MakeUp Bag Organizing

Next to the contents of her purse, a woman's makeup bag holds the most essential items she'll tell you she can't live without. While we might fear identity theft if our purse were stolen, we might also fear another sort of "identity theft" if we were to miss-place our makeup bag. Imagine having to leave the house to re-buy everything your makeup bag contains. On your way to the store, you might end up looking like someone trying to avoid the paparazzi, while choosing to conceal your al' natural face with large movie star glasses and a floppy beach hat. I have to admit, I do occasionally not wear make up, mainly when I go to the gym or on weekends when I stick around the house in the burbs. But, having just let my dramatic tendencies paint a picture to emphasize this possible scenario and how I imagine I might react, I digress.

Okay, onto the point of this specific blog. My makeup bag is important to me. While some women are blessed with practically perfect skin that asks for no makeup at all, most are not so lucky. I fall into the category of someone that really needs makeup to feel like herself. I relish in accepting that makeup makes me feel more confident, and like a good cup of joe to some, gives me a little added boost to my day.

All that being said, if you rely on your makeup like I do, your makeup bag and it's contents deserve to be taken care of. Here are some tips for keeping your makeup bag organized and maintained:

Keep makeup tools and containers clean and sanitized. Think about it, we are putting things on our face. Our eyes and mouth can pass germs into our bodies. Keep theses things clean. It makes sense, right?

• Use rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball or Q-Tip to clean eyelash curlers, tweezers, and sharpeners.
• Keep makeup removal wipes handy to wipe off the inside and outside covers of your containers.
• Wash your makeup brushes regularly. I like to use MAC's brush cleanser, or gentle baby shampoo.

 MAC Brush Cleanser

Group similar makeup items together. While some women love taking their time putting on their makeup and playing around with colors, sometimes all you want to do is snap your fingers like Mary Poppins and have your face paint on. If you want to quicken up your makeup routine, contain "like" items together in your makeup bag.

• Use mini rubber band hair ties to keep coordinating lip liners and lipsticks together.
• Keep makeup samples you collect or pull out of magazines together with bag or binder clips.
• I love the silicone cosmetic pouches made by The Candy Store for my smaller makeup essentials. The pouch wipes out easily and stretches to fit and contain a variety of sized items such as: tweezers, a pencil sharpener, lip glosses, mascaras and eyeliners. Keep one inside your larger makeup bag to prevent everything from rolling around and help make things easier to find.

Silicone Cosmetic Pouch- Rainbow Sherbet Look for an assortment of fun colors at Ulta.   

Up-date your makeup seasonally & toss expired product. Just like our wardrobes, our makeup colors and technique should be updated occasionally and change with the seasons. It's not a bad idea to take a closer look at what you've got going on in your makeup bag every few months. Take out all the contents, wipe things down and look to see what is old, not used anymore, needs updating or should be replaced. Make a list of what to buy, and say goodbye to crusty, old stuff that doesn't make you feel fresh and new.

• Use a black sharpie to mark the date on the bottom of your makeup when you opened it.

 Cosmetic Expiration Date Guidelines

Blush or Bronze Powder: 18 months

Blush (Cream): 1 year

Eye and Lip Pencils: 3-5 years

Eye Cream: 1 year, 3 years unopened

Eye Shadow (Cream): 6 months

Facial Moisturizer: 1 year

Foundation and Concealer: 6 months-1 year, 2 years oil based and 3 years water-based unopened

Lip Balm: 1-3 years, up to 5 years unopened

Lipstick and Gloss: 18 months, 2-3 years unopened

Mascara, Liquid Eyeliner: 3-4 months, 2-3 years unopened

Perfume: 2 years

(Thanks to Real Simple for helping gather this list)