Shop Your Stash / Use Your Stash Challenge: Fall 2025 🍂🍁

[itsfi]

Fall is almost here, folks! I've been going through some of my drawers, doing a little reorganizing and finding things in my collection that I'd like to use more during the cooler season. I'm not looking to pan or use up these products necessarily, more just trying to get more use out of them and deciding whether to keep them in my collection or declutter before the end of the year. If you have some items that could benefit from the same, please join me. 

Feel free to use this space to identify and talk through beauty product(s) that you'd like to use or work through this fall (or through the end of the year) - be it makeup, skincare, bath & body products, fragrance, hair care, or other beauty items that are best suited for the autumn season or products in your stash that have been needing some more of your attention. 

How To Shop Your Stash:

Spoiler

Go through your collection and pick out product(s) you want to work on using this fall or for the remainder of the year. It can be one item, or 2, 3, or 20+. Up to you. 

Purpose of Shop Your Stash:

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This challenge can serve a number of functions, depending on what you have in your stash and what you're looking to achieve, including an opportunity to:

• Rotate and use products that are ideal or better suited for the fall months as a result of their shades, consistency, texture or otherwise

• Use the beauty items we already have on hand or "shopping our stash" - this can help with being more savvy shoppers by helping us to be more mindful with our beauty spend by (i) not thinking we have to have all the new things all the time (or all at once) or (ii) finding not just what we love/like but what we may be missing in our current collections. With the holidays coming up, I'm looking at this as a way to  manage my spending by helping me figure out what it is I really want (everything looks so good!) or identify what I'm missing from my collection that I want to pick up during those fabulous year end sales.

• Ease our way towards panning products or identifying what product(s) we want to try to work on including in a project pan next year! It can be daunting trying to figure out what items to work on for a year long project pan, but taking it in 3-month intervals gives me a better idea of what products I can see myself keeping up with for a whole year and which I may need to include a couple of in a project pan so I have some variety.  

Remember, including items in a use/shop your stash doesn't mean they are the only items you can use for the season. It can if that's how you want to approach it. You can also pick more than one of the same type of item to shop / use for the fall so that  you have variety. Set aside half a dozen lipstick shades you want to incorporate into your looks this season. Or, pull out a few foundations that work best for your skin type and color as the weather cools down. 

I'm going to take a day or two to think about what items I want to include in this season's shop my stash and will post them here when I figure that out. 

Looking forward to seeing what's inside everyone's fall stash! 🍂🍁

[itsfi]

I've had some successes and slumps along the way while shopping my stash this season. 🍂🍁 Thought I'd check in quickly with where I'm at and how I'm planning on shopping my stash for the remainder of the year.

Hair Mask Samples: have been put on the back burner for a bit and I'm doing a bit of a pivot as far as my hair mask usage goes. I have, to date, used a couple of the hair masks from my shop my stash once (but have one or two more uses in each), but have turned my attention to some already open, partially used hair masks and leave-in conditioner that are either very close to being used up or that has been left opened and unused longer than perhaps they should have been and are coming up to the tail end of their PAO (period after opening) date in the early part of next year so I feel that I should focus more of my attention on them. 

Skincare Tools:

• Pats self on back for: actually packing and using my travel friendly beauty tools, including a travel friendly zit zapper and a hair styling tool - I'll post more detail about the different tools before the weekend to the It's Tool Time - The BIC Beauty Edition  andTravel Essentials - what are your must-haves when traveling? threads. 

• Nudges self on back to: make more use of my body care tools more consistently and to get back on track with my NuFace device and gua sha (though in my defense, I was holding off on them to deal with a bout of breakouts that seems to finally (quick, knock on wood) have decided to move on. 🤞 So it feels like I may be able to get back to a full face routine with one or more of the beauty tools in the shop my stash this or next week.

The Hunt for the Holiday 2025 Go-To Lipstick(s):

• Pats self on back for: finding a festive go-to lip gloss (Dior Addict Lip Maximizer Plumping Gloss - 112 Sunlit Amber - going to wear this out for a dinner at the end of the month) and lip oils (I couldn't pick just one; sadly, both are no longer available - Cheekbone Beauty Healing Lip Oil - Limited Edition Resilience Red and Ami Colé Hydrating Lip Treatment Oil Romance but I stocked up on the Ami Colé lip oil so I'm set ... for many a holiday season to come!) 

• Nudges self on back to: narrow down my go-to lipstick for the holidays. I know that Creamy Matte Longwear Lipstick with Hyaluronic Acid - HUNG VANNGO BEAUTY | Call My Agent  will be one of the go-to shades (probably my lipstick for Thanksgiving dinner). Need to wear the two #TOM FORD F* Fabulous Lip Color shades more and I also need to sum up the nerve to wear Westman Atelier Lip Suede Matte Lipstick Dash (limited edition)(gifted) outside of the house. 😬 Unlike the rest of the items in this season's shop my stash, I only have about 12+ more days to test these out before holiday outings start happening.

Sniffing My Way Through Discovery Sets:

• Pats self on back for: 

          - finishing all but 3 of the fragrances in the PHLUR Fragrance Discovery Set - I should be able to use up one of the 3 by the end of the year, beginning of next; another of the 3 some time next year and the last one, I'm not sure. I'm working on a way to "make it work". All will be paired with another or other fragrance(s) and find their way to the Olfactory Overtures: The Fragrance Layering Thread at some point.

          - trying every scent in the Boy Smells Discovery Set and the Orabella Parfum Discovery Set (Ulta Beauty World (UBW) promo)

• Nudges self on back to: circle back to the Elorea Discovery Sets - for some reason, I've been hoarding them ever since I learned that the brand is no longer making discovery sets available. I shouldn't be hoarding them as the brand will continue to offer (for purchase) samples of each of the fragrances within each set. Each vial has been open so I don't want to run the risk of them evaporating. Alright, Fi, get going!

[danielledanielle]

This week's Capsule Makeup Collection Challenge 2025 was a great prompt to shop my stash.  The UD x Gwen Stefani palette is an oldie, but a goodie.  The pigment is still there and it's largely cool toned, forcing me out of the usual warm comfort zone, plus one of the shadows is panned and there's some cavets in the other shadows. 

The Dior is the previous formulation I stocked up on...I loved this foundation, the newer one isn't quite as matte IMO and I think it oxidizes even more so.  I have two more of these, so while I try to avoid having so many foundations open, I already violated this role twice, so what's another.

[itsfi]

Smart to stock up on the Dior foundation @danielledanielle. Love Dior but there have been a few missteps with the reformulations, from my perspective at least. Sometimes having multiple backups is a good thing! 

[ather]

This is me shipping my stash. I always save my DS for when I travel and I never use them all up. So I want to just use everything!! 

 I threw all of these in a makeup bag on my dresser and I hope to use all of these by end of year. I have no more vacations booked from now till then! 

[itsfi]

@ather, I spy some great skincare beauties in that mix. Excellent idea to put them where you can see them. 

[ather]

@itsfi  I agree!!! So many good ones I need to use them!!!!I have added a few more to the mix too!

[caitbird]

Here is yesterday's look, featuring a bunch of my fall '25 shop your stash items!

Products in spoiler:

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Milani Supercharged Dewy Skin Primer 
Glossier Stretch Fluid Foundation for Buildable Coverage Very Light 2 
Mixed with L'Oreal Lumi Glotion Fair Glow
Urban Decay Quickie 24HR Full-Coverage Waterproof Concealer 10NN 
Kulfi Mehndi Moment Long-Lasting Radiant Cream Blush Blessed Berry 
MERIT Day Glow Dewy Highlighting Balm Bounce 
Hourglass Veil™ Translucent Setting Powder - Talc Free Translucent 
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Holiday Palette 2025 - Deer
Grande Cosmetics GrandeBROW 2-In-1 Tinted Brow Gel + Brow Enhancing Serum  Auburn 
NATASHA DENONA Roxa Eyeshadow Palette 
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil Viper 
DIOR Diorshow Overvolume Extreme Volume Mascara Overblack 
DIOR Dior Addict Lip Maximizer Plumping Gloss 003 Holographic Lavender 
Urban Decay All Nighter Waterproof Makeup Setting Spray Standard Size - 4 oz/ 118 mL 

The concealer and the brow gel will be decluttered - the concealer is fine, but I just don't like it as much as my NATASHA DENONA Hy-Glam Brightening & Hydrating Medium to Full Coverage Crease Proof Serum Concealer P1  so I know I won't use it. The brow gel is the wrong shade for me - too dark - and also I noticed just now that it's expired, oops. 😬

I had fun playing with Roxa (of course 💜), and first impressions of the Kulfi blush and Dior mascara were very positive!

Also, the other day I finished the first of my fall '25 shop your stash perfume samples - Maison Margiela ‘REPLICA' By the Fireplace Eau de Toilette with Chestnut, Vanilla, and Clove Oil 1 oz/ 30 mL !

[ather]

@caitbird  Great job! This is a lovely look! 

[itsfi]

@caitbird, nice work on finishing the first of your fragrance sample! What did you think of it? Is it one you would purchase in a full size (or a travel size)?

That ND Roxa palette was made for you! Which shadow did you use for your eyeliner? Very pretty!

[PDXXXX]

I've been whittling down my stash to get a better sense of what's working as I'm trying to shop more mindfully to supplement what I have rather than buying a redundant shade, etc and figure out go to looks that work for me now (and are easy to throw in a bag as I'll be traveling briefly soon):

Today I worked mostly on shade matching foundations I have as I'd given in and bought a new one that failed:

• first, sorry if you're loving it (or happy for you) but my new Natasha Denona Foundation was a huge bust, making me realize I needed to check out what I have but haven't been using as I'm usually a skin tint girl,
• my DIOR Dior Forever Skin Glow Hydrating Foundation 0.5N Neutral was a keeper but my Dior Hydranude Foundation in 1 was not,
• my PATRICK TA Major Skin Hydra-Luxe Luminous Skin Perfecting Foundation For Natural Glow 5 Golden Neutr... was a keeper though it simply didn't compete with the blendability of my winner...
• Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Natural Glow Foundation 2 blended with Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Natural Glow Foundation 3 (used in picture: shade 2 is actually a bit darker and peach based while shade 3 is a light golden I tend to fade to in winter)...

In terms of concealers, I've been down to two (and one corrector) for a long time I will replace if I finish:

• Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Hydrating Face and Under-Eye Concealer 2 is my go to (and pictured), but I still love
• Westman Atelier Vital Skincare Brightening Concealer With Hyaluronic Acid Atelier L1 for when I want more coverage or a slightly more golden tone
• I'm also loving caliray Hideaway Brightening + Hydrating Under Eye Color Corrector Concealer layered on top of my eye concealer.

For me, eyeshadow and liner are no contest and the winner is always PATRICK TA Major Dimension Eyeshadow Palette (used in picture). It's lasted me awhile now but I'm starting to pan out on a couple shades so will probably replace soon. My backup eyeshadow lately when I want more shimmer has been DIOR 5 Couleurs Eyeshadow in Nude Dress. Love it. Jones Road Creme Shadow is also a go to.

I have a lot of highlighters but find I'm reaching more and more for my Hourglass Ambient® Lighting Palette. I definitely will not shop highlighters until I've panned out on that (lightest shade used in picture).

But my new favorite blush, part of the Rare Beauty liquid and powder blush and lip stain in Worth kit I recently got, has got to hands down be Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Soft Pinch Matte Bouncy Blush Worth (in picture). It's the best warmer rose shade I've found in a long time and soon I'm going to purge a lot of blush as I'm realizing a lot of what I have doesn't compete. I loved and am wearing the lip stain in Worth I got a mini of with the set in this picture and will purchase a full size if she comes out with one for sure!

Topped with DIOR Diorshow Iconic Overcurl Waterproof Mascara Black (pictured) or Wander Beauty Mascara (both of which I'll always replace) here is the look I achieved with the pictured products. It's a nice reminder that sometimes a foundation is worth the effort even if things like Summer Fridays Sheer Skin Tint with Hyaluronic Acid + Squalane will continue to be my go to.

[missjeanie]

@PDXXXX Lovely look and I appreciate the breakdown between foundations.  I have no business buying more base products, but I did almost blind buy the new ND.... Maybeeeeee I'll wait until I can get in store to see it in person. 

[PDXXXX]

@missjeanie the ND foundation is working so well for so many others I would hate for someone to rule out trying it just because it wasn't for me. I would definitely wait to check it out in store though - it's an extensive shade range and the neutral shade I got wasn't quite on the money for me. I also don't love fuller coverage but it could be perfect for someone who does. Mostly I just did not feel like it blended in very easily but I'm also a finger application gal (though I did try buffing it out with a Sephora foundation brush) so perhaps with a beauty blender. Definitely one to try on at least your wrist or back of hand first. Yeah, I have no business buying more base either but some things are so tempting, lol!

[missjeanie]

@PDXXXX I generally prefer a skin tint as well, and I do have a few fuller coverage in my stash... so I can absolutely wait!

[caitbird]

@PDXXXX  great job shopping your stash and being mindful about purchases! And you look absolutely lovely! 😍

[PDXXXX]

Thank you @caitbird ! I'm trying, lol!

[ather]

@PDXXXX  Thanks for sharing! Good to know to steer clear of some products!! 

[itsfi]

Ahhh, good to know about the Dior HydraNude foundation (and the ND one as well) @PDXXXX - I was waiting to finish (or get at least halfway through my Dior Glow Hydrating foundation) before thinking about picking up the hydranude formulation but I had heard mixed reviews. Just for my own edification, was it not hydrating enough for you or the overall formula / performance was a bust?

You have me intrigued by the Caliray color corrector - you apply it over your concealer? Do you go over the concealer with the Caliray with your fingers? brush? beauty sponge?

[PDXXXX]

@itsfi as between the Dior Forever Skin Glow Hydrating Foundation and Hydranude I felt the former was hydrating enough for my dry/sensitive skin and melds/blends better into skin than the Hydranude which felt like it was more sitting on top of everything. With that said part of it was shade preference as well. I tend to do better with yellow based warm foundations so the whole Dior range in general is sometimes too cool or too orange for me. I have a decent color match in the .5 Dior Forever but the 1 started to read more orange than neutral.

I apply and blend my concealer with my fingers at my inner corners and then just a dot at the below the outer eye. And then with the Caliray apply on top just at the inner corners with the doe foot and blend with fingers using a pressing/rolling motion. I will say I have only used the Caliray over the Armani Concealer which is lighter than a lot of my concealers and blends so easily. It's a great combo though. I do set it using HUDA powder lightly dusting with a smaller brush. It never settles or creases though. I've tried a lot of correctors (Trish McAvoy, Smashbox, Huda, Fenty) and other than the Fenty which I also think is fab would say is my favorite (nice blend of light pink and peach, radiant and brightening without sparkle).

[tsavorite]

@itsfi , 

 I was just reminded that I really could benefit by shopping my stash of Jones Road products before I am tempted to purchase her latest offerings.

[ather]

@tsavorite  Awww that’s a great reminder!!