5 Steps to Achieving a Clean & Organised Make Up Bag
Make up comes in many different shapes and forms and more often than not is a long-term investment. Items like this, which we pay good money for and hope to last, deserve to be looked after and stored somewhere of the same standard if not higher. In this knowledge, it is quite shocking how few people look after and care for their make up bag and the make up inside it – in particular given that in order for something to last it must be well looked after. For this reason, as a team we at Noble Macmillan have put together this step-by-step article covering how to clean makeup bag, how to organise your makeup bag, and when it comes to our Noble Macmillan Cosmetics Case, how to clean make up off leather.
1. De-clutter
First things first, it’s important to know what’s inside your make up bag. There is no point taking up space and adding extra weight to your load with products you rarely use. Empty out your make up bag and have a good look at what’s in there… Choose the items you use most frequently (I’m talking everyday products) and either ditch the rest in a bin or move it to another bag for different occasions. This is also a useful process to re-evaluate your make up and your make up routine. Another thing to look out for when doing this is expiration dates or other signs that your products have expired. As well as the expiration date on packaging, other signs which indicate your products have expired are change of colour, separation and smell. Another great method of space-saving is to switch to multiuse products where possible – not only will this save space, but it will dramatically improve the efficiency of your makeup doing process. Now you know the product you will be keeping, it’s time to clean them to avoid dirtying your soon-to-be immaculate makeup bag.
2. How to clean your makeup products
A lot of your make up and make up tools will simply need a wipe down with a cotton pad soaked in eye makeup remover. Your make up brushes on the other hand, need a little bit more TLC when cleaning them. Using baby shampoo, fill either a sink or large bowl with shampoo-ey water and leave your brushes to soak in the water for a few minutes. When this time has passed, place the brush heads under running water until the water below runs clear. Try to avoid water running down into the brush as this can damage the brush. In order to dry the brushes, place them on a towel on a radiator and leave them for at least an hour. Following wiping down and washing your make up products they will then be in great shape to go back in to your make up bag after the next step…
3. How to clean makeup bag
The first step of cleaning any make up bag itself, is to empty its contents. Yes, this was touched on in the ‘de-cluttering’ step, however taking it a step further in order to clean the inside of the bag thoroughly you must then get rid of any debris at the bottom or corners of the bag – therefore, to begin simply turn the bag upside down and give it a good shake. In order to get rid of any tougher, more stubborn debris, use a toothbrush to work into the corners and remove it. As for any stains or marks on the inside lining – in particular with the Noble Macmillan Cosmetics Case (which is shaped to ensure any breakages or spillages remain inside the bag) – you can again use a cotton pad soaked in make up remover and wipe it off wiping in the same direction as the stitching. To complete this process of cleaning the inside of the bag, add a little spritz of anti-bacterial spray. A spray of this into your bag once a week is a very good habit to get in to avoid any build-up of germs and bacteria… Especially when we should ensure any products that we are applying directly to our face are clean and hygienic.
Cleaning the outside of your makeup bag is somewhat more straight forward. Like the inside lining of your bag, wipe with a makeup remover-soaked pad or makeup wipe to remove any marks or stains. More specifically, when it comes to how to clean make up off leather, should it be ‘grainy’ such as the leather used for our heather and pale blue-coloured bags, a makeup remover-soaked cotton bud may be useful to get into the crevasses.
4. How to organise your makeup bag
Now that your makeup and makeup bag have been cleaned appropriately it is important to cover how to organise your makeup. There are two main strategies how best to arrange your makeup bag. One is to organise by size, and the other is to separate the products according to their use. Organising by size is simple, keep your larger items such as your foundation, powder, and perhaps any palettes, at the bottom of you bag. Larger items are easier to find at the bottom of your bag than the smaller. Any particularly small items are best kept in the inner pocket of the bag. As for organising make up in your bag by use, this is more suitable for larger make up bags. A great technique I’ve learned is to separate these items using small see-through bags which make it clear to see which is for lips, eyes or face, and to see your brushes and other tools.
5. Tips on how to maintain a clean and tidy make up bag
Naturally, having clean products in your make up bag is a great first step to ensuring you’re the inside of your bag stays tidy and hygienic. However, there are always a few products that are liable to smashing or leaking. A simple tip to avoid potential spillages and leakages causing too much damage is to wrap them around the products likely to do this – in particular, this helps create a buffer zone preventing your palettes and powders from smashing. Should anything spill or leak onto the outside of your Noble Macmillan Cosmetics Case and the tips from the latter sections not do the job, check out our blog post ‘The Noble Macmillan Leather Care Guide’.
We recommend you repeat this cleaning process once a month to keep your handbag makeup bag or your makeup bag at home as tidy and hygienic as possible. This will help make sure your products remain kind to your skin as well as get rid of any unnecessary stress when getting thanks to a beautifully streamlined make up bag.
