It’s time to declutter my makeup (again). It’s a process that happens about once a Over the past year, I’ve cut down on my beauty spending and accumulating intensely. It’s something that I’m very proud of. It’s looking like we’re moving again! Moving makeup is a hassle, and I don’t want to go through that hassle with something that I don’t love. I definitely have been watching the crap out of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, and have been working on cutting down on our stuff. That said, I don’t really like her rules, so I’m working through my own set.

Pull out immediate everyday favorites. 

This is about as close as I can get to KonMari, which is to keep the items that “bring you joy”. For me, this is picking the items that I’ve used this week, and putting them in the keep pile immediately. 

Smell test.

The next thing I do is to examine and, yes, smell the products to see if they’ve gone bad. I don’t follow the beauty expiration dates (who does!?) but I do throw things out that are visibly gone bad. If they smell or look funny, immediately into the trash pile. 

Separate into Keep, Get Rid Of, and Maybe

When I’m decluttering, I don’t really think about what to give to my friends yet. It’s mostly am I keeping this or not. I’ll decide out of the “no” pile what to give to my friends later. The “maybe pile” ends up being things I ask for a second opinion on, or test out again over a week to decide if I want them to be part of me still. 

Put unopened products in storage, or give them away. 

Things that I haven’t tried yet, which does happen as a blogger, get put into storage for a while if I’m not going to use them right away. I have an area of my cupboard that is for unopened things that I will use at some point, often duplicates of products I already use, or things that are similar to things I’m using now. Unopened things I know I won’t use, I can pass on to a friend. Before shopping for something new, I have to check that spot first.

Test for duplicates.

This is the hardest part for me. I tend to accumulate very comparable products because I gravitate towards what I like. But don’t we all, right? I have been getting better at choosing this or that when I can compare two dupe colors with each other. I really don’t need thirty red lipsticks, so that’s been my biggest area of fixing!

I hope some of these tips help you on your decluttering journey. My goal is to cut my collection in half by the end of the month!

What’s your best tip for decluttering?

Want more? I have a video on decluttering here, from just this week, about some things I’m getting rid of today!