In an ideal world every beauty product we try would be as amazing, Instagram would be in chronological order, and the orange cheeto wouldn’t be president. Alas life isn’t perfect and I can’t do anything about 2 or 3, but I do have 5 tips on what to do when skincare products aren’t working out.
I’m sure we’ve all been there: we did the research, read all the reviews, double checked the ingredients, and it seems like all the stars are aligned, yet the product just isn’t working out. At best it did absolutely nothing for our skin, and at worse it breaks us out (and we have no idea why). Ahh, the perfect example of YMMV. So what to do? Assuming you can’t return it, here are 5 other options:
1| Regift it
Just because it didn’t work for you doesn’t mean it won’t work for your friends or family. You can host a group swap, which is a great way to try out new products and possibly discover your next holy grail, all for free!
→ Make sure products still within the shelf life, which is marked by the little jar icon on the packaging. The countdown starts as soon as you open the product and expose it to air, so it’s always a good idea to track the open date!
2| Use it on the body
I’m layering the Commleaf Vitarice Essence under my body lotion and applying the belif Aqua Bomb on my arms/hands
This is probably the best way to reuse skincare products, and will work for pretty much all product types. I’ve reused face washes, scrubs, toners, serums, oils, creams, sunscreens, and since the skin on my body is much less fussy than my face (which is typically the case), I haven’t experienced any issues whatsoever. Plus I love that my body is now getting all the benefits of those skin-loving ingredients!
- For smaller products like serums and creams, it doesn’t make much sense to use it all over, so instead I concentrate those on the more exposed areas: hand, arms and chest.
- For exfoliants, I like to focus on my knees, elbows, and feet, or wherever my skin is feeling rough. Since acids will make your skin photosensitive, make sure you apply sunscreen on those areas during the day!
3| Use sheet masks on your feet
These sheet masks didn’t make my face happy, but they’re making my feet very happy!
If a mask breaks me out or has just expired, I’ll reuse it on my feet. One sheet per foot, and I promise after 20 minutes you feet will be super soft. Layer on a thick foot cream to lock in the extra essence and the next day you will have very happy feet.
4| Use it to clean makeup brushes
The cleansing oil/balm that’s breaking you out or simply not sparking joy? Use it to clean your makeup brushes! The oil/balm will break down the makeup from the bristles without stripping them dry, which is critical if you use natural hair brushes.
I’ve found most commercial makeup brush cleansers are too harsh for my Hakuhodo brushes, so I’ve been using my Klairs Gentle Black Deep Cleansing Oil instead. I’ll add a bit to my dry brushes, massage the bristles, dampen with water to emulsify, then finally rinsing it off. Viola, soft happy brushes.
→ Make sure the cleansing oil/balm you’re using emulsifies with water. Anything that requires a cloth to remove won’t rinse cleanly and will leave a residue on your brushes instead! In those cases, you can try mixing a bit of soap with the oil/balm.
5| Donate it
Just make sure it hasn’t expired yet and is well within its shelf life! A good rule of thumb: If you’d be embarrassed to give it to a friend, you probably shouldn’t donate it either. Here are two places that accept gently-used skincare products:
- Beauty Project Share – based in the US
- Give and Makeup – based in the UK and founded by Caroline Hirons
Also give your local charities and women’s shelters a call, many are in short supply of toiletries and are happy to take them off your hands!
I hope you’ve found this post helpful, and in case you’ve been decluttering your beauty stash, well not you don’t need to toss all these products away :) How do you repurpose skincare products that don’t work for you?
Needed this article. Thanks!
I like your post because It has very unique ideas and useful information.
Thanks for sharing .
Very interesting! I can reuse many of my waste beauty products. Thank you so much to share these great ideas.
Such a great post! Thank you for idea for using sheet mask on feet! I need to try that! If I notice that some products don’t work well on my skin I give it my sister, mom or friends!
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Cleaning makeup brushes with a cleanse you don’t like is such a genius idea!! xx
GemmaEtc.com
These are great ideas dear! I’d love to try these, using sheet masks for feet sounds a good way to reuse them. Thanks for sharing!
Jessica | notjessfashion.com
These are great tips. I love the idea of reusing to clean brushes. Or using product over the body. I’d never contemplated using serums or face creams elsewhere but why not?! Beats giving away samples to friends who don’t want them either or my mum who doesn’t end up using it too
Sxx
daringcoco.com
Such clever ways to make use of unwanted items. I like the idea of using it on the body instead.
http://www.busyandfab.com
Wow, these tips are all super helpful. Most times, if a product doesn’t work for me and has zero adverse effects on my skin, I just keep using it till it runs out. I give it out to family or friends sometimes as well. I’ve never thought about using it on a different part of my body or using harsh cleansers for my brushes. Those are brilliant tips, thanks for sharing Jenny. xx
Coco Bella Blog
Such great suggestions Jenny! I always struggle with that to do with products that I don’t love. I have donated a few but using them on my body instead is such a good idea. xx
Violethollow.com
This is such a brilliant idea for a blog post babe; you’ve answered a question I’ve been asking myself for ages! I often gift beauty products to friends/family if they haven’t worked well with my own skin, however also using face products on the body if they don’t agree with your skin is a genius suggestion. Thanks babe!!
aglassofice.com x
Really handy tips!
Sheena
https://afashionstudentsdiary.blogspot.com/
I always pass on unwanted skincare to my husband or friends too! Or use it on the body like you suggested. Great tips, I totally agree with not being wasteful!
http://www.sundaydahlias.com
Wow so many amazing tips I loved thispost thanks for sharing
jadieegosh
I am a beauty item hoarder and I also have sensitive skin, so a lot of the products I use end up not working out for me. I’m actually putting together a box of stuff to send my brother’s girlfriend since she’s always happy to take these items off my hand and they don’t go to waste :)
Mai // https://www.maidoesthings.com
Chronological feed, seriously!!!!! I don’t know a single person who doesn’t prefer a chronological feed. I want to go to Instagram and ask them WHY. I’m very curious about their intention and would be curious to see their data supporting non-chronological feeds… Anyways… these sustainability tips are so great! I know that college communities often have Free/for sale Facebook groups where people sell their items, so that’s a good way to “regift” a product and make some extra cash. -Audrey | Brunch at Audrey’s
Great suggestions… I usually regift products I don’t use…using sheet masks on feet and cleansing for brush cleaning is such a brilliant idea..thanks for sharing…❤️
http://www.geniusenough.com
I love this post Jenny! We all have those beauty duds that just don’t work for us but don’t want to go to waste. Buying less and saying no to samples has help me cut down a lot but I still end up with things I don’t want at times. My friends will come to me if they need something just to see if I have anything that might work for them and sometimes I do end up using products on my body. I’ve never thought to use sheet masks on my feet though and I may just have to give that a try now.
This is such a handy post. I often find it wasteful when I don’t like skincare products and I don’t like to force my skin to deal with it because mediocre products won’t help your skin. I’ll definitely be using the tips of using it on the body and as a makeup brush cleaner (for cleansers)
http://www.themakeupaficionado.com
If none of my friends and family want it (they stop by regularly to see what I have got to give away) I will use it up on my body, mainly chest, hands and arms.
YES YES YES! Great ideas girl
x Lisa | lisaautumn.com
Oh, Jenny that intro made me laugh! Days of chronological order on IG are long gone, but hey – at least we know what to do with unwanted skincare products. Personally, I use a lot of serums and creams (that for whatever reason do not work for my face) on my neck and decolletage. Everything else goes to friends or donation. I need to try that sheet mask trick next! Thanks for all the tips xx
Naya
nayatilly.com
Brilliant suggestions, Jenny and I usually donate and regift mine. I also use skincare that I don’t truly enjoy on my elbows, knees and heels. I never thought of using sheet masks on my feet but will definitely give it a try!