Makeup Declutter | Eyeshadows + Lipsticks!

Searching for dupes of my favourite expired products

After reading an article called "What Happens to Your Face When You Use Expired Makeup" the other day (linked here), it freaked me out a bit. It definitely opened my eyes and I'm SO ready to let go of my old makeup now! 

Although I had always been cognisant about tossing cream products and mascaras when they expired, I never paid much attention to powder ones. I adopted the policy that if a powder product changed in consistency or scent, I would toss it.

We cannot always see what may be lurking in our products, especially powder ones, they often don't show signs like cream products can, but they too can be full of bacteria that we do not see. I have bumps on parts of my face (not acne), that look like milia or maybe it's from using such old products that possibly contain bacteria and such that I cannot see. We have to be especially careful with eye products though, as we definitey don't need to get an eye infection!

Decluttering makeup that I love is never easy, but after reading that article and opening my eyes up to how old some of my favourite products actually are, this task became easier. This declutter wasn't about whether or not I liked a product, it was about how old they were and it became a necessity to discard them. 

I've had been hanging onto some of my makeup like its life or death! The truth is that some of these products are up to 10 years old, if not more!

In this post, I'm just tackling my eyeshadows and lipsticks. Let's see what I got rid of, but first I'm sharing a chart that has some general guidelines of eyeshadow and other makeup expiration timelines. There are many different opinions on makeup expiry dates, a quick google and you'll see, so I take this chart with a grain of salt. For example, I cannot imagine tossing eyeshadow every 6-12 months and I noticed that my Essence eyeliners have a 36 month expiry. So make sure to check your products for the little expiry icon that indicates the expiry from the date of opening the product.

Source: Google

ONTO THE DECLUTTER....

Small Palettes (one single slipped in here :)

• Annabelle Nympheas- This was so eye-brightening. I will miss it. Didn't find a dupe. I would repurchase but I don't believe it's available anymore.
• Sally Beauty eyeshadow single- An okay basic satin shadow. I purchased this one to keep in my purse. Probably would not repurchase.
• Aloette -(I think)- this is so old there is no writing on the package. It was my absolute favourite. I loved it so much that I didn't want to use it very often... so silly and such a waste! It's so old, that I have no idea when I got it (probably 2008 or earlier)! I would repurchase but don't think it's available.
• Brian Bailey Foundation duo in Medium -this is a face powder that made the nicest eyeshadow. Discontinued.
• Wet N Wild Vanity Palette -This was an infamous palette. Luckily, I have a lot of these shades in other palettes. Discontinued.

Single Eyeshadows: 

• 13 eyeshadows (Mixed variety: Mac, Stila, Quo, Nyx, Pixi, Elf)
• 2 Jordana blushes 

All of the above were pulled from my Z palette. I don't even want to think about the total value of all of these singles! I should have included the Sally Girl eyeshadow single in this category but it was not in my Z palette.

Large Eyeshadow Palettes:

• Quo Back to Basics (UD Naked Dupe)- I would absolutely repurchase this if I could!
• Pacifica Natural Minerals- I would repurchase if I was looking for some all natural eyeshadows and I didn't have such a large collection.

Front of Quo's Back to Basics LE palette

This Back to Basics eyeshadow palette by Quo was very difficult to part with of because it has all of the shades that I love for my everyday eye look. Granted, I did only use the first 6 shades in the palette (the lighter ones). This palette was supposed to be a dupe for Urban Decay's Naked 1 which is also discontinued now.

Change in texture = product turned. Best not to continue to use it.

I received the above Pacifica palette in 2016, so it's not very old but the texture has changed which is a sign that it's gone bad. I wouldn't have decluttered this palette if it wasn't for signs that it has gone bad.

I used different criteria for purging my lipsticks. Anything 3 years or older had to go. And, I know, lipsticks probably expire long before 3 years but I do sanitize my products and rotate them since I own quite a few.

All of the lip products that were decluttered here are ones that I would purchase again.

Lipstick Declutter:

• L'oreal Fairest Nude -one of my favourite nudes, next to JLo's Nude by L'oreal.
• Sonia Kashuk Nude Pink (discontinued)
• Rimmel Kate #45 - a gorgeous and hydrating nude
• Essence Cool Nude - a beautiful deeper nude, also hydrating
• Elf Matte Lip Colour in Natural - one of the very few non-drying mattes that is great for aging lips too!
• Jordana Easyliner in Tawny- a beautiful MLBB liner.

I know that these aren't part of either of the makeup categories featured in this declutter, but I came across them right after tossing the other items and decided to add them to this declutter. These Essence concealers have a 6-month expiry on the packaging and I've had them for about 3 years. I rarely used them as I prefer my LA Girl Pro Conceal HD Concealers, which have an 18-month expiry stamped on them.

Total decluttered:

• 14 eyeshadow singles
• 6 eyeshadow palettes
• 2 blushes
• 6 lip products
• 2 concealers

A grand total of 30 items decluttered!

I am now labelling all of my products so I know exactly how old they are. I just used some address labels and cut to size.

This was definitely eye-opening in terms of paying more attention to my products and their lifespan, and also in terms of the horrible amount of unnecessary waste of money and products! This is one reason that I lean towards purchasing less expensive products; since they do have a lifespan and there is no way I can use up all of my makeup because I'm constantly trying out new products.

I hope you found this post helpful or maybe it inspired you to let go of old, expired products, too.

DIY / Hack: How To Fix Hardpan With Powder Makeup Products

Today I have a DIY beauty hack that I hope you will find useful.

I wanted to use up my IT Cosmetics Vitality Disk. It was getting very old and the bronzer had developed "hardpan." Even using my most dense and rough makeup brush, I could barely pick up any product. So I was getting prepared to have to throw out this product, but I really didn't want to as it was expensive and I really like this palette.

I was considering taking a knife to scrape off the top layer of product, but I was afraid I would waste a lot of product, so I decided to hit-up my makeup loving Instagram buddies for some suggestions.

My Instagram buddy,  Makeup By Starla, suggested packing tape. I doubted it would work so I decided to put it to the test. 

Thanks to Starla, my palette is totally usable again. After I fixed up my bronzer using her suggestion, I went through some hardened eyeshadows and a face powder and repaired them all! Thank you, Starla!

Let's see what I fixed and how EASY it was!

It Cosmetics Vitality Disk

 Shown above is my IT Vitality Disk. Most of the bronzer is covered in hardpan.

Using Starla's suggestion, I put some packing tape over the product.

I was in total shock when I pulled the tape off of my bronzer and saw what it had picked up in a nano-second. I rubbed my finger along the bronzer and voila, it picked up much more product!

Here is my fresh and revived bronzer. It's not as soft as it was when new but it's useable and I couldn't be happier that I don't have to throw it out as I actually really like this product!

Now let's see what else I was able to repair.

Annabelle CC Pressed Powder

The photo in the upper left corner is with hardpan. The bottom right photo is after using the tape method.

This also worked wonders on this Annabelle face powder. This product isn't very old at all but somehow it developed hardpan. Before using the tape method on the powder, I couldn't pick up ANY product where you see the hardpan, now It's like new again!

Quo Back To Basics Eye Shadow Palette

Upper left picture is with harpan, before the tape method. The bottom right photo is after.

Lastly, I tried the same method on my Quo eyeshadow palette and it worked wonders on that too. Now, my shadows are revived and my brushes pick up so much more product!

This method is like a little miracle. It's cheap and so easy! It only takes a second to lift up the dry, hardened product. It's really an amazing way to save your favourite products and give them new life. 

You can also go over the same product as many times as you like to pick up the more hardened product. I went over each item about 2 times with the tape.

I'm so grateful to have this trick now to save all of my powdered products. 

I hope this helps those of you who are looking for a solution to this issue. It's an easy, quick and cheap solution to the once annoying harpan!

If you have any Beauty Hacks, please leave them in the comments below!

Mini Beauty Haul, New Products! NYC, Wet n Wild, Quo Contessa (LE) Palette #makeup

HAUL!!

I love finding some new, budget friendly beauty products to try out! I wanted to share my new beauty finds with you. I thought some of you may be interested since they are all fairly new to the market and really budget friendly!

Shown above:

NYC CityPROOF Twistable Perfecting Lip Primer/ Quo Face Palette in "Contessa"/ Wet n Wild's new Wild Shine Nail Polish in Dreamy Poppy/ Wet n Wild's new Lipstick in 501C "A Short Affair"

NYC City Proof Twistable Perfecting Lip Primer- as far as I know this is a totally new products and I'm excited to try it out as I've never owned a lip primer before, and I love the newer crayon style lip products. I'm hoping it will help me wear some of my more unforgiving lipsticks and matte lipsticks that don't get worn since they settle into my lip lines too much. Cost $2.97

Quo Face Palette in "Contessa"- Includes full-size blush, bronzer and highlight. There was another palette with different shades but this is the one I was attracted to the most, although I admit that I was tempted to get both! ;)  I couldn't find any reviews online so I think I'll do a post with some swatches and a first impression. This was part of Shoppers Drug Mart's spring Limited Edition (LE) collection. My Shoppers had it on sale for $10 from $20, and I had enough points in my Optimum account so I ended up getting it for free!! Gotta love Shoppers Drug Mart's Optimum program!

Wet n Wild's new Lipstick in 501C "A Short Affair," This is a new formula in new packaging. This looked to be the lightest colour in the collection. I would say it's a neutral to cool tone light baby pink with a sheen (no glitter.) I quite like it so far! I have tested 2 of the new lipstick formulas and so far they seem to go on quite a bit darker than what you see in the tube. Cost $1.50

Wet n Wild's new Wild Shine Nail Polish formula in 477C "Dreamy Poppy." Note: This colour is not new but this is a newer formula that is supposed to last much longer than the previous formula. I never owned this colour. It looks like a gorgeous deep coral for the summer and would look great with a tan. Unfortunately, the  handle is broken on the bottle that I got so I have to go and exchange it. Cost $1.50

All in all this little haul cost me a total of around $6! Not bad at all! Granted, I got a great deal on the $20 Quo palette since it was half off and I had enough Shopper`s Optimum points to get it for free.  The cosmetician at Shopper`s Drug Mart said that each store may have the Quo palettes on sale at different times, so check your local Shopper`s if you are interested.. once they go on sale this cheap, I doubt they will last very long!

I hope you enjoyed my little haul and maybe you`ll want to check out a few of these for yourself.

Have you come across any new products or great deals lately, I would love to hear about them!

Xo Amy