How to Edit your Skin Care Products - for your Face and in your Space
INTRO
Hello my friends! Welcome back to another episode of the Fairface Podcast! It's been a while. I unintentionally didn't record an episode in July...the month just kind of went by and honestly, I didn't have anything really speak to me about what I wanted to share with you. I want these episodes to be something of value, and not just me recording to record...
So, for this month, I'm really excited about what I'm going to share with you because I'm totally in the editing/organizing energy that is the start of a new school year. I don't know if you feel the same way, but every time fall approaches and school is back in session, even though we personally don't have kids going back to school, I still love and get caught up in this energy of the start of a new school year.
I mean truthfully, for the last week or so, I've already been day dreaming about fall leaves, cool autumn nights, hot cocoa and pumpkins on the porch, and it's still only August 19th, so...I don't know if you're there with me too, but that's where I am.
So part of the energy of a new school year start, for me, is decluttering and reorganizing to start this time of year fresh.
I love all things decluttering & reorganizing. I've watched every episode of The Home Edit, Marie Kondo's the Magic of Tidying Up, Hot Mess House and listened to just about every episode of the Organize 365 podcast.
I want to walk you through the steps for editing your Skin Care Products both for your space and your face, so you can focus on the products that really make a difference to you and have a place for them.
If you're like me, you might have a little trouble letting go of things. As far as skin care products go, I find that I tend to hang on to things just in case I might want to try it or use it, or I keep it out of guilt because I bought it and I can't possibly get rid of it. But the truth is, the majority of the time, I don't end up using those things and all the samples and extra products and things I bought that don't work for me just clutter up my precious drawer space instead.
I read this quote about decluttering the other day from the book, The Lazy Genius Way, by Kendra Adachi, that really resonated with me.
She said, "If you use it and it adds value to your life, high five. If you don't use it, it becomes clutter."
And that just made a lot of sense to me. All these extras and I might use this some day was all really just clutter in my drawers.
My mantra moving forward for all the things in my home, including my bathroom and skin care products is:
If it adds value to me (I use it and love it) and I feel good about it taking up a piece of valuable space in my home, I will keep it. If it doesn't, it’s likely something I keep moving to get to the things I actually use, which makes it clutter, and I will let it go.
Because honestly, every home really only has an finite amount of space (and most bathrooms, have even less space) so before you're tripping over things or leaving them on the floor...because you don't really have a place for them, you need to either find a place or decide whether or not to hold onto it.
Skin Care Edit - for Your Face -
The Top 2 Questions Everyone Needs to Ask Themselves
1st: Recognize what products are working for your skin; what items currently hold value for you?
What are the skin care products you're currently using every day? Your natural go-to's? Are you happy with these products? Do you ever use anything else or are you always reaching for certain products?
I, personally, have a very small number of skin care products I use every day, and the other stuff is just the maybe I'll use it, need it, or try it one day stuff...
2nd: Decide what goals you want for your skin. What products you either want to edit out or new products you want to bring in?
Are you happy with the current state of your skin? If you are, that's great! You know what's working for you.
If you aren't really happy with your skin, it sounds like it's time to either find some better products suited for your skin, or build on to what you are currently doing.
So now you just need to ask yourself, what your skin care goals really are. Are they to reduce redness? Reduce fine lines or dark circles? Smooth unwanted bumps or spots? Or add a little more glow?
There might be some additional skin care products you want to start incorporating into your routine, like a retinol, vitamin C serum, or other something above and beyond the basics.
This may mean you decide to go to see a dermatologist or esthetician who can help you take next steps toward your skin care goals.
So to recap, for your Skin Care Product Edit for your Face
1st Recognize what products are working for your skin
and
2nd Decide what your skin care goals are
After you have completed your Skin Care Face Edit, you'll now be better able to decide, based on these parameters you set up, what you want to keep or not in your Skin Care Space Edit.
Skin Care Edit - Your Space -
The Ultimate Skin Care Edit Guide to Have What You Love and Love What You Have in 8 Easy Steps
I'm literally now going to walk you through step by step, exactly what to do to get your skin care products edited in the easiest and most effective way.
You can focus just on your skin care products, or include everything beauty related, but that will be a much larger job. You can still follow the same steps that I'm going to outline.
Step 1:
Gather all your skin care products
from your bathroom, or wherever you keep them, maybe you have some in your bedroom and bathroom and linen closet...wherever they are, gather everything up and relocate it to a different space. I like to spread them out on my kitchen table.
What this does, is by relocating your items, taking them out of the space you normally see them in, helps create mental distance between the items and their association with that space so you can see them more objectively.
Step 2:
Throw away any obvious trash.
This might include empty containers (I'm guilty of this). I don't know why I keep empty body wash containers, like I'm going to want to refill them or reuse them or something...but no. Trash or recycle. Easy enough.
Step 3:
Remove any items that should go to a different space,
like why is this paperclip in the bin with my face wash?
Step 4:
Organize like items together -
put all your cleansers, toners, cotton balls, etc. and group them together
Step 5:
Review product expiration dates
Now lets talk about this for a minute.
Do skin care products really expire?
The short answer is yes.
Check to see if there is a best by date on your product, but unfortunately, those often are printed on the box that you threw away.
According to Paula's Choice, over time, products will eventually start to deteriorate and, "...expired beauty products can compromise skin."
Some points to consider:
- Powders seem to last longer than liquids or creams
- Products with active ingredients can expire or start to lose their effectiveness over time
- Oils can get rancid
- Products can begin to separate
- Product contamination can occur (especially if it is a preservative free product)
Look for things like:
- a change in color from when you first bought it
- a change in texture (runny, lumpy, feels or smells different than when you first bought it)
And I tend to just follow the well known rule, when in doubt, toss it out. You definitely don't want a reaction to your skin!
Step 6:
Insert a pause
The reason I say this, is because at this point, when you have all your things set out before you on your table, you may be feeling overwhelmed by it all, guilty for having bought all these things you're not using, or feeling bad for overbuying, or wasting. Any number of feelings may be coming up.
This is the time to give yourself a moment to feel the feelings, bad, guilty, ashamed, or whatever you're feeling and then decide to let it go. There's no need to judge yourself, you're just going to move forward and do better next time.
You may even want to step away for a 10 minute break and come back with a fresh, non-judgmental perspective.
Now you're ready to move forward.
Step 7:
Group your products into the 2 categories based on what we discussed from your Skin Care Product Face Edit:
Category 1: What products are working for you and products you love?
Category 2: What do you want for your skin moving forward?
If products on your table don't fall into those 2 areas, they might be products you're never going to use (all those skin care samples...guilty!), or ones you're convinced you'll want to use some time in the future.
If you find yourself coming to a stand-still and need a little more clarification, you might want to ask yourself these questions:
- Would I re-buy this again today?
- Am I just keeping it because someone gave it to me? (keeping it out of guilt)
- Will this help me reach my skin care goals?
If it's not going to help you reach your skin care goals, you're either keeping it out of guilt, or a fear of not having it in case you want it.
If it's a great product but just not for you, think of someone you could gift it to. Sometimes that makes it a lot easier to part with, instead of just throwing it away.
Now once you've done all of that, we're going to move on to-
Step 8:
Find places for the items you love and value and are meeting your skin care needs and current or future goals
Now you can be happy about what is taking up your space, what you see when you pull out your bins or open your cupboards and drawers.
You can lose the guilt from side-eyeing that expensive oil treatment you bought but never want to use again because it irritated your skin. (that may or may not be me)
You can lose the guilt about not using the face mask your sister gave you because you are afraid it will irritate your skin and you've been holding on to it for a year because she gave it to you and you can't possibly not use it even though you're not using it. (possibly guilty)
There is freedom and clarity when you intentionally make space for the things you value and love, that will meet your needs or future goals, and simply wave goodbye to the things that don't.
It opens up valuable mental and physical space and can be very therapeutic in more ways than one.
So I hope this has helped you gain a new perspective about how to think about the skin care products you have and how to determine whether to keep an item or not.
This editing process is all about making decisions with intention, instead of just running through them willy nilly and then regretting decisions later.
I want you to have and use what you love and what makes your skin feel good.
I want you to be able to open your drawer, bin or cupboard and know you love what you decided to keep.
That those decisions honor what you want for your skin and what you want in the valuable space of your home.
That's it for now, thanks again so much for being here. If this resonated with you at all, please let me know! I'd love to hear from you and if you have any tips or tricks of your own that you've found that have helped you edit your skin care products or really anything in your home, since I'm decluttering/reorganizing fanatic, I'd love to know.
You can reach out through social media @FairfaceWashcloths on IG or Facebook.
Take good care of yourselves and I'll see you again soon!
This article is brought to by Shannon Sorensen, the founder and CEO of Fairface Washcloths, the softest washcloths and face cloths for sensitive skin.
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