Clean Your Makeup

 Take this as your kick up the bum to go and sort your makeup out. Most of use have a ton of makeup that we don't use, have forgotten we own or is in the bottom of a really gross makeup container and we'd rather pretend it wasn't there. We're going to fix that 

What You'll Need:

• Kitchen roll or a couple of old tea towels
• Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) - a good thing to come out of covid is that this is more readily available and cheaper too. I use this to clean every thing in my pro kit and to clean my pro-brushes because it gets them really clean and dries almost instantly. You do not need to clean your makeup brushes with this unless you really want to, using this wrong can damage brushes so a soap is often better. Keep the lid on this - it evaporates so if you leave the lid off it will disappear. This spray one looks good 
• Solid Brush Cleaner - they have, of course, discontinued my favourite Japonesque one but next time I need to restock I will probably get this. You don't need to spend a lot of money and the reviews are excellent
• Sellotape 
• Pencil sharpener

You will also need three bags, receptacles or just three clear piles on you floor will do - Keep, bin, give away

• Keep - try to be ruthless though the more often you do this the easier it will be because you will realise what you are using and what you aren't. Keep products you use or you think you will use. I tend to keep concealers that are the wrong colour to use as eye primer
• Bin - anything that is gross, past it's sell by date, smells funny or you are never going to use and isn't ok to give to someone else
• Donate - maybe you have a mother/daughter/son/friend who would love the makeup you are just not using. Anything that is unopened can go to Give & Makeup (address below)

And then it's time to start. Have a quick glance through and anything you see that can straight in the bin, bin it. 

Then get everything out and onto a clean surface and clean out whatever you keep your makeup in. 

Now you are going through product by products, open things, smell them think about how long you've had them. Be ruthless. 

Clean anything that needs cleaning, see my video below, you can spray everything with isopropyl alcohol - it evaporates in air so you need to keep the lid on if you have a non-spray bottle and, once you've sprayed makeup, leave it open for a few minutes. 

Make a pile of things to donate, have a box ready to post of things to Give & Makeup or to give to a friend who might want things. There is no point holding onto something that you are never going to use

Friday Video - Give and Makeup

Some of my favourite things from 2013

Thank you so much to all those who took part in my huge Christmas Giveaway. I have to say I was slightly daunted by giving something away for 24 days in a row but it actually went really well and I was really pleased I did it so thank you everyone who entered. Due to the giveaway and Christmas and powercuts I failed to film any videos over Christmas and was about to fail to do so again due to poor-hair-maintenance related vanity and my forgetfulness (me in London, camera tripod in Hampshire) but I thought 'that is no way to start 2014' so here it is in all it's bad hair and rambley glory.

If you don't already do so I would love it if you'd subscribe to my channel and leave me a comment either on what you loved in 2013 or letting me know what videos you'd like me to do in the future. I hope that you are all having a wonderful start to your year - I know there's a lot of resolving and detoxing going on but I personally think you can decide to make a change at any time of year and you get a new do-over ever day so if you haven't had a great beginning to the year then just shake it off and start again.

For those who are interested in Give and Makeup their website is here and anyone wanting to join in the New Year New You Style Project check out all the details on Modern Mummy.

Products Shown:

MAC Retro Matte Lipstick in All Fired Up (sadly no longer available but you could try eBay)
Elizabeth Arden 8hr Lip Protector in Berry
Liz Earle Signature Lip Colour in Hibiscus and Damask Rose
Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in Rose
Bobbi Brown Foundation in 3.5 Warm Beige
Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow
Inglot Gel Liner in 77
Emma Hardie Amazing Face Cleansing Balm
Nuxe Crème Fraiche de Beaute Enriche - 24Hr Soothing and Moisturising Rich Cream 50ml
Darphin Intral Toner
St Grape Aqua Bliss Scrub
Nip + Fab Tummy Fix
Pukka love tea

Give and Makeup

I am one of those people that finds it hard to through useful things away. I'm not a hoarder but I can see how such a problem can get started. I'm signed up to Glossybox - a fantastic service where you get a box of goodies delivered every month - and the boxes are so pretty and useful that I cannot bring myself to chuck them out. As you can imagine, one a month means that quite a few have now been stacked up in my office, occasionally I use one to send someone something fragile or a make-up product I don't want to get squeezed in the post.

Then I came across Give and Makeup on twitter and suddenly I not only have the perfect use for  my old Glossyboxes but it is a great way to get rid of all those make-up and beauty products you don't use. I get sent quite a few things to test out, often all within the same range and there will be things I know I'm just never going to use, lipsticks and nail varnishes in the wrong colour, the majority of perfume samples I get from Glossybox and they just lie around unloved, taking up valuable space. I'm also terrible at going out and splurging on makeup in Boots and Superdrug and then getting home and finding I've already got something or I've bought it in completely the wrong colour - some end up in my kit, some just go to the back of my personal make-up box. My initial trawl through revealed two boxes worth of products. Now I'm just going to keep an old box in my office for anything that I don't want.

Initially you may wonder why make-up and beauty products are needed for charity - I mean, they are a bit of a luxury surely, but all the products donated go directly to Refuge and Women's Aid who help victims of domestic violence. Thousands of women and children have had to run from their homes to protect their lives and they have to leave everything behind. Give and Makeup need everything from everyday essentials - shampoo, condition, toothpaste, deodorant, to skincare - cleaners and moisturisers and the added extras - makeup, makeup brushes, perfume, nail varnish and even clothes and baby products. Rather than listing things on eBay why not make a box up and send it in? These amazing charities need your help and Give and Makeup is a fantastic way to do it.