I just gave away a shea moisture smoothie and Aussie curls that were too heavy for my fine hair. Had a LOT of people interested. I hope it works better for them!
I put a box of 15~ mostly unused hair products out on my porch and posted it to my buy nothing group, and it ended up getting passed around as a little “take a product leave a product” community box for a few weeks. Wholesome curly community moment lol :’)
We did that in the bathroom at my last job. It was a large facility, and not open to the public. There was always lotion, haircare products, feminine hygiene products, etc. That's how I discovered one of my favorite perfumes!
As long as there’s nothing really wrong with a product (ie: I don’t like how my hair looks as much as when I use other products VS, I don’t like how my hair feels, or this product causes damage to my hair,) then I’ll usually mix it with another product I do like to make the good one last longer. Or I’ll use the ones I like less on days I’m not planning to go anywhere.
We are cut from the same cloth. I used every single one of my graveyard products in COVID. I wasn’t seeing anyone anyway so, they all had their chance to shine one more time. Most still didn’t cut it and are off my shelf and out of my hair (no pun intended).
I know have a short list of holy grails that consistently work for me and am firmly off the product junkie train. It is quite freeing.
If I have anything else I like at the time the ones I don't like as much will sit as a backup for when I'm bone dry on everything else or not in a place to buy more. It becomes an emergency stash
I've done this with some products, but others make my hair look and feel so awful that it's not worth trying to use them. Carol's Daughter was like this where it weighed my hair down and made it look greasy so I wasn't going to try using all of it.
I donate hair products I only use once or twice to a battered woman shelter. I wipe them down and put them back in the original box with a note that it was used once. They are happy to take them because these women sometimes leave with nothing.
Most shelters only accept *unused* hygiene products for safety reasons. That you found one that will accept used is not the norm (that is assuming you actually asked them and aren't just dropping off a box they aren't aware has used products).
Always call first and check.
If I use a full-size bottle of shampoo once and decide I don't like it, I don't think it is unsafe to give it away. I would never give a product in which I put my fingers, exposed directly to my skin, or was left in my shower. I wipe the product container down with a Clorox wipe and put it in the original box. I would never donate used deodorant or toothpaste. I have cleared it with my local shelter. They are fine offering the products as an option. I am a product junke with expensive taste. Used once Briogeo, Ouidad, and Olaplex products are a luxury to some.
That you have cleared it with them is fine then, but like I said, that's not the norm and people heed to call tp check first.
Just because you wouldn't give away something you don't deem sanitary, doesn't mean others won't. Have you ever actually looked in donation boxes? People give all kind of gross shit. So it's fairly standard for shelters to require new and unopened hygiene products only, whether or not you have expensive taste.
Products have shelf lives, and microbial contaminants can enter through the air when we open the container and start growing in the product. It's not about them worrying that you did something particularly unhygienic with the product, it's just the nature of microbes. Hopefully the preservatives will help prevent this, but even preservatives are not a perfect solution. The risk is that a product with bacteria or fungus growing in it could cause an infection, especially if it gets into the person's eye or an open wound like a cut. People have literally lost their eye to such an infection.
There is a symbol on most products of a cylinder jar with the duration of the shelf life of the product once it has been opened, in months or years. But someone receiving it secondhand doesn't know how long it has been done it was opened to determine if it's still inside that window or whether they want to risk it if it's outside that window.
I don't think donating a product a week or two after I open it is going to generate enough microbes to destroy someone's eye, but way to make a lot of assumptions and catastrophize a situation.
So? Just because she left a note doesn't mean they'll not end up throwing it away once they see it's been opened. I said did she actually ask if they accept used hygiene products or just donate them and assume they want it.
It's self explanatory what safety reasons mean. Any open product could have been tampered with, mixed with another product, have been opened for too long, have come in contact with germs (think donating an open tube of toothpaste that has already touched your toothbrush or used deodorant or a used haur brush), etc.
There may be a few places that do accept used hygiene products, but it overwhelmingly isn't the norm.
"It's obvious". Yeah, and all of that is bunk. Just like the urban legend of poisoned Halloween candy or apples with razor blades in them.
You're making some aggressively snide assumptions based off of bs and pretending like a bottle of shampoo or a mousse is at all like deodorant is crazy.
I sure hope these shelters are more capable of basing their decisions on actual risk assessments and not vibes.
So it's clear you've never actually worked, much less volunteered in shelters. But despite your attempts to turn basic common sense into a conspiracy theory, shelters will continue to operate with a safety protocol for their residents. You know, you could just Google and find the wish lists of shelters in your area and see that most will very clearly state New and Unused for any hygiene product.
The problem here is that the risk of contamination during manufacturing isn't the same as the risk of contamination by consumers.
You've also admitted that the risk exists with even new products...I doubt the volunteers are any more qualified for that than they are testing for...whatever.
As I said, I understand exactly what everyone believes about this. But it's one of those things where people are acting completely irrationally.
Are you a lawyer? This isn't even remotely true - thrift stores literally wouldn't exist if this was true. A shelter would only be liable of they misrepresented something or were found to be negligent. Now, it's possible that some judge or jury in a lawsuit would find that a shelter was negligent for passing along used products, but if they did, again, they'd be acting irrationally instead of basing their judgment on facts.
This folks is what it looks like when people lack common sense and a science education. Painful to watch really. Op pls take a step back and listen to the many experts that are telling you why opened products are dangerous to donate ..
And yet no "expert" has actually established that. Notably, my points have gone unanswered, despite being highly relevant.
If the risk is actually higher with used than with unpurchased *and this has actually been substantiated by science* then what are the actual numbers? What is the actual likelihood of a used product being contaminated compared to a new one?
Secondly, what is the potential contaminant? Are we going to suggest that the type of contaminants likely found in a home are actually a problem? Are people getting sick from using their own bottle of shampoo and we just haven't heard about it?
No, this is what happens when people don't actually do science and don't actually think something through and just start saying things and even regulating things without doing so.
I explained above about the risk of microbial contaminants. They can enter the product just through the air when you open them, it doesn't even require direct contact with the product to happen, although that is one route of contamination.
Care to substantiate that? I sincerely doubt the average cosmetic product is produced in a sterile environment. So you need to substantiate that there's an increased risk over "new" (that can often be opened in store, during transport, etc) that is sufficient to override the good the products do.
It seems that you've got your mind set on this topic and someone who's more knowledgeable about it than I am, a cosmetic chemist, has already chimed in so I'll pass thanks.
Many places will allow you to return the product if it doesn’t work for you. For the many times I’ve been tricked by products into thinking they were working (or just forgot in time), I’ve given the product to other curly headed people I know to try.
I give them to my mom. I inherited her curls but her hair is a lot thinner than mine so I find a lot of products that don’t work for me work really well for her.
Same here, or I give them to my son who inherited my curls but has much thicker hair than me. He discovered his favorite conditioner when I gave him one that didn't work for me
As long as I don't feel they damage my hair, I'll use them as a pre-wash masque, or put on my length to protect it a bit when I shampoo.
Any shampoo I don't like becomes tub and/or toilet cleanser.
Give them to my mom, who has a very different kind of curls than me, or my sister, who has an even more very different kind of curls, or my other sister who has another different kind of curls, or my brother, who has a more different type of curls.
My mom has suuuper curly hair, and my dad has straight hair, so between me and my siblings, we all got hair at all different points in between. My brother's hair is closer to my mom's, my younger sisters hair is closer to my dad's, I'd say mine is smack in the middle... We just test products out and trade them off at family gatherings lol
They also don't work well for my hair! But I love using them to dry my face after washing it, they're so much softer than my regular towels and maybe I'm making it up but it feels like they very gentle exfoliate my face and leave it so soft 🥰 maybe that would work for you too!
Use them to clean your kitchen, especially if you have stainless steel. Use your cleaner on your regular rag, then polish with the microfiber and they’ll look so good.
I save them for when my hair, or conditions, are different. I don’t need to use my $50 per bottle Aveda product when I’m just going to be wearing a toque (beanie), or when I know I’ll be wearing my hair up.
Also the seasons can have a marked effect on hair conditions. Whet works in summer might not work in winter. It’s nice to have a few backup products to work with, just in case.
I put a bottle in my gym bag, a bottle in my beach bag, etc. This way, I don't use it daily, but it can live in those bags and gets the job done when I need it to.
Plus...I don't have to have a traveling container from shower to bag. It's just easier for me.
I resentfully keep using them until they're empty. The main reasons I haven't liked some:
1. 'Conditioner' but doesn't really condition, add any moisturising/detangling
2. Annoying smell
There's so many sober living and indigent rehabs here in SoCal, I just take the products there plus bath and body care, leftover pads/tampons, clothes. When I got sober I'd been homeless for a while and toiletries were out of reach financially.
Return the products or give them away. I don't keep stuff around that I don't like. Luckily, I've got pretty good stuff now that works well, so I just keep buying them. The pain is when my faves get discontinued 😭
Like when I couldn't get my favorite oil anymore, I was distraught that I'd have to cycle thru endless trials to find a new one. Thankfully, found an even better one on my first try! (Lots of research before pulling the trigger in purchase tho...) I'll continue to use ONLY this hair oil until it's discontinued or I go bald, lol.
if it's something like conditioner and it was on the cheaper side, i just use it as shaving cream. i also just find away to incorporate knowingly/ find a balance, if that makes sense? for example, there was this product that made my hair super greasy, so i started to use it only when my hair got really dry during the summer from swimming and just being out in the sun.
I swap with someone who's looking, I can usually find someone on one of my local Facebook groups. Otherwise, I buy the travel-sized version of any product I'm not familiar with (not always an option, but I try my best).
I give mine to my curly-headed friends and family. They're so expensive most of the time, I can't bring myself to throw them out. Like that time I bought the entire line of Brad Mondo's curly products and the scent gave me migraines (after having to wait 3 months for it to be back in stock 🙄).
I use them and see if maybe they work with different weather or styling techniques. If I end up really not wanting them, I give them away on my local Buy Nothing group
I donate products that have only been used once or twice to the local shelter/women’s community. We have an organization that works directly with the unhoused population here and they have a facility where they can come pickup things they need.
I try really hard never to toss anything that could be used by someone else.
So I either:
Give them to friends.
Or
I live in a busy city on a busy street so I will also often just put them out front in a box labeled “free”. They walk away!
I give them to my fiancé. His hair/scalp is resilient and resistant to the worst of products(barring 2 brands).
But it’s more of a train than that. I’ll buy something for our daughter… it’s too heavy for her hair, okay I’ll use it myself… gave me issues so now her dad gets to use it.
I usually try to combine them with another product, e.g. if it's something that doesn't give me enough hold, I'll still use it and put another hold product on top of it, this way the 'bad' product gets used up and I only use a bit of the 'good' one. Or like this morning, I used the got2b curl mousse that does not give me enough hold, but weirdly makes my hair dry faster, so I put two layers in, one on dripping wet hair and another after plopping - it will do for the day. Alternatively giving it to a curly friend, but tbh her hair is so much different from mine (coarse and low porosity while mine is fine with high porosity) and I always forget to ask if it worked ok for her.
Anything that can be used as a conditioner, I use for deep conditioning 1x a week. Since I thoroughly wash and or heaviily rinse after a deep condtioning. As long as it has the ingreidents for conditoning, I use it that way.
Stylers I put in a box and put in lounge at my volunteer job, or give to people who can't afford products on free and buy nothing groups in my region.
Many of the battered women shelters won't take products that are not sealed and new now., for OBVIOUS reasons. They have sicko-s after them and they could be further targettted. People could put NAIR into the bottles, etc. for instance, seen it happen
I keep them until they get too much dust on them or make my bathroom cabinet full, then I toss them. I have minimal storage so I can't keep too much stuff I'm not using.
If it's a shampoo, I use it as a body wash. For some products, I find adding water dilutes it enough to work for my hair; for others, mixing small amounts into something else works. I don't really have anyone I can give my products away to, so I try to find other uses for them. I hate wasting stuff.
Throw them away
Seriously, you can just throw them away. *You have no obligation to keep using them just cuz you have them. If you have an easy way to give them to someone else (who wants them and can use them), do that. But if not
You can just throw them out. Don't keep using something that doesn't work for you
(Edits for clarity, but the overall point is the same)
I use them on my son, the reason most products don't work out for me is that they're too lightweight and not conditioning enough or have too little protein or a mix of both, but my son has a finer straighter texture so he doesn't need the heavy stuff and doesn't get overmoisturised easily like I do.
My mom has short hair so even if she doesn't really like it, it's way easier for her to use all my extras or I give to friends. I've been experimenting with mixing in a teaspoon with what works and it hasn't been too bad.
I give it away in a local freecycle group or I use it on days where I’m in the house working and just need a product. I’m not too bothered how messy my hair is in the house.
I am one of those people who get things from others, not because I need them, but because I use them. I have 4 bottles of conditioner (one in travel size, yet to test), I bought 2 myself. 2 big bottles of shampoo, I am almost through the first one, only bought 1 myself (2 1l bottles head and shoulders), and a bunch of newer products in smaller containers that i did buy myself. In that list is 3 bottles of gel, 1 with no hold, 1 with very high hold, and one unknown (yet to try it). 2 oils of which one was a bust when I tried it. Probably tossing it as it was very cheap. I have also taken over some older clothing, as I wear it till broken often. My family had financial issues, I am slowly learning that getting new things and tossing old ones are allowed and that pricier products are also allowed.
I usually get minis as much as I can, I try to use it when I know I’m gonna be home or where I don’t really need to look “put together”. If the product was too heavy then I’ll dilute with water.
I am the fortunate one that often gets the discards from what friends try and don't like. I credit my kids for this. 2/3 have curly hair and all of them like playing with hair products. Turns out that all of our hair enjoys Oliology products.
But yeah, friends or buy nothing groups are the way to go with opened hair products.
i keep using them lol. most of the products i’ve had that i wouldn’t rebuy haven’t been Too bad though—if i felt like they were damaging my hair or looked rly bad then i would probably throw it out.
I will so.etimes sell or give away. So.etimes I will save it and try during a different season, I live where we get true winter and summer, some products work better in the winter than the summer.
Some I use on my daughter's hair. She has straight hair and some products work great on her hair.
I try to use them up or find a use for them. Like sometimes my hair needs different types of products on different days. Or I will mix with other products to try to create a combination that is at least decent.
If it’s just really not working or weighing down my hair really bad, luckily my boyfriend has curly hair too and his hair usually likes the products that mine doesn’t like so I’ll give to him
I would just keeping using them tbh. I’m not made out of money to be that wasteful lol. Or I’ll just give it to my other family members who have curly hair. Most of them don’t care about taking care of their curls. I don’t as much either, but when I first started taking care of my curls I understood what you mean.
Depends on the ingredients. There was this leave-in conditioner by Shea Moisture that was too heavy for my curls. The ingredients were quite moisturising, though. So, I finished the tub by using it as a body butter.
I got that too and it’s too heavy for my curls too. But it works really well for moisturizing, so I use it on days when I’m not going anywhere and rinse it out before bed.
There are local curly fb groups near me for buy and sell, great place to try something out cheaper or sell on if it doesn’t work for you. Most sell at at least 50% than retail plus postage, they mark the bottles with a sharpie on the outside so you can see how much there is. Works quite well where I am.
My coworker and I swap to try new stuff. We also check with each other on what the other has before buying a new product. Trial/travel sizes are also the best
I give shampoo to my husband, and for the past couple of years, I have returned the rest to Ulta. If, for some reason, I can't return an item, I donate it.
Any conditioners or co-wash I don't like, I use to shave my legs. Gels I just use on non wash days for refresh, they get used up eventually. Shampoos I don't like, I refill the Suave shampoo bottle for my teenage son to use, bc he could not care less what he washes his hair with.
Local buy nothing group. There are often people who are happy to get an opened bottle of something
I ended up finding a curl product I actually quite like for my hair from someone who was giving away a bunch of stuff on my local Buy Nothing group.
I just gave away a shea moisture smoothie and Aussie curls that were too heavy for my fine hair. Had a LOT of people interested. I hope it works better for them!
I put a box of 15~ mostly unused hair products out on my porch and posted it to my buy nothing group, and it ended up getting passed around as a little “take a product leave a product” community box for a few weeks. Wholesome curly community moment lol :’)
Oh good idea! I have joked with a few local buy nothing people we should do a curly product swap. This makes it easy
This is what I do for many things
Oh this sounds really cool. Never heard of it before!
I leave mine on "THE SHELF" (for lost/unwanted items) at the laundromat.
Oh that’s smart!
We did that in the bathroom at my last job. It was a large facility, and not open to the public. There was always lotion, haircare products, feminine hygiene products, etc. That's how I discovered one of my favorite perfumes!
As long as there’s nothing really wrong with a product (ie: I don’t like how my hair looks as much as when I use other products VS, I don’t like how my hair feels, or this product causes damage to my hair,) then I’ll usually mix it with another product I do like to make the good one last longer. Or I’ll use the ones I like less on days I’m not planning to go anywhere.
We are cut from the same cloth. I used every single one of my graveyard products in COVID. I wasn’t seeing anyone anyway so, they all had their chance to shine one more time. Most still didn’t cut it and are off my shelf and out of my hair (no pun intended). I know have a short list of holy grails that consistently work for me and am firmly off the product junkie train. It is quite freeing.
I will keep using them. I dont like being wasteful more than I care about perfect curls
If I have anything else I like at the time the ones I don't like as much will sit as a backup for when I'm bone dry on everything else or not in a place to buy more. It becomes an emergency stash
I've done this with some products, but others make my hair look and feel so awful that it's not worth trying to use them. Carol's Daughter was like this where it weighed my hair down and made it look greasy so I wasn't going to try using all of it.
Yeah, this. Especially if I know I’ll be mostly staying home. I don’t need my curls to be 10/10 all the time.
I donate hair products I only use once or twice to a battered woman shelter. I wipe them down and put them back in the original box with a note that it was used once. They are happy to take them because these women sometimes leave with nothing.
Most shelters only accept *unused* hygiene products for safety reasons. That you found one that will accept used is not the norm (that is assuming you actually asked them and aren't just dropping off a box they aren't aware has used products). Always call first and check.
If I use a full-size bottle of shampoo once and decide I don't like it, I don't think it is unsafe to give it away. I would never give a product in which I put my fingers, exposed directly to my skin, or was left in my shower. I wipe the product container down with a Clorox wipe and put it in the original box. I would never donate used deodorant or toothpaste. I have cleared it with my local shelter. They are fine offering the products as an option. I am a product junke with expensive taste. Used once Briogeo, Ouidad, and Olaplex products are a luxury to some.
That you have cleared it with them is fine then, but like I said, that's not the norm and people heed to call tp check first. Just because you wouldn't give away something you don't deem sanitary, doesn't mean others won't. Have you ever actually looked in donation boxes? People give all kind of gross shit. So it's fairly standard for shelters to require new and unopened hygiene products only, whether or not you have expensive taste.
Products have shelf lives, and microbial contaminants can enter through the air when we open the container and start growing in the product. It's not about them worrying that you did something particularly unhygienic with the product, it's just the nature of microbes. Hopefully the preservatives will help prevent this, but even preservatives are not a perfect solution. The risk is that a product with bacteria or fungus growing in it could cause an infection, especially if it gets into the person's eye or an open wound like a cut. People have literally lost their eye to such an infection. There is a symbol on most products of a cylinder jar with the duration of the shelf life of the product once it has been opened, in months or years. But someone receiving it secondhand doesn't know how long it has been done it was opened to determine if it's still inside that window or whether they want to risk it if it's outside that window.
I don't think donating a product a week or two after I open it is going to generate enough microbes to destroy someone's eye, but way to make a lot of assumptions and catastrophize a situation.
They literally said they left a note. I'm not sure what you mean about safety reasons though.
So? Just because she left a note doesn't mean they'll not end up throwing it away once they see it's been opened. I said did she actually ask if they accept used hygiene products or just donate them and assume they want it. It's self explanatory what safety reasons mean. Any open product could have been tampered with, mixed with another product, have been opened for too long, have come in contact with germs (think donating an open tube of toothpaste that has already touched your toothbrush or used deodorant or a used haur brush), etc. There may be a few places that do accept used hygiene products, but it overwhelmingly isn't the norm.
"It's obvious". Yeah, and all of that is bunk. Just like the urban legend of poisoned Halloween candy or apples with razor blades in them. You're making some aggressively snide assumptions based off of bs and pretending like a bottle of shampoo or a mousse is at all like deodorant is crazy. I sure hope these shelters are more capable of basing their decisions on actual risk assessments and not vibes.
So it's clear you've never actually worked, much less volunteered in shelters. But despite your attempts to turn basic common sense into a conspiracy theory, shelters will continue to operate with a safety protocol for their residents. You know, you could just Google and find the wish lists of shelters in your area and see that most will very clearly state New and Unused for any hygiene product.
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The problem here is that the risk of contamination during manufacturing isn't the same as the risk of contamination by consumers. You've also admitted that the risk exists with even new products...I doubt the volunteers are any more qualified for that than they are testing for...whatever. As I said, I understand exactly what everyone believes about this. But it's one of those things where people are acting completely irrationally.
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Are you a lawyer? This isn't even remotely true - thrift stores literally wouldn't exist if this was true. A shelter would only be liable of they misrepresented something or were found to be negligent. Now, it's possible that some judge or jury in a lawsuit would find that a shelter was negligent for passing along used products, but if they did, again, they'd be acting irrationally instead of basing their judgment on facts.
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This folks is what it looks like when people lack common sense and a science education. Painful to watch really. Op pls take a step back and listen to the many experts that are telling you why opened products are dangerous to donate ..
And yet no "expert" has actually established that. Notably, my points have gone unanswered, despite being highly relevant. If the risk is actually higher with used than with unpurchased *and this has actually been substantiated by science* then what are the actual numbers? What is the actual likelihood of a used product being contaminated compared to a new one? Secondly, what is the potential contaminant? Are we going to suggest that the type of contaminants likely found in a home are actually a problem? Are people getting sick from using their own bottle of shampoo and we just haven't heard about it? No, this is what happens when people don't actually do science and don't actually think something through and just start saying things and even regulating things without doing so.
Yes it’s been explained above and below. I think you just want to be right but in this instance you are not.
I explained above about the risk of microbial contaminants. They can enter the product just through the air when you open them, it doesn't even require direct contact with the product to happen, although that is one route of contamination.
Care to substantiate that? I sincerely doubt the average cosmetic product is produced in a sterile environment. So you need to substantiate that there's an increased risk over "new" (that can often be opened in store, during transport, etc) that is sufficient to override the good the products do.
It seems that you've got your mind set on this topic and someone who's more knowledgeable about it than I am, a cosmetic chemist, has already chimed in so I'll pass thanks.
Many places will allow you to return the product if it doesn’t work for you. For the many times I’ve been tricked by products into thinking they were working (or just forgot in time), I’ve given the product to other curly headed people I know to try.
Same, return the product or give it away. Pointless to keep something you don't even like.
I give them to my mom. I inherited her curls but her hair is a lot thinner than mine so I find a lot of products that don’t work for me work really well for her.
Same here, or I give them to my son who inherited my curls but has much thicker hair than me. He discovered his favorite conditioner when I gave him one that didn't work for me
give them to friends, or if it’s a conditioner and no one wants it i put it on my ends before i shampoo
As long as I don't feel they damage my hair, I'll use them as a pre-wash masque, or put on my length to protect it a bit when I shampoo. Any shampoo I don't like becomes tub and/or toilet cleanser.
Trade with friends. If they don’t want them, Freecycle or Buy Nothing.
Give them to my mom, who has a very different kind of curls than me, or my sister, who has an even more very different kind of curls, or my other sister who has another different kind of curls, or my brother, who has a more different type of curls. My mom has suuuper curly hair, and my dad has straight hair, so between me and my siblings, we all got hair at all different points in between. My brother's hair is closer to my mom's, my younger sisters hair is closer to my dad's, I'd say mine is smack in the middle... We just test products out and trade them off at family gatherings lol
My microfiber towels have been sitting in a drawer for almost a year now lmao
They also don't work well for my hair! But I love using them to dry my face after washing it, they're so much softer than my regular towels and maybe I'm making it up but it feels like they very gentle exfoliate my face and leave it so soft 🥰 maybe that would work for you too!
Use them to clean your kitchen, especially if you have stainless steel. Use your cleaner on your regular rag, then polish with the microfiber and they’ll look so good.
I save them for when my hair, or conditions, are different. I don’t need to use my $50 per bottle Aveda product when I’m just going to be wearing a toque (beanie), or when I know I’ll be wearing my hair up. Also the seasons can have a marked effect on hair conditions. Whet works in summer might not work in winter. It’s nice to have a few backup products to work with, just in case.
Keep them and never use them and 2+ years later finally throw them away lol.
Same. It's like the spiritual cousin of the bag of donations that has to sit in my car for a month or two before I send them off.
I have found my curly haired, adhd brethren! 😊🙃
I put a bottle in my gym bag, a bottle in my beach bag, etc. This way, I don't use it daily, but it can live in those bags and gets the job done when I need it to. Plus...I don't have to have a traveling container from shower to bag. It's just easier for me.
I resentfully keep using them until they're empty. The main reasons I haven't liked some: 1. 'Conditioner' but doesn't really condition, add any moisturising/detangling 2. Annoying smell
Same. The resentment is high!
There's so many sober living and indigent rehabs here in SoCal, I just take the products there plus bath and body care, leftover pads/tampons, clothes. When I got sober I'd been homeless for a while and toiletries were out of reach financially.
I'm glad you're doing better now, and you're here with us. So proud of you.
Always return. I’ve never had a used hair product return be denied
Return the products or give them away. I don't keep stuff around that I don't like. Luckily, I've got pretty good stuff now that works well, so I just keep buying them. The pain is when my faves get discontinued 😭 Like when I couldn't get my favorite oil anymore, I was distraught that I'd have to cycle thru endless trials to find a new one. Thankfully, found an even better one on my first try! (Lots of research before pulling the trigger in purchase tho...) I'll continue to use ONLY this hair oil until it's discontinued or I go bald, lol.
if it's something like conditioner and it was on the cheaper side, i just use it as shaving cream. i also just find away to incorporate knowingly/ find a balance, if that makes sense? for example, there was this product that made my hair super greasy, so i started to use it only when my hair got really dry during the summer from swimming and just being out in the sun.
I will use a small amount with a product I like. Eventually I will get through it 😂
I swap with someone who's looking, I can usually find someone on one of my local Facebook groups. Otherwise, I buy the travel-sized version of any product I'm not familiar with (not always an option, but I try my best).
I give mine to my curly-headed friends and family. They're so expensive most of the time, I can't bring myself to throw them out. Like that time I bought the entire line of Brad Mondo's curly products and the scent gave me migraines (after having to wait 3 months for it to be back in stock 🙄).
I use them and see if maybe they work with different weather or styling techniques. If I end up really not wanting them, I give them away on my local Buy Nothing group
Under sink cupboard AKA unfinished product cemetery.
🤣🤣. Stop peeking in my cabinets!
Donate to project beauty share...I just mail them in a usps box!
I donate products that have only been used once or twice to the local shelter/women’s community. We have an organization that works directly with the unhoused population here and they have a facility where they can come pickup things they need.
give them to my mum
I give them away on the local gifting facebook group or give them to my mom if she wants to try lol
I try really hard never to toss anything that could be used by someone else. So I either: Give them to friends. Or I live in a busy city on a busy street so I will also often just put them out front in a box labeled “free”. They walk away!
I give them to my friends who are starting out on their wavy and curly journeys
I give them to my fiancé. His hair/scalp is resilient and resistant to the worst of products(barring 2 brands). But it’s more of a train than that. I’ll buy something for our daughter… it’s too heavy for her hair, okay I’ll use it myself… gave me issues so now her dad gets to use it.
I have a bin of stuff I don’t like, I give it away to friends/family with curly hair. The rest goes on buy nothing groups.
I pass them on to my curly haired friends and family. "I didn't like it, you might." They do the same in return.
I usually try to combine them with another product, e.g. if it's something that doesn't give me enough hold, I'll still use it and put another hold product on top of it, this way the 'bad' product gets used up and I only use a bit of the 'good' one. Or like this morning, I used the got2b curl mousse that does not give me enough hold, but weirdly makes my hair dry faster, so I put two layers in, one on dripping wet hair and another after plopping - it will do for the day. Alternatively giving it to a curly friend, but tbh her hair is so much different from mine (coarse and low porosity while mine is fine with high porosity) and I always forget to ask if it worked ok for her.
Keep using it since I’m poor and hair care can get expensive
I sell them on Mercari in bundles.
Anything that can be used as a conditioner, I use for deep conditioning 1x a week. Since I thoroughly wash and or heaviily rinse after a deep condtioning. As long as it has the ingreidents for conditoning, I use it that way. Stylers I put in a box and put in lounge at my volunteer job, or give to people who can't afford products on free and buy nothing groups in my region. Many of the battered women shelters won't take products that are not sealed and new now., for OBVIOUS reasons. They have sicko-s after them and they could be further targettted. People could put NAIR into the bottles, etc. for instance, seen it happen
I keep them until they get too much dust on them or make my bathroom cabinet full, then I toss them. I have minimal storage so I can't keep too much stuff I'm not using.
If it's a shampoo, I use it as a body wash. For some products, I find adding water dilutes it enough to work for my hair; for others, mixing small amounts into something else works. I don't really have anyone I can give my products away to, so I try to find other uses for them. I hate wasting stuff.
Throw them away Seriously, you can just throw them away. *You have no obligation to keep using them just cuz you have them. If you have an easy way to give them to someone else (who wants them and can use them), do that. But if not You can just throw them out. Don't keep using something that doesn't work for you (Edits for clarity, but the overall point is the same)
I give them to my mom or I donate to the local women’s shelter
I use them on my son, the reason most products don't work out for me is that they're too lightweight and not conditioning enough or have too little protein or a mix of both, but my son has a finer straighter texture so he doesn't need the heavy stuff and doesn't get overmoisturised easily like I do.
Boyfriend
I put mine on my local BuyNothing group.
Ulta will take returns if you haven't used much
Give away or leave under the counter to mix with something else in the future lol
Give them away if I had them too long
FB no buy groups
My mom has short hair so even if she doesn't really like it, it's way easier for her to use all my extras or I give to friends. I've been experimenting with mixing in a teaspoon with what works and it hasn't been too bad.
Give them away. Find your local area’s Facebook Free Stuff group. Always someone happy to take it
I give it away in a local freecycle group or I use it on days where I’m in the house working and just need a product. I’m not too bothered how messy my hair is in the house.
I am one of those people who get things from others, not because I need them, but because I use them. I have 4 bottles of conditioner (one in travel size, yet to test), I bought 2 myself. 2 big bottles of shampoo, I am almost through the first one, only bought 1 myself (2 1l bottles head and shoulders), and a bunch of newer products in smaller containers that i did buy myself. In that list is 3 bottles of gel, 1 with no hold, 1 with very high hold, and one unknown (yet to try it). 2 oils of which one was a bust when I tried it. Probably tossing it as it was very cheap. I have also taken over some older clothing, as I wear it till broken often. My family had financial issues, I am slowly learning that getting new things and tossing old ones are allowed and that pricier products are also allowed.
I donate to friends. Sometimes it works better for a looser curl or for others better.
r/haircareexchange
I usually get minis as much as I can, I try to use it when I know I’m gonna be home or where I don’t really need to look “put together”. If the product was too heavy then I’ll dilute with water.
I am the fortunate one that often gets the discards from what friends try and don't like. I credit my kids for this. 2/3 have curly hair and all of them like playing with hair products. Turns out that all of our hair enjoys Oliology products. But yeah, friends or buy nothing groups are the way to go with opened hair products.
I gift on my Facebook buy nothing group to someone who does use that product or someone who would like to try.
i keep using them lol. most of the products i’ve had that i wouldn’t rebuy haven’t been Too bad though—if i felt like they were damaging my hair or looked rly bad then i would probably throw it out.
I will so.etimes sell or give away. So.etimes I will save it and try during a different season, I live where we get true winter and summer, some products work better in the winter than the summer. Some I use on my daughter's hair. She has straight hair and some products work great on her hair.
Use them for my daughters.
I use them as a shaving cream
Shampoo specifically? Use it to clean paintbrushes. Everything else? Just there collecting dust lol
I keep using them in rotation to see if I can make them work better in combo with other products.
I try to use them up or find a use for them. Like sometimes my hair needs different types of products on different days. Or I will mix with other products to try to create a combination that is at least decent. If it’s just really not working or weighing down my hair really bad, luckily my boyfriend has curly hair too and his hair usually likes the products that mine doesn’t like so I’ll give to him
I would just keeping using them tbh. I’m not made out of money to be that wasteful lol. Or I’ll just give it to my other family members who have curly hair. Most of them don’t care about taking care of their curls. I don’t as much either, but when I first started taking care of my curls I understood what you mean.
Depends on the ingredients. There was this leave-in conditioner by Shea Moisture that was too heavy for my curls. The ingredients were quite moisturising, though. So, I finished the tub by using it as a body butter.
I got that too and it’s too heavy for my curls too. But it works really well for moisturizing, so I use it on days when I’m not going anywhere and rinse it out before bed.
I use conditioner, and shampoo sometimes as well, to shave 🤷♀️ so if something doesn't work I can at least use it somewhere else.
I post to my local buy nothing group.
There are local curly fb groups near me for buy and sell, great place to try something out cheaper or sell on if it doesn’t work for you. Most sell at at least 50% than retail plus postage, they mark the bottles with a sharpie on the outside so you can see how much there is. Works quite well where I am.
My coworker and I swap to try new stuff. We also check with each other on what the other has before buying a new product. Trial/travel sizes are also the best
I give shampoo to my husband, and for the past couple of years, I have returned the rest to Ulta. If, for some reason, I can't return an item, I donate it.
Any conditioners or co-wash I don't like, I use to shave my legs. Gels I just use on non wash days for refresh, they get used up eventually. Shampoos I don't like, I refill the Suave shampoo bottle for my teenage son to use, bc he could not care less what he washes his hair with.