A practical guide to downsizing your makeup bag to 6 products (by a former beauty hoarder)

When it comes to our beauty collections, it’s easy to get carried away. We’re constantly bombarded with newness and that all-too-familiar itch of wanting the next big thing. Which is why, after working in the industry for over a decade, I have amassed an embarrassingly large amount of products.

But along with the cravings we get for the shiny and new, it’s also very common to want to declutter, rid ourselves of our hoard of best foundations and best face moisturisers, to create a more streamlined collection. After a recent house move, I found myself in this very situation. Packing away almost all of my beauty stash gave me the perfect excuse for an extreme, Marie Kondo-level declutter. My love of organisation took over, and after days of swatching, sniffing and swiping, I’d successfully cleared out over 10 years worth of products.

If you’re thinking about doing the same, I've shared the six essentials that made the cut, along with my tip for figuring out whether formulas are still effective or if they may have expired.

How to downsize your makeup bag to just the essentials

If your beauty bag is currently bursting at the seams but you're at a loss for where to start the decluttering process, my top tip is checking whether any have expired. Of course, it's always hard to say goodbye, but it's harder to justify keeping a product that's passed its prime.

Signs your product might have expired

First things first, most beauty products have an expiration icon on the bottom of their packaging, such as ‘12M’ or ‘6M’, this is a hugely helpful signpost for how many months the formula inside is typically good for. But it’s well worth writing the date of purchase next to this icon, to help you to keep track of how long you’ve had the item for.

When it comes to skincare, particularly with active ingredients such as exfoliating acids and retinoids, it’s never worth taking the risk and using an expired formula. Not only can the product lose efficacy, but there’s also the chance that it could irritate your skin. If unsure, look out for changes to the texture, colour or smell of a product, these are useful signs as to whether it may have expired.

The 6 products I can't live without

For me, it wasn’t just about having a clear out. Whilst I’ve always been the woman with 15 different lip colours in my handbag, now isn't the time to be lugging around all that unnecessary weight. I wanted a low-maintenance, handful of items that I loved – and that worked well for all occasions, from a work meeting to Sunday brunch with my family. So, I downsized my makeup bag to just six products that tick every box, from complexion to brows and lips to lashes, these versatile essentials have all bases covered…