The Great Purse Cleanup + a mini rant

I usually carry around a fairly large purse. Sometimes I make them myself, sometimes I buy them. I like to have a cloth one during the summer and a leather one during the winter. But, they are usually large, able to be slung across my body and usually stuffed to the gills.

Currently I'm carrying around a very lovely Coach purse that I got for a steal at the outlets. I tend to carry a lot in there, wallet, checkbook, antibacterial lotion, toys (oh yes, toys - can't be caught off-guard with a bored  5 year old in the middle of a store) and of course, makeup. Specifically - lipstick.

I can never decide what lipstick I want to keep in my purse, so I just threw so many in there. Once I realized I could barely zip shut my little purse makeup bag, I knew it was time for cleaning it out. I went through the bags and various pockets (oh how I love pockets inside a purse, when ever I make one for myself, I'm always sure to add tons of pockets), I came out with this scary picture.

Will you look at that picture! Ack. I counted 5 MAC lipstics, 3 dazzleglasses, 6 lipglasses, 8 Tarte lipglosses and a slew of other random lip products. Do I really need all of these? Absolutely not. So, in my quest to start decluttering my life, I thought I'd start with my purse. Now, I have to admit, I'm a packrat. I don't like getting rid of stuff, especially in my purse. I like having anything I want at arm's reach. But I buckled down and reduced it to this

Two lipsticks and 6 glosses. It's still quite a bit, but much better than before. I feel lighter, better. I know I'll build it up again, and there's always some type of lip product in my pocket as well. But, for now, I'll try to keep it under control.

On a side note, notice all of those little mini Tarte lipglosses? They're from the Good As Gold lipgloss set. I picked them up on impulse from Sephora one day. I should have waited and read the reviews. The glosses themselves are nice enough. They're actually nice colors, not too sticky, fairly opaque and have some decent lasting time. And at $29 for a set of 15, or just under $2 per mini lipgloss, it should be a good deal, right? Wrong.

After about 4-5 uses per bottle, the plastic collar that removes the excess gloss dislodges and permanently jams itself up in the cap. What you're left with is a sticky gloppy mess. Yes, you can use it without the collars, but you have to be careful to not get it all over. You can also use a brush, or your finger, but at that point, it's just plain annoying. If Tarte had better packaging on this one, this would be a rave instead of a rant. I haven't seen them in the stores in a while, but if you do see them, resist the "good deal" temptation and run away.

Happy Saturday!