If you’re a makeup or beauty enthusiast, you likely end up with some products that do not appeal to you in the way you hoped (unless you’re some kind of beauty wizard who somehow only manages to buy products that work for you). This doesn’t necessarily mean those products are bad, but maybe they weren’t the best for your skin type or maybe the color wasn’t flattering on you. These are the products we should destash, but often aren’t.

It is hard to get rid of these items – maybe you’re holding out hope that something will work after all. Maybe you just can’t (and I can relate) bring yourself to get rid of it because you spent your hard-earned money on it and don’t want to admit to yourself that it was a waste. In reality though, if you aren’t using or enjoying it, it is already a waste.

At this point in my life, I am not interested in a gigantic collection. I find the idea overwhelming, actually, and I’d hate to invest that much money in products that wouldn’t be able to be used and loved often simply because I had so many. That preference, along with the fact that I lack abundant space to store such things, means I need to constantly reassess my collection and make sure I am satisfied with the level of use my products are receiving; if I am dissatisfied, I destash.

Admittedly, I had not conducted a destash in a while – not since mid-August. A busy season of my life was ending and I looked forward to relaxing and not having a miles-long to-do list. Recently, a community I am part of challenged us members to share the contents of their collections in a photo series. Going through and staging products to take these pictures was a great opportunity to reassess. In doing so, I found:

MAC Cosmo – to be destashed

• A MAC lipstick from my Glambot haul, Cosmo, had gone bad. I haven’t worn it since my July wedding, so sometime between then and now it went from MAC’s signature vanilla to smelling vaguely of cheap crayons. (I won’t blame Glambot for this – it isn’t like they have an effective way to test the age of the lipstick. EDIT: I’m a derp, which Alex points out in the comments. I’ve reached out to Glambot to see if they check batches because, well, they should). No questions asked – detash.
• My only Milani lip product feels great going on and smells like Kool-Aid – but the shade, Fruit Punch, is just not flattering – not when I have color from self-tanning, not when I’m pale. It went into my, “destash,” pile.
  
• I have two tubes of Rimmel Apocalips/Show-Offs: one in Solstice, one in Comet. The colors are very similar, definitely in the MLBB range (for me) but Solstice is cooler and has shimmer whereas Comet does not. I can’t remember even wearing Solstice (in fact, I purchased it on accident – a Solstice tube was in a Comet slot), and couldn’t think of a time soon where I would want to because I don’t care for shimmery lip products. Destash it is.
  
• This e.l.f. Studio Blush in Pink Passion is going in the destash pile because it is just too dang pink and looks silly (I think) on my face).

As for what becomes of the items I relegate to destash, it depends on why they’re being destashed and what they are. The MAC lipstick is being kept separate from my collection for Back2MAC. The Milani and Rimmel lip products, along with the blush will go to my younger sister who enjoys makeup. If it has gone bad, it goes in the trash unless a Back2MAC thing applies. If it is a prestige item that is still good and can be sanitized, I may try to trade it somewhere like /r/MakeupExchange or sell it to Glambot. These are some examples of what you can do to destash.

Identifying unused items is easy for me because my makeup collection isn’t very large. If yours is, or you just don’t know where to start, you can adapt the reverse-hanger trick that you might use in a closet to identify unworn clothes. Stage your makeup upside down or put it in a separate organizer, only returning it to its, “proper,” home after you have used it at least once. After a predetermined period of time (at least a month, but no more than three), anything left upside-down or in that separate organizer is what you should destash. (Give foundation/concealer some grace at your discretion if it is just a shade-match matter).

To avoid amassing a collection that is effectively beyond your use, try to keep things organized. Instead of stuffing everything into a battered makeup bag, you can get some (very inexpensive) organizers from Target, Wal-Mart, or wherever you please. The Container Store and IKEA are also good resources for this. Keeping things accessible helps you use your collection more effectively and helps keep you aware of what you have so you don’t wind up purchasing unwanted dupes and such (which helps you avoid needing to destash as often).

You should not feel the need to keep items you aren’t using–they will just wind up expiring. Even if it isn’t from disliking that product, if you aren’t using it it is just taking up space; it is one more thing to keep track of, organize, and so forth. It isn’t worth the time, and someone else might really enjoy that product (whether regifted or resold). Don’t become a hoarder!