A gentle declutter: lip products

Today we are documenting some lip products that I need to let go of – a mix of old and relatively new items. What they have in common is that I cannot wear them anymore. Three due to sheer age and the rest due to smell. Several of these have been out of my rotation for a long time, years at this point, languishing in a box awaiting the finalisation of this declutter post. I think I’ve been adding bits and pieces to this post for more than 6 months so it’s nice to be able to finally hit publish and move on.

Let’s get in to the shades – eleven in total. Ten lipsticks and one lip liner.

The oldest of the bunch are my three Powder Kiss Lipsticks from MAC which I bought when the formula first was launched in early 2019. These three were retired because I did not feel comfortable wearing them anymore due to age, not because they had gone off. One thing to note about this formula is that it has an unusual smell from the start. Not a foul smell but weird. However the scent does not linger on the lips after application so it is not a deal-breaker for me, but it might be for someone else. MAC has recently released the Powder Kiss Hazy Matte lipstick and I got the impression that is a reformulation designed to replace the Powder Kiss formula, and as far as I can see only the Hazy Matte version is available on the MAC website right now. I have not tried the new version so I cannot compare them.

Mull it Over was probably never a good shade for me, too peachy for my taste. But I was intrigued since it looked amazing on other people so I bought it and have used it quite a lot (despite it being a difficult shade for me). So naturally I am not interested in replacing this shade.

Devoted to Chili is such an amazing shade for me. Easily my most worn out of the three. It is this gorgeous muted brick red that is so soft and so strong at the same time. This picture does not do it justice. Since I like this shade so much I did venture out and bought a replacement in 2025. Still in the ‘old’ formula.

Burning Love was also a shade that suited me very well and has been well loved and used. However I am not really looking to replace this shade since I do not gravitate towards a pinky berry like this all that often anymore. I have other shades that can fill the same purpose well enough.

Then we have five lipsticks from H&M Beauty in formulas that are no longer on the market. I purchased them on a whim in 2022 with the ambition to add some more variety in the neutrals department and I have gotten decent use out of them. BUT…they have smelled a bit off this whole time. And slowly the smell has become more and more off-putting. I stopped reaching for them and just started seeing them as expired. Even though they have smelled the same the whole time.

Take a Bow (cream formula) was a great nude on me. I find it difficult to find nude shades that are pale but not too pale. This was a great one.

My most worn shade of the H&M bunch is Redwood (cream formula) simply because it is very wearable and adds a bit of brightness to my face. I’ve worn it to work a lot. Luckily I do have a similar shade in a formula that I prefer, Spirited Away by Lisa Eldridge in the Luxuriously Lucent formula. So I am happily wearing that instead.

So Cocoa (cream formula) was a bit too dark and cool to get a lot of wear, but it is a very interesting shade. If it had not smelled bad I think this shade would have been worn more often.

Brunette Ambition (cream formula) was my second most worn of the H&M bunch. A stunning medium nude on me. Not too brown or too pink. Perfect in tone. I would love to have something like this again (I might compare it to my other lipsticks and see if I already do have a similar one).

A Matter of Taste (matte formula) is another pretty shade that was overlooked a lot due to it looking too warm in the tube. But on the lips it worked well.

Finally we have two shades from the newer selection from H&M, in their Satin Icon formula. The issue with these is yet again the smell. They smell rancid from the start. I have gotten zero use out of these despite the colours being stunning. The funny yet not funny part is that these two were purchased almost two years apart. One was bought when the line was released in 2023 and I figured it was just a bad batch or something, since I purchased a red in their matte formula (also new in 2023) at the same time and that one was not affected. So fast forward to 2025 when I decided to try another colour in the Satin Icon formula and it has the same issue. Smells rancid from the get go.

Fudge Yeah! is similar to Take a Bow and it is a shame that it is unwearable. Because it looks great on the lips.

Worth the Truffle is another stunning shade that I found very wearable despite the depth. Very sad that it smells the way it does.

Then finally we have a lip liner. This is Midnight by Lisa Eldridge, a discontinued shade. I bought it in 2022 and have used it a little bit, primarily with the corresponding Velvet Midnight lipstick. This liner have dried out so it is not usable any more. I had to struggle to get it on my lips for this photo.

I am so happy to have completed this post – finally! A few of these lip products will be put in archive and and a few will be binned.

Thank you for reading!