Beauty: Tips for Organizing and Cleaning Makeup and Makeup Brushes

Keeping your make-up organized can be an incredibly daunting task if you don’t know where to start. And if you only have a limited time to get ready in the morning, because you really enjoy your sleep, you need to keep yourself super organized to get ready quickly and effortlessly. I spoke with Sherry Fredkove, an independent make-up artist located out of Minneapolis. Sherry has worked with amazing beauty gurus, and will be helping me share ways to keep your make-up organized and clean. Here are some easy tips for organizing and cleaning makeup and makeup brushes! On to the tips!

CLEANING TIPS
Brushes:
Natural-hair brushes are the best for applying your products. Sherry has some natural-hair make-up brushes that are holding up after 10 years of use! Because natural-hair brushes last, you have to make sure you are taking really good care of them. Sherry recommends to use a brush cleaner, like MAC Brush Cleaner. She likes this brush cleaner because there isn’t a scent, which could irritate sensitive skin.

About twice a month, wash all your brushes using lukewarm water. While washing your brushes, hold onto the metal part to keep water off of the handle. Wash your brushes in a downward motion. If you don’t have brush cleaner, you can use dish soap to help disinfect your brushes. Let the brushes hang over the end of the counter to dry overnight. By having them hang over the counter, you are allowing air to dry all the way through the brush.

Eye shadow brushes can be cleaned every day so you don’t get the residue of yesterdays shadow. Sherry suggests using a make-up wipe for daily cleaning of eye shadow brushes.

Make-Up:
Sherry suggests that powders, blushes, and shadows can last a few years if they are powder-based. Just wipe off the top surface of the powder. Anything in a cream or jar form can collect germs rather quickly. The life-span of creams is about 2-3 months. Mascara can last a maximum of 4 months. Anything after that gets too funky and clumpy. As soon as your mascara stops going on smooth, Sherry recommends buying a new one. A helpful tip would be to take a label and write down the date the product was purchased. Then, stick that label on the product. This way, you will never have to try to remember when you purchased a product! Because who has time for that?!?!

ORGANIZING TIPS
Brushes:
I love having my brushes out in a cute jar on the counter, but Sherry brought something to my attention that I never thought of…all the germs in the bathroom! She suggests storing your brushes in a make-up brush case, like this one from MAC. The brushes stay cleaner, and are easy to store. Just roll them up when you aren’t using them. This way, your brushes stay cleaner and aren’t as susceptible to germs in the air. Also, using a make-up wipe, you can easily clean the inside of the case as needed. Typically when you wash your brushes, you’d want to clean the case.

Make-Up:
There are a few ways that you can successfully organize your make-up to make your mornings run smooth. I have my make-up laid out in a drawer. Using a drawer organizer with many containers all in a row, I have designated specific sections of the drawer organizer to specific make-up products. The first container holds my foundation, concealer, cover-up, and powders. My next container holds all of my blush, and bronzers. I have a container for all my eye shadows, that is located right behind my blush and bronzer container. And I have two cups, one holds my eye liner and mascara, while the other holds my lip glosses and liners. By keeping all of my make-up organized in the fashion, I am able to grab things I need quickly so I can reduce how much time I spend searching for things.

Another way to organize your make-up is to keep your make-up stored in different pouches or bags. Have one bag hold foundation, powders. Another to hold blush, etc. Another bag hold eye shadows, and liners, with another to hold lip gloss, lip stick, etc. This way you can grab what you need quickly because the products are organized into different bags. So make sure you wash your brushes twice a month, let them air dry by hanging over your counter, and store them in a brush bag. Keep tabs on your make-up by writing the date you purchased your make-up using a label. And keep your make-up organized making it easy to get ready in the morning.