Intro
For years now I have been inspired by minimalism, Marie Condo cleaning/decluttering method and even Swedish death cleaning. :D I've been pretty good at going through my things at least couple times a year, getting rid off what I don't need and the more I did it, the easier it got to let go of things.
So what changed? In December I joined Avon and started doing catalogue sales. Over these few months I would see something on sale or for a good price or just something I wanted to try out myself so I ended up buying way more products that I normally would. It's a trap, haha! So today I thought I would face my consumerism phase and see how much stuff I've accumulated...
Reality check
This is the before photo and the way I store most of the products. I also had some in the bathroom and one smaller box in my room. Even though I knew where everything was, I have to say this gives me a little bit of anxiety - just looking at all this stuff! The most important step for me when I declutter is to take everything out of it's usual place, as Marie Condo suggests, and put it all in one pile. This will give you the most realistic picture of your belongings. I decided to place everything on my table and kind of group similar things together so it's easier to go through every category of products.
Here's another view of all my stuff. Maybe from this perspective it doesn't look that bad, haha. I also have to mention that this doesn't not include my makeup but for some reason I didn't go crazy with purchasing makeup products which is good!
Inventory
Next, I went through every category and did a little inventory. This helps me noticing which products are piling up and I should definitely not purchase for some time. These are all my face products - I used to have one face wash, a toner and face cream, now look at this!
These are all my nail polishes and nail polish removers. Many years ago I used to have a collection of 60-70 nail polishes so I guess this is not too bad. I do use and love all these colors.
What I've noticed...
I noticed that I bought back up or replacement products for the ones that are almost used up. This was also a good insight as now I know that I have these replacements and I won't mindlessly shop for them.
What I really need to stop buying
Body lotions and lip balms!! I have two body lotions that are probably 1/3 used up and two brand new ones. I really want to try this cacao one but I made a rule for myself - I cannot start using new ones until the opened ones are all gone! When it comes to lip balms, I have a problem with really dry and chapped lips for few months now and I was trying to find a solution in these lip balms. The one in a pot I got recently and it helped me the most but now I am left with all these opened and used lip balms that I don't want to throw away.
What I am getting rid off
My get rid off pile is so small, I am ashamed to even share it, haha! Head&Shoulders shampoo and Nivea body wash were not in the original pile as these are products I already used up and I just saved them because I wanted to share on my Instagram "products I've used up this month" but at this point, I just wanted to get rid off stuff, it was just too overwhelming seeing how much stuff I've accumulated. There's a few random things that were stored in the same area so I quickly looked through and found a few things to let go of. I also had some boxes from Avon products, I have been meaning to take photos for my Avon Instagram profile and I finally did that today so I could get rid off these boxes too!
Donations/gifts and products I want to use up ASAP
I have some brand new, unused products that I will see if I can give as gifts or donate them. Then I have products that are almost gone and some of them I will be able to use up in a day or two, like this lip balm and face cream. Maybe I'll make an update post in a couple of months, it would be interesting to see how well I did. :D
Final look and thoughts
It doesn't really look different, haha! But I organized everything so it makes more sense to me. I separated new products to give away/donate. Then I have all the products I am currently using, my jewelry, hair stuff, makeup brushes and other tools. I also separated back up products so when I use up something, I will look here first to see if I have what I need. I hate throwing away stuff that is not expired so I try to go through everything if I already opened it. Even though trying out new stuff was fun and I found some amazing products, having too much stuff brings me anxiety and I think I could really simplify my collection. I will work through these products and be more mindful about what I buy in the future.
How many times I said 'products' in this post? Haha! Whoever made it till the end of this post, thank you for your time and patience, it is very much appreciated. My spring cleaning just started, I still have to go through my clothes and other belongings as well as our kitchen and pantry. Wish me luck! :D
