What do you do with beauty product packaging? Do you keep boxes? Do you throw ’em away as soon as you get home? Do you re-use jars and tubes and containers?
I throw away boxes very, very quickly. As soon as possible, actually, as it always accumulates quickly otherwise. I recycle any actual packaging that I’ve finished.
Got a question idea? Submit yours here.
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!
I stick most of them in the recycling bin; cardboard, plastic wraps, they all go in the recycling basket in my room. If the wrapping is a sturdy cardboard box that looks nice, I keep it for storing my jewellery.
right now im keeping all my boxes because im going to be moving soon and i would feel so much better knowing everything is protected just a little bit more and it will be easier to pack. but once i move and get settled im going to throw away all boxes since im already running out of space.
Chuck the boxes ASAP. Recycle empties or if MAC, depot & B2M.
Well after I’ve photographed any packaging (if neccessary) for my blog I put it in the recycling bin. I prefer things that don’t have any packaging. While it’s nice to get a pretty box it’s also quite wasteful.
I keep every single piece of packaging and have bags and boxes dedicated to packaging. :/
Is that bad? Lol
I tend to keep the packaging, if it’s pretty 🙂 I’ve never thrown away chanel’s packaging, because I love it so much 🙂
I throw mines away.
I hope you meant by ‘throw away’, you recycle the boxes?
hehehe very very quickly. lol
what I do with regular packaging is throw it away. But when its something with special packaging (hello kitty, dame edna)on the boxes, I cut out the main design and I have an inspiration wall it reminds me of past collections and makes me smile!
I keep every single perfume box I acquire (I like them!) but other beauty packaging is thrown away quickly. I try to recycle packaging whenever possible but I do not reuse any jars or tubes.
i like keeping the boxes so my make-up still looks new although it causes quite a clutter! i may get rid of the boxes soon!
I always save it and I really regret it because then its just clutter. I think there must be SOME way to recycle it and so I painted some MAC boxes and put glitter on them. Now I have glittery clutter….I like your idea better, just throw it away.
I don’t what it is, but I’m such a hoarder. I keep all the boxes for everything and there’s no rhyme or reason to why. I need intervention!
As well as you I throw boxes away among with papers so they can be recycle. I back to Mac whatever I can and use all those samples containers they give me. I consider recycling really important, why waste, right?
I throw them aways as soon as the product is finished !
goes straight in the trash
If I shop for a product at the mall and then stop for coffee, etc. I have been known to throw packaging away right there!
I dispose of the outer packaging as soon as I start using a product, and of the actual product packaging when I’ve finished a product. I sometimes keep larger containers like moisturizer pots to store small things like q-tips or bobby pins.
Hi there!
I usually collect the boxes until it piles up a bit and discard then if i dont need. (mostly for the prices or ingredients and such) it does pile quick 🙁
But definitely totally reuse packaging like jars – i am from india, the land of reuse where we accumulate a lot and never tire of it 😉 and it hurts to throw away 🙂
For some reason I held onto my Hello Kitty boxes but thats it
It depends on the packaging. If it’s really cute I.e my tokidoki stuff I keep it. Other then that I throw it away as soon as I take it out the package.
I recycle or compost all the packaging. Anything like the empty e/s pans and whatnot get Back2MACed. I have this weird thing that if I can’t recycle or compost the packaging that something comes in, then I won’t buy the actual product.
I actually keep all my products in their original packaging because I think it looks nice, I know what the products are and it keeps all the shaped linear and squarish if that makes any sense. I can stack things easily, I’m pretty much a packaging hoarder lol.
LOL, same here!
LoL I’m glad I’m not the only one in the bandwagon. Either I’m a habitual hoarder or it’s obsessive-compulsive! >_<
I keep boxes for special LE items, all others it goes in the recycling bin or garbage. I have yet to finish anything up so I haven’t had the experience of recycling actual packaging =)
I throw away the boxes as soon as I use the product, and since all my makeup is MAC, the empty containers go back to them for my freebie.
I’ve actually been keeping all my MAC packaging and plan to make an art piece out of it. (Typical art student) =)
I keep every single one!
I keep fancy, limited edition boxes and throw the others away after I’ve figured out I’m keeping the product. Sometimes I think I like a product and I don’t so I take it back to the store to swap it with something else. No throwing away boxes for me quickly. I recycle MAC containers and pots when they become empty.
I really struggle with that sometimes! It’s usually very easy for me to recycle the packaging, except for my Bare Escentuals products. Those vanity boxes are just nice enough/useful enough that I have a hard time parting with those!
I tend to hold onto the boxes for about 2 weeks then I throw them away. I get buyers remorse quite often. lol. If the packaging is particularly pretty I’ll keep it longer. lol
Funny you ask… I’ve been hoarding them lately. If it’s a box I can’t reuse, I’ll keep it around for a few days to admire the packaging, and to admire that I’ve bought something new, then I’ll throw it away. I keep anything that has colors or descriptions. If something is reusable- baggies for an example, I def hold on to those. I’ve never reused jars or containers- but it’s rare I finish something…
I RECYCLE everything! The cardboard boxes, sometimes plastic packaging if I’m able…then anything that’s finished, I rinse and recycle as well! As much as I love Urban Decay, my big problem with the brand is their wasteful packaging :/
For repurchases that I know I love, I recycle the box/plastic as soon as I open it. For new purchases, I’ll hold onto the box for a couple tries to make sure I don’t want to return it.
When I’ve finished a product, MAC containers get saved for B2M, all others get recycled or trashed.
I throw away my packaging as soon as I got home. I am all about declutter. If I don’t any use for it, it goes in the trash! As far as MAC goes… I back to mac those. With other products if it’s like a Bare Escentuals I may keep 2 or 3 just incase (which worked out well for my depotted UDPP)but that’s it.
i keep the boxes until the return date has passed.
For US peeps, Origins will take empty ANYTHING cosmetics–tubes, jars, etc.–for free recycling. From any brand! http://www.origins.com/about/index.tmpl?page=recycle
I keep it. I use the makeup, and put it right back into the box, then back into my makeup bag. I don’t know why I do it, its weird. I did throw away my boxes for my UD liners, but only because I have 6 or 7 and storing them was getting annoying, but now I’m getting a bigger makeup storage so that won’t be a problem. 🙂
Recycle most of them.
I normally recycle all the boxes right after I get them but this year I hVe kept every box I bought just because at the end of the year I want to see how much stuff I’ve boughten beauty wise.
I keep LE packaging but all other packaging gets thrown away after a few months. I have a little box that I keep packaging in (boxes within boxes within boxes lol) until I no longer need the ingredients list or I just need to make space.
I’ve kept a couple of glass jars that had moisturiser in because I think they might be useful for UDPP but everything else is recycled or binned once it’s finished. Unless it has pretty packaging then I HAVE to find a use for it!
It depends on what it is. I’ve held on to the packaging from the Nars blush I bought a couple weeks back because I feel like it stores better in the packaging. There are a few things I have in that situation, I’m thinking of a perfume bottle I have in my bathroom closet specifically. But, for most things, I tend to toss the packaging as soon as I open it.
Unless it’s in special packaging, (like style warriors leopard print boxes) I toss it ASAP.
I have a hard time throwing it out as it’s so nice. But eventually I recycle what I can and chuck the rest in the bin.
I keep my boxes within shoe boxes because I just can’t stand to throw them away! I feel like I’m throwing away a part of myself. I’m crazy I know lord help me.
I throw mine away, they take up to much room!!!
I usually recycle everything, but it was hard to part with the LE packaging from MAC’s Liberty of London – so pretty
I try and recycle the external packaging that the product comes with. I tend to feel guilty if I don’t! 🙂
Haha I am a huge hoarder so I keep everything (:
Unless it’s ugly then that changes everything.