Makeup Organization for Pros: Life-Changing Ideas for 2023 from Depot Chopra

For beauty lovers, makeup organization is notoriously difficult—and no one owns more products than Professional Makeup Artists. When you consider how many shapes and sizes cosmetics come in, Pros are always looking for innovative ways to organize makeup, both at home and in their professional kits.

The internet is full of makeup storage ideas, but too few cater to professional MUAs. As beauty lovers with a tidiness obsession, we’ve compiled the ultimate makeup organization ideas for Pro MUAs, with the help of makeup organization guru Grishan Roof of Depot Chopra. Watch out for some surprising, non-makeup-related products, all linked below. 

 

Step 1: Ditch any makeup or cosmetics past their prime

Every Makeup Artist we know is a low-key makeup hoarder. Makeup organization begins with getting rid of what no longer serves, which can elicit a lot of *feelings*. Here’s a hot tip: If you bought it before 2020, it’s probably expired. Most beauty products have a shelf life of 2 years maximum (and way shorter for clean beauty products). To check if your makeup or skincare is expired, simply look for the number on the packaging indicating their shelf life in months, as pictured below. While you’re at it, employ the KonMari Method, and get rid of anything that doesn’t “spark joy.”

To sustainably recycle your makeup, find the PACT Collective bin nearest to you.

 

Step 2: Organize your makeup and tools by product category

Now that you’ve eliminated the unnecessary from your makeup collection, it’s time to separate your makeup out into product families: foundations, eyeshadows, blushes, eyeliners, etc. This way, you know exactly how much of each product you’re working with, to next decide how you want to store it.

For small tools like cosmetic scissors, Q-tips, etc Grishan recommends this Fishing Tackle Accessory Box. Genius!

 

Step 3: For those committed to carrying full-sized products in their makeup kit

Here we find a fork in the proverbial makeup organization road. Many MUAs are happy to have their makeup storage look like full-sized products in their original packaging, grouped by product category. Sure, your kit will be heavy, but all your brand labels will be visible to your clients. For this demographic, we suggest smaller containers to store your different makeup families. A few of our favorites:

• The ZÜCA Utility Pouches come in a few sizes, perfect for holding eyeshadow palettes, foundations or lipsticks and glosses. 
• We adore the Bags For Makeup Lightweight & Padded bag that’s insulated — ideal for skincare or foundations.
• This pencil holder is an aestetically pleasing way to organize eyeliners and lip liners, straight from Grishan’s kit list. 
• For lightning-fast setup and breakdown on the job, the Relavel Extra Large Makeup Case is a Pro MUA’s favorite. While space is limited and the interior can be difficult to clean, this case is beloved for being a carryall that zips open to reveal your full kit. No unpacking needed!

Psst: For a breakdown of the many different travel makeup bags out there, click here.

 

Step 4: For the advanced: depot and decant your makeup

At a certain point in a Pro Makeup Artist’s career, the need for a lighter kit outweighs the need to display products in their original packaging. When your back starts to give out, or you’re starting to feel buried by the sheer amount of makeup you’ve amassed, it’s time to downsize, depot and decant. In simple terms, you’ll want to remove makeup from its original bulky, heavy packaging, and transplant it into a new, sleek, and ultra-light makeup storage system.

Before you begin, we strongly suggest a deep dive into the world of Grishan Roof, professional makeup organizer to the industry’s top MUAs and founder of Depot Chopra. Her Instagram videos are an incredible educational resource for the depotting curious. When you’re ready to begin this deeply cathartic process, focus on one makeup category at a time to avoid overwhelm.

• For foundations, decant into smaller tubes.
• For cream products, including contour, blushes, highlighters, eye primers, gel eyeliners, etc — depot into our airtight MYO Makeup Pods. With a magnetic backing, these pods easily store in our Companion Palettes, designed in collaboration with Grishan Roof. These empty magnetic palettes come with a frosted-top and make for ultra-streamlined kits. They also fit perfectly in the Relavel Case mentioned above.
• For eyeshadows, the MYO Companion Palette is the ultimate customizable eyeshadow palette. Many eyeshadow palettes secure the eyeshadow pans magnetically—simply remove and pop into your MYO Companion Palette. For eyeshadows that are glued in place, you’ll need a ZPotter handy. This cosmetic induction stove will melt the packaging glue, so you can carefully pry the pans out of the original palette and place in a Companion Palette

Pro tip: The Small Companion Palette is great to store circular pans; the Medium Companion Palette comes with squared corners to hold rectangular pans. 

• For larger powder products, like blushes, setting powder, bronzers and highlighters, the MYO Medium and Tall Companion Palettes are your best friend. Depot the makeup pans from their original packaging, either using heat with a ZPotter, or finding some that pop out easily without heat. Add magnets to the back of products as needed, and place securely in our Companion Palettes.

• For loose powders and pigments, decant into mini salt shakers and squeeze tubes. This way, you’ll only extract a little product at a time, helping you conserve products in a hygienic and streamlined manner.

 

Step 5: Label Everything

Nothing is worse than rummaging around in your kit trying to find that *one* product—especially in front of a client. The secret finishing detail for makeup organization is to label everything, so that you can know exactly what’s what. This will help you navigate your newly streamlined, sleek and ultra-light makeup kit like the absolute pro that you are. Grishan loves the Brother P-touch Cube Plus for ultra-customizable labels – you can even print makeup brand logos. It’s pricey, but definitely worth it.

 

Step 6: Bags Within Bags

Now that everything’s decanted, depotted and highly organized, it’s time to pack it in for safe transportation. Grishan recommends this camera bag to hold foundations, and Tu&kit Bag 2.0 for loose powders and pigments. For everything else, ensure secure makeup storage and travel with your MYO Companion Palettes in the BagsForMakeup Lightweight & Padded Bag.

Pro Tip: The Medium and Deep Companion Palettes have the same footprint – the only difference is their depth. If you’re an organization freak, these will stack vertically in your kit so perfectly, it might bring a tear to your eye. Remember, these can hold *all* your powder and cream products. Be prepared to be amazed at just how compact your Pro MUA kit can become.

For Professional Makeup Artists, one simple search for “makeup storage ideas'' can lead you down a rabbit hole of kitspiration. With the help of Grishan Roof’s favorite organization products, we are confident that MYO Cosmetic Cases provide the ultimate makeup organization solutions to take your kit to the next level. Watch your newly organized makeup kit spark your creativity and breathe new life into the looks you create. Be sure to tag us @myocosmeticcasees so we can share!