How to Organize Your Makeup

How to go from a tabletop makeup explosion to a neatly packed bathroom basket!

 

As we all know I’ve been cooped up inside with this busted toe trying to keep myself occupied. After I made those makeup brush jars I went to grab my brushes and realized that my makeup bag looked like it’d been hit by a hurricane of fairies and glitter. 

When I get ready I’m usually rushing which means that once I’ve finished my makeup, every product that I’ve used gets randomly tossed into that leopard bag or basket (both which I store under my bathroom sink–aka my luxurious vanity in this one bedroom apartment). My brushes took up a ton of space so a few months ago I took them out of the bag and placed them on a shelf in my medicine cabinet. The way they were thrown on the shelf really bothered me as it looked so unorganized which was why I was inclined to make that jar in the first place. I figured while I was at it I might as well organize the rest of my makeup. Here’s what I did:

First, I grabbed some windex and paper towels in anticipation of foundation and glitter explosions that I knew were lurking in the corners of each bag. Then, I dumped everything out haphazardly onto my dining room table. Before sorting through the mess I took ridiculous photos of it I threw all my empty makeup bags into the washing machine to clean them. 

 

The mess was overwhelming, to say the least. Notice the giant leopard bag was still full at this point. I decided the best thing to do was categorize all the makeup with like products, i.e.: a pile each for pallets, eyeshadows, primers/concealers/illuminators, foundations and bronzers, brushes, glitters, eyeliners, mascaras, eyelash glue/lash curlers/tweezers/misc. tools and finally, eyebrow products. Whew:

 

I cleaned and wiped down each product as I organized the piles and stopped to take more pictures. Now, I’ve done this “separation tactic” before but the organization never lasted. I realized it was because I did not have enough separate compartments. Before this I only had three bags: one for all face products and primers, one for all eye products and one for liners and miscellaneous tools. There were too many things thrown together and maintaining any type of organization was impossible. Ideally, I would love one of those giant acrylic cubes (like Kim Kardashian has in her bathroom) but unfortunately, in this small apartment I simply don’t have the space. One day, when we have a house I will have a makeup room, my husband may not know about this yet, but it’s happening. So, since a beautiful clear box of drawers where I can keep everything is out of the picture I resorted to my next best option which is multiple small makeup bags, one for each pile. Luckily I have an absurd collection of travel makeup bags which came in handy here. 

One thing worth pointing out is that I do not keep any of my lip products with my makeup. This is because when I wear makeup I keep whatever lip color I’ve used with me for touch ups. I have two travel bags full of lip liners, glosses, lipsticks and lip butters and I keep those in the kitchen with my sunglasses and purse essentials (basically, my grab and go items). I have one small lipstick case where I can fit several tubes and a handheld mirror that I pack up when I go out. 

So, onto the rest of my organization. I assessed my piles (yes, assessed, we get serious about our makeup here, ok?) to determine what size bags would be delegated to each one. I realized that I have WAY too many quite a few pallets and they are also the largest pieces so I assigned my biggest bag, the leopard one, to them:

 

The next thing I seem to have an abundance of are eye products: liners, shadows and mascaras. I love playing with color and eyes are my favorite feature to play up, hence the abundance there. I have a two pocket bag that folds in half, my second largest bag which was perfect for these two piles. I also liked the way it kept the eye products together while still keeping like piles separate. The other advantage of this bag is that the pockets are clear and I like to be able to see all my shadows to decide which color to use. One side contains all my shadows while the other contains all lash products and tools: glue, eyelash curlers, mascara, liner sharpeners. 

 

I’ve tried keeping my eyeliners and shadows all together but it was too overwhelming. I have this perfect elongated case from Too Faced that I used soley for my liners:

 

My next largest bag is my Victoria’s Secret Pink makeup bag. I dedicated that to my foundations and bronzers. Not that I have so many of those, but they’re simply the largest, bulkiest items after my pallets. They’re good to keep together because I use a mix of foundations to highlight and contour my face. Foundation is also my most rarely used product (I NEVER wear anything on the skin of my face to work since I sweat like crazy and need to allow my pores to breathe), I only wear it when I go out on the weekends or know I’ll be taking photos. Therefore, keeping those products in their own separate bag allows for easier access to the products I use more frequently (like mascara). 

 

Next, I used a medium sized travel bag for my concealers and illuminators. Again, these are rarely worn products as I only use them in conjunction with foundation.

 

I used a small mesh bag for my glitters. Since they’re the most likely to spill while also being the most annoying to clean, vials most susceptible to spillage were wrapped in their own plastic baggy to product the rest of the products. I wanted these guys in the see through bag because if I don’t see them I forget I have them, with the exception of New Years Eve where all I wear is glitter. 

 

Lastly I have what I call my “finishing touch” bag. I don’t have enough eyebrow or blush products for each to have a bag of their own so they were sorted together. In my mind this works because they are the two final products I use when getting ready. I like to finish my look with brows and blush because the color/shade/intensity will depend on the colors I’ve used on my eyes, how smokey my shadow is, what kind of eyeliner I’ve gone with and how intense my lashes are. For example, if I go for a natural eye with a soft, barely-there brown liner I like to emphasize a bold brow and maybe a pinkish-girly blush. Also, I’ve found that if I do blush before my eyes I end up re-applying it at the end anyway and then wipe it off because I’ve made myself look like a clown. So, finisher bag. 

 

Of course, my brushes are now in their cute little jar which sits atop my medicine cabinet alongside my pretty bottles of bubble bath, bronzing spray and exfoliants. It adds a nice, feminine touch. 

 

Since there was enough room in my giant leopard bag I stashed the smaller ones in there to save space. The other bags were placed in the basket. This looks SO much better and will be way easier to maintain!

 

Hope this post helps and feel free to share how you organize your beauty products! I’m super nosey 🙂

xoxo