This is the time for a spring clean of your whole house: old magazines, books you won’t read, expired food.  How about we take this and make it the time to clean out our beauty stashes and wardrobes too? Honestly, nothing clears my head like taking a huge bag of things I don’t use and donating it. By clearing my surroundings, I immediately clear my mind of stressors. I’ve decluttered all around like crazy the past year. It was my yearly theme last year to declutter as much as I could and I did. I’ve downsized my wardrobe probably 30% or more, and got rid of insane amounts of makeup.

Re-evaluting my surroundings and really thinking about things before I buy them helped me save a crazy amount of money. Ever since I slowed my shopping, I feel much better about what I own.

I’ve butchered my makeup collection for a long time but it was time for a real wardrobe clear-out that I was genuinely asking myself if I would actually wear items. A few blogs published posts about ThredUp which sends out bags that you fill with new or like-new items to get paid! After collecting a huge bag of stuff that I hadn’t worn, I ordered a bag and packed it up. Since dropping it off I’m already thinking about filling another one up.

Now I know that I won’t wear things that are uncomfortable. Some people will deal with an itchy sweater but I seriously can’t so that cut out a huge portion of unworn items. Next, I considered what I reached for in different situations: when I’m in a rush, when I have tons of time, going out with friends, meetings. I found patterns and I now have a much more cohesive and comfortable wardrobe that I’m more excited about.  If you use my link to sign up, you get $10 to spend and ThredUp rewards me when you make your first purchase (win-win!).

For those clothes that are stained, pilled, or in not good-enough condition for ThredUp, head to H&M where they take these clothes and either donate them or recycle them. You also get a coupon for a % off your purchase every time you do this; it’s another win-win!

As for makeup, it can be hard to let go of things when they’re not empty. And no one listens to those expiry dates as closely as they should. If you’re looking for reasons why your skin isn’t as clear as it was a few months ago, check the dates on your base products. Primers, foundations, and concealers are the closest products to your skin and will most likely have an impact on it. Once you’ve tossed expired base products, look at eye products. If mascaras have been open for 6 months, they might need to tossed in the trash. My eyes feel 100x better when I have a mascara that’s not past its best coated on. As for old blushes (etc), I let it slide until the formula seems different.

Now that you’ve tossed expired makeup, take out all your duplicates (all the red lip products, all the gold eyeshadows). Compare them to see if there’s a formula or shade you prefer or dislike.  I find that switching everything in natural light makes it super easy to pick out the shades that I like.

Next, think about the makeup you actually wear. I say start with nail polish. It feels easier to say “I have not used that nail polish in 4 years it needs to go” than to say “I haven’t touched that $50 eyeshadow palette in a year, time for the bin”. I keep a bag of products to hand off to my sister because sometimes I try something and I know it will work better for her. It’s such a waste to toss out unexpired makeup, hand it off to a friend to give it some love.

I decluttered several nail polishes at a time for months and my collection never seemed to shrink. This time around, I only tossed a few and suddenly it was almost small. I’m much happier having fewer shades but there’s comfort in knowing that Essie has a million colors to rebuild my collection. Somehow I ended up with way too many neons when I usually go for a nice gray shade…

For a good Spring clean, maybe order a ThredUp bag or clear out your makeup collection. Not living surrounded by a million options when you really only want a few of them feels great. My mind is clearer, as is my space, and I feel so much lighter now.

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