Shake Up Your Make-Up!

If you're like me and can't resist the allure of a new beautifying product from your favourite cosmetics brand (mine are Benefit and Smashbox), chances are your makeup case looks something like this...or perhaps even worse!


Although I like to keep my makeup case clean and bacteria free, it's always bursting at the seams with collectable Benefit boxed blushes, multiple mascaras for varying lash looks, or that new season lip gloss that I simply had to have. (Mind you, this is not my entire collection, I also have a black ceramic cup full of brushes and pencils!)

When your makeup case is this choc-a-bloc, digging through it each morning to create an original look on a daily basis can be a confusing and time consuming task. In my experience, it results in grabbing a few favourites from the top and quickly slapping them on, just to get out the door on time. Consequently, many of the more ambitious products or those that are not immediately within reach, are left to be forgotten at the bottom of the case.

To stop myself from becoming entangled in a repetitive makeup rut, I have developed a simple rotation system, which ensures that no cosmetic must-have gets left in my makeup case for too long. This system requires one or two clear storage cubes (you can purchase these from Freedom or basically anywhere that stocks storage solutions). One cube will be used for makeup, and the other for cotton balls/tips etc.


Once you have these containers, you can get down to business!

1. Lay a towel out on your bed or some carpet and carefully empty out the contents of your makeup case onto the surface.
2. Throw away anything that smells funny, has separated, gone cakey, has broken packaging, or is past its used by date.
3. Group items according to product type ie. bases, blushes, glosses, shadows etc
4. Now comes the fun part. Select one or two products from each pile and put them aside. The products you choose could be inspired by a look from magazine, a recently purchased product, a celebrity idol, seasonal colours or anything that grabs you!
5. Place the selected assortment of products in one of the clear cubes. This is going to be your go-to selection for the next fortnight or so. Clean your makeup case and return the unselected cosmetics to it.

When your finished, you'll have something like this...


My cosmetics cube currently contains my Benefit Playstick foundation, Smashbox bronzing primer, L'Oreal bronze eyeliner, Stila Major Lash mascara, Benefit Softlights fusion blush, Benefit Hoola bronzing powder, Smashbox eyeshadow trio, Modelco summer bronze shimmer powder, and Benefit Benetint lip balm pot.

Arrange the cubes on your bathroom bench so that your chosen bits and pieces are within reach after your morning shower. Rotate the cosmetics in the cube every couple of weeks and you'll have no reason get stuck in a makeup rut ever again!