Hey, lovelies!
You know how most people have some
sort of fabulous Spring Cleaning routine? Something about shaking out the
mothballs and closed doors of winter and instead welcoming the wonder of
spring? Well, I don't really get it. Possibly because spring is the season I
respond to the least, or maybe because I'm always a little sad winter is over
(seriously: candles, snow, gifts, candy?!). Either way, the whole "spring
cleaning" thing never really does anything for me. This time of year, however,
when the heat has settled nice and heavy into all the crevasses of life,
when taking a deep breath feels more like inhaling scalding soup, when malls
are packed with back to school shoppers and sales saturate every type of media
imaginable, that's when I want to shed some of the excesses in my life.
I took a moment this weekend to look
at my shelves, feeling inundated with products. I examined my bedroom and nearly
drowned in the mess. My walls left me uninspired and my kitchen? Less than
functional. What's a girl to do?
Well, to begin with, having a
bathroom overrun with products makes me infinitely less likely to follow any
decent skincare regimen. If I can't find something or don't know how long I've
had it, it's hardly functional. And that's what practical skincare is about.
So I began.
I’m loath to discard things I'll use
or things that I might need (hail, packrats!), but sunscreen expires for a
reason. A very practical reason. Its efficacy really does decrease over time
and I had a range of sunscreens, from physical to chemical, drugstore variety
to high-end, face, body, lips, shoulders, base coat, reapply, half-empty,
nearly full, insanity! 90% or more were expired.
I discarded them.
Of my four moisturizers, two had
been opened for more than a year.
I discarded them.
Dried up mascara (or mascara open
for more than three months), lipsticks that just didn't look good, cleanser,
exfoliators, toners: if it was expired or smelled wrong, if I'd had it for
longer than the recommended shelf life, if I'd never liked it and doubted I
ever would, it's gone.*
And I feel better.
Not to mention that my bathroom is
organized, my products are safe and fresh, and I stand a real chance of using
my nighttime moisturizer at night since I can always reach it
after washing my face. I now also have a real idea of what I actually use and
what I need to replace.
My bedroom took less time, washing
all the bedding, spoiling myself with brand new (teal!) pillowcases, hanging
some of the gorgeous artwork from my travels. I know that, going home tonight,
out of the chaos of summer activities and back to school madness, I have an
established retreat, a safe calm space to retire to every evening and launch
from every day. It is clean and organized and when the holidays get started, it
will still be clean and organized.
My kitchen? Well, it's not perfect
yet. But there's always next weekend!
♥Brienz
*How long should your products last?
How long are they good for? For hair and skincare products, look for a symbol
that looks like this:
“12 M” indicates that the product is
good for twelve months after the date you open it. Most skin and hair products
will probably say either 12 M or 24 M. For makeup, take a look at the chart
below:
Mascara
|
3
months
|
Lipstick/gloss
|
1
– 2 years
|
Liquid/cream
foundations
|
3
– 6 months
|
Pressed
powder foundations
|
1+
years
|
Loose
powder foundations
|
1+
years
|
Powder
eyeshadow and blush
|
1+
years
|
Cream
eyeshadow and blush
|
3
– 6 months
|
Eye
and lip pencils
|
1+
years
|
Contact our beauty experts with any
questions or needs at customerservice@beautystoredepot.com!
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