Last week, both of my sisters and one of their friends were heading out for the night. As befits an older relative who lives a life of tragic boredom, I stayed home but brought out my clothes, make-up and perfume for them to use. I posted a picture of the shared stash (same stuff on picture above) on Instagram and Facebook and several people said I should in fact blog about it.

Now, I’m not sure that “me much make-up, give sisters, sisters happy” would make a terribly interesting blog post. It did, however, get me thinking about sharing in general.

For me, sharing is one of the best parts of style and beauty. If I discover something that I think would suit my sister or a friend, I want them to know about it, try it, have it (this goes for books as well). I have been known to give birthday presents three months in advance, because I knew I had found the perfect gift and could not wait. As I’m not quite able to give fragrances and lipsticks and dresses as presents on a daily basis, letting people borrow what I have is an acceptable alternative.

I know this is not how everybody feels, for some it’s very difficult to have other people using their stuff. While I don’t really relate to it, I firmly believe that sharing should only be undertaken if you feel comfortable with it. If you don’t want to share, don’t. But if you decide to go for it, here are a couple of things that I, as an experienced sharer, have learned:

1. Do enjoy the process. It’s not about being a martyr: it’s very satisfying when people find something among your stash that suits them perfectly. I especially enjoy when people try on my lipsticks, as I like unusual colorus that people would otherwise possibly never even consider.

2. Set some boundaries, if needed. If there is something specific among your things you don’t want to share, make it explicitly known. I have generally no limits, with the exception of underwear and Sunday Riley Good Genes Treatment, because it’s so bloody expensive and I seem to run through it fast enough on my own.

3. Don’t disregard perfume. Perfume is often seen as too personal to share, but if you’ve got a large enough selection, it doesn’t matter. I actually have the opposite problem: I’ve got hundreds of samples, so I usually limit the selection to full bottles, otherwise I might just drive people to complete distraction.

4. Shoes are the most difficult. Unless your feet are almost identical, they will probably hurt. Clothes stretch (well, mine almost always do) and can be adjusted, shoes are what they are.

5. Be careful with foundation and other base products, as a good result depends so much on the correct shade. If you have foundations in several colours (winter/summer foundations), then mixing might be the answer.

7. DO NOT HOVER. If you’ve decided to share your stuff, leave people to try and use it in peace. Do not hang around, go have some tea and bask in the knowledge of being a generous person.

8. You can recommend, though. You know your things better than anyone and chances are you know the person you share with fairly well, too. If you have a hunch that something would work, tell her, then leave.

9. Remember to compliment the outcome, unless its absolutely horrifying.