HOW TO ORGANIZE MAKEUP

Whether you have a little or a lot of makeup, sifting through jumbled makeup just makes the process of getting ready take so much longer than it should. Here are all the ways to organize your makeup so that you can always find what you need right where you need it and finally make getting ready a breeze! And, did you know, you can also organize your spaces according to your organizing style? You can find out what your organizing style is here.

Before organizing your makeup, you must purge the makeup that is expired (I have a free guide here with a product guide breaking down how long products last if no expiration date is noted) and that you do not like and no longer use. Be ruthless and purge the excess so you can more easily store what you do need and use.

In my freebie library here, I include guides which help walk you through the organizing process and help you decide what to purge and keep. I also include my declutter and organizing challenge calendars and guides to help direct you through each area of your home. These guides ensure you get through every nook and cranny and finally get to the other side of clutter … an organized and functional space!

In this post, we focus on how to organize your makeup. Below, I share ideas on how to organize your makeup with different types of organizing solutions that will work for your organizing styles and spaces. I also share how to organize under your bathroom sink, counters, the bathroom vanity drawers, shower and tub, and medicine cabinet.

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Makeup Bag Organization

My makeup bag is my portable vanity. I get ready in different places whether it’s the living room, my bedroom, or my office. I also like the convenience of having my makeup with me in my purse at all times for security if my eyebrows melt off (curse you 90’s thin brow trend!) What I didn’t like about just having a makeup bag, where your makeup floats around inside, is that I either needed to sift through the bag to find what I needed, or I would have to dump it out every time. So, I decided to customize a makeup roll where each of my makeup products had their designated slot. I simply unroll my makeup roll and essentially have an organized portable vanity whenever and wherever I need it! I shared how I made my own makeup roll for only one dollar here. I have a new everyday purse since creating my makeup roll so I am thinking of purchasing a new makeup roll like this (found here) to coordinate with my current purse (I like coordinating my organizing solutions with my purse, and I share how I organize four different types of purses here):

Makeup Case Organization

If you need to contain a lot more makeup for portability, whether you are a makeup artist or you simply don’t have the space for a vanity in your place, a makeup case can be just what you need. You can store it in a closet or under your bed. They come in a variety of sizes depending on your needs from a large rolling train case to a handheld bag like this (found here):

It is key that a makeup case has dividers and sections to contain the various shapes and sizes of makeup containers. One that has customizable dividers like the one above, or varying sections ranging from super small to super large, is ideal for ensuring you can fit the smallest lipstick to the largest eyeshadow palette.

The Best Makeup Drawer Organization

Whether you keep your makeup in your bathroom vanity, a vanity in your bedroom, a couple drawers in a dresser, or drawer systems you have in a dedicated beauty room, simple drawer dividers/organizers are the simplest, most affordable, and customizable organizing solutions. Because makeup products come in so many different shapes and sizes, drawer organizers with adjustable dividers are ideal for keeping everything nicely contained (found here):

Simply using drawer organizers of various sizes is ideal as well because they are modular making them easy to configure within your drawers for your sepcific needs (found here):

There is a plethora of organizers created for specific products like lipsticks or compacts (found here):

However, my hindrance to recommending organizers created for specific product packaging types is that they are limiting to what can and cannot be contained within them. For example, a lipstick organizer can only contain standard sized lipsticks. You might have lipsticks wider than the organizer’s slot. Or, you might not have the quantity of lipstick to fill the organizer and so the drawer space being taken up by the empty lipstick slots is unusable. Or, you might have just a few more lipsticks than the organizer contains. Do you purchase a whole new lipstick organizer for the few extra? If it’s a smaller size organizer, will it store well in my drawers? The same issues happen for the compact organizer above.

So, that is why I recommend using simple drawer dividers/organizers as, depending on the quantity of lipsticks or compacts you have, you can contain them in a small 3 inch by 3 inch drawer organizer or a 3 inch by 9 inch organizer, etc. Additionally, you can reconfigure your storage as needed when your quantities and tastes change.

Makeup Organization for the Collector

If you are a makeup artist working out of your home or business or if you are a collector of makeup, making your makeup tools and color variations of your makeup visible and accessible is ideal for efficiency for you. Since you likely have a large supply of makeup, you need a clear and concise place for everything so you aren’t digging and sorting through bins and piles.

Designate a Clear Surface

My first tip for an efficient makeup application space is to have a designated clear surface that you always keep clear until it’s time for makeup application. This is typically at your vanity in front of your mirror like this one below (found here). Or, if you’re a makeup artist, you might have a makeup chair and a table nearby. Keeping this space clear allows you to have a designated space to lay out your makeup color and tool selections for the makeup application session. For example, you may be going for an intricate jewel-toned look and so you will gather your jewel-toned shadows from their designated area and any special makeup brushes from their designated area and have them all set out and ready to go for your makeup look application. Then, when you finish applying this look, you can put all of your makeup tools back where they belong and keep your space organized.

Makeup Storage

After designating your clutter-free zone and establishing a routine of putting everything back immediately after a makeup application session, it’s time to set up your makeup storage system.

A straightforward system to organize makeup so that you can find everything is to set up zones for eyes, lips, and face. Then, you can micro-organize those zones by organizing lip makeup into lip liners, lipsticks, and lip glosses etc. Then, you can sort further by color. You can organize your drawers into these categories using the organizing ideas and solutions above. If you are a visual person (find out your organizing style here) who likes to see everything, you can utilize drawers like these (found here):

To maximize efficiency, you will want to place items you use most frequently within close reach. For example, you can place makeup brushes and your daily or favorite makeup palettes, eye and lip products, and foundations in the top drawers of your vanity or within an organizer on top of your vanity (found here):

For the makeup artist who has a plethora of makeup brushes, you might want to contain makeup brushes in sets or categorized by type (found here):

And, if you have large palettes you like to access frequently, you can use an organize like this on top of your vanity or within a deep drawer so that they are standing up and easy to file through (found here):

You are guaranteed to find a makeup organizing solution for you these days with the plethora of options available. It all becomes a matter of setting up the best systems for you. I hope you found some ideas for how to organize your makeup for your organizing style and/or the space that you have! In my next post, I share how to organize your clothes starting with your underwear. Don’t forget to grab my free resources from my freebie library here. Let’s get to the other side of clutter … an organized and functional space!

Happy Organizing!