It happens quite often that women ask me if they can take a look in my toiletry bag to see what I use. I understand the question quite well. I receive the latest of the latest from Chanel, Dior, Sisley, and Estée Lauder, so my toiletry bag must be a cosmetic paradise. Still, I always find the question extremely uncomfortable and almost inappropriate because a glimpse into my makeup bag is almost more intimate than a visit to my toilet. It really is a mess in there. Hence, chapter 1 in Destination Organized Everything The Toiletry Bag.
Still, I always find the question extremely uncomfortable and almost inappropriate because a glimpse into my makeup bag is almost more intimate than a visit to my toilet. It really is a mess in there.
Because I may know a thing or two about makeup but not about cleaning up, I knocked on the door of Caroline Griep, you know, her from Griepruimtop.nl. Before we started the real work, Griep gave some tips.
1. Give your brushes a wash every now and then. Oh yes... You have special brush cleaners at Douglas, but you can also let them soak in a wool detergent and then rinse them well and let them dry upside down (with the bristles up).
2. Buy one of those handy packs of Glorix cleaning wipes. Wipe them along your toiletry bag and the brown stains are gone. Also, wipe it along your makeup items and you won't have to be embarrassed if someone wants to snoop in your makeup bag uninvited.
3. Remember that makeup has an expiration date and you can't keep your items forever. A mascara lasts about three months. Eyeshadow and lipstick a bit longer, but the quality doesn't get better. Just use it.
4. There are items like that beautiful powder from Chanel with camellias in it that are almost too pretty to use. Nonsense. In your closet or in your toiletry bag, no one sees it and no one enjoys it. Moreover, at some point, they are no longer good. Such a waste. So use that stuff and next season there will be another showpiece on the market that makes you incredibly happy.
5. Your toiletry bag should contain your basics and not seven lipsticks that you haven't looked at in three years. Task: take a look at your makeup bag and see what you really use. Well, I did that. The harvest was this:
- Seven lip glosses
- Two large brushes
- Two eyeliners
- Three extra brushes
- Three concealers (one from Dior, one from Laura Mercier, and one from Sisley)
- A box of eyeshadow
- A bottle of foundation
- A box of blush
- A box of brown powder
- A box of light powder
- A box of eyebrow powder
- A bottle of nail polish
- A hair tie
- A strip of pills
- A Tweezerman
Good. Especially the lip glosses (all in the same shade) were in the majority. Decisively, I pushed them aside. Away with them. “But what should I do with them now?” I asked Caroline with fear in my eyes. “That's up to you,” said Caroline. “I'm not telling you what to do, but just showing you what you have. Remember that makeup also has an expiration date.’ Out of fear of saying goodbye, I put my favorites in my desk drawer. But then it becomes a mess again.
Especially the lip glosses (all in the same shade) were in the majority. Decisively, I pushed them aside. Away with them. “But what should I do with them now?” I asked Caroline with fear in my eyes.
I came up with a solution. From all the duplicates, I will make small toiletry bags that I will place in strategic locations. One in the car, one in my beloved's car and one in my desk drawer. Then I wiped a wet cloth along the bag and items and immediately threw away that empty pill strip. I'm one step further towards Destination Organized Everything. Here spins a satisfied person.
