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What do you do with packaging?


What do you do with packaging? Cute or interesting boxes/bags? Velvet bags? Do you keep them, reuse them, or toss them? Share!

I recycle just about everything that I can, otherwise I pass on to friends and family. I have maybe 10-20 velvet pouches from each brand that has them, but I never use them, so I only keep a small stash “just in case.”

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Erin Avatar

I have a bad habit of saving the little pouches “just in case”, but the moment I do bigger clean outs I indiscriminately throw them all out because it’s so clear how useless they are. If anyone’s ever found a reason to keep them or found how to make them useful, I’d be curious to hear. When I really think about it, I get a little annoyed that I pay for these packaging extras in the price of the product.

OliviaRoseArtistry Avatar

I keep all bags and put them in my kit as trash bags! Way cuter than taking out a grocery bag or actual trash bag on a job. Box packaging (like the sephora ones) i use as storage in my makeup drawers for pencils and liners. GWP bags i keep in my makeup drawers and fill with samples I receive so they stay organized in one place. 🙂

Suzi Avatar

I recycle the cardboard and keep the velvet pouches as well as some plastic packaging for travel! Sometimes I like to make sure my brushes and delicate items don’t get scratched.

Katherine T. Avatar

Keep the ones I like, recycle as much as I can, donate it to Goodwill, then toss the rest. I think brands should reduce their packaging or make it recyclable. Many of the makeup pouches from GWP don’t look that great either, so it’s a waste.

Astrild Avatar

I used to keep the products in their boxes, but I realized that it takes a lot of space. Now I try to recycle and reduce packaging as much as I can..

CeliaV Avatar

Recycle and give away! Otherwise they just take up so much extra storage room and wind up cluttering things up. I used to keep my Rouge G boxes, palette boxes, NARS boxes, etc. Eventually I’d find in my storage or train case and think I had an unopened product for a sec 😛 Now I only keep the occasional velvet pouch (also “just in case”) and sometimes extremely LE or already DC’d boxes just to keep the product extra nice. My NARS Coeur Battant, for example, is still in original packaging so I don’t get it fingerprinty/dusty and can easily separate out which one it is from the other NARS blushers. Sometimes I keep a particularly sturdy package around for when I do gift or trade boxes with my makeup-loving friends for extra protection.

Chandrea Avatar

I Keep them as a keepsake I still Have my Tartan tin and my snowball and leopard circle box from pass Mac holiday collections. I love collecting them. I actually use the pink leopard coin purse that the lip kit came in everyday.

Christina Avatar

I toss them, too! In fact, I just tossed all of my Chanel velvet ones! I used to keep them, but then they were taking up too much space. I suppose if the outer packaging was really special and I really liked the artwork, I would keep one or two just to have, but I wouldn’t keep all.

xamyx Avatar

If I can’t reuse/repurpose it, I simply toss it-immediately! I have more than enough stuff to manage in my stash (not to mention clothes, shoes, jewelry, etc…) that I simply don’t have it in me to deal with the extra useless junk. Also, I don’t make a habit of returning items, so I don’t have to keep the packaging around until I decide whether to keep it or not; if I buy something, I make sure I want it, and can afford it,

Laura Avatar

I keep the packaging for a little while to make sure I like the product (and don’t want to return it). If I know I’m keeping it I just get rid of it. I de-pot most shadows and get rid of that too (like the vice palette packaging, etc). The only ones I’ve kept are from Benefit because I love the design so much that I want to see it.

Rachel R. Avatar

I reuse whatever I can. I use nice boxes and tins to store samples or something else in. The little drawstring bags I use for jewelry or gift bags. Ziplock baggies I keep. They come in handy for stashing lotion, etc. for trips so I don’t have to worry about leakage. I trade in the MAC packaging, of course. If I can’t use something, I recycle it.

Cathy Avatar

Recycle as much as I can. I keep velvet shadow covers. Not sure why, just seems a shame to chuck them! Rather shocking to see how many I’ve got…I seem to have bought rather a lot of Dior and Chanel shadows….

Sylirael Avatar

I keep all compacts that come with a velvet pouches *in* their velvet pouches, because I am a little bit obsessive about keeping things scratch-free (also they stack better because the velvet grips).

Cardboard boxes etc get put in the recycling unless they are very sturdy, in which case they often get repurposed for model crafting, LOL!

Makeup bags and pouches get retaines (I love them!) unless they don’t float my boat, in which case they get given away or used to make gift packaging.

Dany Avatar

I put them in a “just in case” case, go through them once in a while, and throw out the ones that I already used up or gone. I move a lot, so I like to put all my makeup back to their original packaging when moving for a little more protection, and the extra space for keeping them also disappear. When I clear them out (a blog sale, giveaway, etc,), it’s always nice to have the packaging included, since I rarely touch them, they look new and therefore fancier…

Annie Avatar

I’m strange, I actually like to keep packaging for most of my cosmetics – the boxes lipsticks and blush come in, for example, and lots of skincare product boxes too. I like to refer to ingredients and shelf life which are often only on the outer box. I think keeping the lipstick boxes is kind of practical so I can throw the lipstick in my purse without worrying about it getting scratched (Elizabeth Arden, YSL and other brands have really fancy tubes that I want to keep looking nice!)

Maggie Avatar

I try to reuse pouches but boxes I tend to recycle. Pouches tend to be good for storing small items and for traveling. I have a couple pouches in my car’s glove compartment full of stuff I might need while on-the-go: teabags, papers, tampons, pads, stain remover wipes, floss, plastic silverware, kleenex, etc.). I have mini-pouches in my purse storing tampons and the like–if it falls out of my bag–it’s not embarrassing.

I also keep a couple pouches full of any samples i might accumulate and the next time I travel–it’s all in one spot. Velvet pouches are awesome for storing delicate jewelry. Cute makeup bags are great for gifting items stored inside. I also store things like cotton rounds and stuff in pouches. Boxes if they’re sturdy I like to use as drawer organizers or for storing mini-items like bobby pins.

doroffee Avatar

I keep boxes of lipsticks (or boxes of similar width, for nail polish or sample haircare, for example) for lipstick storage DIY. I also keep nicer looking jars for DIY projects. Nice bigger boxes (usually from subscription services) I keep for storage. I don’t keep smaller boxes and pouches, I’m not that big of a neat freak to store every single one of my products in a box, I find them unnecessary.

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