A makeup cabinet is pretty small, but the products you stock inside it can be some of the most important pieces for your daily routine. Contrary to the name, most people don’t actually store their makeup in a makeup cabinet — rather, it’s a place for your general skin care products. So where do you start when it comes to fleshing out the makeup cabinet? These items will help you start.

1. Makeup Remover Wipes

These are an absolute godsend if you’re not that great at remembering to take off your makeup every night. Without makeup remover wipes, it can seem like more trouble than it’s worth. Then you’ll wake up with an irritated face, clogged pores and a ruined pillow case. Instead, keep a case of these in the makeup cabinet and by your bed to wipe everything off at the end of the day.

2. Lip Balm

It’s important that you keep your lips nice and moisturized at all times. When you lick your lips, you actually dry them out further, and that can do damage to the delicate skin on your lips. Instead, you need to make sure you turn directly to a lip balm. If your lips become chapped and dry easily, consider stashing a few different lip balms in your most common areas so you always have some on hand.

3. High-Quality Cotton Pads

This is one of those things that can just make your daily routine a little easier. Whether you’re trying to get more stubborn pieces of makeup off your face, you just had an accident in the kitchen, or you need to compare two different lipstick colors, cotton pads will come to the rescue. Make sure they’re made of quality cotton for the best experience on your skin.

4. Tweezers

You might not even realize how frequently you can use tweezers until you own a pair. Use them to apply false eyelashes or pluck out-of-place hairs. You don’t have to drop $40 on an incredibly high-quality pair just yet; buy a solid pair from the drugstore and keep it in your makeup cabinet instead.

5. Nail Clippers

Although pretty much everyone knows it’s bad to bite your nails, that itself isn’t enough to dissuade everyone. If you have a bad habit of biting your nails, a good nail clipper can actually get rid of it for you — you’ll be able to keep a clean nail bed more easily. Plus, it reduces your chances of hangnails and infections.

6. Hair Ties

It seems like no matter how many hair ties you start out with, you always end up losing them all. That’s why you should probably just keep a stack in your makeup cabinet. Whenever it seems like you’re running out, head to the drugstore and buy another container. You’ll be able to start your next hairstyle without having to rummage through your purse to try and find your last hair tie.

7. Dry Shampoo

The dry shampoo trend has caught on, and that means you’ve probably at least heard of this concept before. Although it doesn’t do everything an actual shower can do, dry shampoo will at least help hide some of the grease and oil building up on your scalp. That’s why it’s one of the most useful tools you can have in your makeup cabinet.

Conclusion

This isn’t necessarily every single thing you’ll use in your makeup routine every morning, but it at least makes for a good starting point. With all of these products, you’ll be able to accomplish your morning routine more easily. If you already had all of these products and more in your makeup cabinet, you might just be a cosmetology genius already. Have you considered looking into an esthetics program at Ogle School to put your skin care knowledge to work?