The Beauty Department: Your Daily Dose of Pretty.

hair

MOVE IT OR LOSE IT

If you’ve packed up and moved recently you know, and if you haven’t moved recently you’ve probably blocked it from your memory: moving can be a nightmare! This month I’ve been slowly packing up my entire life and one of the most time consuming/challenging parts of my move was my beauty closet, bathroom and vanity. I thought it would be fun to share the beauty-related part of my move so that if you’re faced with this challenge in the upcoming months, you can come peep this guide for help!

I recently jumped on the Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up train, thanks to a friend of mine. Look it up if you don’t know about it! The concept is basically that you hold something in your hand and if it truly brings you joy, you keep it and if it doesn’t you toss it, donate it or give it to a friend. Since there are hundreds (maybe thousands if we’re being honest) of beauty products between my house, studio and office, that’s a lot of holding product in your hands. Instead I decided to work backwards on that method; I sat down and thought about what products TRULY bring me joy after the world’s longest day or what I won’t skip even on a manic monday morning. Things that came to mind for me:

You get the point… So once I thought of all of those things and boxed them up, I then gathered my essentials: razors, hot irons, medicine cabinet contents, lady stuff, etc… and I box that up too. One major thing I learned is that you have to pack a small kit for yourself, almost like a travel kit, to get you by for a couple days if your move is going to take some time.

Over the years, I have cultivated a massive collection of epic products so I can’t just throw those out because that would be crazy and wasteful! Here’s how I divi’d it all up…

FIRST THINGS FIRST: I check for expiration dates, major clogging that’s not fixable, dryness, product separation, scent changes, shattered palettes and broken bottles or pumps. Toss out anything that’s not quite right.

THE $$$$ ONES: For the expensive things I like to gather my gals. I call up a bunch of my friends and have a little beauty party. I let them take whatever they want because I know they’ll use it if they don’t know how, I can explain it on the spot. For the most part, I give these things to friends instead of donating because I’ve seen donations get tossed for being misunderstood. Example: I donated a very tiny jar eye cream that was around 100 dollars and the guy accepting the donations thought it was a sample and asked me if was trash. Lesson learned.

THE BRAND NEW ONES: If something is brand new and still in the box you can donate it to a local women’s shelter to be given away as a holiday gift. You can also specify that you would like it to be given to a woman who is trying to get back on her feet, feel better about herself and going out for job interviews.

OPENED BUT STILL FULL: A lot of times I will receive a great product and I’ll open it to try it but not necessarily want to keep it. I recently started donating all of those things to an AMAZING charity called The Beauty Bus. It’s the most incredible organization and they’re doing the sweetest things. I dare you to go on that website and not bawl your eyeballs out.

Beauty Bus Foundation delivers dignity, hope and respite to chronically or terminally ill men, women and children and their caregivers through beauty and grooming services and pampering products.

I also donate to my favorite women’s shelters, family programs, beauty schools, etc. Google foundations in your area and read the reviews online about their donation programs!

And last, but certainly not least is putting these things in actual boxes. I found the best was was to break everything up into categories. I used small “banker boxes” (because beauty product gets heavy AF real fast). I got them on Amazon went with these categories. Feel free to merge some if you have less of one category or break some up if you have more!

IN-SHOWER (makes it easier to unpack)
MEDICINE CABINET
HAIR EQUIPMENT / BRUSHES/ IRONS
HAIRCARE + STYLING PRODUCT
NAIL POLISH + MANICURE/PEDICURE
LIPS + LASHES
FOUNDATION AND CONTOUR
BLUSHES + EYESHADOWS
SKINCARE + BODYCARE
MISC: MASKS, TRAVEL BOTTLES, LOOFAHS, ETC

If you’re packing up this weekend or anytime soon, we hope this advise help! And here’s hoping you’re more organized when you get there than you were before you left!