I am joined by my guest, the fantastic Dilly from De Clutter Dollies. Dilly is going to tell you a bit about herself, what she does and her advice on beauty product organisation and storage. Followed by a Q&A with me.
Photo credit: https://imagebliss.co.uk
“My name is Dilly Carter and I am a professional organiser. I help people create space and calm within their home. I help everything have a place and to give your homes structure and order where there may have been none before. I help homes flow correctly.
During this lockdown period, look at your home carefully. Walk around with a note pad and pen and make notes, starting from the front door. Which areas need improvement, what can be changed?! What isnt working?! Do you have too much storage?! Too much furniture or not enough?! Is everything out or on display?! Can you move, tidy or store anything differently?! Work your way through the list, at your own pace.
Make-up and beauty products are so important to store correctly as they are what we use on our skin. So we have to keep them clean, neat and organised. We do not want to spend ages looking for certain products. Proper storage is the key! Whether it’s a 5 tier organiser or drawer, we can split our products into groups i.e skincare, foundations, blushers, bronzers, lipsticks, eyeshadows etc. Avoid having 10 make up bags of random items. If make up bags are your only storage, split them into product groups or we may like to organise in brands?! I.e all MAC products together, Bobbi Brown, Urban Decay etc.
Organisation has to work for you also. Whatever helps you find things more easily, give it structure”
Dilly’s Q&A with Alexia Jade:
1. What is the single most important product when doing your make up?!
-Skincare is the most important thing for your make-up regime as it preps and primes the skin ensuring the make-up will sit well, last well and look it’s best. If I could pick one product it would be moisturiser. There’s nothing worse than foundation sitting on dry, flaky skin!
2. What brushes can we get by with?! Are any multi use?!
-I personally love to apply my skincare, foundation and concealer with my fingers (clean hands of course) as the warmth from fingers helps blend the make-up. The only brushes I use for my every day make-up are;
-A large powder brush to apply setting powder.
-A large tapered brush to apply powder bronzer.
-A large angled brush to apply powder blusher.
If you were to use cream blusher, bronzer or highlighter, you could use your fingers.
I would enhance my day look into an evening look by adding eye shadow. The additional brushes I use are;
-A domed brush to apply the eye shadow.
-A fluffy brush to blend the eye shadow.
Double ended brushes are available and really useful to save money and space. I use a small angled brush to apply my eyebrow powder.
3. Are sponges better?!
I feel sponges hold on to a lot of product and give an unnatural finish.
4. What is your best tip?!
My best tip is to maintain a good skincare regime and keep your skin hydrated to ensure flawless make-up application. Also using an SPF daily is very important. I use SPF 50 on my face and SPF 30 on my body.
5. What are your luxury musts?!
Tropic Skincare (I recommend the ABC collection) Lancôme Hypnose Doll Eyes mascara, to really enhance the eyes.
6. What is your affordable must?!
Dr Lipp, lip balm. It’s the best! It has many other uses too.
7. List your ten essentials that can get you from plain to party ready?! Including tools.
I might be cheating by recommending palettes but they are available! They save money and space.
1. Moisturiser to prep and prime the skin (fingers).
2. Any base ie. Tinted moisturiser, BB cream or foundation to even out skin tone. One with incorporated SPF in is an added bonus (fingers)
3. Concealer to hide any imperfections. You can even get a corrector and concealer in one! (fingers)
4. Powder brush to apply;
5. Any bronzer/blusher palette to add colour to the face.
6. Double ended eyeshadow brush (domed and fluffy) to apply;
7. Any neutral eye shadow palette to enhance the eyes and brows. There’s usually a dark shade you can use as an eyeliner. Dampen your brush and apply the darker shade to your lash line.
8. Eyelash curler to prep the eye lashes- I use them every day!
9. Mascara to enhance the eyes, my favourite is Lancôme Hypnose Doll Eyes.
10. Lip balm, my favourite is Dr Lipp, lip balm. Now comes in tinted shades which is great for the day or evening.
8. What can you not live without?! Mascara & lip balm! I also love my Tropic Sun Drops which I mix in with my moisturiser every night to give me some colour.
9. What do we over use?!
Brow products. We often use a shade that is too dark and over fill them. Less is more and even a brow mascara can add some definition without going too bold.
10. Where do most of us go wrong with make up?!
•Wrong foundation match. Make sure you ask a professional make-up artist to match your colour.
•Not blending foundation down to the neck and chest, creating lines and streaks. Blend your foundation down to the chest to ensure a seamless, flawless look. You can even add a little foundation to some moisturiser so it blends easily.
•Doing make-up in bad lighting. Sit in front of natural day light if you can. If not, invest in a light or lamp with a ‘day light’ bulb. Look in the mirror from all angles so you don’t leave patches.
Top tip: Make sure you keep your brushes clean by using an anti bacterial hand wash. Only get the hair wet and not the handle.
Let them dry naturally over the edge of a surface to avoid bent bristles. Clean every 1-2 weeks.
Top tip: Check expiry dates on your make-up, if you’ve had it forever, bin it.
If you haven’t used it in the last few months, bin it.
Don’t know what suits you? Ask a professional.
Head over to De Clutter Clutter Dollies Instagram to see her amazing work. I absolutely love the before and after photos: Click for De Clutter Dollies Instagram
I will be working alongside De Clutter Dollies by offering my new Virtual service. Once this service is complete, get in touch with De Clutter Dollies for the best beauty product organisation and storage solutions.