How to Declutter & Organize Your Hair and Beauty Products

When it comes to hair and beauty products, it’s important to keep them cleaned and organized.

Not only does it make your beauty routine easier but you can avoid some serious health issues.

In this post, you’ll learn to:

• Declutter your hair and beauty products and tools
• Clean your hair and cosmetic tools
• Choose the right organizers for your items
• Pick the appropriate place to store your stuff
• Maintain your organization

And with that, let’s begin with hair.

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Decluttering Your Hair Products, Tools, and Accessories

Gather and Sort

Gather all your hair products, tools, and even accessories.

Make separate piles for each category of items as you retrieve them. 

Here is a list of common items/categories:

• Samples
• Brushes and combs
• Hairstyle prepping aides: rollers, clips, bobby pins…
• Styling tools: straightener, curling iron, blow dryer…
• Hairpieces: wigs, tracks, wefts…
• Shampoos, conditioners, and treatments
• Styling products: gels, hairspray, mousse…
• Accessories: hairbands, ties, wraps…

Once you have all your items in one location and sorted out, it’s time to go through each of them and purge anything you do not use or need.

What to Do With Samples?

Go through your samples first since it’s the easiest to declutter.

If you have been holding onto samples you swear you were going to use (guilty here), it’s time to let them go. 

However, do not toss them out completely.

Consider donating them to a homeless shelter or women’s shelter where they can use these.

Brushes & Combs

Next are brushes and combs.

Toss any combs missing teeth.

If you have different brushes for different styles, then, by all means, keep them.

But if you have more than a few brushes that are used for the same hair styling technique, then select one and get rid of the rest.

Prepping Aides & Styling Tools

Many trendy hairstyles require certain prepping aides and specific styling tools (remember crimpers?)

If the hairstyle is no longer trending, it’s time to say goodbye to these tools.

Even if the look comes back in style, your older self may not be able to pull that look again.

Leave it for the younger generations. 

But do keep those tried and true tools like a hair blower or shears.

However, one of each is all you need. Donate or toss any extras.

Hair Pieces & Wigs

Remove any hairpieces and wigs you no longer care to wear.

You can donate these to Goodwill, various charities, a local theater, and even a daycare center that will use them for dress-up play.  

If the only reason you are not wearing them is that they look frazzled and worn, you should try to fix and restyle them.

Continue scrolling to the cleaning section of this post for more on how to care for your pieces.

Shampoos, Conditioners, & Treatments

For these bottles, get rid of any that you no longer use.

If it didn’t work for your hair, toss it.

Consolidate any opened and used bottles of the same product.

Then recycle any empty bottles.

If you can help it, try not to store these in your shower stall.

Instead, bring these with you in a shower caddy whenever you bathe.

This will keep your shower stall clean and pink-goo-free.

I have been doing this for 5 years now and I no longer get that slimy surface that these bottles tend to accumulate.

Styling Products

Like shampoos, conditioners, and treatments, if you no longer use a styling product, get rid of it.

If you have several of the same types of styling products opened, choose the one that has the least amount of product in it and store the rest.

When you finish one product then you can retrieve the next one that has the least amount.

Hair Accessories

Go through your hair accessories and throw away any that have over-stretched elasticity, missing pieces, or are broken.

Then donate any you no longer care to wear anymore.

Cleaning Your Hair Products & Tools

Cleaning Brushes and Combs

If you use a lot of products, you should be cleaning your brushes and combs more often.

Below is a quick video that shows you how to clean your brushes. You can apply the same treatment to combs.

Caring for Styling Tools

For styling tools, follow the manufacturer’s recommendations.

You can usually find these online.

If you can’t access them for some reason, here are some ways I clean my appliances:

• First, disconnect your appliances from the outlet
• Use tweezers to de-lint the back vent of your hair blower
• Soak and clean your blower attachments in soapy water.
• Use soapy water and a microfiber cloth to clean the plate surfaces and curling iron rod – do not submerge them in water
• Use a toothbrush and soapy water for stubborn, caked-on buildup

Cleaning Hair Pieces and Wigs

Especially for expensive wigs, I recommend asking the shop where you bought them from if they offer cleaning and styling services.

You can also do an online search for wig restoration services in your area.

If either of the above options is not possible, you can do this yourself.

Check out the video below.

The young lady does an awesome job cleaning and styling her wig.

For wefts and tracks, follow this video.

Best Organizers and Storage Options for Your Hair Products

For brushes and combs, you can use adjustable drawer dividers or a stand like this one atop your vanity.

For styling appliances, you can attach a magazine holder to the inside of your sink’s cabinet door or try this hair appliance organizer.

If you have lots of styling products and more hair accessories than you’d like to count, try an over-the-door shoe organizer like this one.

It will keep your items sorted and handy.

If you prefer to keep these items on your vanity, try this deep-bin lazy susan.

Wigs and Wefts/Extensions

Wigs and extensions should be kept in the bags that they came in.

These will not only keep them dust-free but also keep them from getting tangled. 

If you no longer have the bag, use a large Ziploc bag instead.

You can also use a hatbox.

I use a decorative box and keep my wefts separated with tissue paper.

Now, if you have a wig that you use on a daily basis, then a wig stand or mannequin head works great for short-length wigs.

For longer wigs, go for this hanging stand to keep the tresses from knotting up.

Have too many hair-prepping needs?

If you just have a lot of hair products and tools and live in a small space, try using a portable caddy cart ← like this one and create a hair station.

Maintaining Your Hair Products and Organization

To keep your products cleaned and organized, here are some tips to follow:

• Avoid samples or use them right away
• Clean brushes, combs, and hair appliances at least every two weeks
• Avoiding opening a new shampoo, conditioner, and other styling products until your current one is finished
• And unless you are uber late, put your products away when done

Decluttering Your Beauty Products & Tools

Gather and Sort

Just like your hair products, you’ll want to gather all your beauty products, tools, and accessories in one location. 

Sort through them and create categorized piles.

Here is a list of common categories and items included in each:

• Makeup & samples: eye makeup, palettes, pencils, lipsticks, blushes, …
• Skincare: lotions, creams, sunscreen, …
• Perfumes
• Beauty tools: brushes, wedges, eyelash curler, tweezers, …
• Nail care: polish, remover, files, clippers, …

Now, let’s start purging your collection.

Cosmetics and Skin Care

Makeup and skincare products expire.

So as you go through these items, discard any samples and cosmetics you know you’ve had around for a very long time.

These can cause some serious skin outbreaks and rashes as well as eye infections.

For more information about the expiration dates of makeup, click here.

This should help you determine what really needs to go.

If you can’t remember when you first opened a product, then toss it.

Chances are it’s well past its expiration date.

If your skincare applications come in a pump bottle, you can pretty much keep these until you are done with them.

But beware that they do lose their effectiveness over time.

Creams that come in a jar should be tossed after a while since cross-contamination can occur which can lead to rashes and other skin disorders.

Makeup Applicators

Brushes, blenders, and sponges should be replaced often even if you clean them regularly.

If you use these tools on a daily basis, then toss them after 3 months.

This also applies to the eyelash curler pads as well.

Mani/Pedi Products

Throw away any old and dried-up nail polish.

The same goes for used emery boards, files, and even nail buffers you’ve had for a long while.

Clean and Caring for Your Beauty Tools

Beauty Tools

Cleaning your makeup applicators and tools is a must. 

Brushes can pick up oil from your skin and cause unnecessary skin disorders and infections. 

Here is a video showing three different ways to wash your makeup brushes.

To clean tweezers, Mani/Pedi tools, pencil sharpener, or an eyelash curler (remove the padding first), simple alcohol will do.

You can purchase alcohol pads and run them over your tools. 

For sharp-ended tools, dip a swab into alcohol and wipe down the surfaces.

Some companies actually provide free sharpening of their tweezers.

Check to see if your brand offers this.

If not, simply rub the ends across a nail file or emery board a few times.

If you haven’t changed out the rubber padding in your eyelash curler, do so now.

You can find replacement pads in most pharmacies.

When it comes to caring for your perfume, there are a host of instructions to follow.

Click here to read all the different steps you need to take to keep your perfume lasting longer.

Best Organizers and Storage for Your Beauty Products and Tools

There are literally hundreds of makeup organizers on the net.

So let’s talk about what is going to work best for you.

First, decide where you will be keeping your cosmetics and tools.

If space is an issue, then consider portable options (see some suggestions below).

And second, now that you’ve decluttered your stuff, note how much you have so that you purchase a large enough organizer to house your items.

Another thing to look for in a stand-alone organizer is the ability to hold brushes up since they should be stored upright.

Here is one I found on Amazon.

For portable organizers, you can purchase a space-saving makeup box or this makeup travel case.

And if you have oodles of makeup products and tools, this portable case has it all.

Try a lazy susan atop your vanity to hold your skincare products as well as your perfumes.

If you have lots of nail polish bottles, this stand-alone organizer works well on vanities or dresser tops. You can also go with a portable one too.

And lastly, for swabs, cotton balls, pads, and other one-time applicators, keep these contained either in their own packaging or in clear and/or glass containers like these.

Maintaining Your Beauty Products and Organization

Again, maintaining your beauty products and tools can avoid all kinds of skin and eye disorders.

Use a yearly planner and schedule your makeup maintenance regimen.

Purchase small labels like these and keep them with your cosmetics.

When you open a new product, write down this date on the label and stick it onto that product.

This will let you know when it’s time to toss them.

And finally, always return your products back to where you stored them.

This will not only keep everything organized but you’ll be able to find what you need faster.

Final Thoughts on Organizing Your Hair and Beauty Products

The first time you declutter and organize your hair and beauty products may take a bit of time so take care of this right away and follow these simple steps:

• Declutter and purge your items first
• Take the time to clean your products and tools
• For the sake of your health, throw away expired products
• Choose a good organizer and properly store your stuff so that it will last you a long time
• Schedule your beauty organization tasks
• And finally, always return your items when you are finished with them.

So, get started now so you can enjoy a healthy and clean beauty regime.

More Helpful Articles on Organizing

Here is a list of articles you may find helpful after organizing your hair and beauty products:

• How to Organize a Small Bathroom
• Jewelry Decluttering and Organizing
• How to Organize Your Medications

Decluttering & Organizing Your Personal Hair & Beauty Products