Cassandra Grey's Guide To Vanity Maintenance
VIOLET VANITY UPGRADE:
CASSANDRA GREY’S GUIDE TO VANITY MAINTENANCE
On the verge of letting yourself go? Medicine cabinet look like a disaster zone? Don’t fret—I am here to help.
- Written By
- CASSANDRA GREY
- Photography By
- NAJ JAMAI
For Customers Only:
In my experience, living my best life starts with clearing out my closet, whether it’s skeletons or expired face cream. It’s why I’m always recommending a monthly, quarterly, or at the very least, an annual spring cleaning ritual of sorts, where you clean out the clutter, tidy up, and start fresh. Trust me when I say that it will make you feel like a person who has it all together. I would know. Before starting VIOLET GREY, I pretty much bought anything marketed to me. I was a complete sucker for department store sales tactics. If I was told J.Lo was using it or there was a gift with purchase or it was simply shiny and new, I was definitely putting it in the bag. As a result, I had a lot of stuff I wasn’t using—or didn’t know how to use—just laying around sucking the joy out of my life.
Now, of course, I have VIOLET GREY standards and subscribe to the conscious consumption movement that the VIOLET GREY team is over here trying to make a thing. VIOLET GREY exists to enable you to feel confident in your purchase decisions. We think everyone deserves to know what products are worthy of their time and money. So please allow me to indulge you in the art of cleaning out and upgrading your vanity, as achieved in five simple steps—starting with skin care.
SUPPLIES NEEDED: bins or trays, disinfectant wipes, a large surface area like a kitchen table or counter, pen and paper, label maker, shipper boxes, and a trash can.
STEP 1: GATHER YOUR PRODUCTS
Take all your skin care out of your cabinets and place it in a bin or a tray. Transfer everything onto a large surface area such as a kitchen table or counter.
STEP 2: DECLUTTER AND SET ASIDE YOUR FAVORITES
Remove all the products you don’t use, don't love, or those that have expired. For products you don’t use or love (that are almost new or gently used) give them away or place in a shipper box to be donated. For expired products or near-empties, give the bottles/jars a good rinse, separate by material, and recycle. You can also contact the brand to see if they have a customer recycling program.
STEP 3: CATEGORIZE YOUR PRODUCTS INTO A ROUTINE
Clean the exterior of each remaining product with a disinfectant wipe, and organize by skin care category. Write up a list of everything you have, what’s missing, what you need to replace, and what you need to replenish.
Suggested categories:
|
Cleanser |
Face Oils |
|
Toner |
Eye Care |
|
Essence |
Sunscreen |
|
Daily Serum |
Face Mist |
|
Treatment Serum |
Masks |
|
Moisturizer |
Devices |
STEP 4: ADD NEW PRODUCTS TO COMPLETE YOUR ROUTINE
Now that you’ve categorized your existing products, it’s easy to see where the holes are and perhaps the areas that need upgrading.
STEP 5: PLACE EVERYTHING BACK INTO YOUR VANITY BY CATEGORY—AND LABEL
Identifying and assigning specifics like when to use (AM, PM, twice weekly, as needed) and how to use (steps 1, 2, 3, 4, for breakouts, etc.) to each product will help you stick to a consistent regimen. Then, label the shelves with your skin care categories and place the corresponding product(s) under each label. Et voilà, you are living your best life.
Take a picture of your #VioletVanity, post it, and tag me @cassandragrey. You can also DM me with any inquiries, too. I am eager to help you through the process. I can’t tell you the level of affirmation we will feel when we inspire you to fill and organize your medicine cabinet shelves with skin care that you love using. It is literally all we dream about when we are curating products at VIOLET GREY.
Once you’ve cleaned out your vanity, I highly recommend you now upgrade. Here are my top 11 #VioletCodeApproved skin care products I always keep stocked and labeled in my #VioletVanity.