Experts recommend that you clean out your medicine cabinet once a year, to make sure there is nothing in there that might be past its expiry date and more apt to cause harm than good. I believe that this advice is equally applicable to one’s make up bag, or drawer, or for many women, the combined flat surface area of the bathroom and bedroom. (You know who you are and I am not judging… just sayin’).
I just did a spring clean-out and here’s what I tossed in the bin for the sake of my aesthetic health:
- Perfume samples. One day… maybe next week… maybe next year… an occasion will arise where I want to present a scented version of myself to the world and, if these tiny vials of nasal stimulant are still available, I will grab one. Because they are super-small, the squirty thing will not work properly. I will become frustrated, apply too much pressure, and crack the plastic, upon which time the entire contents of the vial will pour over my hands. Despite repeated attempts at removal, I will spend the next several hours smelling like a rose dipped in rosemary. These things are like ticking time bombs.
- An assortment of lip glosses with gooey black gunk around the caps. What is that stuff? Where did it come from? Why do I have half a dozen “nude” lip coverings anyway?
- Blue eyeliner. Enough said.
- A REALLY expensive REALLY pink blush from MAC because, when the saleswoman gently swiped it across my face and told me I had wonderful cheekbones, I felt young and beautiful… but every time I try to do it myself, I look like a ventriloquist’s dummy.
- An “all day” mascara that more than lived up to its name. A thousand make up remover pads later and it will still cling stubbornly to whatever lashes are left. It frightens me. I fear that someday, after the apocalypse, all that will survive will be cockroaches and “all day” mascara (and a Kardashian).
- A magnifying mirror. No woman needs to see her pores and crinkles enlarged 20X! What #%#* madman (and I KNOW it was a man) came up with this ungodly device?!?
My garbage bin is full and my make up bag is nearly empty, but I feel good… and safe. Today, my face is approaching the world adorned with nothing but a foundation of wrinkle cream and a swipe of Burt’s Bees SPF lip stuff. And so long as I don’t encounter any magnifying mirrors, I will be fine!
Stuff my dog taught me 
From your profile picture, I can guess that you need no make-up.
What we women need is make-up free days, where we can feel ourselves and not be dolls.
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My wife can relate to the ordeal.
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The magnifying mirror is a universal horror!
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For food and make-up a good rule is: If it has fur growing on it, throw it out. 🙂
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Ah… good rule of thumb! Putting it up there with one my dad used to say… “If you feel like you should sniff something before eating it… skip the sniff and toss it!”
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We are supposed to get rid of it after three months “for health reasons.” I’ve always suspected it was just another way to sell more makeup. I actually did the big clean up last year. I think I tossed several pounds of stuff. Blue eye shadow? Try mauve. Makes you look like you have a disease.
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FYI… I actually owned mauve lipstick at one point! How bizarro is that? What drug was I on when I allowed someone to convince me that this would be flattering?!?
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I can’t live without Burt’s Bees lip stuff. I have one in my coat pocket, one at work, and one in my bathroom.
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I have probably put more burts bees chapsticks thru the washer than most people have bought in their lifetime… I think I am addicted… Is there a support group for this?
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Reblogged this on SERENDIPITY and commented:
Now, time for a laugh!
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thanks for the reblog!
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I don’t even wear make up more than 2 or 3 times a year, and I have way too much of it. You’ve inspired me to do the spring make-up purge. Thanks!
BB
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I like cleaning out the make up bag because it feels efficient but doesn’t actually require much time or effort!
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nice
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