New Year, New You

Not an original sentiment but hey if it ain't broke?
Unfortunately, I am and just before I'm due to head off to Paris. Sigh.

Sorry, I got distracted there (me = kitten + tennis ball, I know) back to matters at hand. Aside from the fact that it's bitterly cold and I'm typing to you in mittens, I think January is a great month. No, really. Not every month can be full of wild partying and reckless spending which if you're anything like me, your December credit card bill will attest. But January can be a great month to kick start some exciting new stuff and more importantly, clear out loads of old crap. Life crap as well as beauty crap but I'm certainly in no position to advise people on life crap so let's just go with beauty products for now, shall we?

It's not often I use this blog to advocate getting rid of product but after a thorough audit on The Penthouse's beauty prods this weekend, honestly, I recommend it in every way. Do you have any idea how many cleansers I had on the go? Seven. And do you know how many I'm using? One. For shame.
For.
Shame.

So, my basic rules are:

1. Check if it has gone out of date/off - almost all products have a shelf life guideline on them now but really, if you've had something in your bathroom longer than six months and you haven't finished it GET RID OF IT. This includes sunscreen! After a certain amount of time, the SPF protection goes off just like any other product so it won't be as effective if you try and trot it out this summer.

2. Same applies with your make up except I'm adding the 'if you haven't used it in three months, bin it' rule. I really, really wasn't ever going to use any of the millions of lip glosses that met a sticky (literally in some cases, ew) end on Sunday. It's time to let them go with love.

3. Take a look at everything you're throwing away - are there lessons to be learned? Are you buying a lot of hot pink just because you love it but then never use it? Maybe 2009 is the year you stop buying things because they look pretty in the tube...

4. Now look at everything you're left with. If it's a brown eyeshadow, a mascara, bronzer and neutral lipstick, get thee to a make up counter. You're in a rut and could be having so much more fun. Head to B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful if you can get to one and are feeling brave. If not, try Prescriptives, Mac or Bobbi Brown. You don't have to buy everything they suggest but it might not kill you to put down the clear lip gloss for a change...

5. Ignore everything I've said, keep all your limited edition Mac products that you will never ever wear but are beautiful, buy another fifteen lip glosses in varying shades of neon orange and stock up on cleanser. You're down to one bottle!