How to Organize Your Makeup Bag Like a Pro

There are only so many hours in a day—so sometimes, organizing just has to fall to the wayside. From juggling work, working out, friends, family, and a social life, we bet that cleaning up the clutter can’t always be at the top of your to-do list. But organizing your makeup bag doesn’t have to be all that challenging. And in fact, a little order can go a long way for your morning routine (no more searching through everything for your favorite eyeliner!). Below, we share seven tips to help you pare down your makeup bag and pack it like a pro.

Makeup Organization Tip #1: Look at How Many Products You Have

When looking through your makeup bag, dump everything onto a clear surface to really sort through what you have. Decide what you want to keep and what you think can go—perhaps if you have multiples of the same shade of blush, you can toss the extras to save space, for example. Store the products you use daily in your makeup bag so that you can carry it on the go, but stash everything else neatly in a drawer at home.

Makeup Organization Tip #2: Protect Your Blenders and Brushes

Have you ever looked at your makeup blenders and brushes and wondered why they seemed so ratty? Well, if they’re stuffed into a bag with lots of other makeup products, they could get bent out of shape. When storing them, make sure they have their own bag to help keep bristles protected—after all, to make magic happen on your face, they need all the TLC they can get. P.S. – Don’t forget to wash them regularly!

Makeup Organization Tip #3: Leave the Heavy Products at Home

If your shoulder has been hurting from how heavy your purse is, you may want to remove your arsenal of primer, foundation, concealer, and setting powder from your bag before heading out for the day. While these products may be part of your morning makeup routine, they don’t need to be toted along for the day’s adventure. Instead, pack your makeup bag with a concealer pen, like the L’Oréal Paris Magic Lumi Highlighting Concealer, for quick midday touch-ups to your complexion.

Makeup Organization Tip #4: Stick to One Lipstick for the Day

Just like you don’t need to cram a million face products into your carry-along cosmetic bag, you also don’t need to bring all your lipsticks with you, either. Instead, toss the color you’re wearing for the day for easy touch-ups wherever you are. Since you likely matched your lippy to your look, there’s really no reason to add multiple lip products to your bag when you know you’re not going to switch from a nude to a purple halfway through the day.

Makeup Organization Tip #5: Stock Up on Multi-Use Products

A great way to pare down your travel makeup bag is to look for products that have multiple uses—think: all-in-one contour sets, eyeshadow palettes to create an entire eye look, and so on. Try the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Total Cover Concealing and Contour Kit, L’Oréal Paris Infallible Paint Eye Shadow in Nude Fishnet and the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Paints Blush.

Makeup Organization Tip #6: Use Clear Bags Within Your Bag

If you carry a slightly larger makeup bag, instead of digging through it and risking spilling your prized products on the floor, organize all of your goodies into small clear makeup bags to make finding specific products a lot easier. Try pairing all your liquid formulas together, all your eye products together, and all your face products together—you get the idea.

Makeup Organization Tip #7: Keep the Essentials on Hand

What’s worse than messing up your eyeliner, mascara, or liquid lipstick, and not having the proper products to clean up the mess? To make sure that you can fix a makeup faux pas in any situation, keep a few cotton swabs and a miniature bottle of micellar water in your makeup bag for quick clean-up on the go.