As a teen I longed for a dressing table. You know the type; matching drawers either side stuffed with Collection 2000, a three way mirror, maybe even a lift-up box on the top to store the contents of Bow Bangles. Friends were living the dream but my box room only had space for a desk. So studious.

It wasn’t until I was married and we moved to our last cottage I decided I had waited long enough and a proper make-up station would be mine. A quick hunt on our favourite auction site, a £25 exchange in the back of a van, and a coat of paint later I finally became the owner of a real dressing table. James even added me a hook to the side so I could dock my hairdryer. My inner thirteen year old self squealed with delight.
When we were in that cottage we probably only spent one weekend out of every six at home. Slowly I stopped the Sunday night ritual of emptying my travel make-up bag into my delicately lined and organised drawers to save me time when I headed out the door on a Friday evening. For most of our time there I felt I lived out of a suitcase and as time went on I hardly used the dressing table at all storing most of my make-up in the bathroom cupboard.

Now we’ve moved a dressing table hasn’t come in to the equation at all. The previous owners left us a largish bathroom mirror and it’s the perfect height and size for me to slap on my war paint in the morning. I reckon standing up gets the job done quicker and apparently burns more calories too.
All my make-up collection lives in one place in the bathroom- a smallish bag for everyday (a square shaped one I picked up from Sephora in New York which neatly fits an Urban Decay palette) and a larger cosmetic bag filled with a few treasures for the rare times I hit the town. Every girl needs a sparkle eyeshadow in her repertoire doesn’t she?!
I had a huge purge just after we moved and like my capsule wardrobe, now have a capsule make-up bag heavily edited to include the products I’ve found to be right for my skin and have proven their worth in my small collection. I obviously still like to give new products a whirl, most recently the Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Baked Powder (ideal if you’re after a subtle bronzed glow without any hint of shimmer) and Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion (no creases and super long lasting eyeshadow), however previously if I’d splashed out on something new and it didn’t suit me I’d hang on to it. You know just in case my skin would miraculously change shade or the mascara would magically stop clumping. No more.

Does any one else have a capsule make-up collection? How did you go about narrowing your make-up bag and how often do you streamline? Also has anyone finally acquired something they yearned for years and found it doesn’t cut the mustard anymore?! While I have you here, I used to get frequent questions on the wallpaper so if anyone fancies a bit of polka dot in their life it’s the Prestigious Textiles Wallpaper in Graphite. You’re more than welcome.