Anything that’s truly terrible and doesn’t have any foreseeable use (like comparisons) is an absolute get-it-out-of-my-sight kind of thing for me. If it’s ho-hum but from a brand that isn’t popular enough to need in-person comparisons in the future, I don’t keep those product ranges.
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I’m a bit of a makeup hoarder and I will put things I don’t use in a box rather than throw them out. Then once a year or so, I’ll go through the box and toss makeup that’s broken, bad, or otherwise unusable.
Interesting that just thinking about this question has motivated me to go through that box and toss most of it.
Products can still be something I like or enjoy and I will still pass it on to someone else who would use/like it more. I have done this with my TF 9 pans, lorac pros and my mega pro. I think it is essential a part of the process of me growing and understanding my preferences better…
If the product goes bad, or if it just doesn’t work anymore – it’s a malfunction in the product itself like the pencil won’t twist up/down anymore.
I do sometimes throw out a product or two because they’re not good products that I can justify keeping because I don’t use it.
I buy so much, I typically get rid of products when I get a new product that is similar in shade. I usually get 3x use from any given product max and more often it’s just once or twice.
Two reasons for me: it’s a terrible product but I can’t return it or it’s pretty much used up to the point where it’s inconvenient to continue using (like a pencil too short to sharpen, pressed powder foundation where it’s only a thin ring around the pan left, etc). I only pass along gently used products I like/love to friends and family.
I would say if it’s old, but I would get rid of anything that doesn’t work for me. I would give it a chance but later just declutter it. To me, it’s no reason to just have a product in my collection if I can’t use it.
If the product is something I just bought and it was expensive, I will always return it right away if I’m dissatisfied with it. I won’t spend a lot of money on something and let it sit in my makeup case forever until I decide to throw it away lol. I will discard anything old that has a funny smell or is clumpy, etc. and I will buy a new one if it’s something I love and use often. In fact, I have a tube of MAC New York Apple lipstick that is beginning to smell weird….will be buying a new one this week. 🙂
You save the used up or gone bad MAC products for their recycling program, right? Return six and get a free lipstick.
Yes, I’ve know about it for some time but I forget lol. I usually just throw out the empty container and repurchase. It would take quite some time anyway for me to accumulate 6 empty containers. 🙂 Thanks!!
I have a little box in a drawer that I stash them in. Takes years to get six items, but it’s so much fun to get the free lipstick. I have three in the box now. I figure I’ll get something free in 2019. Lol
Primarily if I get a bad skin reaction. This doesn’t happen often anymore because I’m more familiar with what ingredients my skin doesn’t like and what it can tolerate in general.
I keep the lip products that didn’t work in a separate container so I’ll know I need to mix it with something else. Cheek products that don’t have enough pigmentation I keep on the side and try to use it on the weekend.
About once a year, I’ll go through the “why didn’t I return this” bin and toss out items I know I will not touch.
Pretty much what everyone else has said. Products that don’t work and are expensive I will return unless it is my fault. I’m kind of weird that way but if I picked up the wrong shade or finish then I eat the cost if I have opened and used even a little bit. The brand shouldn’t have to deal with my mistakes. I will usually give these types of products to my daughter’s friends who enjoy getting my hand-me-downs. If I develop an allergy or skin irritation, the product goes bad, or smells terrible then I will get rid of those. I have so much that I generally don’t try and make things work for me if they don’t work right away.
When the packaging breaks down—the point on the eyeliner pen breaks down, the packaging cracks (looking at you, ColorPop gel liners)—or the product becomes too difficult to work with. If there is a decent amount of product left and it can be sterilized, I will put it aside and when there is a boxful, I will send it to Project Beauty Share.
Have any of you seen my room? LOL! No, but seriously now, I know that I have got to learn how to “Let it go, let it go, let it go!” ?
Yeah. I need to do better than just very reluctantly tossing a rancid lipstick or lip gloss, or a hard pan eyeshadow. Time to do a painful culling of my stash. I’m bad when it comes to getting rid of makeup (or clothes).
If it gets old and/or turns, which is a reality for me since I barely use the makeup I own ? I toss broken things (except if it’s a pressed powder eyeshadow and only slightly cracked in the pan) and anything that I cannot use that would be unhygienic to pass on to someone who will, which is basically everything not in a tube or a pump bottle.
And of course if it’s a terrible product that doesn’t work for me and I cant see it working for anyone else.
If it smells “off” or rancid; if it separates (and isn’t a product that is supposed to separate upon sitting and needs to be shaken) or if the texture changes (a lipstick getting really dry, a cream e/s doing the same). That’s about it. On those rare occasions when I purchase a dud, I generally return it in short order.
Generally I will discard a product if it doesn’t work on me – foundations (too yellow, thick or cakey), mascaras that clump my eyelashes, too bright blushes and highlighters that show up pores that I don’t have.
I’ll either pass it on to a friend or return it if it’s got a really strong, overwhelming scent (looking at you, Drybar dry shampoo) or if it’s just more trouble than it’s with (ahem! Subculture).
If a product is REALLY bad and I’ve given it at least a chance or two to make it work (I’ve only tried a couple products ever that were so bad I could tell immediately). Also, if the product stops working the way it did when it was new in a way that I can’t keep using it.
Any makeup with ‘fragrance’. Can’t stand stinky lipstick (sits right under my nose and makes me nauseated) or anything with vanilla, floral, coconut, tropical, you name it, Yucchhh!
What is with the smelly stuff these days?!!!!!
I am with you in that I prefer to have my products without added scent, well except for my Guerlain Meteorites. However, many components of makeup have very strong chemical scents and I would rather smell vanilla or some other light scent than smell chemicals all day. That is just me, though.
*If it goes bad. (Change in appearance, performance, color, smell, taste, or texture.)
*It’s broken beyond repair. The mirror in the packaging breaks and gets glass particles in the product. The packaging breaks beyond usage, and I can’t de-pot the product.
If it’s something I just don’t care for, I give it to a friend or donate it to charity. I hate the idea of just throwing out newer and perfectly good makeup.