In the past several years, the online beauty world has exploded. Brands, blogs, vloggers, Instagram sensations – what-have-you. Even though I wasn’t really aware of it until three years ago, it has been impressive. Personally, I’d love to see revenue comparisons on the brands alone for current day versus five years ago.

On  YouTube, Vanity Tour videos are insanely popular. Some of these men and women are professionals, actual artists sharing their at-home setup; others are just people who enjoy makeup and happen to like getting on camera. Regardless, their viewers and readers want to see what their favorite personality has in their stash, how their vanity is laid out, and how they decorate.

So many three-wick Bath and Body Works candles, girl.
So many IKEA Alex drawers.

How Much is Too Much?

I can appreciate getting inspiration for organizing efficiently, and for decor (I am exceptionally decor-impaired). The work these people put in to present an organized (usually..), visually appealing setup is hard to ignore. I haven’t really pinned anything to that effect in ages, but their willingness to share has helped so many people get inspired to create their own little beauty zen space.

It is hard not to notice, however, the size of (some of) these collections – they border on madness. For a professional artist who is actively working as an artist (not an artist-turned-YouTube sensation who hasn’t worked on a client in three years), it’s one thing to have two full drawers devoted to foundations and concealers. For a, “guru,” though – does it really make sense? How many of those bottles and tubes even match you throughout the four seasons? How many are expired?

I realize that might come off as hate-y or judge-y; I don’t intend it to be that way, but even as someone who has come to find makeup so fun, I can’t relate. I can’t relate to an overflowing vanity with stuffed-to-the-brim, stacked MUJI drawers and overflowing IKEA Alex sets. I’d love to get some perspective on this – so I’d love to know what you think (update: added the following to clarify) about your own collection:

How much is too much when it comes to owning makeup?

I think it’s also different when you’re just getting into beauty and you’re kind of buying everything to find what works for you. There was a point where my stash was bigger than it is, and that’s precisely what I was doing; learning the products, finding what worked for my skin and coloring and whatnot. Once I learned, though, I pared down and didn’t keep the superfluous things by sanitizing them and either giving them away or selling them.

For me? Maybe it’s because that feels like clutter to me, even tidily corralled. Maybe I’m too pragmatic to be able to wrap my head around owning that much product – having to keep it organized, actually using it before it expires, etc. Perhaps my aversion to a voluptuous beauty stash also lies in the limitations of shelf-life; the thought of product going to waste makes me shudder. I think there is definitely a limit to how much makeup someone can reasonably use before it goes bad. Obviously some products keep longer than others – a foundation will turn before eyeshadow does, for example.

I’m not suggesting that people with robust collections are wrong (nope – I’m just seeking perspective!), and I wouldn’t dream of telling someone how to spend their money. For them, beauty might be their only hobby; perhaps a wildly diverse collection is how they pursue that hobby. What do you think – to you, how much is too much?

(Also for the record I completely plan on buying a set of Alex drawers when I move, so as much as I’m poking fun at that part of the bandwagon…I’ll be hopping on it. They just look clean, okay? Don’t judge.)