Some of us are able to elegantly pick up a few items at makeup haven Sephora, store them neatly in boxes and move on with our lives. And then we have the makeup hoarders. We snowball cosmetics, stuff them in pouches, bins, bags, containers, and under our beds, while all of it spills out of our cabinets. It can sometimes feel like you’re drowning in a sea of liquid foundations and makeup brushes.
But have you ever tried parting with four Estee Lauder lipsticks and an eye-shadow palette that is now discontinued? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
A little while ago, as I was taking a mini inventory in an effort to clean out the products, I realised the magnitude of my issue. I’m a self-confessed (recovering) beauty hoarder. I had unused makeup in my collection that’s been there a long time…a really long time. Remember the Claire’s eye-shadow kits that a visiting uncle would bring? Remember when Paris Hilton made makeup? No? That’s okay. It was a short-lived venture and you didn't miss much. I even found an old Powerpuff Girls perfume, which was probably bought when I was around eight.
I realised that I must have suffered some sort of insane attack on at least 12 different occasions in my life. How else can I justify buying the most horrid shades of eye-shadow? Case in point being a disgusting, frog-green eye-colour! The worst part is that I had clearly thought this through because I also found a matching pencil, both of which (fortunately) look barely used. I must be delusional enough to believe I was a millionaire because I had at least 11 tubes of mascara, 18 eyeliner pencils, nine foundations (which is not so bad), plus counting the numerous moisturisers, lip balms, lipsticks and eye-shadows — something I wasn’t mentally prepared for. Most of the shades are ridiculous and unwearable. This was the money I could have put toward something useful... like you know, a Hermes bag…sigh!
Half of my goodies are what I would like to call ‘procurement by opportunities’, which means I bought them on sale or as part of a deal that gave me another fabulous product. Most of these ‘sales’ are 10% clearance discounts. But buying a hand cream at any discount is better than buying it at full price, right? Well, at least I’m experimental.
I like to think that I’m now a changed woman, and have no problem in looking at an eyeliner and saying no. This does not mean that I'm not going to breakup with my makeup. A practical realisation is that my style has changed dramatically and I no longer take big risks when it comes to buying makeup. No more green eye-shadow and body shimmer mist for me, thank you very much.
They say every woman should have a signature scent, and I have about 15. And I like my lipsticks right where I can find them: anywhere and everywhere.
(The writer is a reporter with TNIE, loves to read, a hopeless romantic, and would like a bottle of wine attached to an IV)