Streamlining Saturdays: Project Simplify

I've been inspired to do a real, heartless, deep spring cleaning. The kind that gets rid of everything that "might be useful someday" or is sentimental because someone gave it to me a long time ago.

Why? you may ask. Well, I'll tell you.

First off, I saw this post by Sherry of Young House Love. The whole thing is about how they simplify their lives by sticking to the same basic cleaners, detergents and soaps all the time and so on and so forth.... but what really knocked my socks off (and into the garbage because they're hole-y and have got to go), was the description of Sherry's makeup bag that has... get ready for it... 7 things in it. That's right. 7. My makeup bag... more like 700 things. Ok, that's an exaggeration. I promise. But it got me thinking about how many things I keep just because I might need them one day or because of this or that.

And then it hit me. I'm a grown woman. With enough money to go buy myself some new mascara if I need it. So there is no reason to horde old mascaras in case of emergency. It's not like I'm preparing for a Y2K-esque panic or anything... I just horde things unnecessarily.

After some paring down, my make up bag now looks like this:

A little better than before, although I didn't take a picture of that. Just a few things:

1. Mary Kay Foundation Primer
2. MK Liquid Foundation
3. MK Powder Foundation
4. MK Bronzer
5. MK Eye Shadow Quartet in Amethyst (old)
6. Bare Minerals Eye Shadow
7. MK Satin Lips Lip Balm
8. Eye Shadow Brush by Mary Kay
9. Powder Brush by Mary Kay
10. Sephora Black Waterproof Eyeliner
11. Sephora Lip Gloss
12. Tweezers by La Cross
13. Eyelash Curler
14. Voluminous False Fibers Mascara by L'Oreal 
15. Sponge

So I may have twice as much stuff as Sherry does... but I think I'm doing a lot better.  Admitedly, I'm a little "in to" makeup. My mom has been a consultant with Mary Kay for a long time... so I get a good discount and love trying new products. My current loves are the Foundation Primer (which is so great for helping your makeup last throughout the day) and as always, the Satin Lips Lip Balm - I will never use anything else for my lips. It's the best!

But tell me... do I use just tons more makeup than anyone else? The secret is, this isn't even all of my makeup. This is just the basic stuff. Although I did get rid of a lot of the rest, I still have extra eye shadows and blushes for special occasions. And, when I'm at home, I use more brushes. This is really my very basic makeup bag that I could grab in a hurry. Do I need help? Or is this normal?

Either way, I really have cleaned out a lot and gotten down to the very basics (at least for me). The rest of my bathroom countertop looks like this:

1. Mary Kay Time Wise Cleanser and Moisturizer for Normal to Dry Skin
2. Dreams Unlimited perfume by  The Body Shop
3. Bumble and Bumble Thickening Hairspray
4. Bumble and Bumble Does It All Hairspray
5. Cotton balls, duh
6. A clock, because, well, without one I would never, ever be on time anywhere

So yeah. That was step one. Getting the makeup/body products hording under control. I'm pretty happy with how cleaned out things have become. And then I tackled the clothes. More on that next Saturday. Until then, want to join me in the simplification process? It feels absolutely divine!