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If you love your makeup, but digging through drawers full of products doesn’t really feel like fun, and deep down, you know it eventually leads to a lot of money wasted, then hi, welcome—this is for you and me both. 

Being on this decluttering journey made me realise which products I actually use and which ones are just taking up space and wasting my money. Come do a makeup declutter with me.

In this article, I’m sharing with you my minimalist makeup formula. It’s the one that really helps me keep a curated collection of items that I really enjoy using and make me feel good, while also staying intentional about it. 

Keep reading below or watch the video:

My makeup styles

To begin with, I need to tell you that I have two makeup styles. 

One is the daily makeup, and it’s what I wear on a regular basis. The other one is the full face makeup, which is what I’m usually wearing when I’m filming a video or for a special occasion. 

My routine

I currently have products in my makeup collection in eight categories, and in some of them, I just have a couple of products.

Foundation

I usually start with my foundation, which I wear most days, regardless of which of my two makeup styles I’m going for.

And the product I’m relying on is the Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Foundation that I’ve been repurchasing for six or seven years now. It’s one of my go-to foundations. It’s matte, not too shiny, and stays on all day. And I apply it with just my fingers, no brush or sponge needed.

The difference between the daily and the full face makeup is the amount of foundation I’m using. For the daily one, I put just a little amount of it to even out my skin tone. But for a full face makeup to film a video, for example, I might use a bit more, because on camera it looks slightly different than in real life. 

Eyebrow Gel

The next step is to do my eyebrows, and I use L’Oreal Paris Paradise Brow Pomade. I really love using it because it has a really nice creamy consistency, but it dries up a bit after application, which I think it’s great. 

I have it in the Brunette shade as it suits me really well, and I’ve gotten used to it. This is one product that I’ve also repurchased many times. 

Eyeshadows

I used to have a MAC palette, but I couldn’t find it when I needed to repurchase it, so I just bought two singles. They are MAC eyeshadows, and they’re really good. They don’t crease, and they stay on very well. The two I’ve got are my favourite, but they do have a large variety of colours, which I love.

For my daily makeup, I don’t necessarily wear eyeshadow, depending on my mood. But for my full face of makeup, I do. And I apply the dark brown MAC Cork in my crease, and then the lighter shade MAC Brule in the inner corner of my eye. 

Eyeliner

I usually skip this step for my daily makeup, but when I’m doing a full face makeup, I will apply eyeliner. And I’m using Le Khol Naturel Eyeliner by L’Oréal.

The way I use it is I do a little line on my upper lash line, just roughly, and then I brush it out a bit so as to smoke it out a bit and make it not such a harsh line.

Mascara

I do wear mascara pretty much every day, whether it’s a daily makeup look or a full face one. And my go-to is the Maybelline Colossal Mascara, which I’ve also been using for years. I’ve tried other mascaras, but I keep coming back to this one because it’s just so good. 

Concealer

I usually wear concealer for a full face of makeup. For a daily routine, I’d probably skip it, since I already use a bit of foundation, and that works well enough for me.

The concealer I have right now is the YSL Touche Éclat one. It doesn’t crease and I think it works really well, but I’m not yet sure I would repurchase it as it’s quite pricey. I’m pretty sure I can find other ones that are lower cost and do the same thing, so I’ll see. I do like it, I’m going to use it until I use it up, but I’m not sure if to repurchase this specific one.

Bronzer and highlighter

Using bronzer to contour my face and then applying a bit of highlighter is part of my daily routine because I really like the look of them.

I’m using Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronzer Duo, a product I really like though it’s my first time using it. I bought it a few weeks ago, but I think I’m going to repurchase it again and again as it’s so good. 

Lip balm and lipsticks

For my lips, I have three lip products that I use on rotation depending on the day. 

If it’s a normal day where I’m not doing much, I will usually just wear lip balm, which is the regular Vaseline lip balm that I have. 

But when I want to do a lip product, I might do the lipstick, which is my MAC Blankety Lipstick.

I also like using a combo of NYX products, especially for when I’m filming. For this, I’m using the NYX Lip Lingerie Liquid Lipstick, which dries up matte, so I love applying it. And over it, I apply the NYX Lip Gloss. I just dab it around and make it slightly less matte, if that’s the look I want to go for.

My Makeup Rules

I also have a few rules I use when it comes to makeup products.

Only one in each category

When I look at my makeup collection, I want to have pretty much only one product in each category. I don’t want to have two mascaras or two foundations at the same time.

One thing I noticed while decluttering was that I had to throw away many unfinished makeup products. I hadn’t had the chance to use them up, but they had expired or gone bad and weren’t working or safe anymore.

This made me realise that actually using up an entire product—especially makeup, since we often have so many (I used to have a drawer stuffed to the brim) — takes a really long time.

And if you’ve ever tried Project Pan, where you aim to use up your bronzer or highlighter, you’ve probably noticed it takes a long time. When we have multiple products in the same category, it can take ages to get through them, and they’re likely to expire before we actually use them all.

I’ve found that having just one of each makeup product strikes the right balance for me. I can still try new things if I want to, but only after I finish what I’m using, like the concealer I mentioned earlier. Keeping one of each product prevents me from being wasteful or spending money on items that end up just sitting unused. It’s also been a really helpful rule to keep myself in check and avoid buying too many beauty products.

One in, one out

This rule means that if I’m adding something new to any of my makeup categories—like a new mascara or lip product—I take a look at what I already have and ask myself if there’s anything I’m not using. 

In general, if I feel the need to buy something new, chances are the old ones aren’t meeting my needs anymore. Then I can let go of the old one and bring in the new. This helps me keep my collection manageable and ensures I actually use what I have.

I’m not a warehouse

I have been applying this rule for a while now. I first read about it in the book Goodbye, Things by Fumio Sasaki. 

The idea is that we don’t need to turn our homes into warehouses filled with backups, duplicates, and products we’re just hoping to use someday.

That’s what shops are for, and they have their own warehouses and their own staff handling all that stock. I don’t need to have all of that in my home. When I need to buy a product, it’s easy to do so. 

So, I try not to keep too many duplicates or much backstock—maybe just a few items I know I’ll use up soon—but the goal is to avoid having a big stash of products I’m not currently using.

The beauty wishlist

I have been using wishlists for a few years now, and they are so helpful, especially when it comes to beauty products. 

We’re all easily influenced—sometimes more than we realise, myself included. I used to be really influenced. It’s difficult scrolling on Instagram and seeing these beautiful influencers and the products they use. And while there’s nothing wrong with them promoting what they love, sometimes we just don’t need all of those in our own collections.

Or sometimes we already have so many products that we could go through before purchasing new ones. And sometimes, we think that buying those products is where our beauty will come from—that they’re the things that will add to and improve our lives. 

But especially when it comes to beauty—like our skin, hair, and so on—it’s often the things we eat, how much we exercise, how we move our bodies, and how hydrated we keep ourselves, that play a big role behind the scenes. Makeup usually just enhances that. And it took me over 30 years to learn that it’s those little self-care rituals that make the real difference. It’s not going to be one single beauty product that changes everything.

I hope this makeup declutter article was helpful. Remember to use the comments below and let me know how you’re getting on with your makeup collection.