Makeup Inventory for March 2016!

As I watch more and more YouTube video's it's obvious that you start to see trends. The latest has been makeup declutters and makeup inventories. These video's consist of going through your collection and getting rid of old or expired products along with one's that you just don't use. After that, you then add up the total amount of products in your collection to see where you stand. Since I generally declutter my collection every 3 - 4 months I thought this would also be a great time for me to do a makeup inventory and talk about that process here on Embrace & Ignite.

Decluttering makeup can be a really scary task because we spent money on the products in our collection and there something we invested in. But not all beauty products are made equal and that $8 lipstick that you purchased is the wrong nude shade for you and it's just going to keep sitting in your drawer not getting used. It's time to get rid of it and start loving everything in your collection. When I started decluttering on a regular basis it was also a scary process for me. Honestly, there were hundreds of things I threw away because they just plain sucked and were so old they didn't function properly anymore. Now that I declutter 3 to 4 times a year, this has made my collection more managable and is less of a scary process then when I first started out.

The beginning of March, I thought it was time for a decutter again. I was forgetting about products that were stuck at the back of my drawers and I knew there were things in my collection that were old and that I just didn't like. Over the course of a few days I really took a deep look into my collection and cleared things out that I wasn't 100% sure I loved or needed. After that I gave myself a break and did a second round of decluttering to make sure I hadn't forget anything that I wanted to toss or give away. Once my decluttering process was finished, I overhauled my collection and did some new organization so that I could access all of the products quickly and easily.

Now come's the fun part! I took a notebook and wrote down every category of makeup that I owned. Everything from foundation primer to single eyeshadows to liquid lipsticks went on this list. I then began counting up the products I had in each category and writing the totals down. I did this count roughly 3 to 4 times to make sure that my numbers were accurate and I hadn't forgot anything. Today I'm sharing those numbers with you:

• Skincare
• Makeup Removers = 4
• Toners = 2
• Moisturizers = 3
• Other = 3
• Face Primer = 7
• Concealer = 6
• Foundation = 8
• BB Creams = 3
• Pressed Powder = 4
• Loose Powder = 2
• Blush
• Powder  = 37
• Cream = 5
• Palettes = 6
• Bronzers
• Powder = 14
• Cream = 0
• Palettes = 0
• Highlighters
• Powder = 5
• Cream = 2
• Palettes = 0
• Face Palettes = 4
• Brow Products
• Powder = 2
• Pencil = 7
• Gel/Cream/Wax = 3
• Eye Primer = 3
• Eyeshadow
• Singles = 82
• Palettes (2-5 Shadows) = 35
• Large Palettes = 51
• Cream = 20
• Pigments/Glitter = 8
• Eyeliners
• Pencil = 19
• Liquid = 12
• Gel = 0
• Jumbo Eye Pencils = 23
• Mascara = 8
• Lip Liner = 7
• Lipgloss = 42
• Lipstick = 112
• Liquid Lipstick = 26
• Tinted Lipbalm = 17
• Jumbo Lip Pencils = 25
• Lip Balm = 18
• Setting Sprays = 2
• Samples = 36
• Brushes/Tools
• Sponges = 2
• Face Brushes = 23
• Eye Brushes = 42

I've been collecting makeup for the last 5 years of my life and while that isn't an excuse it's also important to remember that I blog about makeup and am also a makeup artist. Some of these numbers are alarming including my entire eyeshadow collection and of course, the lipstick category. After seeing these numbers it's really obvious to me that I DON'T need to purchase any more beauty or makeup products for a very long time. In doing this makeup inventory, I've also set goals for myself to declutter my collection further and use products up, I'm hoping to achieve by the end of 2016. In the meantime, I'm going to be trying really hard to do Project Pan Challenges to use products up and I'm really going to focus on rotating my collection so that I'm really using the products that I currently have. Starting this journey has definitely been a scary one for me because I do have a large collection and it does have a special place in my heart because it's what I love to do. But I also realize product do expire and things do go bad and it's really time I focus on using products rather than buying products!

What are your thoughts on my makeup inventory?
Have you ever decluttered or collection or done a makeup inventory?


** Products in this makeup inventory include both things I've purchased and PR samples!
** Does not include unopened products or back-ups!
** Products were counted on Sunday, March 201th 2016