When I first started this blog in 2014, it was basically an excuse to justify the ridiculous amount of makeup I bought. I was feeling the stress of my Master's Degree at the time; and the only thing that seemed to relieve that pressure was watching beauty guru's on YouTube, writing down whatever product they raved about, and then going to Superdrug and buying it after my lectures. I was hooked.
Fast forward to the present day, and even after my cleaning out my stash two or three times a year, I still have enough makeup to fill up four drawers in my vanity table. And I'm not sure whether it's how overwhelmed I feel when I do my makeup in the morning, or being freelance and not knowing what my income will be like month to month, or simply because I no longer have acne and don't wear as much makeup anymore... but either way, I'm starting to feel like I have enough.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still itching for a good drugstore splurge - but I know that the result of my next shopping trip will be mostly repurchases of the same two eyebrow products and concealers that I use up every couple of months; and if I do try a few new things, it will be products that I feel are genuinely missing from my collection... not yet another mid-pink lipstick.
When I want to try a new product, I have a good rummage through my Ikea Alex drawers and see if there's anything that will do the same job. I'm not overly adventurous with my makeup and tend to wear the same shades and formulas a lot, so I usually end up finding a product I forgot I had that's very similar. I've also been making more effort to use up products that I don't like. I had a mountain of foundations that were too dark for me, so I bought a white foundation to mix with them which means I'm finally using them up. I've been trying products with different brushes, or mixing them with other products, or using them for something else (using highlighters as eyeshadows, for example).
I've finally learned how satisfying it is to hit pan with my makeup. I own far too much of it to use up everything before it expires, but as long as I make a good dent I feel like I've got my money's worth.