I don't actually have a gigantic cosmetic collection anymore (comparatively speaking). Anymore, yes, you read correctly. Meaning that at one time I did.
Before we so dramatically downsized into the RV life, I had an enormous collection of makeup. I was embarrassed for anyone except my family to see it. In my bedroom there was a dressing table, the surface covered with makeup in all sorts of organizers. Under this table were several boxes, baskets and bins full of makeup. Near the bed was a two-shelf cupboard full of colognes. Some were things I'd held on to for years...for strictly sentimental reasons, such as an old lipstick of my mother's from the fifties. Yes! Really! The fifties! Sadly, it's gone now; I finally let it go.
My daughter never wanted for makeup when she got old enough to wear it. Fortunately for her, she's never had the same obsession for it that I did. I'd give her all the stuff I didn't want; what she didn't want, her friends became the lucky recipients. I must have supplied a good quarter of her class with makeup. Every couple of years, I'd also take boxes of stuff to work and give it to my co-workers. They thought I was wacky, but they enjoyed it anyway!
When we downsized, it was very hard to let go of stuff; not just cosmetics, but everything. But for the purposes of this post, we'll stick to the makeup. My daughter took charge of getting rid of all of it; she and her friends made goodie boxes and took them to the women's shelter. Sometimes I'll remember something I used to have and wistfully wish I still had it, such as a large Sephora Bronze eye and lip palette that came out in around 2009. I try not to think about it too much.
When you love makeup like me, everything you have is like a precious gem. How do you pick the rubies, sapphires and emeralds from the diamonds and just toss them away? After much sifting and sorting I 'narrowed' the stash down to:
- 1 12"X10"X10" rectangular makeup bag of lip products including several MAC, Chanel and Prescriptives lip palettes, a couple dozen glosses and lipsticks of all brands and shades.
- 1 12"X10"X10" rectangular makeup bag of favorite eyeshadow singles, duos, trios and quads. And 2 Dior quints (See Category D below).
- 1 15"X10"X8" tote of face products: powder foundations, blushes, primers, highlighters ('only' had 2 or 3 back then), a couple liquid foundations, some concealers, etc.
- 1 tote with a handful of larger eyeshadow palettes: 4 Tarte palettes, the original Naked palette, a Smashbox palette, the Lorac Unzipped palette, and a big Sephora Pantone palette.
- 1 15"X10"X8" tote with miscellaneous stuff that wouldn't fit in the others.
- I also brought along one of those fancy Lori Greiner wooden makeup boxes, loaded. (Speaking of Lori Greiner, when we were in Kanab, Utah for the summer of 2013, I found one of her large spinning cosmetic organizers at the thrift store for $2.00, like new!)
So what sort of things did I choose to bring with me? If you're a makeup maniac you know how it is. Almost everything is to die for. Once you weed out all the silly impulse purchases that were worn twice and never again, the rest has to be laboriously separated into categories:
A) Can't Live Without
B) Could Live Without But Would Rather Cut My Wrists
C) They Don't Make This Color/Product Anymore So You Better Keep It
D) Too Divine To Be Left Behind
E) You Might Really Need This Sometime
For me, the 'Can't Live Withouts' were Laura Geller Balance n Brighten and Bare Minerals Matte powder foundations, Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer, L'Oreal mascara, MAC eyeliner and all my beloved Laura Geller Balance n Brighten blushes. Well, those blushes actually fall into Category B. All these were the icing.
The rest were the dragees, non-pareils and sprinkles.
Some of the other treasures were two Elizabeth Arden holiday shadow/blush sets and an Estee Lauder holiday palette from seasons past, several Dior and Chanel lipsticks, my favorite MAC and Bobbi Brown items, all my Laura Geller things and some IT Cosmetics. There were also quite a few Merle Norman shadows and lipsticks, several beloved Clinique, Lancome' and Estee Lauder lip products, etc.
- A side note: For foundation, Laura Geller has to be my favorite brand of all time. I was a Bare Minerals user for a couple of years but I grew unhappy with how shiny it made my face look. Then I found a Laura Geller kit when Sephora still sold that brand. I was so impressed with the powder foundation I completely stopped using Bare Minerals...until they came out with the matte version of their powder foundation. Now I switch it up sometimes, but still like Laura's the best. A couple of years ago, I found a wonderful liquid foundation at Merle Norman called Perfecting Makeup Broad Spectrum SPF 25. I hadn't worn liquid foundation in years because I think it looks too cake-y on me but this one's pretty good.
I don't buy tons of cosmetics anymore. Oh, that's a such a lie!
YouTube has convinced me to buy a lot of stuff I shouldn't have. YouTube introduced me to Hautelook, Makeup Mania, Camera Ready Cosmetics, Drugstore.com/Beauty.com, AllCosmeticsWholesale...the list goes on... Ha! Oh My Gosh! Listen to me trying to blame it on YouTube! I'm shameless...
But I don't buy like I used to, that really is true. Really! There's no room to put new stuff in this RV. The rule is if I get something new, then something else has to go. And I'm rarely willing to let things go. Not my treasured makeup anyway! I allow myself one new 'big' thing for my birthday and one for Christmas. This year the Lorac MegaPro 2 was my birthday treat and I picked the Bare Minerals Storybook Romance Set for Christmas simply because I thought it was a good value. Not sure I'm that impressed with it now, but it's still very nice. I'm getting much better about fighting the demon impulses with internal dialogue:
- "You have several lipsticks that color already!"
- "You DON"T need another Tarte palette--you barely use the ones you have!"
- "You don't need that entire palette for that one single color. If you look, you probably already have something just like it in another palette."
- "Will you actually USE that?"
- "YOU DON'T NEED IT! STOP!"
- "Dear God, please help me. PLEEEZE."
So that's how I took a collection about a third the size of Tarababyz's and shrank it down so that it only takes up the space of 2 (large) RV overhead storage spaces. Ok, 2 and 1/2. But it was very, very painful. Believe me.
Till next time,
“The belongings people accumulate throughout their lives will always own them. People seem to think if they had more they’d be happier or freer, but their possessions only chain them to the earth.” ―Sarah Noffke, Awoken
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