Towels
How many do you really need? I have downsized ours to two towels per person. We generally hang dry them after a shower for a couple of uses and then toss them in the laundry basket. I also try to keep up with laundry and have found a routine of doing laundry that works where we never run out of towels. As for hand towels, I kept three of them in our owner’s bathroom. I use these towels to pat my face dry after washing so I tend to toss those in the laundry a little more often. For all other bathrooms around the house, I keep one hand towel. Once or twice per week, I grab the hand towels and run them through the wash, beginning to end, and put them right back in the correct bathrooms.
Makeup/Cosmetics
This is probably different for everyone but I keep my makeup routine extremely simple. Brow pencil, mascara, a powder highlight and a powder bronzer. If I decide to add any eyeshadow I just repurpose my highlighter and bronzer. Narrowing this down has kept my routine simple, my makeup fresh, and my drawer less overwhelming. There is no more digging to find the certain shade or color I want. I was using the same ones all the time anyways.
As far as other cosmetics. We don’t need all the fancy things that are marketed to us. Let me tell you a little secret about the fancy skincare. If you learn to read labels on your cosmetics you might notice that a lot of the pricey face serums have grapeseed oil, vitamin e oils, jojoba oil, coconut oil, etc. Instead of buying the nicely marketed, expensive brands, just head to the baking aisle or supplement aisle at Target (or order on Amazon) and you’ll get the same thing for a fraction of the price. Plus, it will probably be in a bigger bottle so it will last much longer as well!
My skincare routine it basic, I use grapeseed oil as face wash. It works incredible, removes makeup, is antibacterial and doesn’t dry out your skin. Plus, its inexpensive and lasts forever! I’ve had the same bottle for years. When we narrow down to the simple ingredients we avoid our exposure to toxins and chemicals that may be doing more harm than good.
My favorite skin cleansing recipe is 10 drops of Young Living’s Lavender, Frankincense, and Neroli essential oils in a small dropper bottle then top it off with one of the following…
Hairspray, body wash, lotion, etc. Again, go through and pick out what you want to keep. Its okay to toss out items that are excess and you know you won’t ever use. I try to only use clean products, meaning avoiding chemicals and toxins. Sometimes I’m gifted soaps and lotions for holidays and I’ve become okay with tossing them out. The thought and gesture of the gift was sweet and I can hold onto that sentiment without holding onto the actual item.
Hair Accessories
When it comes to decluttering items like this I like to give myself a quantity limit first, then select what I want to KEEP. Often when we look at items to throw away, its harder to let go of them. Instead, choose your favorites. I don’t know why this mentality seems to work better for certain items but it does.
I’ve been guilty of hanging onto multiple hairbrushes. This is so silly! I use the same one every single day so why do I have extras? It is just clutter in the drawer.
Once we prioritize these items, we also keep track of them much better. They don’t get lost in the mix. When we know we have two ponytails, we are less likely to lose them because we take better care of them.