have on your lids, and highlighted in neon, too!”
4) The Midnight Blue lipstick from Maybelline. The dark navy makes my lips look tiny tiny tiny. When I feel bold enough to let my lips be blue, I reach for UD’s Frostbite instead.
5) The red lipstick from Rimmel named after Kate Moss. I don’t know why but I never wear it.
Why do I still keep them, though?
Why do I still keep
Anastasia Dip Brow in Taupe. I haven’t figured out a way to use this without looking ridiculously harsh. It’s too dark, too “solid”.
Any lipsticks that are too dark or too matte and make my lips look to thin and dry. Loving glossy lips these days.
Urban Decay Basics 2 (currently in a giveaway stack) Boooorrrring
Liquid eyeliner. Doesn’t suit me anymore because of too much texture on my eyelids. Prefer pencil liner in the tight line and a little on the outer corner angled upward.
Kat Von D Shade and Light Eye palette. I wouldn’t have a hard time giving this palette up in favor of my Viseart Matte collection.
Most things I would give up, I already have. I’m pretty good about giving up items that don’t suit me. I’m glad you didn’t specify giving up things that “love”.
Naked 3 ( already in the bin too).
Lol!! Really? Wow! Worse than MAC Jeremy Scott?
I would get rid of some never used Urban Decay palettes.
1. Urban Decay Spectrum palette
2. Urban Decay Moondust palette
3. Too Faced Natural Face palette
4. City Color Shimmer Eyeshadows
5. Looxi Beauty highlighters
I returned the It Cosmetics CC Cream and did my Spring declutter so there isn’t much that I have that I would part with now. I guess I have a blush and highlighter from the Aspyn Ovard collection w Pixi that I’m not crazy about. I don’t know who she is but I have heard others talk highly of the highlights and I’m just meh about them. I’m also not crazy about the Persona eyeshadow palette. I have to try it more and I still have the receipt. Maybe I’ll return it? And I might get rid of the Shana xoxo BH Cosmetics palette. It’s an ok palette but I hate the lip palette on the other side. How is that practical? I might get rid of it or depot it somehow. I’m nervous to do that. Again not someone I really watch but I wanted to try BH Cosmetics. I don’t really think they are as good as youtube hypes them up tbh
A few freebie (Esum, Morphe) brushes and a Rouge Bunny Rouge Whispers of somethingorother lipstick, it’s like this plummy greige. If I were feeling really bold, I might throw in MAC Risk Taker palette but then I’d probably take it right back out – everything else is workable and looks good except that gorgeous metallic minky shade.
All are “almost” that I’m trying to make work before I give up completely:
1. Maybelline Touch of Spice lipstick — a little dark for my skin tone
2. MUFE 401P lip gloss (Pearly Red) — just a tad too deep or strong for my skin tone
3. Lancome subtil blush 168 Coral Kiss — no staying power whatsoever
4. Kat von D eyeshadow quad in Rust — very dusty, doesn’t last long on my lids
5. Sephora jumbo lip crayon in Nude — color is fine in terms of tone, but just doesn’t ‘sing’
is there anything we can do with used makeup besides throw it away in the la area? sadly i don’t have friends that are as into makeup as me.
That’s my problem too. Some women’s shelters will take it: you just have to ask around. There is also project beauty share if you don’t mind the shipping.
Thanks for this suggestion!
thanks!
1. MUFE HD Foundation
2. About 5 mascara’s that I have tried recently and just can’t make them work. They flake, give me raccoon eyes and one burns my eyes when I use it.
3. Nude Stix Influencer lip set. They sucked the life out of my lips.
4. Viseart eye shadow primer. Terrible on me. Made my crepey eyes worse, didn’t prolong the wear and didn’t have an impact on maintaining color saturation.
5. Becca Soft Light Blurring Powder. It is way too dark for me and although it appears peachy when applied to my skin it takes on a brownish cast on my skin. Just didn’t work for me although my daughter loves it so I passed it on to her this weekend.
Definitely every *too* cool-toned lipstick that I bought on a whim! Two that immediately come to mind are CP So Wavy and Marshmallow USLS. Also, UD Vice LTD Palette. Not because I don’t love half of the shades within, but because I NEVER remember to use it. Same with the ABH Self-made Palette. (Perhaps I should de-pot both, take the shades I do love and put them in to a magnetized palette?). And then there’s some CP SS Highlighters and SSS that I never wear, that could be added to this pile. Time for a major purge/ reorganizing project!
1. MAC ‘innocence beware’ lipstick that I bought under pressure for the launch of a collection
2. Benefit High Beam
3. NYX ombre blushers (I have three but one is not too bad, so I’d say bye to the pink one and the coral one)
4. Urban Decay eyelid primer potion. The one with the doe foot applicator! How has it survived all this time!?
5. Some colour correct thing that never end up working for me but I insist in keeping.
Huda Beauty Mauve Obsessions palette. It makes my eyes look bruised.
Lancôme Rouge Absolu in “Absolute Rouge.” Very pretty but too high maintenance for me. I feel guilty about not making the effort.
Chanel Illusion d’Ombre Velvet cream shadow in Melody, a pale translucent pink. Wearing it accomplishes nothing but it’s Chanel so…
I regret all the sampler kits I bought last fall—Too Faced Is My Life, Sephora Skin Wonderland, a few from Tarte. I have forced myself to use a lot of products I just didn’t enjoy and the supply is never ending.
Juvias place magic palette. I just realized that I hate juvias place shimmer formula. They are so oily like the Anastasia subculture shimmers. Big regret.
Colourpop baby blue eyeliner. It literally dried out and broke and came out of the tube within half a month. I put it back and used it a couple more times but I can’t take it anymore.
Shiseido UV powder foundation. It’s old and cakey. I used it a lot two summers ago for sun protection but now I think it’s pretty much expired.
Tarte BB primer in fair. I just don’t care for pore filling primers.
I’d get ride of my UD Naked 2 palette, Morphe 350. Morphe 35P, Morphe 35T. Also my Morphe 9B blush palette, not because either isn’t good, I just haven’t used it in about 2 years. I’ve been over morphe for a while but their new blush palettes look interesting. Lastly I’d get rid of my Too Faced chocolate chip palette. I never use it.
I think if I took a second to consider it, all 5 products would probably be lip products. I love lipstick, but my lips have just gone crazy this year and become overly sensitive to anything that’s even a tiny bit drying. I could probably de-stash most of my liquid lipsticks (and probably should!).
Oh, I’d love to cheat and say about 50 lipsticks, but I won’t.
1. Lancome Audacity in Paris palette
2. Too Faced Bon Bon palette
3. Tarte Color Vibes palette
4. Tarte Tartiest Pro palette
5. Urban Decay Gwen Stefani blush palette
6. Lorac Pro palette 1
….and I might as well throw in all of those lipsticks too. I think I’ll look up Maggie’s suggestion of Project Beauty Share….
Patrick Starrr face powder that I loved at first then noticed that when I’m wearing it that it’s way too dark to set my concealer with, and makes my under eyes look dark and wrinkled.
ABH cream contour kit that I never use and takes up space, I like the powder one
Dose of Colors Sassy Siennas eye shadow palette. It’s too monotoned and I’m not a all matte eye shadow person
Natasha Denona Diamond Blush palette- I rarely feel like layering the products and the yellow highlighter looks odd on me
Too Faced Chocolate Gold palette – I never wear it even though it’s a good palette
1) The Estée Edit Gritty & Glow Palettes: I’ve panned the two shades in the face palette that suited me, and the eye palette shades are just way too dark for me. If I need a blue/green, I have those in other palettes as well. I’ve only been saving them because my husband gave them to me as a Christmas gift two years ago.
2) Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani Cheek Palette: Note to self – don’t buy huge palettes unless every shade will work. I don’t like the way any of these look on my skin, and I’ve pretty much found my HG blush, so no need to hate-pan this.
3) NARS Velvet Lip Glide in Suck: Color is too pale and washes me out.
4) NARS Lip Gloss in Orgasm: Washes me out and makes my teeth look yellow.
I think that’s it. I love every other product I own, so i think this is a sign to finally declutter these!
1. Makeup Revolution Flawless Mattes 32 Eyeshadow Palette. It’s fine, but there’s another matte palette I’d rather have but can’t justify buying while I have this.
2. Wet n Wild MegaGlo Highlighting Stick. It’s really beautiful, but I never remember to use it under foundation. I wouldn’t miss it too much.
3. Clinique Long Last Soft Matte Lipstick in Suede. It looks dreadful on me, but I’m basically collecting Clinique bonus bag lip products at this point, so I’d never get rid of it unless I had to.
4. All five of the matte lip creams from the Ulta lip glossary. The other ten products are great, but these just aren’t for me.
5. NYX Cosmic Gel Liner in Infinite Star. I adore it, but it’s someone I only use for certain looks and not often enough.
There’s a few
1. Rimmel Fresher Skin foundation pots in porcelain. I bought a couple on sale, but the foundation just does not last very long and I want to try others.
2. Estee Lauder’s Emerald Oasis palette – I like the colours but the pigmentation is poor.
3. Too Faced Glamour to Go – reused it the other week and I just don’t like it anymore
4. Maybelline Tangerine lipstick – far too orangey for me.
5. Lacome duo in blues – the darker blue is too bright and the pigmentation is awful.
Oy, where to start. I’ve actually got rid of a lot already, but…
1. Almost all of my BH cosmetics eye and cheek palettes; I was lured by the prices but use NONE of them.
2. Blue-pink lipsticks. I have no idea why I was seduced by these Barbie/Pepto-abyssmal lippies–they look hideous on me. I have them from Kat von D, Mac (Candy Yum Yum is only one of those, for example), Colour Pop and others…
3. It Cosmetics tight-liner mascara; a waste of product (so small) and it always flakes on me.
4. My Jeffree Star matte velour liquid lips (I have several). They are streaky and always fade from the center outward–giving that not-attractive-butt-lip-look.
5. My MUFE Starlit powders (love them but never use them). Equally my Stila Glitter and Glow liquid eyeshadows–never use. Well, maybe I’d keep Kitten Karma.
1. The Milk Blur Stick that a friend gave me. It doesn’t blur diddly-squat on me. It works fine as a regular primer, so I’ve kept it, but I wouldn’t care if I had to part with it.
2. NYX x Ipsy eyeshadow trio that came in the Glam Bag a year or so ago. It’s awful, and I don’t know why I’ve never thrown it out.
3. Morphe Blush Palette. The blushes are very nice quality, but the colors are much too dark and too pigmented to work on my fair skin. It was a gift, but I just can’t use it.
4. Medusa’s Make-up Star Bright Luminous Cream Hilighter. It’s utterly beautiful, but it’s too emollient for my oily skin and doesn’t last on me.
5. Coastal Scents Jardin Bloom Palette. The shadows are good quality, but they’re neutrals that are super cool-toned and brown-based. They go muddy on my fair skin if I use the palette alone. In the pictures, the shades looked more mauve- and purple-based, which would have been a dream.
1. Stila Huge Extreme Lash Mascara – I absolutely hate it – it gives me raccoon eyes in less than 2 hours. It bummed me out how badly it smeared because it did do an amazing job on my lashes – I have oily skin so this may be the issue/problem.
2. ABH Modern Renaissance – I love it and the shadows work well on my oily lids but I dislike the felt like packaging so much I don’t reach for it.
3. The Balm Meet Matte Trimony eyeshadown palette – I like this one too but I simply don’t reach for it often enough because I whatever colors I have I can get from my more loved viseart, MUFE, MAC shadows.
4. NYX Avant POP – Art Throb eyeshadow palette – there is only one shadow that I use that I have not been able to dupe (its the burnt orange) . I hate to feel like make up isn’t getting used.
5. Butter London eyeshadow duo in Perfect Pops – I don’t wear fushia within my eyeshadows looks often enough and the copper color I can get from my self made palettes.
The Dream St. Palette (warm tones just don’t work on me), Strobe Cream (does nothing for me since I don’t do glowy skin makeup), Maybelline Fit Me concealers (don’t match my skin tone and oxidize), IPKN powder foundation (is so heavily scented even after 2 years), and Colourpop SSS in Bae (has not seen light in months because I can’t be bothered to open a screw top compact for a single eyeshadow).
1) UD naked basics palette. I have other matte palettes that I use more
2) Limtied edition tarte blush and eye shadow palette. I only love the blush in there and I am not a fan of Tarte eye shadows
3) Some old JS and Colourpop liquid lipsticks . It has been a while that I use liquid lipsticks. I much into normal lipsticks now.
4) old WetnWild eyeshadow palettes that I never use
5)Tarte tartiest mascara ( always flake on me )
A duplicate L’Oreal Collection Exclusive 620 Julianne’s Nude that I was accidentally given by a family member, a Benefit Benetint sample, a Josie Maran Whipped Mud Mask sample, a Too Faced Lip Injection Extreme sample, an Epielle Facial Essence Green Tea and Aloe mask sample-all easy because I have no desire to use them and the lipstick is a duplicate of one I already use. If I had to also trash something I actually use, I’d probably miss the Revlon Color Charge eyeshadow palette least.
1 ) Most of my colored eyeliners. I just don’t use them.
2 ) A lot of glosses. I use maybe 3 or 4. And they’re all about the same color or have the same effect, especially the Bite Beauty Glosses. I love the idea of them, but they’re too oily and end up in my mouth, which just isn’t a good feeling, and an Anastasia gloss that is very glittery and gritty feeling.
3 ) Any samples I have laying around. The tend to get lost in the collection.
4 ) The Ulta concealer that I brought because it has rave reviews… I didn’t like it at all, but I keep holding on to it because I barely use it. It’s also the wrong color on me.
5 ) A bright colored palette that I got from a brand that I don’t remember. I keep telling myself that I’m going to get into bright eyeshadow combos, but it hasn’t happened yet, so…
Thank you for the great idea, Christine! I just got rid of a lot of my collection, but this made me think of the things I’m hanging on to for no good reason. I guess a collection can always be further curated.
Hmmmm…
-Tarte Shape Tape-too dry and heavy for me
-Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate-highlight is terrible, and the contour isn’t that impressive for the price
-Marc Jacobs Magic Marc’er-I like the formula fine, but the tip quickly got ragged on my and I can’t get a nice line
-Estee Lauder Double Wear Light-I can’t get a great match on color, and now there are other long wear formulas I much prefer over this one
-Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge-this did not blend for me; I MUCH prefer my beautyblender. I do plan on trying the ecotools one after my current nobuy is over.
The majority of my liquid lipsticks. I only have 2 that I enjoy wearing anymore, so I’d be happy to part with the rest.
Other than that, I’d easily give up all of my eyeliners save for UD 24/7 in Asphyxia. It’s the only one I use anymore! Generally if I want to line my eyes, I’ll just use an eyeshadow from whichever palette I’m using for the day.
All primers I have I don’t feel they make a big difference on face and they do cause breakouts I would only use on eyes sometimes fir certain eyeshadows only. The two Essence pink and peach bright neon looking blushes I got out of curiosity no color pay off and don’t last. A Revlon blush and highliter sticks I got at Big Lots again out of curiosity (which one day will kill this cat! Lol) nonsense junk ni Color no nothing! And they are still available at Target for much higher I think $13.00 geez! That’s about it and perhaps a few other things bought on pure impulse but no major damage done. Hmmm? Maybe Physians Formula blushes they are so very light I’m not sure about those not bad but not much to it either, but I do love their shimmer strips and mineral talc powder in light and eyeliners.
WetnWild mascaras no bueno! Although I love their blushes, etc. etc., the mascaras I kept and the photo focus foundation just had to return! I love WnW but those two didn’t work for me.
1) Tarte clay play volume 2 (definitely prefer volume 1)
2) Urban decay naked skin foundation (doesn’t last well on my skin)
3) MUFE water blend foundation (don’t hate it, but I wouldn’t miss it)
4) Tartelette original palette (again, a fine product, but I wouldn’t miss it)
5) Tarte exposed highlighter (used to love when it was my first high end highlighter, but have since found much better formulas/better suited shades for my skin)
My Coastal Scents eyeshadows, a Bare Minerals loose shadow set, Laura Geller Spackle primer, Becca Opal highlighter (it’s too dark), and the Tarte Paaarty blush (Sephora birthday gift).