There are, more or less, three categories when it comes to the beauty products on your bathroom shelves: the holy grail items you use until the last drop, the ones you savor for special occasions, and the impulse purchases that don't really get any regular play in your beauty routine. The good news: Your unloved lipsticks and moisturizers could be someone else's holy grail, so why not donate your beauty products?

There are plenty of charities across the country that accept new or lightly used makeup, skin-care products, and hair products. As we all know, beauty products can get expensive, and it's a shame to let something you didn't love end up in a landfill when someone else could be enjoying it.

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But what about the germs, you're thinking. I know. The best candidates for donation involve items whose packaging isn't totally gnarly, so clean those spouts, chop a clean slate off that lipstick bullet, sharpen those eyeliner pencils, and give everything a sanitizing alcohol swipe before donating it. Once that's done, here are a few places you can donate the beauty products that make your heart go meh so they can benefit others.

Beauty Bus delivers support to terminally ill patients and caregivers through beauty, including bags of products and at-home services. They accept new, sealed products that are at least six months from their expiration date but are unable to accept razors, extractors, perfumes, deodorant, and makeup bags.

You can ship donations to:

Beauty Bus Foundation

2716 Ocean Park Boulevard

Suite 1062

Santa Monica, CA 90405

Based in the United Kingdom, this charity supports women and children who have been victims of domestic violence. They accept secondhand makeup (though lip glosses and mascaras must be new), but as they put it on their site, "If you would be embarrassed to give it to a friend, please do not send it to these women."

You can ship donations to:

Give and Makeup

P.O. BOX 855

London, W4 4AW

If you tested out a new shampoo or moisturizer and decided it just wasn't for you, send it to Project Beauty Share. The organization "collects personal hygiene, cosmetics, and beauty products and distributes them through nonprofit organizations that serve women and families overcoming abuse, addiction, homelessness, and poverty."

They accept lightly used products, but only from the following categories: powder eye shadows, powder blush, bronzers and highlighters, eye and lip liner pencils (but only the kind you can sharpen), liquid foundations in airless pump containers, and squeeze tube foundations. Anything else must be new. As far as skin-care and hair products go, anything that comes in a tub or jar must be new, but used products that come in pumps, tubes, and bottles are welcome.

You can ship donations to:

Project Beauty Share

2718 E. Sprague Avenue Spokane, WA 99202

If you've got a shade on hand that doesn't match or a shadow palette you know you'll never use, this is the charity for you. Their mission is "to put a bit of sparkle and dignity back into the lives of women and teens in crisis." They accept new, unopened, unexpired cosmetics, hair and skin-care products, nail polish, perfume samples, and personal care items.

You can ship donations to:

Share Your Beauty

Family-to-Family

PO Box 255

Hastings on Hudson, NY 10706

5. Go Local

Local women's shelters and girls' programs are almost always looking for self-care products. Call the ones nearest you to see what products they'll accept, and you'll likely be able to coordinate a drop-off for the applicable items you're no longer interested in.

Another local option: Host a beauty-product swap party with your friends. They'll be grateful for the freebies and you can Marie Kondo your stash, guilt-free.

More ways beauty can be beneficial:

Now watch how to swap up your makeup look in a flash: