How to Use Up Beauty Products At a Glance At A Glance
• Remove stoppers from tubes (such as concealer) with pliers.
• Always cut open soft plastic tubes and packets.
• Purchase beauty spatulas in long and short types to scrape out products.
• Tube squeezers also help with tubes.
In my day-to-day life I implement simple hacks on how to use up beauty products. My focus is on using up every last drop so that I can get my money’s worth. A lot of packages are designed so that product gets trapped, and you are throwing away perfectly good product and buying replacements, but no more!
Tools
Before we get into the tips and tricks, there are some handy tools that you probably already have around your house to assist you in emptying your products. These include:
- Scissors
- Pliers
- Plastic zipper bags (reusable is great!)
- Beauty spatula
- Toothpaste tube squeezers
- Knife
- Empty pots or small containers with lids
If you are not interested in using plastic bags to store products, you can always find small containers with lids in the craft section of the dollar store. For the toothpaste tube squeezers, I typically find them hanging around Walmart on clip strips, and they are not just for toothpaste!. My favorite tool is the beauty spatula. The silicone scraper will literally dig into anything. I use mine for so many purposes and it is the best $5 that I have ever spent. Trust me, you will want to have one in every room. Additionally, please be careful when using any of these tools.
Plastic Tubes
First in my how to use up beauty products tutorial I am focusing on plastic tubes. When a tube gets to the point where I can no longer dispense the product easily, I cut the top of the tube off with scissors. Then, using a beauty spatula, I scrape out some product and apply it. I store the cut open tube in a plastic zipper bag so that the exposed product does not dry out, and be sure to squeeze all of the air out of the bag before zippering it.
If you do not want to store the tube in a bag, you can save the top part of the tube and place it back over the product to make a lid! I recommend cutting the tube about halfway down for this method.
A reusable zipper bag is also an excellent option.
Glass Bottles
Glass bottles are a real pain because there is no good way to access every last drop. When a glass bottle gets to the point that I cannot get product out anymore, I spend some time scraping it out into an empty pot with a lid. The pot that I am using is an empty sample that I simply removed the label from. Admittedly this process is tedious and time consuming, but it does gain you a few more uses from your product.
Potted Products
You can easily scrape out every last drop with a beauty spatula. I even apply products from a pot with my spatula so that I do not need to dig my fingers in.
Loose Powders
Once a shaker bottle gets low it can be difficult to get the product to dispense, yet you can see that there is still plenty of powder in there! For most shaker bottles you can easily pry the shaker top off with pliers. Remember, the manufacturer had to get the product in there somehow! From here you can directly access the powder.
Stick Products
Sticks include concealers, lipsticks, and more. When you reach the bottom of the tube you end up with a flat product that you can no longer apply, but you can see that some product is still there. You can dig in with a knife (or beauty spatula) and scrape out the remaining product and store it in a pot. Later you can apply the product from the pot with a brush or your fingers.
Tube Products
One of my favorite beauty product hacks is to remove the stopper from tubes! I did not always know that manufacturers put stoppers in the necks of tubes. They do serve an important purpose of scraping off excess product when you pull the wand out. However, when the tube gets low, the stopper prevents you from reaching a lot of trapped product.
Tube products include concealers, lip gloss, mascaras, liquid lipsticks, eyebrow mascaras, and more. If you look closely at the top of the neck of a tube product you can see the stopper (example below). The stopper can be easily removed with pliers and discarded.
You will be shocked when you discover how much product is still in your tube, and how much product you have thrown away in the past! For a while you will have to scrape excess product off of your wand back into the tube, as there will be no stopper to do the work for you.
Plastic Bottles
Next up I have the not-so-easy to work with plastic bottles, or those bottles you cannot safely or easily cut into. When these bottles get low I store them upside down. At application time I shake the bottle to dispense what I can, and I even stick my finger in as necessary. Try your best to get out what you can, but these are never a perfect job.
Spray Bottles
I have another simple hack for spray bottles. Sometimes when a spray or pump bottle gets low it refuses to dispense product easily or at all, even when you can still see product in the bottle! At times like these I empty the remaining contents into a brand new bottle of the same product. Or, for perfumes and body sprays, I remove the spray bottle and splash the product directly onto the skin.
Pressed Makeup
A real pain point when you are trying to use up pressed makeup is when you hit plenty of pan. In the example of the setting powder below, this much pan makes it hard to get an even coating on my brush. Which, in turn, makes it difficult to evenly set my foundation and causes me to spend extra time working with the powder.
You always have the option of breaking the powder on purpose and repressing it back into the pan. I have an entire tutorial on repressing broken makeup. This way you have an even surface to pass your brush over. Also, you are less likely to have powder get stuck in the edges of the pan which can break and fall out of the palette, causing waste.
Aerosols
These empty themselves well in most cases. I have no hacks for safely getting into these any using up any product. Aerosols and spray cans include shaving creams and gels, dry shampoos, texturizing sprays, hair sprays, and more.
Foil Packets
There are two methods of attack that I implement on these. Once is the folding the packet upwards, which squeezes every last drop out. Some products do not squeeze out as easily, like the thick clay mask below. For those I cut open the sides of the packet and directly scrape the product out.
Large Plastic Tubes
Here I have a demonstration of using the toothpaste tube squeezer for other purposes than toothpaste. With some larger plastic tubes it can be difficult to dispense product after time. You can use the tube squeezer on any tube that it will fit over to work the product downwards. When the product gets to the point that I cannot slide the squeezer anymore, I remove the squeezer and cut the top of the tube off. I then follow the first hack in this list by scraping the product out with a spatula and storing the tube in a plastic zipper bag until it is used up.
Beauty Waters
I want to include a quick tip for beauty waters, like toners. Most directions will state to apply the water onto a cotton round and then rub the round onto your face. By doing so you are throwing away water that is trapped in the cotton round. I splash the waters directly onto my fingers and then apply the waters to my face. This method works well for bottles that have a controlled lid like the one featured below. If your bottle has an open mouth, be careful that you are not pouring the water all over yourself!
Roller Balls and Pencils
Lastly in my how to use up beauty products tutorial I have a quick note on pencils and roller balls. For the most part, these types of products empty themselves. In my experience, when you reach the end of a pencil most companies do not put product near the end, so you literally end up with empty wood. If that is not the case for your pencil and it gets to the point that it is so small that you cannot sharpen it or hold it, I say just throw it away. Of course, if it is too small to put on the cap and you want to keep working with it, store it in a small plastic bag.
FAQ
What tools help you get the most out of your beauty products?
Common household items like scissors, pliers, zipper bags, small containers, beauty spatulas, knives, and tube squeezers make it easier to access trapped product and prevent waste.
How can you use up plastic tubes completely?
Cut the tube open once dispensing becomes difficult, then scrape out the remaining product with a beauty spatula. Store the open tube in a zipper bag or place the cut top back on as a lid.
What is the best way to empty glass bottles?
Scrape the remaining product into a small pot with a lid. This takes time but lets you recover several more uses from the bottle.
How do you finish potted products?
Use a beauty spatula to reach all remaining product, including corners. You can even apply the product with the spatula to avoid digging with your fingers.
How can you get the last of loose powders?
Use pliers to remove the shaker top. This gives direct access to the powder that is stuck below the dispenser.
How do you use up stick products like lipsticks and concealers?
Scrape out the product at the bottom of the tube with a knife or spatula and store it in a small pot for later use.
Why should you remove stoppers from tube products?
Removing the stopper lets you access trapped product that the wand can’t reach. This works for concealers, lip glosses, mascaras, liquid lipsticks, and more.
What can you do to empty plastic bottles that won’t cut easily?
Store the bottle upside down and shake it to help product collect near the opening. Use your fingers to reach any remaining product.
How do you get the last of a spray or pump product?
Combine the remaining product with a new bottle of the same item, or remove the sprayer and apply directly to the skin if appropriate.
What should you do when you hit pan in pressed makeup?
Break up the product and repress it into the pan for an even surface that is easier to pick up with a brush and less likely to crumble.
Can you get more use out of aerosols?
Most aerosols empty themselves well. There is no safe way to open them to retrieve leftover product.
How can you use all of a foil packet?
Fold the packet upward to push out every drop, or cut it open and scrape out thicker formulas like clay masks.
What helps with larger plastic tubes?
Use a tube squeezer to work product downward. Once it no longer slides, cut the tube open and scrape out the rest like smaller tubes.
How can you avoid wasting beauty waters?
Apply them directly to your fingers instead of using a cotton round, which absorbs and traps some of the liquid.
What should you know about pencils and roller balls?
These usually empty themselves. If a pencil becomes too small to sharpen or hold, it may be time to discard it.
Nearly any beauty product can be hacked so that you do not waste a drop! Most of my tips are super easy and can be completed with tools that you already have on hand. Until next time, continue to let your true beauty shine.
