Spring Clean: How To Organise Your Beauty Drawer

Want to make sure this years spring cleaning sparks joy? How To Organise Your Beauty Drawer in oarticukar? Then look no further than the Queen of clean and tidy herself Marie Kondo. Before achieving international fame (and an Emmy!) with her Netflix show Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, Kondo wrote the best seller The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying Up and first established the ‘KonMari’ method.

The KonMari Method is Kondo's minimalism-inspired approach to tidying that works around categories rather than rooms.

The categories are:

• Clothes
• Books
• Papers
• Komono (aka Miscellaneous items)
• Sentimental Items

But let’s take a look at a sixth category not explicitly listed by Kondo but just as important to note; Beauty and Skincare (part of Komono). When it comes to any products you’re putting on your skin its important to keep on top of what’s in date as much as what sparks joy, as well as spotting any harmful ingredients that may be lurking. But don’t worry, we’re here to take you through Kokoa’s top tips for spring cleaning your beauty and skincare.

FIRST THINGS FIRST:

The KonMari method highlights that before starting any cleaning task, take a second to stop and visualise the life you want for yourself, where you want to be, and what you want to achieve. Purpose driven tasks!

 

STEP 1: Age isn’t just a number…

When it comes to skincare age matters; all beauty products expire and unfortunately expired beauty products can carry a range of bacterial baddies! Preservatives in products only last so long after opening, and the stability of ingredients have a shelf life as well. Using a product beyond its expiration date can risk irritation, rashes, blemishes and various skin or eye infections. Gross, right?

So how can you keep track of when to stop using your products?

Luckily any skincare or beauty products sold in the UK will have a PAO (period after opening) symbol; a  number followed by the letter M and an open jar to detail how many months after opening the product can be used for. If you know you’re likely to forget when you first started using your (insert skincare product here) then write the month and year on the products label with a sharpie, or jot it down in your diary! However, if a product is in date but seems unusually discoloured, runny or lumpy, has separated or developed a strange smell, or feels different on the skin than it once did, then throw it away.

Step 2: Sparks Joy? What does your skin think?

The hardest but probably most rewarding bit of any spring clean is the clear-out, yup, thats right, its time to divide your products into two piles: keep and chuck!  Consider POA, whether you actually use your products, and what your skin thinks: is that super thick foundation your breakout causing culprit? that old exfoliator too harsh for your skin? If you have a new product that you’re not sure about yet check our handy guide to tell if its causing you to breakout or purge!

Once you've binned or given away what's no longer serving your beauty goals, it's time to divide. You could divide into sections for hair, face, body, etc but if you’re a beauty junkie it might be easier to base your categories around product types; moisturisers, serums, lip products etc. Top Tip! Think about which products you use on a daily basis and place them at the front of your drawer/organiser/wherever you store your makeup. Still stuck for a place to store your products? Check out some storage inspo here, here, here, and here!

STEP 3: Ingredient Watch. Look for ingredients that don’t spark joy.

Sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS).

SLS is a chemical often found in soaps, shampoos, and cleansers that provides the foamy consistency. Not only does SLS use palm oil in its production, a notoriously nasty ingredient for our environment, but it is known to cause skin irritation. Using SLS on sensitive skin, or any skin for that matter, has been shown to cause redness, dryness, and tightness. The effects are long-term as well; evidence has shown that when SLS is used in a skincare routine, the skins absorption of other harsh, irritating chemicals is increased.

Parabens.

Parabens are chemicals used in beauty and skincare to preserve and prolong the shelf-life of a product. Although not all skin is irritated by them, it’s worth switching up your routine if you are experiencing sensitivity, to determine if parabens are the trigger.

Artificial Fragrance.

Put down those strawberry scented body butters and pick up a gently scented or fragrance free, moisturiser. Whether it’s skincare, makeup or body products, anything packed with strong, artificial fragrance is a red-flag for sensitive skin. Fragrant products are often full of harsh chemicals likely to irritate the skin, cause redness or further aggravate skin conditions. It’s important to look out for ‘fragrance-free’ labels rather than ‘unscented’; often the scent of a product is just masked by another ingredient which might be equally as irritating for your skin. Look instead for essential oils or fragrance-free products.

Palm Oil

Palm Oil continues to be a major driver of deforestation of some of the worlds most biodiverse areas. The loss of such areas not only contributes to climate change by releasing millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, but also destroys the habitats of already endangered species like the Orang-utan, Pygmy Elephant, and Sumatran Rhino. (WWF). Although there are now more sustainable solutions to sourcing palm oil, we completely avoid this ingredient within our products to keep in line with our sustainable, ethical and vegan morals.

STEP 4: Tools

Whilst you have sorted through the yes and no, move onto tools! 
With a little bit of soap and water, clean all of your your brushes and tools and leave to dry. The amount of bacteria that builds up on makeup and beauty tools are more than a toilet seat in one week! 

STEP 5: Clean It Up!

Clean the container you store your products in with soap and water. Clean or wipe down all of your bottles and jars. Once all tools, containers and surfaces are clean, reorder your products in a logical organise way. Everything should have a home!

TOP TIP: Getting rid responsibly.

Look at your labels to see if your product containers are recyclable, but make sure to rinse your containers first. Some shops like Boots offer in store recycling; once you’ve finished with your skincare and beauty products you can drop them off at the in store recycle points!

You can always repurpose your old pots and use them as containers for earrings, stationary and flowers!

Want to know if you can recycle our products?

98% of Kokoa products are made from paper or glass, meaning they can be recycled and reused. The remaining 2% accounts for the trigger sprays and dropper cap/pipette closures. All products have a 100% plastic free option, and all empty bottles and jars can be returned to be reused! Our packaging is also sustainably sourced with quality in mind, meaning they are also durable! Not only can you recycle our packaging, but you could re-use it too! Get your DIY on and show us how creative you can get with your empty Kokoa packaging.  

Let us know your top tips for spring cleaning!