spring cleaning with stowaway.

This post is sponsored by Stowaway, a right-sized cosmetics company.

The magnolias are going gangbusters. The daffodils have unfurled. It’s not warm out exactly, but I’ve sped up the arrival of spring in my apartment by forcing these tiny dogwoods. Old Mother Nature is ready to show off after her long winter’s beauty rest and you might be too.

It’s the time of year for throwing open the windows, plunking flowers in a vase, and in between checking to see if the lilac is in bloom, tackling your spring cleaning.

Where to start? 

In Simple Matters, I advise readers to take a good long look at their medicine cabinet when beginning the process of decluttering a space. A medicine cabinet—or whatever space that you have to stash your lotions and potions—can often act as a kind of litmus test for the state of the rest of your home (sorry if that’s bad news). But the good news is that it’s an easy place to start because the answers to the questions of what to toss and what to keep are clear and—hopefully—devoid of too much sentimentality. Either you use that lotion or you don’t. Either you like that mascara or you don’t. Either that lipstick is expired or it isn’t.

The advice is this: Be ruthless. Purge what you’re not using, toss what you don’t like, throw away what’s past its prime.

And then—and most importantly—think carefully about what you allow to come back in. This part, I call gatekeeping. Stand your ground. Let in only what you love. Make careful choices and by next spring, when it’s time for clearing out the cabinet again, you won’t have nearly so much to sift through. 

If you’re in the market for something new to replace your expired lipstick or your unloved cheek color, Stowaway might be the answer. As I’ve written before, I love Stowaway because it offers right-sized solutions for your makeup bag. Instead of selling makeup in sizes that are large and heavy and virtually impossible to finish before their expiration date, they’ve sized their cosmetics to correspond with the needs of the people who use them, and they’re always paraben-, phlalate-, and cruelty-free.

A customizable Stowaway Kit includes six basic products: BB cream, concealer, pot rouge, lipstick, eyeliner, and mascara. It’s all the makeup you need for $75. The idea is that instead of lugging around a dopp kit the size of Rhode Island and keeping two more at home, you’ll have everything you need in a collection of products that fit—quite literally—into the palm of your hands.

And if you do want a little something extra? An extra lipstick for a zippy touch of color? A different cheek tint for a different mood? Those few additions won’t weigh you down either. (And even if all of your cosmetics fit in the palms of two hands? I’d say you’re still coming out way ahead.) 


What about you guys? Where do you begin your spring cleaning? Closets? Cars? Medicine Cabinets?

Stowaway is offering RMTL readers a chance to restock their makeup bag with something to love. When you purchase a Stowaway Kit, use the code RMTLCLEAN to receive an additional free lipstick, mascara, and cheek pot of your choice. All of the details right this way. Apologies to international readers: Stowaway is currently only shipping within the US.