If you’re anything like me, you would have, at some point in your life, been envious of the absolute massive makeup collection donned by beauty gurus and beauty influencers.

I mean these folks have entire rooms in their homes dedicated to just makeup. Can you believe!? Well I can! Because I was on the road to getting there. No hate and no shade because I still love love love, going on these channels and lusting. In the past I had makeup and bottles of nail polish that could stretch for miles. It just never seemed to have enough. I always needed more. As time went on, the dust collected and the polish hardened, and all for what? Nothing really if you ask me.

My road to minimalism started early 2017 and I have saved LOTS of money on just about everything since then. Makeup included. In fact, I think I’ve saved the most there. I now run on very little and own only a group of must have (and a teensy bit of just-in-case) items. And I am fully content with that. Here’s how I built my capsule makeup collection.

Declutter

I’m always decluttering. It’s an ongoing process for sure. But to start, go through you items, and create stashes. Items you absolutely can’t live without, those that are sort of iffy and those that you haven’t used in the past six months. The ones I haven’t used in months, are labeled to giveaway right away. If I haven’t used it in that long, chances are I won’t be using it anytime soon, if ever again. Eye shadow palettes and lip products are always in this pile. These items, depending on the state of them, I either give away or toss. The sort of iffy ones, I sift through and decide what’s worth keeping.

Hold off on new purchases

I know, new releases are forever and always, but trust me when I say it’s always good to wait until the hype goes down. Some items are sold out within minutes these days, but more likely than not, they’d be restocked. I wait around for reviews on YouTube, blogs and forums such as Reddit and MakeupAlley. Be careful though, as some of these ‘reviews’ are in fact ads and may not be an honest representation of the quality of the product. If you can test products in store, do so. It’ll save you a whole lot AND and and! By the time you get around to buying it, half the time, your mind would have been changed.

Set a budget for makeup

My budget is set to buy when either, something has finished, or when I’ve done research and deemed it worthy of purchase. As time goes on you’d realize that most things aren’t gonna make the cut. Setting a budget and how much makeup you think you should have is very personal. For example, I have no monetary budget for makeup, but as I said, I work on value. If I think it’s worth it, and I’d use it more than say 10 times, I’d most likely get it. Use what works best for you!

Work with a color palette

I have learned what color palette works best for me through years and years of makeup use. I stick to peaches, reds, berry tones and neutrals. You create any look with these colors for any occasion. That said, I do have the one off blue or green eye shadow for those just-in-case moments, but I hardly ever use them. My friends enjoy them more than I do. Because of this, you’d never see me purchasing a neon themed anything or a blue lippie. Nope!

Store where you can see

Before I moved my makeup to a new home, they were in separate bins and I couldn’t see to the bottom of any. What would happen then, is that things would slip to the bottom of the pile (where I almost never reach) and would never see the light of day again. Here’s an awesome video on how to store your makeup so that everything is in plain view. No more out of sight out of mind.

These are the basics of how I created and maintain my capsule makeup collection. Having a capsule anything is different for everyone. We all have our own tastes and ideas of what makes us happy. Keeping your makeup collection in a capsule is by no way being touted as the ‘right’ way BUT, it saves you a ton on money and space, and prevents you from playing along to the song of over consumption. At least in this aspect of your life.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Are you into makeup? Are you a maximalist or minimalist?

Thanks for stopping by!

PS ~ My Simple Morning Skincare Routine and My Everyday Morning Makeup Routine.