A few weeks ago, I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
, and as much as I didn’t really want to be spurred into action, it did inspire me to go through my wardrobe and fill up four huge trash bags for donation. That, in turn, got the rest of the family going through their clothes and generating another four bags. Our closets have some breathing room now. It’s really nice.
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I’m not committing to the KonMari method (from the book) in terms of decluttering the whole house in one big swoop. But I did use the method to get the ball rolling with my clothes. From there, I’ve just let the urge to declutter this spot or that spot occur organically.
This means lipstick, people.
The top drawer in our bathroom cabinet was stuffed to the gills with make-up, perfumes, lotions, and jewelry, about 90% of which I haven’t used since I left my day job. 15 years ago. Eek.
In those years, I have pared down my beauty routine considerably. I don’t wear much in the way of make-up, and what I do wear is either homemade or as natural as I can get. I threw everything away except for my current favorites, most notably Burts Bees Lip Shimmers. I have a small stockpile of the discontinued Papaya, which is my favorite one.
I don’t use lotions anymore. I have coconut oil for that. I threw most of the old ones away.
And my favorite perfumes these days are natural enough to be sold at Whole Foods. I’m told they have rigorous standards for what they will carry in their beauty aisles, so I feel ok buying something I see there. Lately my scent is Gin Blossom from Love and Toast.
I didn’t throw away my old perfumes. I stashed them under the sink. I don’t want to wear them every day, but sometimes a girl just needs a splash of her old signature honeysuckle scent, you know? Who cares what might be in it!
I wish I had thought to take a before picture of the drawer. Trust me, it was filled to the top. I did think to photograph the lipstick, though.
I was impressed that I still had so many tubes of stuff I haven’t worn in so long! I was also impressed that they were almost all the same color, give or take a pinch of brown or a pinch of pink here and there.
I’m so happy with my new drawer. I was even able to move the powdered deodorant off of the counter top and into the drawer. I prefer it there. And who doesn’t like more counter space?
I’ve also decluttered my nightstand, and I’ve been working on the top of my dresser, too. My bedroom and bathroom have been horrifying for far too long. I’m so glad to see things changing! I took “before” pictures almost two years ago when I thought I couldn’t stand any more of the clutter. Turns out, I had two more years of ignoring it in me. Who knew?
I can’t wait to share those pictures with you. It’s insane. But first, I have just a few more little corners to take care of!
That is an awe-inspiring collection of lipstick! I’m so glad you thought to take photos!
Seeing how many tubes I had is what inspired me to grab the camera. I had no idea there was that much of it lurking in the back of the drawer!
heee! i was geeking out on konmari photos when your profile pic popped into the foray and i thought “hey, i recognize that face!” love that you wrote this. i was working on a blog post about my lipstick too. i have many shades of red and am having a hard time freeing them but need to do so! also just finished the book and have to return it back to the library but am soooo going to apply much of it to my stuff, crap, and junk! cheers!
p.s. your drawer looks so happy! now you need to cover some cut off cereal boxes to keep it all corralled!
Fun! I love it when I see familiar faces where I wasn’t expecting them 🙂
I used a little jar to put the remaining lipsticks in, and there is so little left after that, there’s really no need to corral it. Although I did use that cereal box trick in my jumbled up silverware drawer and it made things SO much better.