All the Make-up I Own as a Minimalist

I have been wanting to post about my make-up stash for a long time. However, I waited and waited. I wanted it to be perfect. I am slowly transitioning to a low waste and minimalistic make-up stash. And since it’s not perfect right now I didn’t post it. But I don’t  think that’s completely fair. I don’t start where I want to be. For me it’s all a journey too. So, why not share where I am right now? Today’s post is my entire make-up stash as it is right now. Here’s all the make-up I own as a minimalist.

My perfect make-up stash

Let’s be honest here. I claim to be a minimalist. In the middle of the process yes, but still a minimalist. You’ll be surprised today, because my make-up stash isn’t exactly what you’d imagine when you think of a minimalistic make-up stash. Nor is it zero-waste. Most things I have right now were gifted to me (by friends or family). But trust me, this is about one third of that. I’ve given away a lot already. The stash I have today is the stash I want to keep. That does not mean it might not change anymore, I might get rid of something tomorrow if it doesn’t serve me any longer. For now, this suits me.

They say you should throw make-up away after a year. Well, I don’t. I’ve been wearing make-up since I was 13 (I think) and some of this I’ve had since then. If it still serves me, it is fine. I don’t do waste and so I don’t throw away make-up. That might be the reason why I still have a lot (in my opinion). That having said, as you can see it’s not low waste or zero waste either. That part is a process for me as well. Once I finish products, I actually do buy a sustainable, vegan and low waste replacement. That’s why you’ll see things in sustainable packaging too. It’s a slow process to a low waste and minimalistic make-up stash. And I am happy to share it with you today! Here’s all the make-up I own as a minimalist.

My ‘everyday’ make-up

I don’t wear make-up every day, far from that! I like a plain and natural face. It is the real me. But for special occasions, I do wear make-up. Parties, dates, a night out, a birthday, anything special to me. So, this part of my stash I can’t call everyday make-up really. But these are the things which are in my make-up purse. I have a purse for the things I use most and take with me when I move.

This is everything open and closed. The top three things are eyeshadow pallets. These three are the ones I use the most. The left one is from MUA and the other two small ones are from The Body Shop. As we go down on the left side we have my powder from Zao. Below that mascara from Lush and concealer from Zao as well. Next to the concealer is my most used lipstick from Bobbi Brown. Right above the lipstick there’s a primer from HEMA and a foundation from The Body Shop. On the right below the eyeshadow pallets is more eyeshadow. A golden color from Oriflame. Next to the Oriflame is blush from Bobbi Brown. Below that is my eyeshadow base from HEMA. After that there are two shades of eyeliner, purple and black from HEMA. And at the right bottom you see my eyebrow brush from Catrice.

Purchases

Things I’ve bought myself: The Zao concealer and powder, the Lush mascara, the foundation from The Body shop, the eyeshadow base and the two eyeliners from HEMA. The rest were all gifts, except for the eyebrow brush which is a hand me down from a family member. Side note: as if now I never accept make-up as a gift anymore, if it’s a brand I don’t support. And since I already have enough, I’ll re-gift those to someone else. 

The things I’ll purchase again after they’re empty: The Zao concealer and powder. The rest of the items are all things I’d like to replace for a more sustainable alternative once they’re empty. The mascara is also something I would buy again, but soon I want to try and make my own.

The ‘extra’ part of my make-up stash

This sounds so stupid. I have a basket in my closet with extra make-up. I know it’s silly but these are things I sometimes use or will keep for a special occasion. This make-up is on one place in my home and I don’t take this part anywhere. It’s more exclusive for me.

This is everything open and closed. I’ll stick to the order of the left picture, since the two pictures are different in order. At the top you see another eyeshadow pallet, this one is from Pink Cosmetics. Next to that there’s a bit of fake blood, which I use for theme parties. It’s something for special occasions like Halloween. Below the eyeshadow pallet there’s a blush from Max & More make-up. Next to that another green eyeshadow colour New York Colour. Next to the green eyeshadow colour there’s a blush/eyeshadow (I don’t know what it is) from BeMineral. Below that there’s an eyeliner from The Body Shop. Left from the eyeliner there’s more eyeshadow from Oriflame. And on the left bottom there’s even more eyeshadow from The Body Shop.

Purchases

Things I’ve bought myself: the fake blood and the Max & More blush (before my sustainable lifestyle days). The rest were all gifts.

Things I will rebuy once they’re empty: none.

My lipsticks and lip-gloss stash

I have a separate bag for lipsticks and lip-gloss, since I have so many. Over the years I have found out that I am more of a fan of lipsticks than lip-gloss, so if I’ll ever need to buy new colours, I’ll buy lipstick.

The top picture is everything, the lower picture are just the lipstick colours. On the left top from the big picture you see a lip-gloss from OC Cosmetics. Next to that a lip-gloss from The Body Shop. Then a lip-gloss from Oriflame and next to that one from Paula’s Choice. The lip-gloss on the right in a jar is from The Body Shop as well.

Then the lipsticks. The left one is from MaxFactor. The three in the pink cover and the one in the purple cover next are all from Oriflame. Then a lipstick from Bobbi Brown and the one after that is from Shiseido. Then a lipstick from MAC and the one on the right is from Janet. The lip pencils on the bottom are from MAC (top one) and Maybelline. The colours on the second picture are not aligned with the first picture, I put them in line from light to dark.

Purchases

Things I’ve bought myself: the Maxfactor lipstick and both the items from MAC (also before my sustainable days).

Things I would purchase again once they’re empty: none.

The hair make-up

I don’t think there is such a thing as hair make-up. But I have a few items that are in my make-up stash as well and I think they’re pretty special. Hair colours! Sometimes I like to colour the end of my hair with a cheeky colour. But that happens very rarely. Only on special occasions. But, oh boy, I love it!

The top two things and the lower left one were all gifts from a friend. It’s not very visible, but the top two things are some sort of clamps, which you put on your hair and then you can dye it. The two hair dye powders on the right bottom are from Essense. I bought those myself. If I ever finish all these colours I would buy a new colour again, just because I love it so much for some occasions.

Brushes

Okay, so this picture is quite empty. There’s just one brush for blush. I have some bad ones for eyeshadow too, but those are all included in the pallets. Recently I have been experimenting with shading and different styles of eyeshadow and so soon I will order a new brush for that, a blending brush from bamboo (brand Zao).

I hope I won’t ever need a new brush. But if I do, I will buy one from bamboo. This blush brush was a gift to me.

Experiment make-up

The very last part consists of two items. These two items I bought as an experiment. They will replace my old blush and foundation once I run out of those. It was quite early to have bought these, but my excitement at the time was so great that I had to buy them and try them out.

I’ve bought these things both myself. I will definitely buy the blush again once all my blushes are empty (I have three in total, which feels a little extra). I don’t really know about the foundation, since I barely ever wear foundation. Maybe for special occasions.

All the make-up by category

Here’s all the make-up I own as a minimalist once again, now divided by category.

Eyeshadow

Lipcolour

Face

Blush

Eyeliner

Random

Conclusion

There’s a lot of stuff I still need to finish. If I finish these things, my make-up stash will decrease, because as I mentioned there are a lot of items I won’t but again. And if I will purchase them again, I will purchase a more sustainable version of them. Also, I feel like I have a lot of eyeshadow now that I’ve written this post. Like, a lot lot. As I said I just discovered new eyeshadow techniques and all that stuff so I want to keep them for that. But maybe I’ll find out that there’s a pallet I don’t really need, who knows. For now I am fine with this and exited for what this stash looks like in a few years. Hopefully more neat, because man, some items are really in bad shape haha.

This was all the make-up I own as a minimalist, what did you think of it?

Yours sincerely,
Romee