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the plan of attack
On your next lazy Sunday afternoon, pull out all the potions and lotions and other junk that's no doubt spilling out from your bathroom. Take a good look at what you have, and toss out anything that gets so little use that you'd completely forgotten about its existence. That tube of lipstick you've had since you were 17, the stick of deodorant that it turned out you were allergic to, that collection of travel-sized toiletries filched from hotels, that half-opened pack of sinus meds with the use-by date from three years ago; trust me, if you haven't used an item in the last year, you're never going to use it. As for the expired pills: yes, that date stamped on the package is on there for a reason. It probably won't kill you to pop one of those ancient pills, but it sure as heck isn't going to do you much good either. Pitch any medications that are long past their suggested shelf life.

Stash the remaining stuff out of sight wherever possible. There is no reason in the world why you need to display your entire toiletry collection in the space around your sink. Anything you don't use on a daily basis should be stowed away -- in the medicine cabinet, in a drawer, on a shelf, or in another room if necessary. The same thing goes for the twenty different bottles of shampoos, conditioners, bubble baths, exfoliating scrubs and myriad other beautification products that stand like sentinels around the edge of your tub. Any items that don't get regular use -- at least once weekly -- should either be tossed (if you never use them) or put away (if you use them every once in awhile). And if you have multiple half-open bottles of any of your favorite toiletries, combine them and pitch the extra empty containers to free up space.

If you're lucky enough to have a linen closet built into your bathroom, you'll also want to go through your linens and do a good purging. Those ratty old towels that are unraveling at the edges? The ones that you never you use because they have a faintly mildewy smell that no amount of laundering seems able to remove? Toss them into the trash or use them as cleaning rags; either way, clear them out of your valuable storage space.

keep on skedaddling

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