TOILETRIES AND BEAUTY EQUIPMENT

Take a look around your bathroom. There are probably clusters of bottles around the bathtub, unwanted Christmas gifts gathering dust on top of the cabinet and regiments of too-good-to-be-true lotions crammed into the cupboard. For many of us, this room is the only place where we can be alone, but rather than being a relaxing sanctuary, a cluttered bathroom can leave you feeling claustrophobic.

 

And the bathroom is not the only place where these items gather. Many of us have dressing tables stocked with scents and make-up, not to mention drawers full of torturous items for improving our appearance.

But do not worry! This area is one of the easiest to declutter.

GET MOTIVATED!

Picture yourself on holiday. Picture your hotel room – it looks so clean and inviting, doesn’t it? You’ve unpacked, but the dressing table is uncluttered, the floor is clear and the bathroom is a peaceful sanctum with just a few of your favourite products stored neatly in the cabinet.

 

One of the reasons we feel so relaxed on holiday – apart from the sun, sea and enormous prawns – is that we are not burdened by belongings. We have everything we need and yet we are not surrounded by piles of things to tidy. (Obviously, having a maid helps, too.)

 

Keep returning to this peaceful image as you get your beauty shit together and bring a bit of five-star glamour to your bathroom.

GETTING STARTED

1  Empty each cupboard and group all similar products together; this way you can see just how many miracle volumising shampoos you have collected.

2  Identify the products that you use regularly and – as long as you haven’t stockpiled enough to get you through a nuclear fallout – keep them.

3  You will probably be left with items that fall into two categories.

• Gifts: Someone thought about what you might like and got it spectacularly wrong, but you’ve said thank you anyway. These products have served their purpose. Ship them on out.

• Products you’ve bought hoping that they’ll make your hair grow, your skin glow or your teeth look whiter. You’ve tried them but they don’t serve their purpose. Ship them on out, too. You’re gorgeous as you are.

4  Designate a shelf for each type of product (or each person in the household) and put away your stash, placing frequently used products at the front.

“PEOPLE OFTEN SAY THAT BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER… THE MOST LIBERATING THING ABOUT BEAUTY IS REALISING THAT YOU ARE THE BEHOLDER.”

SALMA HAYEK

PARTING WITH YOUR PRODUCTS

You’ve been ruthless and thinned out your toiletries, but what do you do with the items that you don’t need? Well, if they’re unopened you can:

Pass them on to friends who do like litres of lavender-scented body lotion.

Donate them to a charity shop.

Offer them to a care home or shelter.

Send them off to a local fete to be used as tombola prizes (and have fun watching them reappear regularly at other fetes in the months to come).

 

If products have been opened but don’t suit you, browse the internet to find other uses for them. Shampoo can be used for cleaning the loo, for example, and toothpaste for whitening your trainers.

BEAUTY BITS AND BOBS

Scents, make-up, watches, jewellery: wherever these live in your home, they need to be organised. If you have a dressing table, it could well be covered in a mishmash of these objects, making it hard to track down what you need and a nightmare to keep clean. The best solution is to group things together.

 

Put all your perfumes or aftershave bottles on a small tray, or stand them in an attractive box so that you can move them easily for dusting.

 

In the case of jewellery and watches – unless they are valuable or need special care – it’s best to store them in plain sight, as you’ll be more likely to wear them. Use jewellery trees (or mug stands make a good alternative).

 

When it comes to make-up, hair accessories and belts, which are often stored in drawers, division is the key. Use small boxes (rather than pricey drawer dividers) to keep similar items together.

“THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MAKEUP FOR A WOMAN IS PASSION, BUT COSMETICS ARE EASIER TO BUY.”

YVES SAINT LAURENT

BOGUS BEAUTY EQUIPMENT

So you saw an advert for this amazing device for curling/ straightening/removing your hair/eyebrows/eyelashes (please don’t try to remove your eyelashes) and you bought it… but now it’s languishing in its box on top of your wardrobe or lurking in a drawer and gleaming at you menacingly whenever it catches your eye.

 

If you’re the proud owner of a piece of beauty equipment that you never use, pass it on to someone who will and don’t feel guilty about the wasted money. You’ve spent the cash and may not be able to recoup it (electrical items can be difficult to sell on, as you may be held liable if they turn out to be faulty), but don’t waste your storage space on them, too.

ELECTRICAL GOODS (MARKED WITH A CROSSED-OUT WHEELIE BIN SYMBOL) SHOULD NEVER BE THROWN OUT WITH YOUR GENERAL WASTE.

BETTER BEAUTY EQUIPMENT

For items that you do use regularly, strike a balance between having them ready to grab in a – usually hair-related – crisis, while keeping them out of sight to give your home a streamlined look. (No matter how much you love your new curling wand, you don’t want it to be the centrepiece on the buffet table when you have friends round.) Find these items an easy-to-access drawer and store them (in their boxes, if it’s necessary to keep add-ons together). You can always cut out the top of the box so that you can get them in and out more easily.

CLUTTER OFFENDERS #2

Old Medicines

So, years ago, someone in your household – let’s just call them X – suffered from piles/cold sores/thrush/ nits (hopefully not all at once). And now, months later, a cracked tube of your – I mean X’s – miracle remedy is still languishing in the bathroom cabinet, along with several half-completed courses of antibiotics and cough syrup that belong in a museum.

 

Do we really need to constipate our cupboards with these reminders of past ailments just in case things flare up again? Well, no, we don’t. And if the worst does happen, let’s push the boat out and treat ourselves to a brand new tube of cream.

NEVER GET RID OF OLD MEDICINES DOWN THE TOILET OR SINK. TAKE THEM TO YOUR LOCAL PHARMACY WHERE THEY WILL BE DISPOSED OF SAFELY.