How to Organize Your Makeup like a Pro
Tips for organizing your makeup like a professional makeup artist
By Carla Snuggs
Staying on top of cosmetic clutter will help you save precious time in the AM when you are jamming to get on with the day. Keeping your makeup organized will also help avoid minor freak outs when you are making your face up for a hot date looking for your no-fail sexy bronze shadow! So to find out how to organize our makeup like a pro, we went straight to a pro: Melanie Mills!
Melanie Mills is an Emmy Award-winning makeup artist and one of Hollywood’s leading style-makers and beauty consultants. Melanie is also the creator of thehigh fashion makeup line Gleam By Melanie Mills and the author of the gorgeous beauty book Glitter & Glam.Here are Melanie’s expert tips for organizing your makeup like a makeup artist!
Evaluate
Stop avoiding cleaning up your makeup stash, you must assess and evaluate all of your items, and start by weeding out the old, bad and broken items and winnow that herd. Evaluate the situation. Put all of your makeup in one spot to assess how much you actually own. Even empty the purse and travel bag and anywhere you stash cosmetics. You will probably find out you tend to re-buy the same colors and have multiples of favorite lips and glosses. I am guilty of that too!
Sort
Divide and conquer time: Divvy everything into categories: Blushers, bronzers, eyeshadows, kits, lips etc. Tools off to the side, including eyelash curlers.
Toss
Time to say goodbye: Have an eyeshadow from when you entered college and you are now a junior partner at the firm? Please toss this. Within each sub-pile, throw away any item that you haven’t worn in over 12 months. Just like clothes. Please stop the madness! Toss anything that is shattered or missing caps or lids too. An eye infection or pimples are not worth being miserly over makeup. Cheat sheet by Lestroiscordonniers.wordpress.com
Clean
Tool time: Crucial step – you must clean all brushes and figure out the ones that have seen better days. Separate your brushes; most likely you have brushes that are worn out or frayed, get rid of these too. Brushes should always be stored in a separate brush roll, bag, clean Tupperware like container or pouch.
You must invest in brush cleaner (in a pinch face wash or shampoo can work) and replace the hardest working ones like kabukis and blush brushes after a few years use. Some people baby them and they last longer, other brushes look like they were used and abused. If you are the latter, buy some new ones – the basics you rely on daily. If you store brushes at home, keep them upright in a container or invest in a brush roll.
Store
Keep cosmetics in a sealed drawer. I’ve seen all the cutesy magnetic inside a frame and artsy displays some people have pinned on Pinterest, but it’s not recommended. When it comes to organizing your at-home makeup stash, keep it simple, clean, and categorized inside a cleardrawer organizer, which you can find at the Container Store or a beauty supply store.
Keeping makeup in a drawer and not out on the counter where it is exposed to dust, sunlight and bathroom steam is best. In the drawer, you will be able to keep like products together and the clear plastic of the organizer will show any powdery residue that needs to be cleaned.
Try never to stack eyeshadows and blushes on top of each other, lay them flat when you can and for storing items that do not have a clean or clear top lid.
For traveling, I do like using the clear plastic hanging organizers. It can be hung from the door and is useful when you are putting yourself together in a strange room or bathroom. I love anything that is time-saving like that.
