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Enough is enough, no more toiletries for me
By Meg | April 17, 2008
I’ve been continuing to declutter around the house. The yard sale pile is growing slowly but surely and the house has never looked better. However, there is one area that does not seem as conducive to decluttering: the bathroom. Yes, of all places, that’s my hang-up — even though I could really care less about most personal care products.
Apparently, I’m a moisturizer magnet despite the fact that I’ve never really had problems with dry skin. In fact, I’m the gal who’s always being told, “Wow, you have such soft skin. What’s your secret?” My secret is partly good genetics, partly Florida humidity, and partly that I spend most of my time typing and not involved in hard labor.
I also don’t use a lot of lotion. Except for facial moisturizer, which I’m rather picky about, I don’t really use body lotion. Well, at least I didn’t.
Over the years, I’ve accumulated quite a bit of the stuff, some as gifts and some as free samples. For some reason, I hate the idea of throwing it out and I don’t even want to give it away. I’m intent on using it up. So, recently I’ve started using it on my legs and feet mostly which are the two areas that could probably use a little hydration.
So, no more moisturizer for me — free or otherwise, unless I’m given it specifically to review. I have two big things of Cetaphil from Sams which I use on my face, and plenty more moisturizer for everywhere else.
At the same time, I’m also trying to use up all the bar soap in the house — also something that I don’t normally use but which has accumulated as gifts, free samples, hotel souvenirs. Oh, and my husband bought some in bulk at Sams before he decided that it was too drying for his skin and switched to using body wash. On the bright side, I have plenty of body lotion if it dries my skin. As for him, he uses cocoa butter lotion for his sensitive, picky skin.
On the plus side, I think he’s going to try some of the shampoo I’ve been trying to get rid of. I bought a large bottle of it at Sams — a sure sign that it wouldn’t work out. As it turned out, it weighed down my ultra-fine hair too much. I gave it to our last room mate. She used it for a while but she left it behind when she moved out recently. Again, I know I could just throw it out, but… well, it seems a shame to toss it out. I can weed my wardrobe and declutter mercilessly except when it comes to beauty products and other toiletries.
No more buying shampoo. I have two big bottles as well as at least on other sample pack. Ditto on the conditioner. No more spray conditioner either. Even if I ever get done with the bottle I have, I can make my own with water and a little regular conditioner. And I still have plenty of leave-in hair conditioner, hair spray, hair gel, and other assorted hair products, though I am proud of myself for finally tossing some mousse that I never used more than once because it felt too gunky on my hair.
And did I mention that I have a lifetime supply of deodorant? Yep, bought that at Sams and got a few samples, too. Even using daily, these samples seem to be usable for months. I didn’t think samples were supposed to last that long. What gives?
Facial wipes, lip balm, shave gel, three bottles of nail polish remover (not to mention nail polish)… the list goes on. I rejoiced the last time I finished a roll of floss. Only half a dozen more to go. At least I did throw out some lip sticks and glosses recently and a few months ago I threw out the bottles of perfume that I last wore sometime in the ’90s.
As for the rest, I’m going through it all slowly but surely. At the very least, most of the extra stuff is stored neatly in plastic bins. Maybe some day I’ll just give most of the stuff away and start fresh. In the meantime, though, I do appreciate that I don’t have to spend money on personal care products for a very long time.
Tags: Beauty, Hair, Organization & Decluttering, Skincare
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April 17th, 2008 at 10:50 am
I did this a few months ago, and it was very liberating!
I love free samples, but sometimes they start to take over my life. I also found that I would use up all but the last one or two pumps of things that I really liked, like scented lotions or body sprays, because I didn’t want to not have it anymore. By consciously trying to use things up, I wound up with more space in my medicine cabinet and softer skin–and I don’t feel bad ordering more free samples!
April 17th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
That’s the best thing. TO use it up, little by little…
April 17th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I have a lot of toiletries as well and I also feel a great sense of accomplishment when I use all of something up. I have found that it’s not worth cluttering my house to get all of those free samples (unless I’m really going to use them right away). I also started donating some of my toiletries to a local homeless shelter, which is great since it makes me feel good and reduces the amount of clutter I have!
April 17th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I’m so glad to know that I’m not alone in my little obsession ; )
As much as I would like to just get rid of some of the stuff, I do feel, like CalGirlFinance said, “a great sense of accomplishment.” Funny, but so true! But what a great idea to donate them to a local homeless shelter! I’ll have to look into that. That would give me a way to still have fun looking for freebies AND keep the place less cluttered AND help people, too — what a win-win-win situation!
Little Miss Moneybags,
Isn’t it weird how those two urges interact: the urge to use it up, but also also the urge to hold onto things and get that last little bit out. When I start a container of something, I usually use plenty of whatever it is, then towards the end I will try to squeeze every last little bit out and even water things down just to make it last longer. Part of me feels like it’s cheating not to.
Fabulously Broke,
Agreed and will do — though it may take me years at this point! Fortunately, I think my husband is coming around to the bar soap again now that he’s caught the frugal bug, too. In the meantime, though, I still was able to find some body wash around here that didn’t smell to girlie.
April 18th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Greetings, Meg!
I’ve been a follower of your blog for some time now, and just wanted to say that I really enjoy reading your posts. I’m a big fan of de-cluttering myself, and I totally relate to your challenge with the toiletries. Those little sample sizes are eeevil!
April 18th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Shampoo that doesn’t work for your hair can be used as body wash.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Hi Jennifer! Thanks for introducing yourself! Yes, eeevil is the word! I keep looking forward to the day when my husband and I have one bottle of shampoo, one bottle of body wash or bar of soap, etc. Fortunately for him, I’m really not picky about those things, so he can still get whatever he wants — though I’ll be working on the reserves for some time of course.
By the way, I checked out your blog and site. I can’t wait to read more! It sounds like you and I went through a similar phase with our wardrobes. It’s nice now to have a functional wardrobe, isn’t it? I’ll have to share some of my secrets in an upcoming post, though some of my secrets are probably some of your secrets, too ;)
April 18th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
I also find that a sample size of deodorant seems to last at least 3 months, since I came to that realization, I now only allow myself 3-4 samples of the item in my house to keep down clutter.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Great idea, Rosie! I might try that!
Dawn, I’m glad to know it’s not just me! I mean, I know I use deoderant every day — but it still seems like those sticks last longer than they should. Since I still have half a dozen or so full-size sticks I should be good for a few years.
April 20th, 2008 at 9:59 am
I decluttered my nail polishes when I realized that I really don’t paint my nails that much. It felt good to be rid of the extra junk.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:49 am
That’s something I really should do, too, JJ! I’ve weeded out a few colors that just didn’t work on me, but I’m still debating how many of the better colors I want to keep.
I started painting my nails again recently, in part to force myself to make use of what I have. Don’t get me wrong, I love to paint my nails, but I don’t mind not doing it either.
Most of the time I just don’t think about it or don’t have time. I’m insanely impatient, so I usually ruin polish within five minutes or less with my fidgeting.
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I’ve stopped buying beauty products unless something runs out…including samples! I started this over a year ago, and I’m just starting to purchase new shampoo. However, I still haven’t even dented my lotion, body wash, and soap stash. I did cheat and buy some lush soap.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:58 am
Hi SavingDiva!
Isn’t it amazing how long toiletries last? I don’t feel so bad anymore about splurging on a nice facial cleanser since the one I’ve been using has lasted a year and a half and may last another year. Maybe it’s a good thing, then, that I don’t find a lot of samples for facial cleansers. I must admit, I did pick up a few other skincare samples the other day.