SPRING CLEANING: Samantha Lennon’s Tips for Cleaning Out Your Makeup Drawer
Edited by Kirby Marzec
It’s that time of year again. You know, your closet starts looking like a war-torn country and your makeup kit like an episode of Hoarders. Lucky for us, Rebecca and I sat down with makeup artist Samantha Lennon on Wednesday to get the inside scoop on how to clean, organize and maintain our makeup kits. Here’s some must-know tips from a professional:
Cleaning your used makeup is first on Sam’s list for reorganization. Frequently used makeup gets dirty and dusty when carelessly thrown around. Sam recommends buying antibacterial wipes to clean off not only the outside of the makeup cases but the inside plastic too. Be sure to clean the inside of lipstick covers and the mirrors inside compacts and don’t forget to sharpen those eyeliner pencils! Clean cases will make your makeup seem like new again! During the cleaning process, be sure to pay close attention to any creams, lotions, glosses and lipsticks…if they smell funny or are off-color, throw them out!
Combination eyeshadow compacts tend to smear and spread, discoloring lighter shades. Sam recommends purchasing little plastic spatulas (sold at makeup stores like Sephora and Ricky’s) and scraping the top layer off all eyeshadows. This goes for compact cover-up too which tends to form a dusty layer (usually from loose powder makeup and cotton-balls/cue-tips). Scraping off the top layer will make makeup seem like new and help eliminate bacteria from growing.
We all know how messy and annoying broken eyeshadow can be. You can always buy empty makeup pods to put broken eyeshadow in. Crush it up and you’ve got yourself a loose powder that wont get all over your makeup kit!
When was the last time you rocked Smurf blue eyeshadow or Big Bird yellow lipstick? If you own obnoxious colors that seem more appropriate for a Halloween costume than a hot date, you have two options: pitch it or start a separate collection for the more costume appropriate makeup.
Once everything is looking like new, it’s time to organize according to category. When you see all of your eyeliner pencils together, you’ll know what you have and what you don’t have, making it easier on your brain and your wallet the next time you go on a Sephora shopping spree.
For those of you lipstick collectors, it’s probably a pain to go through all of your tubes to find the perfect shade of pink. Sam recommends investing in a makeup palate like this one from Japonesque, which will allow you to put all lipsticks in the same place with labels. If you plan to keep your lipstick in the tubes, be sure to wipe them off with a rubbing alcohol soaked paper-towel to remove any bacterial growing on them!
If you have a big collection like Rebecca’s, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to set aside the products you tend to use on a daily basis. By separating your daily-use cream, blush, mascara etc., you won’t have to dig through your collection to find those go-to items!
Place your separated items into zip-lock baggies. It’s fairly obvious, but baggies will help you keep organized and clean!
You’re done! Now doesn’t it feel nice knowing putting makeup on will be one less stress before heading out for a night on the town!?
Sam is a personal makeup artist who will come to your house and personalize a makeup session based on your needs, from organizing your makeup, to teaching you how to use the products you have, to going shopping and finding the products you’re missing!
Check Out Samantha Lennon’s website here or contact her through email at samanthalennon@gmail.com.
