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What do you do with makeup you don't like or no longer use?
What do you do with makeup you don’t like or no longer use? Share!
My answer as a regular consumer would be to pass along to friends or donate (it is harder to find a place that will take tested or used products). As a blogger, I do keep products I don’t like personally or don’t expect to wear often (if at all), but some things (MAC products, for example), I keep for future reference/dupes and the like. I usually donate products twice a year (especially hair care, skin care, foundations) and pass on some things (like a used lipstick) to friends/family.
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Anything I get from a subscription box that I won’t use I sell on ebay.
Anything I use that I don’t like/stop using gets put up for sale/trade in some of the various facebook & LJ trade groups, or sometimes given to a friend I hardly ever return anything if I can help it.
I’d either make it work, repurpose, or pass it on to friends whom I know don’t mind my used make-up (after sanitizing it and everything, of course).
I will return some things, then donate or throw away the rest. None of my friends or family wear much makeup, so I will donate it to Goodwill. I don’t think they can sell used makeup/skincare, but I think their employees will just keep it, so hopefully, it gets re-used, as there is some good brands in there.
The makeup that I don’t like or no longer use, I would try to give it to a friend or to a women’s shelter.
Keep it or just throw it away because I don’t know anybody else who likes/is into makeup. Sometimes I find someone to pass along skincare to.
makeup I don’t like goes to my little cousin to play with it, for the makeup no longer use I set it on fire with my old stuff as simple as that. I always do a cleanup for the whole vanity & closet at christmas & things that I don’t want I burn immediately to make room for my stockpile & new clothes & makeup. I never threw any old bottle of fragrance ever though.
Either find a friend or family member who does like it, or chuck it out. I don’t like keeping products that I don’t use, it makes me nervous, lol.
Generally I either give it away, but if it’s expensive I tough it out. If I just spent $56 on a tube of mascara I am using that up to the last drop!
Mostly hang onto it in the hope I might use it. If it’s something old and yuk I’d throw it away, if it was a more expensive purchase with a decent amount of use left I’d try swapping it on makeupalley.
I either pass along to a friend or just toss. I would never donate a makeup product, especially not something that I have used on my eyes or lips.
That’s a great question! I have a basket full of stuff that I don’t like/use and never can quite figure out what to do with it. Unfortunately most is tested or used a couple times so donating it really isn’t an option. It usually goes to my sister.
I have many sisters!
If it’s new and I swatched or wore once and don’t like it then I either return it or sell/swap through some groups I’m in on Facebook. If I just don’t wear it anymore and it’s a shadow palette or blush or something that’s easy to sanitize, I’ll do that and swap or sell. If it’s older, I can’t sanitize it, etc I just toss it. I always give someone else a chance to snag it up if possible though.
I usually just return the higher end product but I’m trying to stop doing so as it’s wasteful. I’d rather someone else use it than for it to get tossed out. As far as cheaper stuff, I give it away to my family and friends
I have a friend who is in medical school and a cousin studying to be an engineer. Neither of them work, so whenever I have something higher end that I don’t use much or that doesn’t suit me, I try to give it to either one of them. My bff just recently went through my entire collection and took home a ton of stuff! haha
Powder stuff, brushes, and unused samples I pass along to friends. I’m a packrat so by the time I decide to get rid of a lipstick or cream anything it’s probably past its prime anyway, so I toss it.
Usually give to a friend. If a defective product then return. If old/very cheap then throw away. 🙂
If it’s been used a lot, I throw it out. I also throw out mascaras and liquid eyeliners. If isomething is only slightly used, I give it my mom or a friend who doesn’t mind my cooties. Unused, I’ll offer first dibs to family/friends who may want it. Things appropriate for teen girls, I save for last-minute gifts for my sons’ friends (many a lip balm with a handmade cozy backpack clip have saved the day). Right now, I have a bunch of those huge palettes that e.l.f. and Coastal Scents give free with some promotions. I don’t need or use them, so I offered them to my younger son’s drama department. If they can’t take it, I’ll probably donate to a woman’s shelter.
I keep my receipts so I return stuff I don’t like back. Older items I will sanitize and sell on makeup selling websites. Stuff that is harder to sell I’ll just give away to friends.
I usually return everything I don’t like. Right now the only think in my stash I’m not crazy about is the Naked Skin Foundation. I just can’t get over the smell and tingly feeling when I apply it on my skin. I don’t know what to do with it! The box is long gone, so… yeah lol
Depending on the item, how it’s packaged and how much it’s been used, I’ve either passed them on to friends and family or sold them on Facebook. I just took a blush and a powder to the post office — I do love downsizing but unfortunately I love shopping and trying things out even more 🙂
I keep a drawer of all the stuff I don’t use…usually I just throw it away but sometimes my sister will go in there and find stuff she wants so I just give it to her. My little sister who is like 16 is just starting to get into make-up so maybe she’ll take some off my hands soon too.
I hoard hoard hoard! Not the best habit in the world but sometimes I’ll pull out some older products and fall in love with them again!
With lipsticks, I’ll wait until I have a batch of ‘why on earth did I buy that’, then melt them down in the microwave and I then end up with a spot-on colour! Foundations I try to colour up or down to make them colour match my skin, by mixing. A few things I’ll offer for sale for the price of postage on FB beauty sales groups, the rest I put into the charity bags that come through the door and then get picked up from your doorstep. They ask for any makeup. Some things just get put to the back of the drawer until the colours come into fashion again!
Loving all your answers, Cathy! They’re inspiring and the microwave one really piqued my interest 🙂
I usually throw away products that I didn’t care for or know I will never use again. Occasionally I will keep high end products. I have never shared my used cosmetics with anyone thinking no one would want them?
I have 6 nieces….nuff said
Usually I give it to my daughter or granddaughter.
I rarely have stuff I don’t like or don’t use. If I do I throw it out unless it’s something I know somoene I know can use and is cleanable.
I usually throw them out, especially if I haven’t used them for a while and they would be past their use by date.
If I’ve used it — even once — I throw it away. If it’s a freebie with an order, or a gift that I’m not interested in, I take it to work and leave it on the break room table with a note “free to good home.”
I used to sell stuff to members of a group I was part of. Now I either return if I can, throw stuff away if it’s cheap and crappy (bad drugstore products), or hoard. I don’t really know anyone who wears much makeup, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable giving a friend a product that I think sucks. If I like a product but don’t use it much, I usually keep it. That’s why I have storage problems…
I do return somethings. But, I try to pass things on to friends or relatives. Some things that haven’t been used I give to a local shelter. Tossing out is the very last resort.
I hoard it until it expires and then throw them away and sulk…
I need to learn to pass on or sell for that matter.. These comments are pretty helpful!
I have two younger sisters who aren’t as picky as me when it comes to make up 😀
So I never feel like I’m wasting money. (Can’t return products from where I’m from).
I’ve swapped them on rehashclothes.com. Also, Reddit has ways to swap them, too.
http://www.refinery29.com/reddit-beauty-forums
If I get them, and they are new and can’t return them, I’ve sold them on eBay or swapped them.
Have you ever heard of Edivv? You might like that site! You trade items you no longer use or don’t want! It’s loads of fun 🙂
Things I buy that are higher end I return. Drugstore things I will sometimes return and just keep and pass it on to someone. Stuff from my subscription boxes I don’t like I either trade (or try to trade!) Or sell on ebay.
I’m intrigued and baffled! Where do you live that you can return make-up? In the UK, you can only return make-up within 28 days of purchase AND only if it’s completely sealed and unused.
I hoard it mostly if it’s high end and dump if it’s drug store. Lately I’ve been giving some to my eleven year old to play with. Obviously turning her into a makeup monster like myself lol.