Too Many Beauty Products? How to Do a Simple Midlife Beauty Purge

If your bathroom counter is crowded with half-used serums, forgotten lipsticks, and tiny sample bottles you keep meaning to try, you’re not alone. Many of us in midlife are quietly managing a small mountain of beauty products—most of which we don’t actually use.

March is here and it’s time for Spring Cleaning. Unless you are me and you’d much rather focus on Spring Decluttering! This month I’m doing a little Spring Decluttering series focused on categories you may have neglected over time. This week I’m focused on a midlife beauty purge! In my experience, most women in midlife own far more products than they actually need. How did this happen? Because we quietly accumulated free samples, impulse buys, subscriptions and aspirational purchases; only a small fraction of which we actually use.

So let’s slough off all of the products you don’t really need – because they are detracting from your beauty experience. I promise when you are done with this process you will feel confident. You will feel excited to use your products. And dare I say – you will feel more beautiful? At any rate – let’s dig in!

The Types of Beauty Clutter

Don’t be scared of the ‘purge’ part of Midlife Beauty Purge. You aren’t getting rid of everything. When you are a beauty minimalist (like me) or someone who loves to have fun and experiment with their beauty and skincare routine, we all have deadwood in our makeup and skincare collection that can most definitely be classified as clutter.

These types of beauty clutter are what you’re going to be looking for during your purge.

Expired products
Makeup and skincare do expire, I’m sorry to say.  It’s not like you can hurt yourself with an expired lotion but the fact that you didn’t use it up during the multiple years it was ‘good’ should be your sign that it’s time to let go. Mascaras in particular are only good for 6 months before they turn clumpy and gross.

Duplicates
Three mascaras, five moisturizers, six half-used lip balms. Duplicates of products you actually use are fine – you’ll eventually make your way through them. But duplicates in the same category are the ones to watch out for. Some are your go-tos, others serve the same function but will always fall to the back of the line. Those are the ones to toss.

‘Aspirational’ products
The bold lipstick or complicated skincare routine that seemed like a good idea at the time but then you never really picked it up. The beauty industry is really good at selling us hope that they will solve all of our many issues with our faces and skin. You should not feel bad that you got caught in their net. But should be really honest with yourself when confronted with a purchase that you never used. The discomfort is temporary.

Freebies and samples
This one was a killer for me. My many years at Nordstrom netted me so many beauty samples, which I tossed in my travel bag. I kept tossing them in there but hardly used any of them and eventually I couldn’t find the things I did need because they were buried under the samples!

Guilt purchases
Expensive products you feel obligated to finish. These are the ones that make you feel bad every time you see them sitting on your counter. I know – it feels crappy that you wasted your money. But it’s gone now and you aren’t getting it back. It’s time to move on – you’ll feel better when you do.

Separate Into Categories

Hundreds of small items can be overwhelming so before the midlife beauty purge we need to do some sorting. First, sort into the two larger categories – makeup and skincare. Maybe do skincare first because it’s usually less overwhelming. Then follow with the makeup sort.

Group your products into the following families:

Skincare

Lotions, creams, toners, oils, masks, makeup removers, tools.

Makeup

Eyes: liner, shadow, mascara, brushes)

Face: foundation, powder, concealer, blush, bronzer, brushes)

Lips: Lipstick, Lip Balm, Lip Liner, Lip Gloss, Plumper

Nails: Polish, remover, cuticle oil

Once you have the families together you will have a good visual of where you’re over-assorted (i.e. you have too much.) You will likely come across some other items that don’t fit into any of the beauty categories because they migrated from somewhere else. Set those to the side – you can either toss them or put them away later. Now it’s time for the purge!

Curate For Your Needs Today

Actually, the Great Midlife Beauty Purge is actually a Midlife Beauty Curation. You are editing your products down to an assortment that suits your lifestyle today. For instance,there are the products you use daily. Use inside-out decluttering to pluck those out first, those are your high-velocity products and they for sure should stay.

Do you travel? Next pull out the products that you use when you go on a trip. I like to keep a travel-sized/duplicate set of the things I use in a pouch that I can just toss in my bag when I’m packing. It has everything I need in it.

What about the occasions that demand something special? A dramatic lip. A smoky eye. A shimmery bronzer. False lashes. That’s your next layer to pull from the family groups. I like to keep my special occasion stuff separate from my everyday products. Because I don’t need to access it regularly.

Whatever is left likely falls into one of the 5 clutter categories we started with. It’s the stuff that isn’t serving your beauty needs today for whatever reason. You can go through and assess each product individually if you like. But if you have a lot that can be really painful and time consuming as you confront feelings of guilt, waste and shame. Sometimes the better strategy is to sweep it all into a black garbage bag and take it out to the trash (you shouldn’t donate used beauty products.)  It feels bad for a minute but if you push through you’ll find the discomfort is temporary.

A Fresh Start

Now that you’ve completed your midlife beauty purge you’ll notice how easy it is to organize the products you have left. Less clutter makes your everyday routines easier and faster. Beauty products should serve you in midlife, not overwhelm you every time you step to the mirror. You don’t need more products—you need the right ones. Let this purge be your permission slip to keep only what truly supports the kick-ass woman you are today: streamlined, confident, and of course, beautiful!