Spring. Sprang. Sprung. It’s that time of year again. Craft a bomb playlist and break out your best cleaning supplies because it’s time for SPRING CLEANING !! I look forward to checking off my spring cleaning checklist every year. Going through everything I own, minimalizing my belongings, and donating just takes a weight off my chest. It makes me feel like I actually have my life together for a bit.
I know I said I look forward to it, and I promise I do, but if you are like me at all, getting started can be overwhelming. Especially once I enter my skincare and beauty space. It is difficult remembering how long I’ve had a product and which products I hardly use. Days just blur together sometimes.
Today we are learning to craft the perfect spring cleaning checklist- skincare and beauty edition. Ladies and gentlemen take out your pens and papers because it’s time to take notes.
I’ve studied up, consulted the best of the best, and am now ready to share my knowledge. Quick shout out to the Home Edit and Marie Kondo for being the BEST in the game.
First things first, maintaining makeup hygiene is crucial. We’ve all been there before- using the same mascara for a year, neglecting the cry for help from our brushes and sponges. But from this point forward, poor makeup hygiene is no more. Tossing out old makeup and old habits is at the top of our spring cleaning checklist.
I’m harping on tossing poor makeup hygiene out the window because it’s actually extremely important for skin health. Old makeup and uncleaned brushes trap tons of bacteria, which can cause breakouts, rashes, and more. Not to mention, the products just don’t work as well as they used to.
PRO TIP #1 - purchase mini mascaras if you do not go through a whole tube every 3 months! It saves you $$ and you don’t feel guilty about wasting product! I’ve made the switch and I feel so much better
PRO TIP #2 - when you purchase your makeup products, check the packaging to see the expiration date! I had Fenty foundation for 2+ years and went looking for a new one (lord knows I needed it). When I told the women at Sephora I had it for so long, she directed me to the back of the packaging which had a tiny opened jar with the number 12 on it, which meant after I opened the product it would be good for 12 months. The jars on products usually have 6, 12, 24, or 36 months. Who knew?
Skincare is no exception to beauty hygiene. Skincare products have expiration dates and should not be used past said dates to avoid bacteria, infection, rashes, and more.
Skincare products display expiration dates the same way makeup does, with a jar and a number indicating how many months the product will be good for after opening. Sunscreen and products with salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide are extremely important to pay attention to as the FDA has mandated expiration times on packaging for these products.
Aside from following the timeline on the packaging, using judgment is great too. Sometimes products don’t last as long as promised and that’s okay. It could be because of storage or a bad batch. If a product smells weird, has a different texture, has changed colors, does not apply well anymore, or has discoloration spots (aka mold growth), it’s safe to say the product is ready to be tossed!
Okay okay, you’ve learned all the product rules to abide by so you know who and what to toss to stay healthy. Next, we’re covering how to get started and how to manage it all. Let’s get that spring cleaning checklist started.
Staring at 50+ products at once can be terrifying. How did you accumulate so much and how are you going to sort through it all? The Home Edit recommends breaking products into categories. In this case, you’d want to break things into categories like mascaras, moisturizers, face masks, etc. Doing so will allow you to easily see each product in the category and determine whether it’s safe to stay or ready to go.
Channeling all your energy into one space at a time will dissuade you from getting overwhelmed with the road ahead of you. Start with the space that you think will frustrate you the most OR bring you the most satisfaction.
This is one of Marie Kondo’s organizational methods and I love it. This self-reflection allows you to rid of excess products and items you don’t ever use. While sorting through products, hold the item in your hand and ask yourself, does the item bring you joy? If not, there’s a high chance you rarely use the product and it is just taking up shelf or drawer space in your bathroom (or wherever you keep your beauty products). Tossing items that do not bring you joy will declutter the space and make accessing products you love even easier. It also makes more space for new skincare items you have been dying to try ;)
The Home Edit and Marie Kondo stand by this rule. Spring cleaning and organization are not meant to serve you for a limited amount of time. Taking the steps to get organized means you must commit to the process and the effort afterward to maintain the results.
Being prepared with acrylic drawers, new makeup bags, and whatever else you need to reimagine your space from the get-go is a must. It makes it a whole lot easier to re-organize your products and get a fresh start after you have sorted through everything.
The spring cleaning checklist is not as scary as it sounds. It may be time-consuming at first, but once you commit to the process, the end results will be well worth your time. What are you waiting for? Let’s get cleaning.
Written by Lauren Conklin
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