Spring clean your make-up bag

Warning: this post contains images of dirt brushes, imperfect packaging and other crimes that beauty junkies may find offensive.

How many times have you heard about the germs your make-up bag harbours? Magazines are always banging on about how dangerous it is to use old products and how important it is to clean your brushes. But, if I'm being completely honest, while I know how bad it is, I still don't do it. I confess: I haven't cleaned my brushes in, er, at least 18 months and I have eyeshadows from when I was a teenager. Oh god, that makes me sound ancient. I mean, sure it's...five years (eek!) since I was a teen but still!

Ahem, sorry for the diversion there. Anyway, spring is apparently springing (regardless of the weather) so it's time to do a bit of spring cleaning - starting with your make-up bag.

1. Clean your brushes

My dirty little secret

Look at that. Disgusting isn't it? I do rinse them every so often under a little hot water but, according to the experts you really should think about deep cleaning your brushes every 3-4 weeks at the very least. 

I did a big cleaning binge this evening and got out all my dailies, travel and even the little brushes they give with eyeshadows and powders. All you need to do is give them a little bath in warm water and massage some baby shampoo into the bristles (I use Johnson's no more tears). Once it's lathered up, rinse under the tap until the water runs clear then leave to dry overnight. As an optional extra, I usually run a wide tooth comb through thicker brushes to get rid of an loose bristles and knots - et voila! Beauty crisis averted.

Spotless!

2. Get rid of old products
The easiest way to do this is to be brutal. Organise your stuff into three groups: use regularly; used recently; can't remember using/never want to use/out of date. Anything that's in the third pile, throw it away!

A sneak peak at what's in my make-up bag

3. Invest in good tools
If you have good brushes and take care of them, they will last for years. Mine - a mixture of Ms. Makeup from Boots and Ruby & Millie - have served me well, although I don't wear make-up every day and even then go for quite a natural look. They were relatively cheap (under £10 a piece) but if you love your beauty it is definitely worth investigating a specialist brand (I've heard Mac and The Body Shop are particularly good).

If you're in the market for a new make-up bag, opt for a material or plastic coated one (easy to wash or wipe clean if there's a spillage) and make sure there's plenty of room for any new beauty buys!

Do you have any top tips for keeping your beauty buys in check? Leave a comment and share with everyone.