So I might have a minor shopping issue when it comes to beauty products. If I find something I like, I buy 5, it’s getting ridiculous. I was thinking of selling some of it online, since it’s new and unopened, but I don’t know where? I hate to waste it, and I really don’t need 5 of the same mascara or eye cream.
I spent yesterday calculating how long liquid products actually last before going bad. Seeing three open mascaras and four half-used liquid concealers made me realize I physically can't use more than I have right now.
When was the last time you did a ruthless shelf-life purge?
Welcome to the 4th update for **10 by Fall!** 🍁🍂📅. We have 5 weeks to go, so let's set some goals, put in the work, and then celebrate successes with the people who really truly get it- your fellow panners! Because what's better than seeing that tiny sliver of silver pan? Or finally finishing that lotion the seemed immortal? Sharing that joy and cheering each other on 🥰. If you're reading these, pop into the comments and share some love!
This round will run from 21st June to 20th September, with updates fortnightly. The lovely u/LeCocoMar and I alternate hosting each round, and will be here to cheer you on. **I've update the tag list, but if something is not quite right, let me know!**
If you are new to the "10 By" series, start here! 🔽
The project works like this: Choose any 10 items and pick a goal that you want to work towards by the end of the season. Anything beauty-related is fair game; makeup, haircare, skincare, fragrances, nail polish etc. Select your goals for each product: finishing an item (a.k.a panning), hitting pan, reaching a usage goal, or even just testing an item out. 10 items is just a suggestion, so feel free to add any number of items you like. Make it work for you!
MUR Weekly Empties Thread!
What did you use up this week? What are you trying to use up? What seems to never, ever, ever, empty, despite your best efforts?
Share your empties here!
I've noticed that "Do I actually need this?" isn't always enough to stop me from wanting something.
Sometimes the temptation comes from seeing it repeatedly on social media, convincing myself it's different from something I already own, wanting a particular color even though I have something similar, imagining how much I'll use it rather than looking at how much I actually use similar products, or feeling like I'll miss out if I don't buy it now.
For people who've gotten better at resisting those purchases:
What question, rule, habit, or reality check actually works for you?
And what doesn't work, even though it sounds good in theory?
Pretty much the title. I don't have much space right now as is, but my collection is ~45 items (not including skincare), and I really want this to be a fresh start. I have a few items among those 45 that just don't work for me or don't spark joy, but I'm determined to work through them as simply tossing them seems wasteful. The packaging is very nice for some of them so somewhere in my brain I want to reuse it; it's just a matter of figuring out what for. But also, if I don't already have a purpose in mind, I'm just lugging around more stuff still… 🫠🫠🫠
In any case, I suppose my question is what you might do in my situation. I worry that I'm too deep in the trenches of using what I have in the name of sustainability to enjoy my collection, so if you have a different point of view I would love to hear it!
Like the title says. I have a bunch of lipsticks I can't seem to part with that I've been holding onto out of some combination of guilt and hoarding instinct. Some have been with me for over a decade!? None of them seem "off" though, to be clear.
I don't even like to wear them (obviously), but I've really struggled to finally let go. PLEASE help talk some sense into me about this. I feel like it's time to accept that these no longer have a place in my life.
Thank you!
Title, basically.
It's a dry pencil which I prefer, but it also means I get 10 full lip applications per sharpen. Granted, my lips are pretty thin, but that amount is still ridiculous.
It's now my dedicated lip color for online meetings as the crappy laptop camera makes me look dead, so I use it 3-5 times per week. Counting in my vacation time, I'm not finishing it this year. Unless the color part ends much sooner than I'm guessing, or it starts breaking, and I don't think either of those is going to happen.
Having that many uses left in such a tiny pencil is just stumping me. Hopefully this post serves as a lip liner TMO for someone.
this year I have been diligent about taking my empties to the special recycling bins for beauty products that they have in some stores. the thing is, they require the packaging to be completely empty and clean.
I just finished cleaning my empties for the third time this year and omg it is so. much. work. my skincare products were easy because they were all in tubes or jars, so easily wiped clean. but makeup products? even lip glosses that were completely empty (as in, I pulled out the stopper and scraped the sides) still somehow had enough product stuck to the tube to be a complete pain in the ass to clean. and the mascara tubes were even worse. it was like in Spirited Away when No Face vomits, just endless black sludge.
being forced to confront my waste like this really puts consumption into perspective. environmentalism is one of my main reasons for limiting my consumption, and it is really mind-boggling to realize all this waste was produced by one person.
I have around 10 colours of gel nail polish, I don’t have any normal polish, for years the colour I almost exclusivly wear is red and sometimes maybe french nails. For the past 3 months around once a week I paint my nails (i should get a new base coat and also if i clean something my polish always peels off on my index finger on right hand). I have been wearing the same colour (sparkly blue) that I bought for my prom and until a few months ago that was the only time I wore it. I paint both my hands and my feet. I layer it almost 4 coats to be opaque. It is still going, I like the colour but how much polish is in 6 ml???
Anyways good luck to anyone else trying to use up their polish.
I recently made a complete inventory of my makeup, perfumes, body mists and body care products, and ever since then I’ve been feeling pretty overwhelmed by how much I actually own.
Before making the list, I obviously knew I had a lot, but seeing everything written down in one place made it feel very different. Now I keep thinking about how long it would realistically take me to use everything up, especially things like makeup, perfumes and body mists that can take forever to finish.
I don’t really want to sell or give away my products. Most of them have already been used, I like the majority of them, and I genuinely want to get use out of what I already own.
One thing that has been helping me a lot is tracking usage. I joined some usage challenges and started counting how many times I use each product. I’ve enjoyed this much more than I expected, and now I’m tracking usage for pretty much my entire collection. It makes me feel like I’m actually making progress even when I’m nowhere near finishing something.
But I still have this feeling of: when am I actually going to see a significant difference in the size of my collection? Tracking my usage shows me that I am using my products, but I have no idea when that progress will actually become visible.
Another problem is that I really enjoy variety. I get bored if I wear the same perfume/body mist or use the same makeup products every day for a week, so choosing one product from each category and using it exclusively until it’s finished would make me miserable. I want to enjoy my collection, not turn using it into a chore.
I should also mention that I’m not on a strict no-buy. I’ve definitely become much more conscious of what I own, but I still occasionally buy new products. I know that obviously means my collection will decrease more slowly, but I don’t want my goal to be “I’m not allowed to buy anything until I use all of this up.” I’d rather find a healthier balance where I can still enjoy beauty products while making good use of what I already have.
For those of you who also have larger collections and aren’t interested in decluttering everything: how do you deal with that overwhelmed feeling?
Do you track usage, rotate products, set monthly goals, do project pans, or have some other system that helps you feel like you’re making progress without forcing yourself to use the same products over and over?
And if you’ve been in a similar situation, how long did it take before you actually started noticing a difference in the size of your collection?
I’d especially love to hear from people with larger perfume/body mist or makeup collections, because those categories seem to take forever to show any visible progress. 😅
You know, 13 blushes, 3 z palettes filled with eyeshadow singles along with 4 other pre made palettes, 5 foundations. Not a massive collection but thats excessive. This was 2017. I realized after Covid that even if I did leave the house most days of the week I still wasn't using up products quickly enough. It caused me stress because a year would pass and I realized I only used a product a handful of times. A word of advice. Using up makeup will always feel better than buying more. I use terracycle to recycle my beauty empties and being able to get my money's worth out of something and have it recycled feels great. I feel like everyone has that realization eventually. I always knew influencers wanted to sell, but it really did feel predatory for a bit. I am happy with my stash now and everything gets loved. It all fits in a nice little container on my vanity.
I have a Tower 28 BeachPlease Lip + Cheek Cream that is well past its expiration date. It smells totally fine, but I know clean beauty formulas go bad fast. I just can't bring myself to throw it away because of the shade.
What product in your stash are you keeping around way past its prime?
I had on average one of everything other than eyeshadow and eyeliners. I was being rly meticulous plus I wasn't working till last month. I've now got like
6 blushes from 2
3 bronzers from none
4 lip liners from 2
3 colour correctors from 1
3 mascaras from 1.
6 eyeshadow palettes from 4
14 eyeliner pencils to 16
Part of me is ok with it because for the first time in a while it mostly I think suits me. I'm an olive skin and everytime I bought makeup it has always pulled sickly warm. I thought it was just me till I heard about cool toned shades. So now I'm much more selective of the colours as opposed to what my sisters or influencers recommend.
As much as I do like the stuff I got and most of it wasn't overly pricey, I do feel how am I going to even get through all this makeup. I've started enjoying blush but they do last ages and I'm not sure I've even panned a blush before so 6 ?
I know what I really want to do is lose weigh. However that takes actual effort and I am struggling. That's my actual insecurity and instead I think I'm filling a hole with things I think I can do a quick fix with like spending money rather than putting in the work.
I am currently at a comfortable size when it comes to my makeup kit (after years), but I can't say the same for my brushes. I have amassed a lot and is having trouble choosing which ones are going to stay. I have not really faced the numbers, but estimating, I think I have somewhere between 150-200 brushes (eyes and face, natural hair and synthetic hair). Thank you.
Hi everyone, it's time for another update of LAW!
Recent week I have been concentrating on using up my sample sachets as part of an overall inventory reduction sprint. Glad to reduce my inventory numbers by almost 10. Really happy to reduce the sample clutter as well, they seem to reproduce by themselves 😂.
Another win was hitting pan on my Nars pressed powder! I do go through powders a fair bit but didn’t quite expect it will happen this month, happy to see progress!
It’s time again for reflection and rolling in a new lip product this week. Some guiding questions for the posts:
- Product brand and name
- Why is this product selected?
- Do you wear the lip product by itself only or layered/mixed with other products?
- Do you still like the formula/colour/effect the lip product gives?
- Any new discoveries or decisions made after testing the product for a week?
Last update’s pick was my Flower Knows Moonlight Mermaid lip tint in 03 Starlight Bubble and Lisa Eldridge Gloss Embrace in Pompadour. I managed to roll in a week’s use for each product which was pretty nice. I actually quite enjoy my LE Gloss Embrace quite a fair bit, loving the lip caring nature of this during the day and intend to continue using it this update too~ The other lip choice will be a matte, Girlcult Matte Lip Mud in Red Water in a mini size. Really want to pan this and also enjoy the fuss free nature of a matte lip as well. These two will be strictly my work duo as I prefer more casual looks for weekends (tinted lip balm/oils) instead.
Looking forward to seeing your updates and new entries!
I've been taking a break from lashes after my previous lash extensions, so they've been gradually falling off.
I just had an id appointment so I took my picture without lashes...and I look chopped. Like I should learn to be okay and love the way I look naturally, but dang I look so different especially with my asian eyes😭
I miss my lashes so much, I think I'd rather go put them back on after that appointment. How do I keep going with this break? It's deadass getting hard. There are days where I just embrace how I naturally look and days I feel just not so great.
I love skincare and makeup. Who doesn't lol
I had a goal the past year to finish all the moisturizers I had( which was a small collection compared to others lol) and my 2 Milky Toners( HaruHaru-my HG and the Byoma one).
I need a good barrier cream while I am on tret, but I told myself to use what I had! lol
I can't recall the last time in my life I was truly out of a facial moisturizer! I even used up my deluxe moisturizer samples too.
Anytime I wanted to buy myself a new milky toner or new moisturizer I thought back at the small amount I spent on the skincare products and how it would just go to waste.
Now lol I can look for both a new milky toner to try and new barrier cream.
I just wish most skincare came in mini/travel sizes and if they do they would be reasonably priced( cause travel sized items are always priced higher than they should be of course)
Midway through high school, I got lash extensions and started doing clusters afterwards. Lashes gave me a "glow up" and have really boosted my confidence, but its getting to the point where I dread leaving the house if I'm not wearing my lashes, and when I do, they are constantly falling out (especially whenever I remove my clusters even with a lash remover)
I recently got lash extensions like a month ago, and most of them have fallen off by now, so my eyes look a little naked. I didn't care much to book another appointment for refill since I was taking a summer class, but it gave me a chance to gradually lose the lashes literally. But I just met one of my friends today who usually see me with lash clusters (the clusters look natural and fit my eye shape so it's not toooo extra), and I felt so unconfident. (I would've rather avoided her but she ran up to me.😅)
I thought I was slowly getting used to myself without lashes, but I still feel terribly ugly without them and I literally look more asian (I'm vietnamese lol). And my face looks rounder (lashes help to even out my facial proportions too).
I'm about to start college in the fall, and I don't know if I have the confidence to go without lashes. Or go naked to an upcoming kpop concert (I might just use strip lashes). I really want to try to grow my lashes, and I have been using a lash serum, but it's really hard to just avoid putting on lash clusters since my asian lashes are so thin.
How long will it take before I get used to this? It really is painful and is making me realize how much I've relied on lashes like they're my everything.
Hey everyone. I was hoping for some solid advice/thoughts on panning/decluttering my massive eye shadow palette collection.
As of right now, I am hoping to move across the country within the year and I cannot haul all 160+ palettes with me. I worked in the beauty industry for years and spent nearly all my Ulta Rewards accumulating this collection and I do not just want to throw it all away. How would you recommend trying to cut this collection down without just doing a massive declutter?
I will be trying to organize them better in the coming weeks and searching similar palettes to look for redundant shades and then putting them on the chopping block but I don’t think this will reduce the collection fast enough.