Do you want to be able to just lay out your makeup and access it easily whenever and wherever you want? This DIY makeup roll allows you to have a portable vanity whether you want to use it for everyday or for travel. And do you wonder where and how you should organize your special occasion and backup makeup? Or how to organize makeup you are trying but don’t want your spaces to be overflowing? Look no further! You are in the right place!
Today, in this blog and the video above, I show you how to organize your makeup in three different areas (your makeup bag—including an easy DIY makeup roll, medicine cabinet, and vanity) for two different makeup styles (those who know what they like and stick to their favorites and those who love to experiment with color and styles).
I’m Terry Elisabeth, author of “How to Organize Any Space in 7 Simplified Steps” where I show you how to organize your spaces according to your personal organizing style so that your spaces can finally stay organized.
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As promised in my last post on how to organize different types of purses, today I take you with me on how to make a makeup roll. I keep all my everyday makeup in my purse because I don’t do my makeup in one single place at home, I take my makeup with me wherever the lighting works best for my eyesight. So, instead of dumping out my makeup every day, I decided to make this makeup roll so that I can lay it out instead. Now, my slowly crumbling eye shadow won’t continue to spill all over my makeup bag. And this makeup roll holds all my makeup each in its own spot which prevents breakage and spilling and makes everything easily accessible. You can customize your makeup roll to hold just your essentials while you’re out … for some that might be just a pressed powder, eyelash curler, mascara, lip liner and lipstick. Or you can customize a makeup roll to use when you travel which holds everything!
For materials, you can choose from a couple of options. I show you an option with a sewing machine. For the no-sew alternative, you can use felt and hot glue and accomplish the same result. But I am all for purchasing a very basic sewing machine. You can find a simple straight-stitch sewing machine for less than $25 dollars … even for just $15! Here is a highly-rated yet inexpensive option here:
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In the long run, you will save money because you can get a couple rolls of hem tape for about the same price as a simple sewing machine. The creations you can make with a sewing machine are endless, as well as the savings. As you can see, fabric can be super cheap! I even made four place mats for my mom for about $6 and they coordinate perfectly with her dining area. I made my daughter’s pillow covers and am also making toss pillows for my bed … all for such little cost, and you know that toss pillows can get expensive! You can make curtain panels and hem pants. Okay, my sewing machine spiel is over. Let’s move on to the DIY.
First, I estimated how much fabric I might need by laying out my makeup and allowing space for seams by simply laying out my makeup and measuring. I wanted to make the dimensions of the roll to be similar in size to my existing makeup bag which is 8 x 10 inches after being rolled. I then accounted for a half-inch seam allowance all around (this is not necessary when using felt) and a flap to fold over to help contain everything so I needed at least 8 + 8 + 1 = 17 (or almost half of a yard) for the width and 10 + 10 + 1 = 21 for the length. I decided I wanted to double up the fabric, so I needed it to be at least 42 inches (2 times 21) in length which works out because most fabrics come in about a 40-45 inch width. The fabric I purchased was 45 inches wide so that gave me more than I needed regarding length. And since I needed the fabric to be 17 inches wide, I just needed half a yard (which is 18 inches). This piece of fabric cost me $1! I recommend a dark fabric because it is guaranteed to get stained. I used an all-purpose white thread I had on hand which worked out because it made the thread visible for you to see clearly in the pics below. You can get all-purpose thread from Walmart in white or black for just $1.
With my materials on hand, first, I ironed my fabric. Then, I folded my fabric in half length-wise (nicer sides together). I then hemmed one-half inch around all the edges (this is not necessary when using felt). You can sew by machine or by hand. I left a small opening to flip my fabric through. After I flipped my fabric right-side out and smoothed out the corners, I ironed the fabric again to press the opening with a half-inch of fabric folded in on both sides (I actually ironed the whole piece of fabric while I was at it). Then, you don’t have to do this, but I hemmed a quarter-inch around the edges again just to make it a little more crisp. Next, I laid out all my daily makeup and pinned in between each item. Some items, I grouped together because they were too small to be on their own. (It would have made it difficult to pull the product out.) You don’t have to be too concerned about placing the pins in straight because you will just line up your fabric and sew a straight line. Now, instead of dumping out my makeup every day, and worrying if anything broke and spilled on anything, I can just roll this out and have my portable vanity! This is great for if you do your makeup in the car outside of your work like I used to do! You can fold or roll your makeup roll to fit wherever you would like, I have it simply folded in half to fit right back where I kept my makeup before. If you’re traveling, you can just roll it all up and tuck it in between clothes in your packed suitcase or tie a pretty ribbon around it.
For my special occasion and backup makeup, I keep all that in the downstairs half bath where there is no shower so there aren’t any steam or heat fluctuations affecting the product. I purchased this medicine cabinet organizer years ago and I believe saw it still at Walmart not too long ago and you can also find it here. This organizer was designed to fit the standard medicine cabinet. I use it to store my brush cleaners (a daily spray cleaner and a deep-cleaning shampoo), special occasion makeup and brushes, as well as backup makeup to keep on hand when the ones in my makeup roll run out.
Now, for my daughter’s vanity, if you haven’t seen her room tour yet, here it is for you. The middle drawer holds all her hair stuff and the bottom drawer holds all her nail stuff. So, in the top drawer and on top of the vanity, we hold her makeup. Being 17, she loves to experiment with different colors, so her vanity contains all kinds of different products to play with which are divided by category into drawer dividers. To keep her makeup organized, she knows not to go beyond each bin before purchasing more product. Since her bins are all pretty filled, she basically needs to follow the one-in-one-out rule. For whatever product she brings in, one needs to go. This helps to reduce the temptation to purchase product if she loves everything she has. However, I always remind her that she needs to be mindful of being able to use up her products before they expire. But at the same time, with her being young, I know this is her time to have fun and experiment with different colors and makeup styles.
If you struggle with knowing how much product is reasonable to keep, I have a FREE resource for you here which is my quantities to keep guideline for both toiletries and makeup. In my book, I included a huge chart on my quantities to keep guidelines for the most clutter-causing items and one of the categories is personal care products. My freebie is a guideline based on how long products typically last so that you know what items to replace as needed, what you can keep a backup of, and what you can even stock up on if the item is on sale and your space permits your items to be stored.
What is your makeup weakness that you can’t seem to stop purchasing? Share in the comments below. Don’t forget to grab your FREE quantities to keep guideline for personal care products so that you can keep just what you need and can reasonably use up before it expires. (That way, you can save your money when you’re tempted to buy something you don’t need). In my next post, I will show you how to organize under your bathroom sinks and in your medicine cabinets for both your full baths and half baths or guest bathrooms so be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and click the notification bell, so you can know the moment it is up and never miss another organizing video. On Monday, May 21st, I am starting a 60-day challenge to blog every day for 60 days about my experiences as an organizing author, YouTuber, and blogger dealing with chronic fatigue. Until next time …
Happy Organizing!
Author of “How to Organize Any Space in 7 Simplified Steps“