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I desperately need to cut down my collection and purge a bunch, but honestly, I don't know if I'm ready to do that yet. I've still got some nasty spending habits that I think I need to take care of first, because otherwise I'm just going to end up tossing or giving away a bunch of stuff, only to fill that empty space with new junk. 

Until I'm at a point where my spending has gotten under control, I'm not going to touch my collection. Once I'm at a point where the beauty purchases and the amount I'm spending have dropped exponentially, then I'll purge my collection.

 
Okay... deep breath... I did it! I decluttered a huge chunk of my stash and I got rid of some items that smelled/looked like they had gone bad and the stuff I don't want that's still good will be going to the nearby women's shelter. What they won't take will be sent off to friends and family. 

Even though I organized it all, once I got to my lip products I need to sit down and collect myself because I was so embarrassed I thought I was going to faint! I'll post the rest of my products in chunks, but I figured it'd be good to just focus only on lip products today. I do have a ton of lip products that are little tiny minis or deluxe samples - a good chunk of these numbers are travel/sample/deluxe sizes that were free with purchases or came in a set. But even with that in mind, this is still just an absurd amount and is more than any one person can ever use. So, here it is - my lip product collection:

  • lip liners - 1
  • lip balms - 34
  • lip glosses - 73
  • lipsticks - 134
134 lipsticks. That's completely ridiculous! Nobody needs that much lipstick! It's pretty clear that's one area I do not need to indulge in for a very long time. I'll be back later tonight with an updated list that's hopefully much, much smaller - it's time for me to go through and have a swatch and test fest so I can ensure that the items I'm keeping are the ones I really love.

 
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miss lawson said:
Okay... deep breath... I did it! I decluttered a huge chunk of my stash and I got rid of some items that smelled/looked like they had gone bad and the stuff I don't want that's still good will be going to the nearby women's shelter. What they won't take will be sent off to friends and family. 

Even though I organized it all, once I got to my lip products I need to sit down and collect myself because I was so embarrassed I thought I was going to faint! I'll post the rest of my products in chunks, but I figured it'd be good to just focus only on lip products today. I do have a ton of lip products that are little tiny minis or deluxe samples - a good chunk of these numbers are travel/sample/deluxe sizes that were free with purchases or came in a set. But even with that in mind, this is still just an absurd amount and is more than any one person can ever use. So, here it is - my lip product collection:

  • lip liners - 1
  • lip balms - 34
  • lip glosses - 73
  • lipsticks - 134
134 lipsticks. That's completely ridiculous! Nobody needs that much lipstick! It's pretty clear that's one area I do not need to indulge in for a very long time. I'll be back later tonight with an updated list that's hopefully much, much smaller - it's time for me to go through and have a swatch and test fest so I can ensure that the items I'm keeping are the ones I really love.
Click to expand...
I cut these numbers down even further! I swatched everything and I got rid of the few rank items that slipped by me in the first round, the colors that did nothing to flatter me in the slightest, and colors that were nearly identical - if I had several that were the same, I kept my favoritee. These numbers are still pretty big, but hopefully they'll get smaller and smaller and will turn into something much more manageable in the coming months.

  • lip liners - 1 (I kept it since I just have the one, hah)
  • lip balms - 27
  • lip glosses - 50
  • lipsticks - 100
 
mau said:
@@miss lawson you did great! You basically reduced your lipstick and lipgloss stash by 25-30 %. That's amazing. 
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I'm actually shocked I was able to clear out so much stuff! In the past, I was really bad about holding onto something because I might want it in the future, but this time when I came across an item that I was waffling on, I just told myself, "STOP, LAWSON. Get a grip" and chucked it into the bag of stuff to go. I have two enormous boxes to send to a friend who's had a really rough, stressful year for all kinds of reasons, so I'm glad they're going to someone who needs them much more than I do.

 
Hi Everyone, 

I'm a newbie to this forum and I thought starting out with this post would be the best fit for me.  The last few years I have accumulated a lot of products and it's really getting out of control.  Ok, here it goes...

[SIZE=10.5pt]Face Primers: 2 Full Size & 7 Deluxe Size[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Foundations: 5[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Power Foundations: 1[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]BB Creams: 8 Full Size & 1 Deluxe Size[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Setting Powders: 5[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Concealers: 3[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Concealers (used to highlight under eye area): 7[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Brow Pencils: 3[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Brow Powder: 1[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Setting Sprays: 4[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Eye Primers: 4 - All Deluxe Size[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Cream Eye Shadows/Bases: 15[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Cream Eye Shadows (in stick form): 7[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Single Eye Shadows: 18[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Eye Shadow Duos: 4[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Eye Shadow Trios: 3[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Eye Shadow Quads: 3[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Small Palettes (5-9 pans): 5[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Large Palettes (10 or more): 12[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Pencil Eyeliners: 31 (many are Mini)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Liquid Eyeliners: 5[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Gel Eyeliners: 2[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Mascaras (Open): 4[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Mascaras (Un-Opened): 23 Full Size & 21 Deluxe Size[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Powder Blushes: 47 Full Size & 3 Mini[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Cream/Liquid/Gel Blushes: 9[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Bronzers: 6 Full Size & 2 Mini[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Highlighters: 4 Full Size & 5 Mini[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Lipsticks: 23 Full Size & 5 Mini[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Lip Glosses: 30 Full Size & 4 Mini[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Jumbo Lip Pencils: 6 Full Size & 5 Mini[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]

HOLY SMOKES... Counting everything was a HUGE eye opener!  And to think I haven't even counted Lip Balms, Creams/Lotions, Nail Polish, Perfume and Skin Care!  :blink:

 
Over the past few months I have traded and donated a bunch of stuff! I feel like my stash is fairly reasonable now. 

Makeup

Concealer 1
Eye Palettes 5 (43 shadows)
Eyebrow Product 1
Eye Liners 5
Lip Primer 1
Lip Gloss 1
Lip Liners 5
Lipsticks (full) 7
Lipsticks (mini) 8
Mascaras 4
Tinted Moisturizer 1
Eye Singles 4
Powder 1
Eye Primer 1

Total 45

Nail Polish

Full 39
Mini 5

Total 44

There are still a few things I would like, but I have a way better idea of what I actually use after going through everything. 

 
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EggyBread said:
Over the past few months I have traded and donated a bunch of stuff! I feel like my stash is fairly reasonable now. 

Makeup

Concealer 1

Eye Palettes 5 (43 shadows)

Eyebrow Product 1

Eye Liners 5

Lip Primer 1

Lip Gloss 1

Lip Liners 5

Lipsticks (full) 7

Lipsticks (mini) 8

Mascaras 4

Tinted Moisturizer 1

Eye Singles 4

Powder 1

Eye Primer 1

Total 45

Nail Polish

Full 39

Mini 5

Total 44

There are still a few things I would like, but I have a way better idea of what I actually use after going through everything. 
Click to expand...
It impresses me that you only have one lip gloss - I have dozens... Though I can't help but wonder, what colour IS your lonely lip gloss? :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
annatomical said:
It impresses me that you only have one lip gloss - I have dozens... Though I can't help but wonder, what colour IS your lonely lip gloss? :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
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It's a plummy purple color. It was a GWP and it's lovely which is why I keep it, but lip glosses just do not last on my lips, so I tend to give them to my sister.

 
Here is what I wish my stash consisted of:

Regularly used items

  • 1 or 2 larger eye shadow palettes
  • 2 to 3 smaller eye shadow palettes
  • 8 to 12 single eye shadows (loose or pressed)
  • 8 to 12 blushes including pressed powder, loose powder, creme/liquid
  • 1 to 2 liquid luminizer
  • 2 to 3 powder luminizers (loose or pressed)
  • 1 liquid bronzer
  • 2 powdered bronzers (loose or pressed)
  • 2 foundation (one for winter, one for summer)
  • 2 bb/cc cream
  • 1 translucent finishing powder
  • 2 mineral makeup foundation (one for winter, one for summer)
  • 2 concealers
  • 1 liquid foundation
  • 1 brow pencil
  • 1 brow powder
  • up to 30 (includes: lipstick, lip pencil, lip gloss, lip stain, lip balm, etc...)
  • 4 eyeliner pencils
  • 3 to 4 gel eyeliner
  • 1 hair mask
  • 1 eyelid primer
  • 1 primer for face
  • 1 exfoliant for face
  • 1 exfoliant for body
  • 2 moisturizers (one for winter and one for summer)
  • up to 30 nail products including nail treatments
  • 1 eye cream
  • 1 full-size moisturizer
  • 2 face wash (one for winter and one for summer)
Stash of back ups/spares

  • 1 or 2 spare tubes of mascara
  • 1 or 2 spare liquid eyeliner
  • 1 body wash
  • 1 shampoo
  • 1 conditioner
  • 1 face wash
  • 1 or 2 deodorant/anti-perspirant
  • 1 or 2 tooth brushes
  • 1 or 2 tubes of toothpaste
  • 1 or 2 bars of soap
  • 1 or 2 body lotion/body butter
  • 1 concealer
  • 1 brow pencil
Criteria for replacement - hit pan or package is one third full (or less).  Exception:  the occasional splurge before a special occasion such as a wedding is ok - once or twice per year, max.  I realize that my reduced stash is still a decent size - that said I like to have access to a variety of different items.

Currently, my stash consists of the following:

  • 16 sample sized tubes of mascara, unopened 
  • 2 mascara primer samples (6+ months of use, no new purchases mascara primer)
  • 5 full-sized tubes of mascara (2+ years of regular use,  no new purchases - all mascara)
  • 5 full-sized bottles of perfume (2+ years of use, no new purchases - all perfume)
  • 6 bars of soap
  • 3 full-sized body wash 
  • 4 body butter/ body lotion
  • 3 full-sized hand cream (six months of use, no new purchases)
  • 25 full-sized pressed powder blush (2+ years of regular use,  no new purchases - all blush) 
  • 3 creme blush
  • 2 loose powder blush
  • 1 blush palette
  • several blush samples from gifts with purchases (donate pristine/unused)
  • 6 full-sized bronzer (1-2 years of use, no new purchases - bronzer)
  • 8 luminizer/highlighter - includes:  loose powder, creme, liquid (6+ months of use, no new purchases - highlighter/luminizer)
  • 2 finishing full-sized loose finishing powder (1-2 years of use, no new purchases - finishing powder)
  • 20+ single eye shadows (no new eye shadow for the foreseeable future - unless it is in a beauty sub)
  • 2 large eye shadow palettes
  • 2 smaller eye shadow palettes
  • many eye shadow samples from gifts with purchases (donate pristine/unused)
  • 2 brow pencils (1-2 years of use, no new purchases - brow products)
  • 4 brow powders
  • 8 concealer (2+ years of use, no new purchases - concealer)
  • 1 liquid foundation
  • 3 mineral makeup powder (1-2 years of use, no new purchases - mineral foundation)
  • 2 bb cream (6+ months of use, no new purchases - bb cream)
  • 2 cc cream (6+ months of use, no new purchases - cc cream)
  • 100+ lip products of all descriptions ( no new lip products for the foreseeable future - unless it is in a beauty sub)
  • 80+ tubes of nail polish (no new nail polish for the foreseeable future - unless it is in a beauty sub)
  • 6 tubes of liquid eyeliner (1-2 years of use, no new purchases - liquid eye liner)
  • 8 eyeliner pencils (1-2 years of use, no new purchases - eye pencils)
  • 4 eye cream samples (6+ months of use, no new purchases - eye cream)
  • 8 moisturizer samples (6+ months of use, no new purchases - moisturizer)
  • 1 full-size moisturizer
  • 1 pigment
  • 3 full-size makeup remover (1-2 years of use, no new purchases - makeup remover)
  • several samples of makeup remover
  • 4 eyelid primer (1-2 years of use, no new purchases - eyelid primer)
  • 3 gel eyeliner 
My collection is superfluous - parenthesis contain guidelines for self to bring stash down to reasonable level.  

 
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I am just coming here to say I need to updated my inventory since the VIB sale. I've aquired quite a few things- foundation, concealer, highligher, eyeshadow, eyebrow stuff, a few tools/brushes.... but I'll get around to that at the end of the year when I'm on my no-buy.

miss lawson said:
I cut these numbers down even further! I swatched everything and I got rid of the few rank items that slipped by me in the first round, the colors that did nothing to flatter me in the slightest, and colors that were nearly identical - if I had several that were the same, I kept my favoritee. These numbers are still pretty big, but hopefully they'll get smaller and smaller and will turn into something much more manageable in the coming months.

  • lip liners - 1 (I kept it since I just have the one, hah)
  • lip balms - 27
  • lip glosses - 50
  • lipsticks - 100
Click to expand...
UHHH MY LAWD this is awesome! You did so well!

 
I counted all of my makeup items today and here is the result. Over the last year my collection has grown with about 30 products, so that will be the number I will try to finish in 2015 :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Foundation primer: 4

Foundation: 4

Concealer: 4

Powder: 3

Setting spray: 1

Bronzer: 4

Blush: 19 powder, 2 cream, 5 liquid

Highlighter: 4

Total face: 50

Eye primer: 5

Large eyeshadow palettes: 4

Small eyeshadow palettes: 8

Single/duo eyeshadows: 16

Total number of eyeshadow pans: 98 (and I have only hit pan on 3...)

Cream eyeshadows: 10

Pencil eyeliner: 13

Liquid eyeliner: 4

Cream eyeliner: 2

Mascara: 6

Eyebrow products: 3

Total eyes: 71

Lipstick: 11

Lipgloss: 7

Tinted lipbalm: 13

Other: 3

Total lips: 34

Total: 155 items.

I won't use up all this makeup in a lifetime. Ihave gone crazy on blushes but other than that I am happy with the amount om face makeup I own. Lips aren't that bad either, but given I almost always reach for tinted lip balms, I don't need any more lipsticks. I always wear nude or MLBB shades on my lips so many of my lip products look kind of the same on me. The real worry is all the eye makeup I have. 10 cream eyeshadows and I don't even wear them all that often, 98 pans of powder eyeshadow, how many eyelids do I think I have? I couldn't be more ready for a 2015 low buy and project pan! :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
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This is a pledge to post an updated inventory by Wednesday next week.  Please pester me if this is not done.   I think I need to take some responsibility for the piles of things that I am accumulating.    

 
Ok I did it kind of.  I haven't done my skincare/haircare again and probably should because those boxes are looking pretty full but I also tend to use that stuff consistently.  

My numbers did not increase a huge amount since July which is great news! And I feel like a lot of the products I've acquired lately I have been really enjoying and using.  Now to just keep plugging away and using things up slowly but surely.  

I feel like after seeing these numbers the 100 day no-buy challenge is completely doable and I am very motivated to take part.  

Mascara  9

Eye shadow 89

Eye liner 11

Brows  3

Lip Liner 3

Highlighter 8

Bronzer 4

Lip Product 41

Eye Primer 4

Concealer 1

Liquid foundation/BB cream 5

Powder Foundation 5

Blush 12

Primer 10

Finishing Powder 2

Total 207

I think that maybe when I start my no- buy I will count everything up at the beginning to see how much I can get rid of over the 100 days.

 
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Guys, I did a major clean-out of my makeup so before January 1st rolls around, I am going to inventory my makeup and post it here!

I also want to inventory my skincare, haircare, perfumes, etc. but I won't worry about that until later in the year during my no-buy to help me have something to do and also to remind myself I don't need anything!

 
I just did a big clean out again too and got rid of about 20 items. However, some of them were replaced by newer things I bought within the last month or so and my numbers are probably around the same. I saw someone on YouTube trying to get to 25 items while here I am thinking 75 would be ideal.. lol. Put things in perspective. But I have to keep in mind that everyone is different.

 
eastofthesun said:
Ok, so here's how it looks as of October 1, 2014:

Face

Primer- 5

Foundation-7

Concealer-3

Setting Powder- 3

Blush- 7

Bronzer- 2

Highlight-3

Eyes

Brows-3

Mascara-8

Eyeshadow palettes-2

Eyeshadow singles (not including palette colors)-30

Eyeshadow primer- 3

Eyeliner- 8

Lips

Lip liner- 5

Lipstick-8

Lip treatment-3

Lip gloss-7

Lip stain-7

Lip crayons-5

Lip balms (tinted)- 6
Click to expand...
To update after I (1) acquired more products and (2 ) cleaned up my stash, here is my December, 29th, 2014 inventory (see below). This includes deluxe sized samples and some foils as well.

Face

Primer- 8

Foundation-16

Concealer-5

Setting/Finishing Powder- 7

Blush- 8

Bronzer- 2

Highlight-6

Eyes

Brows-3

Mascara-12

Eyeshadow palettes-3

Eyeshadow shades (including palette colors)-82

Eyeshadow primer- 4

Eyeliner- 10

Lips

Lip liner- 3

Lipstick-10

Lip treatment-4

Lip gloss-5

Lip stain-1

Lip crayons-3

Lip balms (tinted)- 3

Some of what is listed here I still want to quell down. For instance, I'm about to get rid of 3 of the primers, all DS which I don't use. Also, lots of the mascaras are samples I haven't opened yet and don't really want to try, so I'll probably sell/trade/give those away. Some of the highlighters are just deluxe sizes that I haven't used/don't want to continue using, and I don't plan on acquiring any more eyeshadow for at least a year.

So, I think if I go through my stash again and quell it down by 10% overall, and don't acquire much more this year besides replacements, then I'll be happy.

I do want to get a few more makeup brushes and lipsticks, but other than that I'm good on my other products.

 
Okay, in the interest of motivation and public shaming, I'm going to post my inventory before I go into 2015 and a 100 day of no-buy (and hopefully a relatively low-buy year!). I'm going to focus on makeup, though my body care and candle collections are similarly ridiculous! 

FYI minis/deluxe sizes are included in these counts, since finishing a deluxe size blush (for example) is almost as hard! Granted there are a decent number of these that are deluxe sized, because I like buying minis sets. I didn't count foils though because I don't have many for makeup (skincare is another story!) and obviously they are easy to get through.

Lipsticks: 20

Liquid lipsticks: 6

Lip glosses: 16

Lip crayons: 11

Tinted lip balms: 66

Colorless lip balms: 10

Lip liners: 2

Total lip products:  78

Pressed eyeshadows (counting each shade in a palette separately): 115

Cream shadows: 6

Total eyeshadows: 121

Eyeliner: 21

Mascara/lash primers: 11

Eye primer: 4 

Brow products: 5

Total non-eyeshadow eye products: 41

Face primers: 3

BB creams: 8

Liquid foundations: 2

Powder foundation: 1

Concealers: 4

Setting powder: 3

Total face base products: 21

Blushes (once again counting each shade in a palette separately): 13

Bronzers: 3

Highlighters: 5

Total color face products: 21

ETA Total number of makeup items: 282

Total color nail polish: 40 (...and more on the way, sigh). 

Well, if that isn't a wakeup call, I don't know what is. I'm not planning on tossing things though, for the most part. I did a makeup purge mid-2014 that got rid of older stuff or stuff I really didn't want. This is stuff in theory I said I want to keep but clearly I am not using it all. So I'll be project panning in 2015 and hopefully not adding much!

 
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