Behind Closed Doors

Continuing with my streamlining mission, this weekend I attacked my ‘lotions and potions’ cupboard. This space had originally been designed to hold all our toiletries, but had recently become a dumping ground for pretty much anything we could squeeze into it including ornaments, belts, a wire pig(?) and an oil burner.

It also contained some seriously old creams and cosmetics some bought before Sprout’s arrival in our lives. Having done some research, I decided that an awful lot of it would have to be binned as most websites recommended that the maximum amount of time you should keep a product is 1 year!!

Here’s the low down:

Product	Expiry Date
Mascara	3 months
Eye gels and creams	3 months
Eye shadows and liners	3-6 months
Foundations(cream and liquid)	3 months
Concealers	6 months
Face creams and lotions	6 months
Toners	1 year
Lipsticks	1 year
Powders (pressed and loose)	1 year
Face wash	1 year
Perfume and Fragrances	1 year

So let the purge commence..........

I wish I could say that I threw out more than I kept and the basket on the left was heading for the bin, but this was actually the KEEP pile! However, I did get rid of some products that were at least 3 years old, and also some items that shouldn’t have even been in the cupboard including a plug timer, a variety of jewellery boxes and some medicines.

Then I had a good old sort out......

I grouped what was left into several categories including hair care, skin care, vitamins, deodorants and perfumes. This was a great exercise as it meant I could have a good look at what I actually I had, and as it turned out this included 7 deodorants, 6 bottles of lens solution, 4 or 5 moisturising creams and a million and one kirby grips. Lesson learnt - no more buying deodorant for a while!!

Now for the most important bit! Putting it all back in the cupboard!

I tried to keep each group of items together, so when I open the cupboard, in future, it will be easy to see what I’ve got! I also re-purposed a mug to hold all my nail related products, a cotton bud container to house all my stray contact lenses and a wicker pot for all those rogue kirby grips!

A little bit of before and after action......