Happy New Year!
I’m writing this while fumbling through my second bout of the dreaded Covid, so if words are out of order or completely nonsensical, you’ll know why.
I’ve had a lovely end of 2022 and start of 2023, and so I can’t be too bitter about the spicy cough.
But it’s definitely time to record my final Face Forward project update for 2022 - an attempt I’ve made all year to conscientiously use up cosmetic and beauty products.
I’m glad I’m doing these updates quarterly, because it definitely feels like you bring things home in that final month and log more empty bottles and jars. I was very proud of getting through a number of hair products, including leave-in conditioners, along that top row.
In the middle row you’ll see a particularly large tub of Redwin Hyaluronic Hydrating moisturiser that has basically taken all year to use. Finishing that was particularly satisfying. Cheap and cheerful, it definitely is a good, basic product that will last you ages if you’re a basic skincare person. The Ole Hendrickson PHAT Glow Facial Mask was another high five finisher - it seemed to go on forever! It’s not a cheap buy, but obviously you get a lot of bang for your buck.
I was particularly pleased with the makeup I was able to finish in this quarter, which you can see in the bottom row - including a full foundation (the lovely L’oreal True Match Serum). I would buy it again, but I have so many foundations I want to work through. You’ll also see in a separate pic I was making good progress with a Bourjois full coverage foundation, which proved excellent for stage work and other sweatier conditions, but it was knocked onto the floor and broken. Bourjois has left the Australian market, so there’s no repurchasing that one, but as I said, I have lots of other base products to get through!
I also used up three primers, a fantastic Sol De Janeiro Brazilian Kiss lipbalm (would buy again in future, but you guessed, heaps of others to get through first), the viral W7 lip mask (worth the hype and now constantly sold out) and even a Flower Beauty face powder - although that was somewhat helped along by a drop that saw the remaining powder shatter.
Products used up October, November and December 2022.
A foundation I was working to use up that was knocked onto the floor, possibly by a cat. It was about a third full.
I also did a beauty cabinet (yes, I have a cabinet, I have a hoarding problem, hence this project) declutter, and managed to cull the products in the below picture.
Some of these were old and needed to be chucked; some were almost finished (like the Revlon Candid Foundations), and some were just disasters I kept for too long. That Bite Beauty Foundation was massively hyped, but the formula was sticky and terrible, and the colour just wrong, even though I am a pasty type. It’s been massively reduced on Sephora for ages now, and I think Bite Beauty as a brand is on its way out. I’m not surprised, as the only other thing I’ve tried was a lip product that just smeared ALL over my mouth and onto my chin. A brand I’m quite happy to be done with.
Makeup products I decluttered end of 2022.
I managed to successfully clean out a lot of these tubes/bottles and get them back to Sephora for its Terracycle program, gaining member points for my troubles.
I also decluttered a bunch of nail polishes - my collection is far too big for someone who generally can’t be bothered to paint their nails, so I expect more to come.
Nail polishes I decluttered in the last quarter of 2022.
So all up in this quarter I used up 40 full-size products and 9 sample size products.
I decluttered 33 makeup products; and 19 nail polishes - plus I’ll claim that broken foundations
So all up 102 products were cleared from my collection of god knows how many! That’s just in this quarter.
YEARLY RESULT!
Adding up items from my four Face Forward posts documenting 22022, I used up a mighty 224 products. This actually would have been more had my wonderful mother not thrown out a bunch of empties I’d been hoarding after the second quarter. It’s likely 240 or 250 might be closer to the real number, which is awesome! Obviously some of those were sample sizes, but still, I’m really proud of myself for focusing and not letting this stuff collect dust in my cupboards.
2023 PROJECT
Yes! I’m going to continue this into the new year. I still have many products to use, and of course, I couldn’t help myself from buying new stuff in 2022. I also received a number of things from my friend Liz, who as a beauty writer has an even bigger collection than I do!
So I’ve already been cracking into things and getting started - I hope if you’re interested you’ll continue to follow along as I work further to reduce my collection, and enjoy using all these lovely things I have!