10 palettes I’m decluttering

Clearing out my stash

I always like to do a declutter every few months to make some space in my collection. Find new homes for things that are unloved, or to clear out products that have expired. When pulling everything out to go through, I noticed a large pile of one product type in particular… palettes! So for this post, I wanted to focus on what palettes I’m getting rid of and why.

Time for a declutter

It can be a bit of an inner struggle to let go of things sometimes. A voice in my head will say “but what if you need it one day?” . The truth is, when my collection is at capacity and I’m not finish products before they expire, I can end-up using products I feel lukewarm about. Whilst the ones I love, get pushed to the back of a drawer. That’s when I know, it’s time to reassess my collection.

I still love makeup, I just don’t have a desire to own so much of it anymore.

Makeup can expire really quickly and it’s so rare I finish anything besides mascaras and concealers, meaning it was time to look through my collection and have a clear-out.

I have made more piles of products I want to delcutter, but today I wanted to focus on drugstore palettes. I find in general, drugstore makeup is easier for me to declutter, as I haven’t spent as much on it. If it’s a product I really love, I will of course keep it but these 10 palettes just aren’t getting enough love from me.

Decluttering PR

Some of these palettes were sent to me in PR. I’m always very grateful to a brand for sending me products to test and review. I always give my honest feedback, on what works for me and what doesn’t. As a result, sometimes not everything is a 100% win. If I’m not using it, or it doesn’t suit me, I would rather find it a new home. I never sell PR products but I do delcutter them. The same way I would any other product in my collection. At the end of the day, I only have one face and I have to be realistic about what I would use and what I won’t.

ELF Illuminating palette | £7.50

The ELF Illuminating palette is just too subtle and can look rather powdery on my skin. I find the tones of shades to not really show up on my skin either. Unfortunately this palette just isn’t a win all around. I do however, love that you can pop the pans out and mix and match with their other face palettes. ELF is a very affordable brand and I think the quality of their products can be fantastic but the illuminating palette missed the mark.

Rimmel #Insta Conceal & Contour Dark palettes | £6.49

There are three shade varieties in the Rimmel #Insta Conceal & Contour palettes. I was very kindly sent all the shades in the collection in PR and loved the collection as a whole. Light and medium work well for my skin tone, but I am decluttering dark. These concealers are a little on the dryer side but the coverage is good and if patted into the skin, I find the wear-time to be decent as well. It’s not slight on the product, it’s just not my shade.

Collection Eyes Uncovered Matt Nude Rose eyeshadow palette | £3.99

The Collection Eyes Uncovered palette in matte nude rose is an absolute bargain. I’m still floored at how they have made such a good palette, for under £5. I love matte shadows and felt the rosy tones would make a nice addition to my collection. The powders are smooth and not too chalky but there is a lot of kick-up and fall-out. These are pretty sheer shadows and although can be built-up, I find the fall-out to be a little too high maintenance for the pay-off. I think this is a palette I could convince myself to keep, as I do really like the shade selection but it just doesn’t wow me more than other palettes in my collection.

ELF Prism Eyeshadow palette in Sunset | £10

When I originally brought the ELF Prism eyeshadow palette, I was so excited about the shade range. I felt the warm sunset tones were all really pretty and would make fantastic lid shades. I didn’t mind that this was an all shimmer palette, as I could always reach for other mattes in my collection to create a look. The shades however, are just too sheer for my taste and end up looking like a wash of shimmer without any colour on the lid. You can build them up but I find it to be too much work. When other shadows I have, perform better right out of the gate. It’s a nice palette but nothing knock-out and I just don’t find myself reaching for it.

Bourjois Smoky Stories eyeshadow palette in Brilliant Prunette | £7.99

The Bourjous Smoky Stories eyeshadow palette in Brilliant Prunette was PR gifted to me last year for Kissmass. The pigmentation is good and I find these shadows easy to blend. The glitter shade in the middle, does go everywhere and can be hard to build-up. If you tend to do your base before your eyes, this can be a bit of a turn-off. The shades are nice but I don’t think they complement me very well. If you are after a good drugstore eyeshadow formula, then this wouldn’t disappoint, but I haven’t reached for it beyond my initial review period.

The Beauty Crop Love U So Latte eyeshadow trio | £7

This one’s cheating a bit, as The Beauty Crop Love U So Latte is really a trio and not a palette but I threw it into the mix regardless. I received this in a Birchbox earlier this year, so its not a product I chose for myself. I really do like the shade selection, the warm browns are exactly what I would wear. The shimmers are beautiful and the matte isn’t bad either. I really can’t fault it, expect for the fact, I just haven’t been using it. It may be because it’s so small, it got a bit lost in my collection. Or the fact there are only three shades, wasn’t enough to tempt me, I’m not sure. Either way, I haven’t reached for it since I got it and although I think there is nothing wrong with it, it’s not enough of a reason to keep.

Rimmel Kate Coral Glow face palette | £6.99

The Rimmel Kate Coral Glow face palette was also sent to me by Rimmel and initially I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, these powders have formed a hard coating on the top, that I feel like I have to scrub my brush into, to get any product. The shades are really nice and I think the packaging is lovely but they are just quite dry and stiff powders to use and as a result I don’t find the pay-off worthwhile.

MUA Coral delights eyeshadow palette | £3.50

The MUA Coral Delights eyeyshadow palette was a spur of the moment buy. Affordable and pretty to look at, it’s no surprised this found its way into my shopping basket. The shades are very pretty and although they are all shimmer, I wasn’t put off by this palette. I find the pigmentation isn’t great and they are a little crumbly. Not impossible to work with but a little more effort than I’m after. If I didn’t have a lot of shades like these already,  I would probably keep it, as it’s a nice palette and has some great everyday neutral shades.

Kiko Face palette in Elegant Charme | £12.90

I brought the Kiko face palette in a haul last year. It was discounted to a really good price, so I thought why not? I think the blush and bronzer are nice but the highlighter isn’t illuminating enough for me. This is another palette I just felt lukewarm about. So unfortunately, it got the axe as a result. Kiko make some really great products and if you can get them on a discount even better. As I hadn’t reached for this since I got it, it was time to go.

Rimmel Magnif’eyes London Nudes Calling eyeshadow palette | £7.99

The London Nudes Calling palette, was also sent to me and I just found it a little to cool toned to suit me. The shimmers are nice and the mattes, although they take a bit of work, aren’t to bad either. There isn’t any fall-out with this palette, which I always appreciate. It’s a nice compact size and the taupe tones are a good staple to have. I just don’t use this as I’m a warm toned lover at heart.

Decluttering questions to ask yourself

My delcutering is still continuing, and I have felt so much better for it. Every weekend, I just set a bit of time aside to pull a few things out, that I haven’t received for in a while. My technique at the moment is to ask myself a series of questions and gauge my response. The products I’m still on the fence about, I put in a drawer in another room. If I find myself looking for that product in a few weeks, I allow it back into my collection. If in a few weeks I check that draw and had forgot all about it, it’s time for us to part ways.

• Do I love this product?

The most important question I ask myself is; if I actually love and want to use this product. It can be tricky when I only like a product, or love certain aspects and not others, but it its not something I really love, it’s not worth keeping.

• Have I reached for this recently (less than 3 months)?

I fall into this trap a lot. of convincing myself I love a product and yet I never, ever reach for it. If that’s the case, I probably didn’t love it as much as I thought I did.

• How old is this item, is it close to expiring or is it actually expired?

A really great resource to use is Check Fresh. I use this all the time to find out how old a product is. There is a little symbol on most products, that looks like an open jar. This will indicate how long a product should be used for after opening. There will also be a batch code somewhere on the product which can be used to estimate its production date.

• Is it unique within my collection?

The other day, I was looking for a matte orange eyeshadow in my collection and couldn’t find anything like it. In this instance, I would have been grateful to have at least one matte orange eyeshadow. But if you had asked me for a matte mid-toned brown, I could have produce a plethora of options. Sometimes it can be handy to keep products that serve a different purpose, unless you really will never reach for it of course. But if it’s one of many, you probably don’t need them all.

• Does it have sentimental value?

Maybe you wore this on a special occasion, or it was a gift from someone you love. It can be really hard to part with products that hold a special memory. In these cases, I sometimes will keep the item but not within my actual used rotation. I have an eyeshadow palette from YSL that is probably around 12 years old, it’s in a shoebox with a few other things I cherish and although it’s not been used in 10+ years. It’s still special to me and something I want to keep, even if it’s purpose has changed.

Final Tip

Don’t spend hours on it, the longer you spend, the more likely you will get feed-up and just put things back in a drawer to be done with it. I like to do a drawer at a time and take a break. It shouldn’t feel like a massive chore just something to do every once in a while to keep on top of things.

And that’s a wrap!

It feels so good to make some room in my palette drawer and focus on the products I really love. Although it can be difficult to get rid of things, I always feel better for doing it. I have yet to regret letting go of anything I’ve parted with. I’m still planning to go through the rest of my collection and make some cuts, so there might be another decluttering on the horizon!

What have you delcuttered recently?

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