Are you girls ready? We are about to dive into the messy, beautiful, sparkling world of makeup. 

Think about this: You wake up in the morning, stretch, yawn, hit snooze a few times, and eventually stumble from bed to coffee maker. As the glorious, highly caffeinated whiff of steaming coffee hits your nose, the morning starts to look a lot more pleasant. 

You dive straight into your daily routine of face washing, teeth brushing and yawning before finally whipping out that thing you love dearly and cannot live without, the one that makes you literally able to face the day. This, of course, is your beloved Cosmetic Bag. 

The inside of your cosmetic bag ought to be something that makes you smile, a place that you feel fully at home, but unfortunately, if you’re like me, sometimes it can be the messiest little place in your home. 

Lately, Marie Kondo has the whole world checking items to see if they “Spark Joy” and I must admit that I was wholeheartedly swept along this channel of tidying. One of the last - but certainly one of the most fulling - places I scourged (or should I say gratefully and gently sorted through) on this tidying journey was my cosmetic… well… section. In doing this I found to my dismay that I had a full three makeup bags bursting with makeup both old and new, the mesh insides caked in foundation, blush and eyeshadow droppings. 

I don’t think I’m the only one to have a dark alley of makeup garbage stowed under my bathroom counter, but thankfully I was able to turn this area into a sparkling clean, selective area that gives me joy each morning! 

Here’s how I did it, and how you can too:

1. Give yourself the freedom to throw things away.

If you find yourself burdened with lots of excess cosmetics, it might not be due to the fact that you are a messy person. It honestly might be that you, like me, hate to see good things go to waste. Let me just tell you something. That is a good trait. When you save products and do not allow them to be wasted, you are taking care of the earth and saving money. Sometimes, however, the day arrives when we need to let some things go. If you’ve had a blush, eyeshadow, or some other form of makeup for more than a year, it is likely expired and no longer good to be used. If you have newer products that you never used and found you don’t like, feel free to give those away to someone who would like them!  

2. Clean your containers.

Take a wet paper towel or wet wipe and gently wipe down all of your makeup containers that are smeared with foundation and bits of mascara. It’s time to let those eyeshadow palettes begin to shine! Next, wipe out your cosmetic bag before replacing all of the beauty items. Make a point to do this regularly because your cosmetic bag is adorable and should last for a long time if it is well cared-for!

3. Love what you have.

Loving what you already have goes a little further than just appreciating what is inside of your cosmetic bag. As you start to decide which makeup items you really use and which ones you can say goodbye to, you will start to love the makeup you decide to keep. More than that, though, you may even start to find that you are able to appreciate yourself in a new way. Your monogrammed cosmetic bag is not there to make you pretty. It is there to celebrate the perfectly unique and completely sufficient you. Before you put on any makeup at all, you are beautiful, and you are enough.

Look at your makeup bag for just a moment. The monogram is there to celebrate your identity and your existence. The eyeliner and eyeshadow are there to bring out your eyes, the lip color to accent your smile… these things only take what you already have and make it sparkle. 

As you go through your cosmetic bag, we would love for you to share your organization tips with us! Which things did you decide to keep, and why? Let us know in the comments!