Disclaimer: I did this clean up last May! Just never got the chance to write about it.
I'm a product junkie. And I needed help. A lot of help because I was collecting a lot of hair and skin care products over the years. I blame hair events... also entering giveaways when I know that I don't even need the products... so I've stopped entering them.
Oh and of course, my experimenting nature and feeling the need to try almost every raved product that's on sale is also to blame for my hair and skin care collection.
I will admit though that I have improved. I only buy things I strictly need. I haven't purchased any hair products since last May. For that, I pat myself on the back.
In case people accuse me of being a total product junkie, all the hair products I own aren't just for me. If I don't use them, I give them away to friends and family. If I do use them, fellow naturals in my family can use them too, so I'm not particularly greedy!
While my hair and skin care collection was growing, it was seriously reducing the amount of space I had in my already 'space-challenged' bedroom. I really needed to clean out everything I wasn't using and I have managed to find some products that I wanted to get rid of.
Samples don't necessarily take up a lot of space but if you have a lot of them, they do. It was time to get rid of some. Equally, 25ml sachets of samples are not particularly enough for one leave in/deep conditioning or shampoo session. Samples make a great natural hair 'starter pack' gift to a transitioning or BCing friend who wants to do a little bit of experimentation.
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| Samples are always nice to give to newly naturals. |
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| Tape the top of particular bottles with a bit of tape. |
Tape is vital! Especially if you don't want anything to spill when you put the samples in a box or bag.
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| Sharing the love by giving some great products. |
The amount of meet ups I went to has enabled me to just give away bigger sample size products to people who will give them a great home. Some styling products are products I barely if ever use, such as pomades (except for the Oyin Burnt Sugar Pomade). I also do not use gel on my hair.
After selecting pretty much every product that deserved a better owner, I made sure that all lids were shut properly and taped. I also made sure that nothing was out of date or simply unusable.
I put everything I didn't need into a box. Whenever I encounter newly naturals (at my uni for example) or if it's a natural friends' birthday (call me frugal but spare products can compliment the originally intended gift quite well!) coming up, I just pick and choose what may work for them or what they may need the most. I put the products in a gift bag and give it to them. They're happy because they got free stuff, I'm happy because I've freed up space.
If they have any questions about where they can get some of the products, I direct them to where they can get it in the UK (if it's available in the UK). If they're newly naturals, I tend to give them a list of blogs that may help them and also some hair tutorials of naturalistas using a particular product.
This was my stash last May.
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| Ignore the sachets. My stash was reduced to those full sized products. I also had more samples not photographed. |
My stash is getting smaller and smaller and I am left with more oils, butters, infused waters (such as rose water), clays and ayurvedic powders (this is deliberate; I want to go for a very simple, inexpensive and effective regimen). I found that when I had a simple regimen it was better for my scalp and hair and most importantly, for my wallet.
I'll be playing around with this regimen a little more.
If you have products you do not want and you want to get rid of them but you do want to earn a little something for that, you can use Lola's Green Hair. You can also just take them to a natural hair event and swap them or give them away... or simply give products to charities that will pass them on to people who need them the most. Sharing is caring!
