In Thoughts

Makeup Minimalism


When I started my degree in makeup three years ago, I pretty much took it as an obligation to buy every makeup product that I stumbled upon. I'd rationalise it by telling myself it was all part of the job, but most of the time products would get tossed into my IKEA Alex drawers and not see daylight again. At the rate I was going, my makeup collection grew at quite an impressive pace. I wasn't using half the makeup I had, both in my personal collection and pro kit.

Weirdly this behavior didn't strike me as ridiculous until I listened to makeup artist Jasmine Ringo's minimalism episode on her Podcast The Girl With The Makeup Tattoo. 

Jasmine talked about how she streamlined her own makeup kit by simply removing anything that wasn't bringing value.
Here, the word 'value' is  a loose term, encompassing whatever the owner translates as valuable. So one person might find value in regularly used products, another might find value in luxury purchases, or a more experienced minimalist might find value in multitasking 2-in-1 products.

The first step in translating this theory into my own life was to establish what was valuable to me. Given that I'm brand new to minimalism (read: it's not just makeup I hoard), I went easy on myself. I decided that I found value in products that I use regularly, were a luxury purchase, or had sentimental significance. I went through my entire collection, and if an item didn't fall into one of these three categories, it was out.

This meant that by the end of my purge I had gotten rid of about 30% of my overall collection. Fair enough, 30% sounds a little underwhelming, but I found the whole practice quite liberating. Not only did I find a new appreciation for old favorites, but my purchasing habits have completely changed too. Since the start of the year, I've only spent money on makeup a handful of times. For someone who was bringing home a few new products every week, this feels like a major change.

A couple of weeks after my purge and I can't even remember most of the products I got rid of. While I wouldn't necessarily describe my current makeup collection as minimalist, it's certainly much less cluttered. Now, I have everything organised into four or five drawers and I can find what I'm looking for so much easier. I've also noticed a new wave of inspiration after finding products that had been long forgotten.

Perhaps one day I'll fully commit to the makeup minimalism lifestyle and condense my collection into one small makeup bag. But for now, I'm happy with cutting back on new purchases and playing with what I have.

Let me know in the comments if you'd ever consider a minimalist approach to your makeup collection!



Related Articles

8 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey, great blog you've got here!

    I am a vegan so I have been considering to go minimalistic, so, I've taking small steps. Hopefully, someday soon.


    With Love,
    Anna || Whirlwind Chaos

    ReplyDelete
  3. It definitely says a lot when you can't even remember the things that you've got rid of! The test I use - which probably applies more to clothes than make up - was when I last used/wore it. If it's been a long time out it goes!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good for you! Sometimes we tend to hoard lots of things just because they are pretty like beauty products.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I don't own many items of make up so no need to declutter here but interesting when you say you can't even remember most of what you threw away! I need to declutter my clothes!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I do have quite a minimalist make-up collection because I don't use it much. If I go out I put on some eye shadow (I have my trusty Naked palette for this), a bit of mascara and some lipstick. I'm glad I don't spend a lot of money on makeup. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, minimalism can be taken to any aspect of your life. I wish I could just get rid of stuff that doesn't hold much value. I'm trying to.

    Well done on getting rid of a chunk of your makeup hoard. It says a lot that you can't remember what you threw.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I definitely have a minimalist approach to make up... I just keep my favourites :-) It's great if you're finding items that you forgot you had; that's always a bonus when you're decluttering!

    ReplyDelete