Making the Internet My Accountability Partner

In my last post I explained that I am tempted by the sales and consumption habits of the holiday season, especially this year in regard to cosmetics. To challenge that urge I wanted to make a post outlining exactly how long I’ve had these products. As the title explains, most of these items are probably expired. This post is explaining my own usage habits, not encouraging you to use expired products. Expired products can and will irritate your skin, eyes, and/or mouth, please discontinue use if any irritation occurs. With that hopefully unnecessary disclaimer out of the way, prepare for a long post.

For my only primer I have the Estee Lauder Futurist Aqua Brilliance Watery Glow Primer. I received this on September 13, 2024 as part of a free gift with purchase. I since returned the foundation that I bought as it didn’t work for what I needed, but I got to keep the GWP. As my makeup tends to be pretty light and minimal I don’t use primer, so I haven’t used it at all. Part of me says I should consider wearing just this on days when I don’t feel like wearing foundation and concealer. Knowing myself though, I’m either going to commit to wearing makeup or not wear anything on my face except sunscreen.

For foundation I primarily use the Rare Beauty Positive Light Tinted Moisturizer. I have had this bottle at least 1.5 years. It does feel fairly light, like I’m reaching the end of the bottle, but I suspect it will last me at least the month. I also have the E.L.F. camo powder foundation. I have had this one between 6 and 9 months. I have used it a handful of times. I purchased this after seeing a client touch up her powder foundation just before we started a session and it made me remember how much I enjoyed using a powder foundation my freshman year of college. This purchase was compulsive in many ways, but I do plan on getting my moneys worth as I plan on restraining myself from repurchasing the Rare Beauty Tinted Moisturizer until after I finish this compact.

For color corrector I use the Becca/Smashbox UnderEye Brightening Corrector. I believe I’ve had this product for over a year, but probably less than 2 years. I wear this every time I wear makeup, yet still feel like I haven’t made a dent in it. For concealer I use the Haus Labs Triclone Skin Tech Concealer. This I purchased on July 4, 2024 and have used every time I wear makeup, but again I don’t feel like I’m running low.

Moving onto Blush I use the E.L.F. putty blush. I have had this product for about 6 months and can see that I have made the tiniest dent in the product. For highlight I use a mini of the Benefit Watt’s Up cream highlighter that I received as a free perk at least 6 years ago. For a while this was my least used highlighter, but when I had a real reckoning with what I was wanting and willing to do for my actual makeup use earlier this year I realized this product should be my only highlighter. I have maybe used half of this product. When it comes to setting spray I have one the CoverGirl Outlast Active spray that I have owned for at least 4 years. I only use it maybe a handful of times a year, so it’s still mostly full.

Now to approach the eye products. For my eyeliners I have a Creme Shop felt tip liner and Mickey Mouse stamp I was gifted for Christmas last year. I accidentally left it behind in MD for a number of months, so between that and the fact that I rarely wear eyeliner I’ve only used this product 4 times. However I also have an E.L.F. cream eyeliner in a pot because there was a period where I was doing more involved makeup and I loved using this on my waterline. However, I believe I have used this product once a year for the past couple of years. The logical part of my brain says to get rid of this, because unsurprisingly I’ve had this particular pot of eyeliner for at least 5 years. It’s just hard to give up on something that I know I will love if I use it, even as I acknowledge I’m not using it.

I have two eyeshadow singles from Colourpop’s Soak Up the Sun duo. The one shade In Harmony is my go to everyday swipe all over the lid eyeshadow. I do really like the other shade Flower Child and will use it probably a couple times a month. I know that once I finish In Harmony, Flower Child will be my everyday shadow and I will love it. I also have an I Heart Revolution Cookie Shadow Palette in Birthday Cake. It is really fitting my style when I want to do more than just a single all over eyeshadow look. I also have an I Heart Revolution Donut Palette in Banoffee Pie that I use maybe twice a year to add to a look I create with the other palette. In my head I also want to keep this because many of the shades would be perfectly suitable for an all over lid everyday shadow if I chose to use them.

Lash Primer is a category I bought two of while primarily looking for a lash serum that came with a wand applicator instead of a brush. I was torn between two in Target and obviously couldn’t test them so I bought both. One is the Pacifica Vegan Collagen Lash Serum + Primer that I use at night as a lash serum. The other is the Winky Lux First Swipe Conditioning Primer that I use as a lash primer before mascara. I’ve had both for about 6 months and neither feels even close to used up. I really like both and they serve different purposes, but ultimately I use the Winky Lux more and likely won’t repurchase the Pacifica. For mascara I use the CoverGirl Eye Enhancer in Berry Brown and I adore it. I don’t think I will ever purchase a different mascara until this one is discontinued.

You may have noticed in the last post that lips and lip balms are my most abundant categories. I will try to rapid fire these. The E.L.F. Lip Balm Tint is 6+ years old, I have used in once in the last 12 months but keep convincing myself I’ll use it more. L.A. Colors Holographic Iridescent Lip Gloss is at least 4 years old, I’m so close to finishing it and am hopeful it will be used up by the new year. I will not repurchase or replace this product because I have other lip glosses. The Estee Lauder Limited Edition Lip Gloss in Decadent Peach was part of the free Gift With Purchase I got in September, I’ve used it more than I expected to. I received the CoverGirl Melting Pout Glitz as a stocking stuffer last Christmas and I haven’t even opened it, but I’ve promised myself when the Holographic Lip Gloss is used up I will open it and try to use it at least once every two weeks. The L’Oreal Infallible Matte Liquid Lipstick I also received as a stocking stuffer last year, I’ve used it a handful of times. A Rimmel The Only 1 Lipstick I’ve had for at least 8 years is my go to for actual lipstick and it is almost done. I suspect based on my usage it will take me 6 months to finish it. I do not intend to immediately replace with a similar item, but would consider it if the need arises. The CoverGirl Melting Pout Vinyl Vow is 4 years old, it is currently about 3/4 full and I can see myself using it up within 2 years. I doubt I would feel the need to replace it. I have a Wet n Wild Perfect Pout Gel Lip Liner that I genuinely don’t remember how old it is. This product is no where near finished and I use it maybe once every couple of months. I have an Ulta beauty Velvet Matte Lip Crayon that is probably about 3-4 years old. I use it occasionally and it is nowhere near finished. I bought a Sephora Collection About That Shine Sheer Shine Lipstick on October 11, 2024. Less than a week later I bought the Nyx Fat Oil Lip Drip. Both of these are a product I will keep in my purse and use for weeks on end before switching them out for each other.

Moving onto the lip balms, lets start with the one closest to being finished. I have a Sephora Collection Lip Sleeping Mask that I bought for myself in December of last year. I have a maximum of one week of use left. I notice that I don’t mind interchanging a lip mask for regular lip balm at night so I won’t repurchase, though I often am tempted by seasonal scents/flavors. I have a Chap Ice mini lip balm that I was given as a gift about 3 years ago and have not opened yet. I know when I do open it, I will get approximately six months of use out of it. I have a SunBum Sunscreen Lip Balm I bought before a vacation in April for the sun protection. I have not used it since that trip because I hate the way it somehow seeps into my mouth making everything taste like sunscreen. I keep it though because sun protection is important and I want it on hand just in case. I can’t remember if it was in March or June, but on one trip to see my family in Maryland I thought I lost my lip balm and bought three as a replacement because I couldn’t decide. Two of them are a two pack of the same EOS Birthday Cake in a stick format, that I have not opened yet. I also bought an EOS 24H Moisture Super Balm that I have used occasionally and will become my primary lip balm after the Sephora Collection lip mask is finished.

I have only briefly hinted at my temptation level when it comes to the sale season for each category so I will go through the categories again with brief explanations. Since I don’t use primers they are a 0/10 temptation. Foundations are a temptation when it comes to lighter coverage BB/CC creams and tinted moisturizers, but I know how long it takes me to get through one product so the temptation is usually pretty low at 2/10. Color corrector and concealer are both practical for me rather than part of an aesthetic dream so they sit at a 0/10. Blush for some reason has been creeping up in temptation, for some reason this sale season blush is sitting at a 5/10. Highlighter is not as tempting as it used to be so it’s a 0/10 this season. Setting Spray I use so infrequently there is no desire, 0/10 temptation. When it comes to eye products single eyeshadows are usually a strong temptation sitting at around an 8/10 and the only thing that stops me is knowing that it took me 4 years to get through my previous primary single eyeshadow. Eyeshadow palettes can be tempting in advertisements, but as I don’t really use the palettes I have now it tempers the temptation to a 2/10. Mascara is a practical product for me so temptation sits at a 1/10. Lash primer, now that I own two are similarly practical, sitting at a 0/10, but I remember when I didn’t have any I was so enraptured with the fantasy of it and want to be mindful that temptation level could skyrocket if I were to run out. Lip color products are easily my biggest temptation at a 9/10. It takes so much to talk myself out of buying new products particularly glosses, oils, and tinted balms. regular lip balms are similarly a high temptation, especially when it comes to seasonal or limited edition scents/flavors so I’ll rate it an 8/10 temptation. Unfortunately, especially during the holiday/end of year sale season individual products are not the only temptation for me. Gift sets, bundles, and advent calendars also appeal to me for the excitement of receiving multiple new products for a supposed discount. Plus these items, even if I buy them for myself feel like a gift which is its own form of temptation. These types of packages usually sit an a temptation level 8 or 9 out of 10. What has been helping me so far is looking at the individual products as part of their makeup category and when I see categories that do not on their own tempt me, the temptation for the entire package usually dwindles to a manageable 2 to 4 out of ten.

Going through the age and actual usage of my current products has been really humbling, particularly in regard to lip products. I want to dedicate myself to using up the lip products I currently own and hopefully keeping the total number of products to a minimum. I don’t have a great idea of how few products would be a good number for me, but I’d estimate 4 lip colors and 2 lip balms would be a good balance for me. Assuming I don’t buy any more products, I suspect it could take me a year or two to reach that with my lip balms, and easily another 4-6 years to reach that number for my lip colors. That is a really daunting and somewhat shameful prospect, especially considering not only do cosmetics go bad, but many of these products are already past their expiration date.

I’m not ready to throw out any of my makeup right now so I will hold off, at least until the end of the month when I review my usage numbers. Of course, if I start noticing any irritation or changes in smell, color, or texture of a product that will be grounds for disposal, but in my experience that is unlikely to happen in the next 27 days.