Recap of 2023: Used and decluttered makeup

Here we are again. Getting ready to see off 2023 and count up the make up that will leave my drawer. I have two drawers for all of my makeup, one for eyeshadow palettes and the other one for everything else. They are nicely organized and I can see everything I have.

Let’s start with the make up I used up and the ones that have unfortunately expired in the process.  One setting spray from Charlotte Tilbury. I make a point of having only one setting spray at the time, but sometimes some samples find the way into my collection. This was not my favorite as it felt like a hairspray of my face. Two eyeshadows: the stick type from Trive causmetics which is very nice brightening shade. I liked it, however I don’t miss it. The other one was from Colorpop in the shade Koosh. I actually got two last year as one shattered in the mail, so they sent me a replacement. I liked it OK, but realized it was not my favorite color (as I have learned from my color theory analysis), so I am decluttering the other one.

My most successful products to use up this year were lip products. I had a good dent in a bunch of those and I have also learned something about myself. When I am stressed (like when I am studying and have a deadline) I will reapply my lip products a lot. I have used up so many lip glosses this way and also stick balm type of products. I was so surprised. I guess it was a kind of tick or a stress reliever. Anyways, I got to use up some of my oldest products this way, but also very new products that I bought this year which are now empties. I really liked the Merit lip oil which felt nice and slippery (in the best kind of way) on my lips. I would get it again in a different shade but I have already bought some new lip products so I will hold off for a bit. Kosas wet lip oils finally left my collection. I did like them, but they were on the older side, so I am happy they didn’t go to waste….well, I haven’t quite finished the red one, but that’s OK. I don’t wear red very often and I am still on the lookout for my ideal red. Maybe I should just stick to the coral shades for a pop of color on my lips. Tower 28, Lawless forget the filler gloss and Em cosmetics (old type) of gloss were nice. The ones I absolutely despised using were Too faced pillow lip balm treatment and Patrick Ta gloss in Pouty. Both were thick and goopy and gross. Too faced at least smelled like a banana, but Patrick Ta was absolutely gross tasting. I am not trying to eat my glosses, but this inevitably ended up in my mouth somehow leaving the grossest taste. Yuck. It was expensive, so I felt the need to use it up, but never again Patrick! Never again!

I used up all of my Tarte Maracuja juicy lip balms (petal, coconut, wild berry and orchid). I would get the coconut shade again. Maybe I would try it in the different type of balm as they have it in plumping and all kinds of formulas. They were a bit more thick than for example EM cosmetics lip cushion  (I had it in Magic hour). I would get this one in a heartbeat. Very nice and comfortable product. Oh, there was another lip product from Essence in this photo. Lip oil in the only shade that it comes in, cranberry lip oil. I liked it. Makes me think of my master thesis now 🙂

Last year I finished one mascara. This year five. It was only because I have rolled over the opened mascaras from last year to this one, that’s why the number is bigger. Out of all these, my favorite is Tower 28 make waves mascara. This one was purchased and used up this year. I had it in black and it is one of the best mascaras I have ever tried. I have already repurchased the one in brown color. I also liked Rare beauty mascara. Ilia’s mascaras are not a hit for me. Limitless lash was OK, but the Fullest volumizing mascara was very smudgy. The worst one of all was It cosmetics Superhero mascara. I got it on sale for 7$, so I thought I would give it another try as it smudged on me in the past. Well, it still smudges so badly on me. It just doesn’t work for me at all and I am done with it. I used it like 5 times and had to retire it as I looked like a raccoon and a panda had a baby.

In the evenings, my go to lip treatment were from Kopari (don’t like them as they make my lips even more chapped) and Jack Black lip balm which I really love. The Kosas lip balm was ok, but I didn’t like this color on me. It is called rush. I would just get the clear one if I were buying it again.

Finished two concealers. Elf Flawless brightening concealer was really nice. Lighter coverage and a good shade match for me in light 26N. NYX Bare with me serum concealer was good, but I got a bit tanned during the year (I live in a warm climate), so this shade Light was too light on me. I would consider getting a shade darker next time, but I already bought some concealers that were on my radar to try out. That’s the nice thing of having a smaller collection. Using things up and not having a collection that is expired. 🙂

I used up a Milani color statement lip liner in 03 nude. I liked it a lot, but I have also found some new favorites this year, so I won’t repurchase this one soon. Nice to have a good option though. I would go for a bit warmer color next time.

Unfortunately, some of the things got dried up and expired along the way. This Tarte bronzer that I got once by mistake from Sephora became a bit thick and hard to work with. It says 12 months shelf life and I had it for over two and a half years. Honest beauty blushes are staying in 2023 as well. I did like them, especially the pinky nude one, but I have new cream blushes that I love more. I have gotten a good use out of these and they are about 3 years old now, so I don’t feel bad letting them go. Elf bitesized eyeshadow got super powdery and weird, plus this Rosewood color story is not the most flattering on me so that is out of my collection as well.  Kosas 10 seconds cream eyeshadow was super nice, but is very old. On top of that, last time I used it, the wand broke off, so I wouldn’t be able to use it even if I wanted to risk 3+ year old cream shadow on my eyes. EM cosmetics single shadow was a bit disappointing. It was very crumbly from the first day. I would get it all over the counter when I used it. It looked nothing like the picture and swatches formula wise. Plus, this moonrise color is all wrong on me. I bought it in May. After my color analysis, I am buying more warm colors to wear. Anyways, I will not risk with a new one. I have a couple of other formulas that I like and use, so I can live without this one.

Pur cosmetics 4 in 1 foundation used to be a good powder foundation for me, but I guess my skin is a bit more dry these days, and I don’t like how it sits on my face. I used a good chunk of it (this is a mini version of it), so it can stay in 2023. (I have bought recently Laura Geller powder foundation, so I am having high hopes for that one). And another EM cosmetics product that is old and completely wrong shade for me is this Little lilac serum blush. I liked the formula, but the dropper applicator sucked. I know they have a different packaging these days, so I might repurchase it in the future. Blushes are my weakness after all.

There are some lipsticks that I have been holding on to as I liked the brands more than these shades. Learning they are objectively not looking great on me, I have decided to let them go. Three mini Kosas lipsticks were always too dark and vampy on me, Marc Jacobs was too bright and Covergirl in Honeyed bloom is too cool toned pink on me. The only one I was sad about was Lisa Eldridge’s lipstick in Velvet Fawn. It is from 2019 and the last time I used it, it broke off from the bullet and fell on the floor. However, I have taken a long hard look at the colors and realized that she has other shades that suit me better, so I may have bought 3 new ones this fall.

Anyways, I used up a total of 31 products. The total amount of the used up products (not including the decluttered ones) equals to 465.18 dollars in retail value. I rarely buy make up at a full price, so I paid way less than that. However, it is nice I got to use up a lot of products and got my money’s worth.

There was one more product that got transformed in my make up collection. It is a palette from Colorpop Going coconuts. I have kept the 6 mate shades and decluttered 3 sparkly shades, as they got crumbly and one of them kept exploding in the palette at the smallest transport of the palette. I love those 6 mates and now they are in a Z palette.

So on top of these used up and decluttered products, there were the products I have decluttered due to being wrong shades for me. I have written about them in the previous post. I will add the photo again for the visual purpose.

Total of products that are leaving my collection in 2023 is 77. Some of them I have found a new home for, some of them needed to be trashed and a large amount of them got used up, so I am happy. Here are some of the re-homed ones (except for the EM cosmetics single shadow that will be tossed).

On the flip side 50 new items entered my collection this year (total was 69, but I am keeping 50). Some of those items I have already re-homed or used up as I have mentioned. So, the amount of money I have spent on those 50 keepers is about 940 dollars over the course of a year. Ups! I guess I have spent even more since I have given some products away. At least my friends and family will make a good use out of those products so it is not a waste. 🙂

Some years I use up more than I spend, but I guess this was not this year. I think I was doing OK till the Black Friday sale came around. I bought new make up I have been eying or had on my wish lists and since I was confident that the colors would work for me, I just bought them.

Next year I can give you an updated make up collection overview. I think I am at the good place and I am not sure if I will do a project pan of any kind. I will just organically use what I like and see where it takes me. I have a total of 172 make up products. 42 out of those are single eyeshadow pans. So, basically I have 134 pieces of makeup products and 12 of the eyeshadows palette are dislocated from me at the moment (along with some single shadows).

I am starting a new 2024 with a curated collection and most importantly the one that is not expired. I love using every single product that I have and that makes me very happy.

Hope you have lovely holidays and a very happy New Year! Talk to you again in 2024!

XOXO, Iva