Bathroom Essentials vs Clutter

In my never-ending quest for frugality, I seem to have forgotten that saving 50 cents on stuff I don't actually need is, in fact, wasteful (read: NOT frugal).  Also, this accumulation leads to a bathroom cupboard full of trial sizes and half-full bottles that seem to remain there for years. 

I was pawing around my bathroom yesterday trying to figure out just what I would define as an essential and then emotionally eliminate the need for all the other junk. 

Just eyeballing this picture, I can tell you that about half the things in this cabinet will not need to be replaced once they have been used up.   (and a fourth of these things have been in my possession for over 2 years)

Moving on to the bathroom closet and, sadly, its not much better on the other side of the room.  This closet is full of hair products I never use and a plethora of lotions that have been hanging around since the dawn of time.  To illustrate this point, allow me to point out the EIGHT (8!) bottles of sunscreen.  Some have maybe 4 applications left in them, yet they remain in this closet and new ones keep showing up.  The very definition of clutter.

SOLUTION

I came up with a list of the things I consider "essentials" (disposable/consumable items that, once they run out, need to be replaced).  I will keep this on-going inventory and try my best not to introduce anything new until the original product has completely run out.  Then I need to let go of my perceived need of all the other crap.  Last night I even used up some samples Ive had lurking around. 

Of course, "essentials" is such a relative term, the list will look different for everyone.  But, for the sake of this post, I'm sharing mine.

• toilet paper
• shampoo
• conditioner
• soap
• facewash (debatable - this could be combined with 'soap' depending on what kind of bar I'm buying)
• face lotion (night)
• face lotion with SPF (day)
• body lotion
• sunscreen
• toothpaste
• mouthwash
• kids shampoo/body wash
• clay (for masks)
• eye drops
• analgesic balm
• first aid kit (bandages)
• floss
• Q-tips
• hydrogen peroxide