It is so incredibly hot today, so I have no idea why I decided to focus on dealing with my serious make up hoarding problem. You see, before I even started getting obsessed with nail polish, I was even more obsessed with make-up. My make-up collection grew so much and so quickly, that it got to the point that I became disgusted with the amount I was collecting and also the amount of money I had wasted on everything. I say “wasted” because there is no way I can get through all the make-up I bought before it goes bad. Who needs 15 NARS blushes? I only have one face, right? A couple of weeks ago I wanted to use one of my favorite lipsticks: Bobbi Brown Cocoa Berry. Well, it had gone rancid. Almost $30 for a lipstick and it went rancid. I then checked Bobbi Brown Heather Mauve and it was rancid as well. And that is how the great make-up destashing of 2014 began. I’ll share a little more about that below but first let me show you what I did for Stamping Saturdays today.
Illamasqua Poke is such a gorgeous polish. Please excuse the bad pictures and the bad polish job. The truth is that I had to use my non-swatching hand today because I broke a nail on my swatching hand. I didn’t mean for my skin to look so greasy, but I had to use some serious moisture because my cuticles were a total mess. Are you as sad as I am that Sephora no longer carries Illamasqua??? I think that Nordstrom carries the brand now, but I have kind of fallen out of love with them because of the price hikes. I have a lot of Illamasqua polishes in my collection, so I will probably only buy new ones if the colors are really unique.
I then used Pure Ice Silver Mercedes to stamp this chain link design from one of my MoYou London plates. I wasn’t feeling too inspired mostly because it was such a pain to do this on my non-swatching hand…I wish I was ambidextrous!
Now, let me show you all the stuff that I junked today…
I want to cry just thinking how much money I just threw in the garbage. Some of those items were used maybe once or twice. The worst offenders are the NARS lipglosses because those definitely went bad quickly. I think that it’s just the nature of the product, but at 20-some dollars a pop, I will not be buying lipglosses in this quantity. I have a lot more make-up that I should probably get rid of but I just can’t bring myself to do it just yet. This is probably 1/4th of all the make up I have so there is plenty more to sift through–I am definitely not looking forward to it.
So, what do you think about collecting make-up? Are you also a make-up collector or do you focus on nail polish? I think that the fact that polish doesn’t truly every go bad (thinner to the rescue!) makes me feel a little bit better about my collection. Anyway, I hope you’re staying cool today if the temperatures are infernal where you live. Unfortunately, we are entering wildfire season here in OC so I’m always sad when that starts up because so many people end up losing their homes and all the brave men and women firefighters are put in such danger. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.
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Really loved this post – I can so relate! My main issue is that I have a serious lipgloss problem – I have HUNDREDS of lipglosses. I can’t stop buying them! Even worse, they all seem to be like one shade off in color from the next – basically, I stockpile coral lipglosses,but I never wear any of them. ..I always go back to my old standby…. I swear everytime I buy a new gloss, I expect it to be life changing. :/
It’s like I could have written what you just said: “Every time I buy a new gloss, I expect it to be life changing.” I don’t know why I keep buying the same stuff every time and then I don’t use it. I think I am done buying make-up except for items that I actually use up like foundation or concealer. I have enough lipstick, blush, eyeshadow and eyeliners to last me for the rest of my life. I’ll probably end up having to throw most of it away in the end. 🙁
I also need to clear out my make-up stash. I just read that foundation is only good for 6 months once opened. That means I have several expensive bottles headed to the trash. I noticed you were trashing several eye shadows and wanted to suggest you turn them in to nail polish. Just mix the powdered shadow with your favorite clear/top coat and tada! You have a matte polish. I’ve always made mine on manicure at a time, mixing on a paper plate but if you love the color you can store any extra in the polish bottle. Anyway, it’s a fun way to play with some of the expensive make-up items that are headed to the trash. I enjoy reading your blog very much. Keep up the great work.
Hi Dorothy! I thought about making nail polish with the eye shadows, but I just needed to make a clean break with this mess. I also had a few higher end foundations that I barely touched and threw out today because they were old. It’s upsetting, but I’m glad that I learned a lesson and won’t continue purchasing more products than I can use. Thank you for reading and commenting!
I don’t wear a ton of makeup, but my whole life I’ve always bought a lot of AVON. Mostly because they have good variety and low prices. But I just recently became an AVON lady! So I’m sure I’ll be buying a ton of new stuff.
This is a good post. I need a reminder to throw stuff out, it doesn’t last as long as we’d like it too!
craftynail recently posted..Sapphire nails for #naillinkup
The pathetic part is that the only make up I wear is eyebrow products, concealer and lipstick/lipbalm. Why do I have to buy so many blushes and eyeshadows that I never use? It’s a sickness. I should say “used to buy” because I refuse to buy anymore make up besides items that I actually use up and need to replace.
The whole spoilage factor is why I don’t like to buy makeup unless I know I’ll use up most of a product. I drool over beauty blog swatches of the latest eyeshadow/blush/whatever as much as the next girl, but at this point, there are only select products that I purchase for my beauty arsenal. I prefer to spend my limited funds on more polish 🙂
Love the purple and silver combo in the stamping!
Jessica recently posted..A Simple & Classic French Manicure
I really need to get that silver, it stamps so well. I know what you mean about the makeup. I used to hoard so much but I got rid of them and now my collection is more manageable.
Lisa N. recently posted..Warm Brown Geometric Stamping
I don’t hoard make up. I wear make up whenever I have to leave the house and use MAC foundation and powder. My other products are cheaper. I just did a turf myself and it wasn’t too much to throw away, some of the stuff I had must have been 10 years old! ( I didn’t use it at all, was just laying in a drawer. ) I just bought two coloured mascaras and a quad from essence and only replace my mascara regularly and the rest as I need it. I would rather spend my “extra” money (if that even exists) on polish!
acidicice recently posted..Double Stamping
It seems that my make-up obsession is rearing it’s head more and more these days. For a couple of years I bought only nail polish, but recently I’ve somehow gone ballistic over make-up. In my defence I do wear make-up almost every day, including eye shadow and all. 🙂 I don’t know what happened, maybe it’s my age crisis…and also I found a lot of old, cheap make-up that I ended up throwing away and wanted to build a good-quality collection that I’d actually use. I’ve managed to do that but unfortunately I also ended up falling in love with products I won’t necessarily need….but with my 16 eye shadow palettes and 5 blushes I think I’m still on the “almost normal” side of hoarding. I usually don’t buy lip products or foundations because they go bad so quickly. Powdery products seem to be my weakness 🙂
Emma/Wastinglifestyle recently posted..Autumn Swirls
….ahem…..my name is Jessica and I have a lip balm-stain problem. I probably have bought at least 12 in the past two months, and I cannot stop. They’re just so pretty and I like them!!
haha, anyway, I love your nails, that base color is TO DIE FOR!!
Jessica recently posted..Smokey Mountain Lacquers Scarecrow Blood + Cauldron Stew swatches + review
Man, I can relate. I used to buy anything and everything I wanted…now I see STACKS of unused or barely used palettes in my bathroom and am like, UGH. I basically only buy the staples I run out of now. That feeling of waste while throwing stuff away sucks, but if it’s gone bad/not being used…whaddya gonna do?
I am INDEED sad that Illamasqua is no longer at Sephora! I was going to place an order directly from them and had to change my mind due to house stuff, but, regardless, it’s $25 shipping and there were issues with my credit card every time I tried to check out *side eye*. I really hope they stock somewhere in the U.S. again soon.
Ironically, Poke is one of the colors I was going to order for Amanda, haha…I think she’s taking care of it now. It’s so purty!
The weather last week was not acceptable, lol.
Oh no… just looking at all that beautiful makeup you had to pitch makes me want to cry!!! and there’s Bare Escentuals in there too!!! I also collected makeup before nail polish, but only BE. I have pretty much every single color ever released… and how often can I possibly use those colors, right?? you know the answer to that.. and I just can’t bring myself to selling them!! I guess I should check my lipglosses.. they’re probably all bad as well =((
Gosia recently posted..Chirality “Blur the Technicolor”
WOW to the prettiness
Siobhan recently posted..The Lacquer Ring – Animal Print with a Twist