To be honest, I am a beauty freak. But the proof of this was not my face, but the bulky makeup bag I carried with me.
Even though I’m an editor, I just can’t control myself. I want to have all the pretty things at my fingertips: 7 lipsticks in all colors from light to dark; a variety of eyeliners, from gel to felt-tip; 4 different flavors of lip balm; and so on and so forth.
Every time I pulled out a pile of strewn items from my bag, my heart skipped a beat at the endless possibilities. But I knew I had a problem because 1) I only ever had a few items with me, and 2) as a self-proclaimed “nomad,” I was weighed down by excess weight and constantly losing things.
So when I learned that Book Your Look, a service that specializes in finding hair and makeup artists in New York City, was expanding to offer education courses on choosing a makeup bag, I decided it was time to break my hoarding habit.
When I met BYL founder Laramie Glenn, I asked her to tell me straight. Within seconds of opening my medium-sized makeup bag, she decided it was a “Mary Poppins bag” because it contained everything but a vanity. As she went through my bag, item by item (yes, it was a bit like undressing in front of someone whose job it is to comment on nudity), I took solace in the fact that many of my most common habits are the same as those of many women.
By the end of our session, Glenn had made a list of everything I should pack in my bag and laid out the weight loss and detox rules that I and every woman who wants to simplify her daily life should follow.
1. Reduce the burden. “If your blush or eyeshadow palette has a mirror, you don’t need to carry a makeup mirror. Let your products do double duty.”
2. Carry makeup brushes. “Makeup brushes are a must. Using your fingers on your face is extremely unhygienic. Mini brushes don’t take up much space and are great for keeping bacteria and pimples at bay.”
3. Try to use simple cosmetics. “Keep on hand: a mascara brush, tweezers, hand cream and a few cotton swabs.”
4. Ditch the lipstick. “You don’t need to pack four or five lipsticks. Just pack a tinted lip balm, a lipstick in your usual color, and if you want more color, a couple of lip liners or lip glosses.”
5. Give your skin a rest. “Ditch the primer, foundation, concealer, and powder and stick to just one product: concealer. Use primer in the morning to help your makeup last longer, then touch it up when you leave the house.”
6. Make sure everything is fresh. “Smell it — literally! If your foundation is dark, your face cream is bubbling, or your mascara smells musky — throw it in the trash immediately.”
7. Put multiple bags in a bag. “For easy organization, have several small zip-lock bags. Put your daily essentials, lip care products, eye care products, etc. in different bags.”
8. Look for three-in-one products. “Instead of buying three different products, find a palette that has the colors that work best for you. You can’t go wrong with a palette that includes blush, contour, and highlighter.”
For those looking to ditch the whole thing and start over, Glenn also reveals five products that really should be in your bag.
2. Concealer: Charlotte Tilbury 2 Fair Conceal & Treat Stick, $35; charlottetilbury.com.
3. Eyeshadow Pencil: Tarte Skinny SmolderEYES Amazonian Clay Waterproof Eye Pencil, $19; macys.com.
Lauren Valenti was previously the Senior Beauty Editor at Vogue. Her work has also appeared on ELLE.com, MarieClaire.com, and In Style magazine. She graduated from Eugene Lang College (a new liberal arts college) with a degree in liberal arts, majoring in cultural and media studies, and minoring in journalism.
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