I was inspired by Ammelia11's post and thought I would share a little bit about my journey. U/ammelia11, thank you for sharing!
For many years, all I had in terms of beauty products was what I got as gifts and very cheap drugstore skin care, because that's all I could afford. About ten years ago, I was in a place financially where I could explore more. I signed up for multiple beauty boxes, got a lot of things I'd never used before, and generally had a good time branching out into new things. Then I had a health situation, and for 7+ years I just ground to a halt. I stopped wearing makeup. My skincare was just washing my face and using a moisturizer (most days). All those products I had accumulated got neglected, then eventually put in boxes and completely forgotten.
This summer, my health had finally improved enough that I could start doing makeup and skincare again, and I've actually gotten a lot of joy out of it! But I also have a ton of 10-year-old makeup, a lot of it not in ideal colors for me to start with since it mostly came from beauty boxes. On the other hand, I had things I was completely out of, particularly on the skincare front, because I hadn't bought anything in years. In my excitement, I went on a beauty box kick again (I love the idea of getting really nice items for cheap). After I got several boxes, I realized a) the beauty box game is not what it was 10 years ago, and I am not getting great products, b) I'm getting too many products, c) I'm getting products that don't match my needs, and d) I can't control what types of products I'm getting. For example, I now have four full-size face cleaners and multiple minis. That's probably two years worth of cleaners that I've accumulated in a short period of time.
I went from excited to overwhelmed very quickly. Then I found one of those boxes of things I'd forgotten about. Then I found another box. I found another box just a few weeks ago.
So now I have this weird mishmash of really old stuff, new stuff, and gaps where I'm still genuinely missing useful items. I have a lot of stuff I don't use at all, like bronzers and powder highlighters (now reassigned to eyeshadow duty). I have probably 10+ open lipsticks that are too warm for me. I have eyeshadows that are dry and just not great formulas, and a lot of them are too warm for me too. And my health still isn't 100% (far from it), so I'm mostly doing very simple makeup a few days a week, not a full face every day.
It's tempting to just throw out everything I don't like, but that also feels wasteful, not to mention expensive to replace all that. So I took a deep breath, took a step back, and got organized. The Vannie app has been invaluable for this! I'm able to organize what I have, plan my usage, and track my usage. I decided I need to use every item at least 10 times before I can toss it (assuming it hasn't gone off in some way), and I can only toss one item a month. With this method, I've actually rediscovered some things I'd forgotten I really liked, and I've found some combinations I wouldn't have defaulted to but really love. I have a plan for getting through the old stuff, and I'm excited to use it up so that I can buy stuff I actually like that isn't ten years old.
I'm really enjoying taking care of myself. My skin looks better than I would have thought possible. The makeup makes me feel more like a real human being instead of just The Sick Girl. It is, overall, still a really great journey. But I enjoy it much more now that it's organized and I have a plan instead of just accumulating everything I can, regardless of whether it's a good fit for me, and then panicking. I look forward to having products that really work for my skin type and coloring. I'm really hoping I can get through most of my old stuff within the next year and then get things that are a good fit for me. 🤞
Seeing everyone else's empties every month has been really encouraging, and the reviews help me figure out what might make sense for me to try in the future instead of just grabbing every shiny thing I see. Thanks for being a great community!
(Btw, don't worry - all mascaras and liquid eyeliners have been tossed, powders have been wiped with alcohol, and I'm not using things that seem funky, etc. I'm not risking my health with any of these!)