The story is the same. Each year competition season rolls around and you grab your caboodle, add a few new things in there and head off to competition. There ends being a plethora of items that are old, dried out, broken and unusable, and digging through your case to find something normally adds a level of unnecessary stress. It’s important that every year, before competition, you take the time to reset and organize your caboodle. This will not only make you feel super accomplished (who doesn’t love seeing their organization skills come to life?), but will set you up for a season of success, with a caboodle filled with items you need and ready to use!
Follow these SIX STEPS when organizing your makeup case:
1. HAVE A LIST OF WHAT YOU NEED
Before actually digging into your stuffed makeup case, it’s essential to know what it is you need that season, and what items are important for you to have on hand ‘just in case’. We’ve made this step 1, because this way you’ll get a clear view on what’s essential and what isn’t, and you won’t try to convince yourself (or your mom) why you HAVE to have this or that item. We believe less is more. Good quality essentials will ensure you don’t unnecessarily spend and that you’ll feel your best when heading to comp.
Here’s our guide:
Print this list to complete the next steps.
2. EMPTY OUT ALL OF THE CONTENTS
Yes, this one might seem obvious, but it’s really important that you actually take EVERYTHING out to start this process. Remove everything that’s in your case, even if you know you’ll be keeping it. Once you’ve done this, close and move your caboodle to the side.
3. SEE AND SEPARATE WHAT YOU HAVE
Now we are getting to the fun part! Once you have everything laid out in front of you, you can start sifting through each item and organizing into one of four piles.
2. Personal | this pile is for products that are not on your essential comp list but you’d like to keep for personal use.
3. Donate | this pile if for products you will not use and you would prefer it to go to someone who will! Donate your gently used products to The BottleBrush Organization; a not-for-profit organization that collects lightly used makeup, sanitizes it and donates to women shelters. Find their list of acceptable donations here.
4. Recycle and Trash | this pile is for your empty containers, dried out products and items that are unusable.
Once you’ve divided everything into these four piles you’ll be starting to get a clear idea what you have, and significantly decreased any excess in your kit!
4. CHECK “KEEP PILE” + CHECK OFF YOUR LIST
Before we move onto the next step, you need to go through your “keep pile”. Let’s double check that these items are in good condition to get you through the season.
We want to check:
Now that we have our completed “keep pile”, use the checklist to check off all the items you have, and make specific notes for what’s still needed (For example, you may have half a pack of lashes but not enough for the whole season).
5. CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN
Alright, now you have successfully removed all unnecessary products from your caboodle, and are about ready to start putting it all back together. But first, you must refresh and clean — trust me, you’ll be happy you did afterwards!
You can start be cleaning your caboodle case. The material of your case will decide what cleaning methods you use. However, it’s normally a good idea to vacuum the inside (suck up any left over sparkles!), and then perform a wipe down. We recommend all natural cleaners, as this case will hold personal items that you will be wearing and in close contact to your skin. We’ve found a great DIY natural cleaner you can make. Once your caboodle is fresh, set aside and let dry.
Next, you can move onto the items that will be going back into your competition case! Using a gentle cleanser or soap/water, I like to wipe down each product going back into the case, even going as far as emptying makeup palettes, wiping them down and reinserting the pans. Essentially, you want to get your case and products as fresh as possible! Wipe away any excess gunk on product containers and empty your hair brushes.
This is also the perfect time to clean you makeup brushes. As performers, we work hard to stay healthy, fuel ourselves properly and take constant care of our delicate skin. We definitely do not want to expose ourselves to the bad bacteria that can build up on your makeup brushes. Follow our step by step guide to cleaning your makeup brushes, here!
Once you have cleaned all the case’s contents, you can place back inside the case. We recommend grouping similar products together, so that it is easier to find items at competition!
6. REPLENISH
By now, your kit is looking clean and fresh, but also potentially a little sparse. Review your itemized checklist, and purchase any remaining items that you need. By sticking to your list, it will ensure intentional purchases, without overspending!
For makeup, you can purchase on our online shop, your studio portal within your deadline and at our retail partner locations! New on our shop is refills– so you can easily replenish your palettes as needed.
For all other accessory and competition needs, we recommend checking out the online shops and in store selections here!
