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Decluttering + What I Do with Products I Don't Love

Something I've become really aware of since I started blogging is the tendency to accumulate a lot of products.  I love trying new things, but I don't like waste and one person can only get through so much stuff!  I've been on a decluttering kick the last several weeks and I've also gotten into watching Use It Up and Project Pan videos on Youtube, both of which have been great encouragement to use up products that have been languishing in my cupboards.    If you aren't familiar with these, basically people select specific products that they want to use up within a certain time frame.  It's a great way to work through products without wasting them!

 I find it really satisfying to completely use products up (which you've probably already figured out from my empties posts) and I love the idea of streamlining your collection, but at the same time, some products are a struggle.  No one is going to like every single thing they try, and it's always the ones that I'm not so crazy about that are most challenging to finish.  I don't want to waste things, but at the same time, I don't want to be constantly working to finish products I don't like and neglecting the ones I really do enjoy in the process.  

 With that in mind, these are the questions I ask myself when deciding what to do with those products I don't especially like:
  • How much do I dislike the product?  If it's something I'm pretty neutral about, that's one thing, but if I legitimately hate every minute of using a product, maybe it's not something I need to force myself to use.  
  • How long will it take to use up?  If I can use something up in a short time, I'll usually push through, but if I know it's going to last 6+ months, that's when I'm more likely to call it a day.  
  • Will products I genuinely like go to waste while I use this?  There's no sense wasting products you love just to get your use out of a product you don't even really like.
  • Does it have a negative impact on my skin/hair/appearance?  Whether it's skincare that breaks me out, hair products that don't work for my hair, or makeup that just doesn't look good, I've realized that some things just aren't worth it!  
  • Can I repurpose the product for something other than its original use?  Maybe something didn't work for its intended purpose, but is there some other way I can use it?  Face products on the body and conditioner as shaving cream are my most commonly repurposed items.
  • How much did it cost?  This one only goes so far as I don't want to waste inexpensive items either, but there's no question that it's easier for me to accept defeat on a $2 item than a $50 one.  
  • Is there someone I can pass it on to?  I'd much rather someone else enjoy the product than me just suffer through it for the sake of using it up.
  • Is it expired?  Pretty much a no-brainer.  I'm not always a stickler for exact expiry dates, but if I already don't like the product, I'm not going to use it after it's expired.  On the flip side, if something is expiring soon, that often pushes me to use it up more quickly before the expiry.
How about some specific product examples?

 Products I'm Working to Use Up:

Boo Bamboo Line Lifting Face Cream*
I actually think this is a great face cream, but I don't like the scent.  Boo Bamboo uses a naturally derived fragrance, but to my nose it smells very similar to a lot of mainstream skincare (and vaguely synthetic) and it's just not a scent I enjoy close to my nose.  I've been using it on my body, however, and I don't notice the smell nearly as much.

Pollen & Wax Apollo Cleanser
This cleanser has since been reformulated to have a smoother texture, but the one I have is a little odd.  On the one hand, it's a seemingly gentle cream cleanser, but at the same time, it feels quite harsh on my face.  It has sandy particles that are way too abrasive for my skin on a daily basis and while I tried using it as more of an exfoliant, once or twice a week, I consistently noticed my skin didn't look as good on the days I used it, so I stopped using it that way as well.  I'm going to give it one last try on my body, and hopefully that'll be the end of it.

 Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream
I don't really dislike this eye cream, but it doesn't do a lot for me beyond just moisturizing.  I do want to get my use out of it, but I don't think I'll be sorry to see it run out.

 Weleda Skin Food
I really like Skin Food, but I only use it in small amounts and with the rate I go through it, I definitely didn't need to buy this big tube, which sadly expires in April.  I'm not going to toss it at midnight on April 30 or anything, but I want to make a real effort to get through it at least within a couple months of the expiry. 

 Schmidt's Lavender Sage Deodorant
I mixed and modified my Schmidt's and while it no longer irritates my underarms, it's still not my favorite deodorant.  I've got this pot and half of another, but I'm determined to work through them.

 Carina Daily Moisturizing Shampoo
This smells good (like pineapples!) but it did nothing for my hair.  I've been using it to wash my makeup brushes for the last several months, and it actually works great for this purpose.  

Products I'm Saying Farewell To:

ELF Metallic Purple Mineral Eye Liner
My problem with this is twofold: the formula is way too hard and the color is unexceptional.  It's a plummy-brown with some purple shimmer on top, but once the shimmer falls off (within the first half hour or so), it's just another brown liner and not worth the effort of struggling with such a hard pencil.

 Acure Leave-In Conditioner
I love Acure and I think this product works well, but I can't stand how it smells.  I've made an effort to use it many, many times, but I smell it in my hair every time I turn my head and it just drives me crazy.  I have about half left, but I also noticed it expired a few months ago, so it's got to go.

 The Bottom Line
Like basically everything, I think it comes down to balance.  I don't know of anywhere local to me that accepts donations of lightly used products - only brand new ones - so if I don't have someone to pass a product on to, I do really try to finish most things myself.  That said, I've also come to realize that it's okay to get rid of the occasional product that just doesn't work for you.  I feel a little guilty throwing things out, but if it's just going to sit in my makeup drawers unused - like the ELF liner - or make me sick to smell it - like the Acure Leave-in - what am I really accomplishing by hanging on to it?

 I'd love to know where you guys fall on this one!  Are you someone who has to use every single thing up, or are you okay getting rid of products that you don't like or can't make work for you?

* Press sample
Contains affiliate links
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#NoBuyJanuary Update + Repurposed Products

So much for getting these posts up every Friday!  In my defense, I've been exhausted fighting off a cold this week, which is the reason why it's going up late.  I'm hoping I'm pretty well over the cold now, so I should be able to do better the rest of the month.  

 I actually don't have a lot to update on.  #NoBuyJanuary is still going strong, and to be honest, I haven't found it all that challenging so far.  I already tend to do a lot of online window shopping - browsing without buying anything - so the spending ban hasn't felt out of the ordinary yet.  We'll see how that holds up through the end of the month!

 In the same vein, I want to talk about using up products that end up not being as well liked as we anticipate.  Sure, it makes sense to set something aside when it's not working for you, but that can get pretty wasteful.  When at all possible, I try to find alternate ways to make things work.  Here are four recent examples:


Bath Petals Sicilian Blood Orange Shower Gel

The Bad: Back in October or November, I started getting dry, itchy skin, which I eventually traced back to this shower gel.  It did work well for about the first half of the bottle, but at some point it started drying my skin out.
The Good: I've been using the end of the bottle to clean my makeup brushes!  It's essentially just a castile soap, so it works about the same as the Dr. Bronner's I usually use.  

Blissoma Bright Eye Vitalizing Nutrient Serum

The Bad: This has an impressive list of ingredients and the effect I noticed on both dark circles and under eye puffiness was pretty amazing, but sadly something in it irritates my eyes and leaves them feeling tired and sore.    
The Good: In addition to the eye area, Blissoma suggests using the serum on areas with sun damage or anywhere you might want an extra anti-aging boost, so I've started using it as an all over face serum underneath my oils or moisturizer.  I've also started applying it on the backs of my hands, since that's an area that can start to show age or sun damage.  I haven't noticed a huge difference in either yet, but it's early days yet.  

Celtic Complexion Creme

The Bad: With so many people raving about Celtic Complexion, and this creme in particular, I was excited to get my hands on this mini and expected to love it.  It does go on nicely and leaves my skin feeling silky, hydrated and soft, but the problem comes a few hours later.  Every single time I've used this on my face, within two to three hours my pores look huge and just awful.  I'm guessing it's the coconut oil, which I generally steer clear of in face products.
The Good: With shea butter, coconut oil, and jojoba oil as the first three ingredients, it's no surprise that this cream makes a fantastic lip treatment.  I also like it as a body moisturizer.  

Desert Essence Fragrance Free Conditioner

The Bad: I don't like this at all for my hair!
The Good: In my shower, unloved conditioners regularly end up being repurposed as shaving cream, but where that's usually just as a way to use them up, Desert Essence's conditioner has stood out.  It's as good as, if not better than, any actual shaving cream I've used.  Proof: my tube is just starting to feel empty and my first thought was, "I need to pick up another one before this runs out!"

If you're participating, how's #NoBuyJanuary going for you?  What do you do when products don't work as well as expected?  If you're looking for more ideas, Cori from Well Beauty Blog did a great post with tons of ways to repurpose your products - check it out here.
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Repurposing Products

I've come to realize that it's just a fact of life that when you test out a lot of products, some of them aren't going to work for you.  Obviously I don't want to keep using products that just don't do it for me, but at the same time, I hate wasting them or throwing away anything I've spent good money on.  I'm also not a fan of the clutter of having tons of products that I'm not using just hanging around.  With that in mind, if something doesn't work for its intended purpose, I always try to repurpose it for another use. 
Here are three recent examples of that:

Organic Sunflower Oil


I've used sunflower oil in cooking on and off throughout my life.  Without going into a lot of specifics, it's a healthy vegetable oil and not overly expensive.  However, at some point, I seem to have developed a very strong dislike of the taste.  I swear, in the last while, even if there's just the smallest amount of sunflower oil in something I make, it's all I can taste.  Of course, I came to this realization right after I bought a huge bottle of the stuff!

After sitting in my fridge unused for a while, I decided to try it as an eye makeup remover one night.  It's fantastic!  Before this, I'd been using either olive or coconut oil, but I genuinely prefer the sunflower oil to either of those.  Although it melts with body heat, coconut oil is solid at room temperature, which can be inconvenient, and I had problems with olive oil really stinging my eyes if I happened to get any in them.  With sunflower oil, I don't have either of these issues.  It's also noncomedogenic, so it won't clog your pores, and high in vitamin E.


When I originally purchased this, I was expecting an opaque, matte white pencil that I could use to line my waterline.  As you can see in my initial swatch here, what I got was a somewhat sheer, sparkly white pencil.  I was a little disappointed, but decided it would still work to highlight the inner corners of my eyes.  That said, I tend to use an eyeshadow for that purpose and I was never reaching for this product.

Since LUVU's eye pencils are basically identical to their lip pencils, I decided to try it to highlight above my upper lip, around my cupid's bow.  The sheerness works really well for this, and the pencil form is great, since you can get the product right where you want it (and not anywhere else!)  I'll usually line around my cupid's bow and then dab it slightly with a finger to soften the line.

This is a new-to-me product I've been testing out recently.  As a face cream, I unfortunately don't love it.  It's not heavy, but it does take a long time to sink in to my skin.  Even applying just a small amount, I can still feel it on my skin two or three hours later.  Since I wear mineral foundation most days, I just don't have time in the mornings to wait for this to be absorbed.

That said, I've had dry hands recently and this cream works great on them.  Interestingly enough, I find it sinks into my hands pretty quickly and doesn't leave them greasy at all.  I'm not sure I would repurchase this for my hands, just because there are plenty of other, less expensive options for that, but I do like it for this purpose and will continue to use it as long as I have it.


I get excited when I find new ways to use things up, instead of just letting them collect dust and go to waste.  I'm thinking of doing semi-regular posts like this, since repurposing products is something I find myself doing pretty frequently.   How about you?  Do you find new uses for products that don't work as you'd originally intended? 


         

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