So back in Spring I decided that I needed to complete some tasks around the flat, and realised I had a large bag of skincare that I hadn’t even put into the bathroom cupboard yet. So, I decided that this was the perfect time to get everything out and to spreadsheet and log all the beauty and skincare products I own and organise my life. “Spreadsheet My Life” is my own personal challenge to try and think more about the things I own, whether I really need them, and to overhaul my life a little bit at a time.
The Aim
The reason why I’m “spreadsheeting my life” is actually a few different reasons. First up is my brain just works better with a spreadsheet when understanding the “how much” about things, whereas looking in a cupboard doesn’t do it for me. For example, I was in and out of my bathroom cupboard daily for 6 months and I knew I had a lot… but it wasn’t until I saw the number for some of these products that I actually went “Okay I need to get rid of some”.
Another reason is that I wanted to re-organise my cupboard and make it easier for me to find everything. The way I organised by product type afterwards helps me in two ways. Firstly I placed the product groups in order of skincare routine, and so I can quickly grab one product and know it’s the right order. Secondly, it allows me to keep an eye on how much of each product I have (although I will update the spreadsheet too!).
Then my last reason is that I was already using a spreadsheet for blogging and beauty reviews. It’s a super handy way to see which products have been reviewed, plus I include ingredients list to help that part of my content.
The Process
So first up I’m gonna talk through The Process of what I actually did – I like to break down tasks to make them sound a little bit easier. This process can work for pretty much any type of thing in your house, I did my beauty products first but you can also use this for your wardrobe, books, games etc.
Get All Your Products and Organise into Groups/Product Categories
First things first, go around your home and pick up every single beauty or skincare product you own, and put them all together where you’re going to start inputting them into the spreadsheet. This could be anything that falls under the “beauty” tag – including haircare and bodycare too!
Then start grouping them together into categories. These categories can be whatever you prefer, I chose more niche categories where I had a lot such as lip balm, lip stick, lip gloss and then a broader categorie where I didn’t have a lot like haircare and body lotion. Categorising before inputting the products in the spreadsheet helps make the process faster when you work through the groups.
Start Inputting Group by Group in Airtable
Depending on my needs for spreadsheets I switch between Google Sheets or Airtable. For this one, I went with Airtable as I was already using it to track ingredients in products when I was creating blog posts, and airtable has really easy linking between different tables..
I kept it quite simple for what I wanted to include – I wanted to know the product name, product type, brand, colour name (for makeup), and collection if applicable. For product type, brand and collection I made it a single select function, so that it would be quicker to organise into groups at the end. Plus, this made me a little stricter when I was categorising product types as I had to select only one.
The Outcome
After inputting every single beauty product, it turns out that I have 272 skincare, haircare, bodycare and makeup products in my bathroom. Out of this huge number, 9 are for haircare, 150 are makeup products and 113 are skincare or bodycare products. If you want to read more about my product categories, keep reading – or skip to “The Goals” to find out what this number means to me, and what I’m going to do about it.
Skincare
For skincare, let’s follow the routine for the order that I talk about each product type.
First up is make-up removers and these aren’t a big part of my routine personally. So I only have 2 and both of these are samples. The good thing is they’re super hand to have just in case, and I usually travel with this instead of double cleansers.
Speaking of cleansers, I have 11 different cleansers of which 8 of them are sample sizes. Out of the full sized cleansers, I only bought the REN cleansing milk as I often get these as gifts for Christmas. I don’t feel too bad about this number as I do use cleansers probably the most (especially on lazy days!) and I just need to try using up the testers.
For exfoliators, I had 5 which isn’t too bad as I do use them quite often. My go-to is The Body Shop Vitamin C Microdermabrasion, however I have been testing Cliniques daily one and Sand & Sky. Then for face masks I have a surprising amount at 14! But this does include multiple one-use sheet masks that I forgot I had and some which I think I need to throw out as they’re probably dried out.
I had surprisingly little toners despite it being my go-to product if I’m using a routine longer than cleansing and moisturising. I have 5 toners, of which only one is a sample size. I often switch between the Clinique Clarifying lotion and Pixi Glow and ignore the other toners – I think because both of them work so well for my skin.
For treatment products, I have one retinoid from the Ordinary which works wonders for me. I have 5 different spot creams/gels/treatment as I do suffer from breakouts which these help with. The Sukin blemish gel is my current go to as it works so well. Then I have one face mist purely because I recieved it in a beauty box – I don’t use it often but it’s helpful in summer months.
Moving onto Serums, I actually have 9! I pretty much alternate between The Ordinary Buffet serum and The Body Shop Drops of Light but I do have a mix of full sized and testers for serums and I’m not fully sure why. Another produt type I have a lot of and I’m unsure why is eye creams, although they’re all testers. My favourite is defintely Clinique’s All About Eyes and once I used all these testers I will probably buy just one full sized version.
My ginger pale faced self is in need of multiple sunscreens as I need a factor 50 with the smallest amount of sun. I have two for my body, both Nivea and then a face one as well.
On the skincare side of things, the highest product type was definitely moisturiser at 19 different items. Now I know for a fact, most of these are testers, and 6 of them are just Clinique Testers. Out of all of these I use Clarins HydraQuench on a daily basis, and use Avene or First Aid Beauty in the evenings. I really should work on using up those testers though.
Last but not least I have 3 Oils, but one is a small tester and one is actually a “serum in oil” which I’ve classed as oil because of its consistency and how it applies.
Bodycare
Body Lotion was a bit different as I did bundle in some non-lotion products on the basis that they’re moisturising my body. This included my doublebase emollient gel for eczema and Bio-Oil and Aloe Vera gel which I use on dry patches. But I had a total of 10 products, which was surprising as I always complain I don’t have enough
I then have 8 perfumes, of which 2 are full sized bottles – the rest are sample bottles. I also have 2 soap bars in the bathroom. I have 4 footcare products, ranging from nail treatment to foot lotion and then I have 5 different hand creams. I am trying to use these products more as I often forget about these areas of my skin.
Make Up
Make up was actually a huge surprise for me that I had more make up than skincare! But looking at these numbers, I understand why I was forgetting some products like lipsticks and nail polish.
Despite pretty much always using Clinique’s Beyond Perfecting foundation I have 6 different ones in my cupboard, and 1 BB cream! I also have 5 powders, which I’m not surprised about as I do swap these up on a nearly daily basis depending on how I feel.
I have somehow accumulated 14 different primers (most of which are testers) despite me not really using primer on a daily basis. However, I may start wearing it just to use up some of these testers though. Then additionaly, I have three concealers, two are sticks and one is a liquid, and so I’m not feeling too bad about this number.
I am however feeling bad about my Lipstick number which is 28! I always knew I had a lot, but I don’t really wear lipstick so this number was a shock to me. Luckily, most of them are all different nude shades (perfect for everyday) so I’m going to make an effort to use them more. Although on top of this I have 5 lip balms, 6 lip liners, 3 lip tints and 7 lip glosses. Luckily I also have 1 lip scrub to help keep my lips healthy.
Eyebrow products are next and I have 3 eyebrow gels/kits, 7 eyebrow pencils and 2 eyebrow wands. I do think this is mostly because a lot of companies don’t have an Auburn colour, so I’ve had to switch up a lot – and also if I do tint my brows brown – I have to use darker makeup for a while.
I have 9 eyeliners, which includes pencils, felt liners and even a gel. I don’t feel bad about this as I do switch up which one I’m using quite often. I do feel bad about having 9 different mascaras though, with only one being non-black (although dark brown basically looks black anyway). I already threw out the mascaras that had been opened, but will be going through these 9 to use up before buying more.
I have 11 eyeshadows of which 8 of them are palettes and three are loose. I do need to mix up which palettes I’m actually using everyday. This is going to be a big goal of mine as I need to improve my eyeshadow skills too.
I have 6 different highlighters, most are powders, but I also have creams, sticks and pencils. I then have 2contours, one of which is a palette. To top this off I have a count of 7 blushes, most of which are Benefit and small compact versions from beauty boxes.
This is a bit of a lie, I have 16 nail polishes in my flat – I know for a fact I have a large tub also sat in my dad’s house, so this is lower than an actual but accurate to what I can currently use.
Haircare
Then haircare feels a little bit neglected, but I don’t do much with my hair. I’ve put all hair products into one category of haircare, and have 9 different items to keep my hair looking the same as usual to be honest.
The Goals
Looking at the numbers this is A LOT of products, and honestly my bathroom cabinet is still full now despite re-arranging to fit those extra bits in. I did throw out a handful of old makeup, but I don’t want to be too wasteful for what I currently have that is still usable so I think I’m going to set myself a challenge to at least use up all the testers in the next year – but to also reduce down the products I have.
I also want to challenge myself to use every single one of those lip products in the next year and create different makeup looks with them. My main issues with both lipsticks and eyeshadows is that I always feel like they’re too bright or dark for daytime looks, which probably isn’t the case. So I’m gonna wear as many different combinations as possible, and reduce down products if the reason I’m not wearing it is because I don’t like it.
Let me know what you think of spreadsheeting your belonging! Have you tried it? Would you? and how hav your downsized your own beauty products?