Makeup

[u/Top_Economics5615]

Hello,

So as a late teenager/young adult I had this thing where I just collected eyeshadow pallets for the fun of it. I obviously didn’t realise how bad overconsumption is for the planet and it’s not something i’m proud of. However, as an adult I no longer really wear eyeshadow so I have a bunch of pallets in a drawer. Can’t sell or donate them as they have been used, but throwing them away just adds to landfill. Does anyone have any advice on what I could do with the eyeshadows? I want to break the pallets down so all the cardboard can be recycled but not sure what to do with the makeup itself. Any advice is so appreciated! I’m just trying to do my part in helping the planet, even with my past mistakes!

[u/bigdeadtree]

Have you sprayed them with high concentrate isopropyl alcohol and tried offering them to friends/ family/ coworkers already? I host monthly stuff swaps with my friend group and whoever they want to invite, and stuff like this almost always finds a home quickly. Either with someone at the group or they have someone in their lives who would love the items. Before I had a friend group to do this with, I used clean items, tape them shut, add a note that these had been used but sanitized, and put them in the break room of my job or laundry room of my apartment.

[u/bigdeadtree → u/bigdeadtree]

Pressed powder make ups are really easy to sanitize and many non profits in my area accept them because they’ll just sanitize them before giving them away. Donating them might still be an option for you, as well. Like at a women’s shelter.

[u/esmemi → u/bigdeadtree]

Seconding all of this. While I may be shamed for this by some, I have Some powder highlighters that are very precious to me from around 2012-2013 that I still use. They don’t smell, the texture is the same, and I’ve had no reactions to them. Of course this is all dependent on the item, so definitely use the smell test lol “clean” items do not have preservatives and go rancid. But otherwise powders last very long when cared for and stored in non humid, room temp environments

[u/queenmaryshair]

Hmmmm idk if it’s possible, but maybe you could use the makeup as a pigment and make paint with them? Basically grind them up and combine with an appropriate binder. For watercolor paint, many use gum Arabic as a binder

[u/_aaine_ → u/queenmaryshair]

I was going to say that if OP knows anyone into adult colouring, alot of people use eyeshadow to do backgrounds. It's much cheaper than pan pastels and looks just as nice.

[u/Top_Economics5615 → u/queenmaryshair]

That’s such an excellent idea!

[u/infernalnb → u/Top_Economics5615]

I am using some eyeshadow cream sticks that are old and given to me for art supplies, and if you are familiar with the makeup you are using it may be easier for you to use the makeup directly on a canvas board (regular stretched canvas would stretch and sag too much for finger blending I think) and use a spray clear coat to fix it into place, and optionally a more robust clear coat I only recommend the spray first so that anything brushed on doesn’t blend the makeup. As someone who has painted and done makeup I find it super fun to use makeup on canvas boards and I find it leads to more organic art for me as well!

You can also use them as you might use mica in many applications for adding color to certain crafts like resin, making paint as previously mentioned, adding some shimmer or color to air dry clay, altering the shade of preexisting paint, and if you have too much to do this yourself I’m sure you could find another artist who would work with it!

[u/minniebea56]

I feel like the answer here is chaotic fun? Crush and mix into glue for silly little crafts? Halloween makeup? Make yourself up like a New Wave 80s prom queen and have friends over for a movie night?

[u/Top_Economics5615 → u/minniebea56]

Yeah I definitely think i’m gonna use it for crafts!

[u/NiceHat5934]

I turn mine into art supplies! If you are interested I can paste my recipes here in a response, I’m just at a craft show right now and the recipes are at home. But I have recipes for watercolor, oil paints, crayons, chalk! :)

[u/TheBookishSleepyhead → u/NiceHat5934]

Please do!

[u/few-piglet4357]

I have heard that old expired makeup can be donated to funeral homes. Maybe call around.

[u/pointlessmeander]

Honestly, at the present time your home is just acting as the landfill - it's not usable and isn't hygienic to donate. I say get rid of it and know you've learned not to do it again. You don't have to punish yourself by trying to find some use for it. Everyone's allowed to be new at a thing and allowed to learn from past mistakes. Ditch it.

[u/littlecocorose]

oooooooooh but you absolutely can sell them. please go to r / makeupexchange and people will GLADLY take them off your hands. you can also try your luck on depop or mercari.

[u/partial_estimation]

I've seen folks crush up old powder shadows and mix them with clear nail polish to make custom colors. Works surprisingly well if the pigments are still decent.

You could also just scrape all the powder into one container, mix it with a bit of rubbing alcohol to make a watercolor-style paint. Fun for crafts or letting kids go wild without wasting actual art supplies.

[u/Painter3016]

I think if craft or offering to friends/ family (after a spray with alcohol) doesnt work out, you might at least be able to clean/recycle or repurpose the containers?

[u/Aromatic_Brain_4186]

Sephora and Pact Collective has a program for recycling ♻️ - It’s called Beauty (Re)Purposed.

They take things that you bought anywhere, not just at Sephora. It’s free.

Go check it out!

[u/Miscanthrope]

Keep your most colourful one as a box of pigments. Useful for crafty stuff. :)

[u/Much-Sock2529]

Makeup expires. I’m all for recycling or giving away a usable product, but if these are more than a few years old, it may just be time to toss. 

[u/photoelectriceffect]

I would still offer them to others who might want them for various reasons. As others have noted, it might be possible to sanitize them. But there are a good number of make up “fans” out there who might enjoy looking at these old palettes, swatching them, basically seeing if they like the color/texture enough to want to buy, or to use for non-face applications.

The actual packaging materials themselves (like cardboard) are thankfully relatively minor, so rehoming them to someone who might find more use from the makeup itself would be better

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[u/Beaglesandbagels626]

I have seen moms clean theirs out and paint them with nail polish so there are different fake eye shadow colors. And then their littles have a little pretend make up