How To Declutter Your Nail Polish Collection
Nail polish drawer filled with bottles
Updated 2024.07.09
The factors limiting your nail polish collection are the space you have to store them, the time you have to search for them, the money you have to buy them and the people who are willing to give them to you.
Yet, even if you only scavenge clearance aisles, acquire polishes through stacking coupons and rewards programs, and keep your ear to the street for people looking to get rid of their old polishes, they accumulate quickly.
You can easily fill up space in many nooks and crannies with nail polishes, and they do seem to multiply.
You treat yourself to a new nail polish on payday or as a reward for a job well done. You collect nail polishes from free destashes on Facebook Marketplace or from family and neighbors clearing out their collections.
You scour yard sales and thrift stores for barely used and never-opened lacquers. You request nail polish for every holiday where gifting is allowed.
The nail polishes in your collection may also find you in other mysteriously synchronistic ways.
These are a few pathways for how your nail polish collection can grow organically.
Eventually, as your polish collection grows, you’re bound to identify favorites, as well as colors that are well past their prime, or run out of available space to put them.
Thankfully, nail polish collections are subject to some amount of attrition and churn. They’re pigments in solvents that deteriorate when exposed to UV light, oxygen and use.
It may be a small amount of loss every few years, but it’s normal and the nature of loving beauty products.
So, it makes sense that every 2-3 years, as nail polishes reach their “best by” dates, you’ll want to declutter and tidy your nail polish collection.
If you’re considering a nail polish destash, let’s start with a few perks of decluttering your collection.
8 Benefits of Decluttering Your Nail Polish Collection
Nail polish drawer filled with bottles
1 - You’ll know the usability status of every one of your polish assets
When you declutter your collection, you’ll identify some shades that have thickened, become clumpy or stringy.
These can be decluttered and when you're done, you know for sure every shade you still have is in working condition
Knowing the precise usability status of your shades prevents disappointment. You’ll never again plan a manicure in your mind around a single shade, only to grab it for use, to find it’s gone bad.
2 - You can fall in love with old favorites
If you have a large collection of polishes, chances are you have some favorites that are buried deep in your storage cart or cabinets that you forgot about.
As you declutter, you’ll unearth these beauties. They’ll resurface in all their glory, once again, on your nails.
3 - You make room for new shades
If you haven’t tidied your collection in a while, there’s likely a few lacquers that are taking up space and they aren’t usable anymore.
When you let go of these, you’ll create space for new polishes or other hobbies.
4 - You find out which shades aren’t getting enough use
You may have some underappreciated and underrated nail polishes in your collection. You’ll be able to pull these out to the forefront of your collection for increased circulation.
5 - You identify areas of growth for your collection
You’ll identify brands that you love, yet haven’t invested in enough yet. You’ll also identify shortages in shade areas you like, but have yet to expand on.
These gaps can become targeted “areas of growth” to complete your collection.
6 - You can use it as an opportunity to inventory or swatch your shades
Create a Google Spreadsheet inventorying your colors as you sort them.
You can add columns for brand name, color name, and color family or add your usage notes for the future (for example: this one dries slowly, add a quick dry top coat next time).
If you haven’t already, you can also unscrew each cap and swatch your colors on sticks as you decide that a color is still right for you, right now.
7 - You’ll get ideas for untapped ways to use your shades
As you go through your nail polish colors one by one, creative ideas will come to you for new ways to use your polishes that you haven’t considered before.
8 - Make some money or leverage your polishes for trades
If you sell your lightly used shades, you can make a little bit of cash. You can also trade polishes you don’t love in nail polish lovers groups for polishes you do want to try.
Now that we’ve reviewed the benefits, let’s take a look at how to declutter your collection ~
How To Declutter Your Nail Polish Collection
Nail polish storage drawers pulled out to show bottles from side with text overlay How To Declutter Your Nail Polish Collection
1 - Get all your polish out in front of you
Put them on your bed, pull out all your drawers and place them on the floor in front of you, or pull your storage cart out. You want to see all your polishes in one place.
2 - Pick up each polish one at a time
Open them to inspect the polishes’ consistency. Hold them and remember the last time you tried and used it. Did you enjoy it?
Notice if the polish’s texture has changed or if you feel any emotions while holding the bottle, like joy or appreciation.
3 - Place each polish in a pile: keep, sell, donate, rehab, trash
Keep the ones you use and truly bring you happiness.
Sell or donate the ones that are lightly used or not used at all, you dislike, or are collectable and tradeable.
Rehabilitate the polishes that are clumpy or thickened with a lacquer thinner.
Trash the polishes that are nearly empty, have been rehabilitated and still are unusable (often older polishes don’t cure no matter what you do), or they’re so old, they’ve solidified.
4 - Once you have identified your keep and sell polishes, tidy them
If you’re wondering how to tidy your nail polishes, let’s walk through it. It’s easy to do and a cleaning project that you’ll find to be enjoyable.
Once you’ve decluttered your polishes and chosen which polishes you’re keeping or selling:
A. Make sure all of your polishes are out of their storage area
B. Wipe the inside of your storage space with a clean, damp towel
C. Open the caps of each polish one at a time
D. With gloved hands, wipe off dust on the neck base with a microfiber cloth
E. With gloved hands, rub the neck of the polish with acetone and paper towel to remove built up lacquer
F. Screw the lid tightly back on and repeat steps C-E for each polish
G. Arrange your polishes back in your set of storage unit by season, color or brand
You’ll get a sense of satisfaction when this tidying is complete, and you’ll also feel pride and accomplishment.
Tidying nail polish regularly will help you keep your nail polish storage area clean and ensure your polishes last the longest.
5 - Take action on your donate, rebab and trash polishes
Donate your lightly used polishes to a family member, friend, or neighbor for one of their projects. You can also drop them at a thrift store.
Carry your rehab polishes to your nail painting station. Add a few drops of thinner and shake to see if you can restore them.
Take your “trash” polishes to the garbage or local recycling center. In some regions, nail polish is deemed hazardous waste so check the disposal recommendations for your area first.
6 - You’re done!
Now your collection is filled with 100% functional nail polishes that you love and enjoy. Take a step back and admire your work.
Admire what you decided to keep. These are your color preferences, what do they say about your taste? About the person you are now?
Nail polish storage drawers pulled out to show bottles
The process of editing out the nail polish you never wear can be rewarding.
You get an opportunity to organize and clean your beauties, while removing any colors that are past their prime, or no longer match your style and trends today.
The hardest part about decluttering your collection may be discerning between what sparks joy just in the bottle, compared to what sparks joy enough you’ll actually wear it.
Maybe you love looking at sparkly toppers, but do you love wearing them?
As you know, nail polishes in the bottle can be very different from what they look like on the nail.
You’ll ideally keep what you enjoy using and wearing, as everything not being used is wasted, as it slowly becomes obsolete over time.
After you’ve decluttered your collection, you may want to reconsider the best storage container for them. Maybe your former container needs an upgrade or you want to put all your polishes together in one space.
There are many storage options available: a vanity rack, a wall unit, a rolling trolley cart or a set of storage drawers.
The choice is yours! As long as you keep them out of direct sunlight and away from sources of extreme heat or cold, storing your polishes properly can make your polish collection an investment that lasts.
When was the last time you edited your polish collection? Do you make it a habit to declutter your beauty products every so often?
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