Here’s an obscenely overdue post about makeup empties. So much so that I’m not sure if many of these things weren’t discontinued and are therefore, no longer available for purchase, rendering this post virtually useless – but I’ve taken the pictures and taken the notes, so I’m adamant that my time won’t go to waist.
Yours might, though. Read at your own risk.
The Good
Foundation and powders remain the products I manage to entirely use up the most. I’ve finished Catrice’s Prime and Fine Mattifying Powder Waterproof and elf’s Complexion Perfection powder – both very nice mattifying powders, particularly for the price point. I have found better powders that are also more expensive, so I enjoy these for travelling, because in case they break, I won’t have wasted that much money. I have repurchased the elf powder, so I’m using my backup, but from what I’ve researched, this is no longer available.
I’m done with my first Make Up For Ever’s Ultra HD Stick Foundation, which I’ve already repurchased and am actually getting to the bottom of the second one. When I purchased this, it was one of the few (and better) stick foundations out there, but since then a lot of different ones have been released, and while this one is good, it does feel heavy on the skin and for the price, I get through it in three seconds, so it ends up being very expensive. I likely won’t purchase it again… I’m not sure.
I also finished my second Revlon Colorstay Foundation, an oldie but goodie, tried and true, stable staple, great foundation. I’ve already repurchased. It’s high coverage, long wearing, transfer resistant and does not look cakey.
I also used up the minuscule version of Clarin’s Lisse Minute primer, which was kind of a repurchase since I’ve been through a full size of this before, and even though I liked it, silicone base primers are not my favourite anymore – I rather have something more hydrating, and glycerin based, so I won’t be repurchasing.
I’ve used up two retractable black eyeliners, from NYX and Lottie London. Both were creamy and pigmented, but Lottie’s was getting dried up towards the end, and I had this for less that a year. I’m still searching for the best black eyeliner for the waterline, and the NYX version is good for the price. I think I’ve repurchased in the past, and I might in the future.
And finally, something that took me YEARS to let die. Do you remember MAC’s slimshines? Of course not. If you are a Gen Z, you likely didn’t even know how to read when they came out. They were some very shinny, lipstick-gloss hybrid product that MAC had a while back, I’ve been keeping around this Gentle Simmer shade, which is a limited edition shimmery peach that I finished probably back in 2013.
But kept because I told myself I could “scrape the rest with a lip brush and get a few more uses”.
I don’t even like the colour that much.
And this is not even the most shocking product on this need-to-throw-away post.
The Bad & The Tossed
These were thrown out not because I’ve finished them, but because they’ve either gone bad or inconvenient. The Kiko Mixing Solution was something I barely used (let’s be honest, if I’m going to bother with something that’s not water, it better come in a spray bottle, I don’t have time for droppers) but I do remember it being a clear liquid when I bought it, not yellow. I’m tossing it and not repurchasing – not that I could, it’s no longer available.
The Too Faced Hangover Rx Primer was great, hydrating and skin perfecting, and I almost managed to use it up before it went bad. This does go bad quickly (it has a shelf life of 6 months after opening) and I’ve found others that keep their freshness for longer and are just has good, so I won’t repurchase. Also, I have to toss my Too Faced Shadow Insurance because it’s just too old. It’s good, but I prefer Urban Decay’s Eyeshadow Primer Potion.
Now for the only actually bad product on this list… this is something so vile that it skips the annoyance of truing to make a bad makeup product work and it’s just downright cruel: Sephora Outrageous Rouge Extreme Liquid lipstick. I know liquid lipsticks are supposed to last a long time, but you should be able to see your bare lips again before going to the grave. This is a b*tch to remove. And you can’t layer it because the texture starts to get odd and clumpy on your lips – but the clumps stay there! I give them that! Them clumps hang on to your lips for dear life! So basically you have to get your lips perfectly painted in one swipe, our you’re screwed. Don’t worry, it’s discontinued.
I’m also tossing two Essence products: the liquid eyeliner (that’s it, that’s the whole name), and the All About Matt! Powder. The eyeliner had a very stiff felt tip applicator that made application very uncomfortable. I hope that Essence’s current version of a black liquid liner has a better applicator because the formula was nice. The powder was a great mattifying powder, regardless of price. Its only downfall is that it can leave a white cast if you are a medium or darker skintone. Mine shattered and it became too inconvenient for me to use, but it’s very high up on my list to repurchase once I use up more of my mattifying powders.
And last on this list, a Prescriptives lipstick in the shade Spice. This one is of the same generation of the Gentle Simmer slimshine above. It was an amazing formula, very comfortable to wear, very longwearing – but none of that matters now because not only is this lipstick no longer available, Prescriptives has been out of business for over 10 years.
That was my cue to throw it out.
I keep products for so long I might witness the decay of the plastic packaging someday.
That’s it. I feel cleansed. Hope this was somewhat useful for a reader out there – if nothing else, to make you feel better about your own clutter.
