One of my clients recently emailed me to say she had spent the good part of a day sorting through her makeup and hair products. She found brand new stuff not opened that had been sitting in the drawers for years, and realised that she didn’t even want to risk putting out of date stuff on her face. As she said, “I wouldn’t eat stale food would I?” She determinedly threw it all in the rubbish bin, and said she felt wonderful. Her new rule: don’t buy any new products until she’s used up the ones she still has at home.
She finished her email saying: “… having space in my home feels wonderful. Lastly, I congratulate you for your newsletters – they are always helpful. But more importantly, it reminds me to keep up the effort of living ‘light’.” I love this comment about ‘living light’, I enjoy this feeling too in my own home, and I regularly declutter to maintain this.
Coming back though to the beauty products, we all know our food comes with ‘use by’ dates, but often don’t think about our cosmetics and skin care creams expiring. I would say most of us have makeup in our bathroom cupboards that has probably been there for a very long time. As my client said, do we really want to put old products on our skin? I think we all want our skin to look radiant and fresh no matter what age we are, and that means taking care of it and not using products which are long past their use by date.
Here’s where I suggest you get really focused, with that thought in mind. Keep a rubbish bag beside you and take everything out of your bathroom vanity and anywhere else that you keep cosmetics and creams.