Throwing out old makeup/cosmetics

Meangadh

Hi all! Just looking for a few ideas here- I'm trying to do a big clear out at home (only around 5 years overdue) and I've loads of old makeup, moisturisers, body butters, nail polishes- you name it, I probably have it.

How do you dispose of these? I try and be as environmentally aware as possible & most of these bottles are recyclable but there's still stuff in them. Might seem like a stupid question, but what do you do with stuff like this? I don't want to just throw them out with the stuff still in them, but I also don't want to put the stuff down the sink as a lot of them are quite thick and oily so would clog the drain.

So... do people just throw the leftovers in the bin and then recycle the bottles or what?

Would be interested in hearing some suggestions! Thanks

dee_mc

I donate anything that's not gone off or contaminated by use (like eyeshadows etc) to my local charity shop - for example, foundation that's the wrong shade or moisturiser, lotion etc in a tube.
Anything else, I scoop or poke out the contents into a tin or container (hairpins are great for cleaning out powder stuff like blusher or eyeshadow, and for poking lipstick ends out of the tube), seal, and put in the regular bin, then wash out and recycle any bits of packaging that can be recycled. I've never figured out what to do with nail polish bottles unfortunately - I've tried cleaning them out with nail polish remover but never with enough success to be able to recycle the glass, and the brushes tend to be made of a couple of different grades of plastic so they aren't technically suitable for recycling either.

dee_mc

To add to the above, I just Googled it and apparently make up and nail varnish can be disposed of as hazardous waste at 'periodic collections' that apparently take place in Ireland! Every day's a school day!

StripedBoxers

For creams, lotions etc. anything that's thick I scoop out with a spoon and put into the waste bin.

I also rinse the bottles under the tap to remove any product still there so that the bin doesn't smell. The plastic packaging goes into the recycling bin.

For nail polishes I put them straight into the waste as I can never get the last out of them, there is always some left in the bottle.

Any powered products are scooped out of their packaging and put into the waste bin, and the packaging is put into recycling usually.

Meangadh

Thanks everyone for the replies! Yeah I assumed I'd probably just have to scoop out the stuff into the waste bin, but wasn't sure if there was another way.

I used to put off doing it cos I'd say to myself "oh but I don't know what to do with the stuff left in the bottles"... no excuses now I guess

StripedBoxers

If you have any MAC products, keep the packaging as you can use it for back to MAC and get yourself a free lippie