When I first started out as a writer for a new website many years ago, somehow I ended up doing the beauty posts despite knowing nothing about the beauty industry. Fast forward five years, I found myself with a real problem, a hoarding problem.
Because we live in a world where money is needed to survive, Latte Lindsay runs a number of affiliate programmes and offers contributed or partnered content. If you choose to click the links and read the posts, the site may earn a commission or receives a payment. All of the opinions are my own. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any partner brands/company(s), beauty & lifestyle brands, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities unless specified.
How it started
Back in 2015, I started working for a new website after answering an advert on a recruitment site. The advert appeared to be promising as it was looking for writers who wanted to work for an up and coming website. They didn’t require any experience because they would provide all the training that I would need, which was great as I had no idea what I was doing. I joined the team with some other bloggers and tried to make my mark. Somehow, through a cruel twist of fate, I ended up covering beauty and fashion, two things I knew nothing about. For the best part of a year, I worked my fingers to the bone for a website that was ultimately shut down when the owner/manager decided to go in a different direction. While I was there, I tried to learn as much as I could because I knew (deep down) that the website would not last. The owner was too focused on other things, often volatile, and dumped work on me constantly. I even had to work the day we buried my aunt because, although she was dead, I wasn’t. When push came to shove, we all parted ways and I decided to set out on my own.
When I went solo
This website is my baby, and I am a one-woman operation. And as someone who had no idea what they are doing, I think it has gone pretty well. When I made the decision to work for myself, I was terrified. I needed this to work because I couldn’t face going back to working for someone else. In my panic to make sure that I made money, I decided that this site would deal with everything and everyone. My method was “let’s throw some shit at the wall and see what sticks”. And for the most part, it worked. I took all of my basic level of blogging knowledge and threw it into this site. Since then, I’m proud to say, I have created a profitable little business for myself. Over the years, I read what I could about blogging and social media and I decided to pursue a degree in English. Little by little, I moved forward. The experience has felt like holding on to an aeroplane wing with your fingernails. And the plane is on fire. It might make it to the ground safely but if it doesn’t, I don’t have a parachute. During these first few years, I worked 80 hour weeks trying my hardest to make it work.
When the problem started
Because I have no idea what I am doing, I decided to create my beauty posts around actually using products and seeing if they worked. If my dumbass could work out how to use them, then they must be pretty good. I was also fed up with over curated pictures and decided to show the bottles empty. I wanted to prove that I was actually using the products and not blowing smoke up everyone’s asses. This is how “Empties from the Bathroom” began. As the beauty posts began to grow, and other paid opportunities began to present themselves, I started to lag behind with my Empties posts. Photographing and adding all of those links became a massive chore. Let me be very clear, all of those links are incredibly time-consuming to create. Weeks rolled into the months, and the box of empty products began to overflow. So I got another box. And another. And another. If anyone dared to bin an empty bottle of shampoo, I would flip my lid. The issue was, if I tried to bin any of the empty bottles, I would consider it a lost opportunity. This was a link opportunity and content, I couldn’t lose it! When you are keeping boxes of empty bottles, you might want to weigh things up and consider if you are becoming a hoarder.
Crunch time
I knew that the empty bottles were becoming an issue and I was slipping down the slippery slope of being a hoarder. Between the boxes of empties and the mountain of pictures, I was at a breaking point. Doing Empties from the Bathroom was just not worth it. I was literally tripping over bottles in the hallway. As I went through the boxes of empty bottles, I realised I had doubles or triples of some items. Some of the bottles had been sitting for so long I had forgotten how they performed and if I would use them again. Even if I did attempt to write a review, it would be false as I had forgotten most of the products. As I surveyed the mess that I had made, I slowly realised I had become a hoarder. This was not me. And the worst thing was, I am not a beauty blogger. Of course, I talk about products and I bathe, but I have no skills other than recommending products that are idiot-proof. It was time to say goodbye and get rid of my empty beauty bottles for good.
Saying goodbye
It might sound weird, but it was so hard for me to put those empties in the bin. My husband gave me a couple of days to get my head around it, but then they were gone. He had waited until after the recycling bin had been emptied before he began tossing them all out. By the time he had finished, the bin was 3/4 full. As he moved them out of the house and into the bin, I could feel the anxiety rise in my chest. I didn’t need these, I knew I didn’t need these, but being a hoarder isn’t a logical thing. After the bin was filled and I looked around the bathroom and cupboards, I knew I had done the right thing. If I had kept up the pace with the empties posts, I’m sure they would have been useful and interesting. But it was not meant to be.
The Aftermath
It’s been a few weeks since I have let go of my Empties, and I can honestly say that I feel better about myself. The clutter is gone. Empty bottles go straight in the bin or the recycling. I managed to finish up all of those bottles that have been loitering around the bathroom. Of course, I will still continue to post about beauty products but I will never do another empties post again. I still need to clear out some unpublished posts that are sitting in my drafts and I probably have a ton of old photos that need to be deleted from my phone, but I’m getting there.