HOW TO SPRING CLEAN YOUR BEAUTY STASH

As the clocks went forward this weekend I decided this was the prime time to stop procrastinating and jump into some spring cleaning action. Yesterday I tackled my beauty collection because, tragically, the lotions and potions residing in our makeup and skincare stashes don’t last forever, and this was as good a time as any to give my beauty stash a thorough spring clean!

CLEAN YOUR SPACE
As a general rule if I’m trying to clean, de-clutter and organise any space I like to try to take everything out of it’s place and give the entire space a good clean so I removed everything from my drawers and on top of my dressing table and gave the entire space a thorough wipe down. I tend to use something like Dettol wipes for this because it’s just so much easier then running back and forth to the bathroom to rinse out a cleaning cloth. I also clean all of my containers, dividers and brush holders.

Then when it came to putting my stash away I gave the products a wipe down as I’m putting it all back in place, getting rid of all those foundation smears that seem to end up on every makeup item I own. I also take the time to really look at the products I’ve accumulated as I’m putting everything back in it’s home and try to be as ruthless as possible – do I really NEED twelve different red lipsticks when I probably wear a red lip only a handful of times a year? Am I actually ever going to use that eyeshadow palette that came in a beauty box?

REORGANISE AND MAKE PRODUCTS VISIBLE Taking some time to make sure I’m still storing products in a way that both makes the best use of the space and ensures I can actually find what I’m looking for when I delve into my stash means that in the future I hopefully won’t have too many of those “oh, I forgot I had this!” moments. Muji and IKEA are your BFF’s here for affordable handy little containers and dividers for separating out your stash.

Whilst the bulk of my stash lives in drawers I do keep one two drawer set of the Muji acrylic drawers on my dressing table for my everyday essentials. I like to make my most-used products visible, so that I can see exactly what I have and what needs to be used up. This was a great time to refresh the products in there. I do think that the best way to use products is to put things out where you can see them so that you’re reminded to use it. If you’ve had it out for a while and haven’t reached for it, it’s much easier to accept you need either throw something away or pass it on to a friend / family member who would use it. Cleaning out unused products and adding in some new items or tried and tested old favourites is the best way to refresh your makeup setup and it brings a little bit of excitement back to getting ready every day.

EXPIRATION DATES

This is something I’m terrible at overlooking but spring cleaning your stash is the perfect time to check through items. Look for this little icon that displays the number of months it is safe to use a product for after opening it and give things a quick sniff test too. If it smells off, bin it. No excuses. This is equally important for both makeup and skincare. You don’t want to be putting items near your eyes or lips.

CLEAN YOUR BRUSHES We’re probably all guilty of not washing our brushes frequently enough – I aim to wash mine once a week and generally fall waaaaaay short of that. Cleaning brushes can be a pain but it does make a real difference – your makeup applies a lot better, you’re less at risk of transferring bacteria and dirt around your face resulting in pesky spots or worse and your makeup space will just look that much more cleaner and tidier.

Finally, in terms of tools and brushes, I like to replace my beauty blender, a couple of times a year, usually in spring and autumn along with any brushes that really have started to look too worse for wear or have started to shed. Spring cleaning your stash and makeup storage is a great reminder to do this.

Read how I update my beauty routines for Spring here.

Have you been bitten by the spring cleaning bug? Do you have any top tips for cleaning and organising your makeup and skincare collection?