I love wearing makeup—eyeliner, eye shadow, mascara, blush, and lipstick—and over the years I have discovered which colors and styles best bring out my natural features. Dark purple eyeliner brings out the green in my eyes, and I try to stay away from orange-hued lipsticks. Since I’ve experimented with make up so much in the last fifteen years, I’ve realized that (as usual) less is more.

And, as I have noticed with clothing, shoes, and other belongings, I tend to wear my “favorites” over and over again. There were so many colors of eye shadow and different types of lip-glosses that either I didn’t wear or I didn’t want to wear. Why was I holding on to them? One of the reasons we hold on to items we don’t even like owning is because of the way our brains are wired. Humans are afraid of losing things. We tend to put value on items not solely because we love them or they are useful, but also because we have spent money on them, have owned them for some time, or because we are afraid that if we get rid of them or lose them we might need them once again. Once we realize this and simply acknowledge that we don’t need or want them, it feels very freeing to let them go.

So, I discarded much of my makeup and stick to the basics. I store my makeup in one black, organized, compartmentalized case, as pictured above.

I keep all of my foundation together: one lighter foundation for winter, a shade darker for summer. A tube of liquid concealer is stored with foundation.

My face brushes and lipsticks hang out in the bottom compartment.

My eye shadows are stored together.

My bronzer and blush are separated.

My eye shadow brushes, eyelash curler, mascara, eyeliner, and sharpeners are all stored in the drawer.

That’s it! Easy, simply, organized… and I always get to wear my favorite makeup!