Packing your kit for a new season is like second nature for long-time professional makeup artists, but our team often gets questions from new artists wondering how to downside, restock, or refresh their kits. That’s why we created our “Hot to Get A Fit Kit” series of Camera Ready LIVES on Instagram, and we saved them here so you can watch them anytime!

This blog is packed full of amazing tips and tricks on how to downsize your makeup artist kit, so feel free to bookmark it so you may refer to it later and share it with others.

From carrying your makeup kits, makeup chair, and makeup lighting, you may feel like they’ve completed a workout before you’ve even started on your first client. For professional makeup artists, carrying a heavy kit on a regular basis can have a long-term effect on their health and back. Downsizing your kit will not only lighten your load but will also allow you to work more efficiently and save time packing up.
Our Beauty Advisor and host of the How to Get a Fit Kit Series Calvin Brockington has decades of experience working as a professional makeup artist. In this first LIVE of our series, he shared his suggestions on how to slim down your kit.

A makeup artist backpack will help you carry all the items you need. Packing your backpack the way that you work allows you to organize your kit to find exactly what you need more efficiently. This means organizing the products in the order you will use them so you can access them easily as you go through the various steps during your makeup application.  

Multipurpose products like the Cozzette Brush Vessels will allow you to maximize your space. You can easily use one side of the canister to hold dirty brushes when you are done using them. The other half can be used as a mini trash can to keep your workspace tidy.

See-through pouches like the Zuca Utility Pouches are perfect to organize skin prep/skincare, eyeshadow palettes, and complexion products. Once you are done using the products, put them back into the appropriate pouch.

We have plenty of blush, foundation, and eyeshadow palettes that incorporate shades that you’ll use regularly on your clients. While it may be tempting to opt for something trendy and new, these tried and true palettes have been created with events like weddings, photoshoots, and even film and television in mind. These kit-friendly palettes are often in sturdy packaging to protect the product inside because they are designed with the busy makeup artist lifestyle in mind. They are often in slim cases that stack and pack easily.

• Viseart Grande Pro Palette
• Make Up For Ever Flash Palette
• Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Palette
• Danessa Myricks Vision Cover Creme Palette
• Cozzette Infinite Padded Palettes Universal Contour
• Senna Brow Book
• Danessa Myricks Beauty Luxe Cream Palette - The Feminist or Nudist

Customizing your own palettes allows you to keep your go-to shades in one convenient place. Z Palette and Cozzette make great empty palette options. The Z Palette has a clear window so you can see exactly what is in that palette. Cozzette Palettes are padded which is created for giving your makeup an extra layer of protection. Both palette options are great for creating and customizing your own palette with your favorite single pans or products after depotting.

Vueset empty palettes are the industry’s go-to for depotting your cream lipstick, blushes, and foundations. These airtight containers allow you to minimize your cream products into one convenient palette. There are a variety of different sizes and options to choose from to reach your kit goals. You can even use thse trusty containers to organize your disposables, false lashes, and gems.

For the products that are glued into a case or compact, using the Z Potter is a safe and simple way to depot your favorite products without damaging them. Z Potter uses induction technology which only responds to metal pans not your paper or plastic packaging. This device is also great for melting down your favorite lipsticks or concealers into smaller pans or containers.

In this second LIVE of our series, we spoke with FIXY Makeup Founder, Jill Rossini. She shared her story on how she came up with her innovative Makeup Creation and Repair Kit after breaking her favorite MAC eyeshadow. Her goal when creating this kit was to bring back broken makeup to the same great quality as it was before it broke. The Fixing Binding Spray does not destroy the makeup as alcohol can sometimes do. The unique Fixy Binding Spray formula will also sanitize the makeup.

The Fixy press allows you to repair your broken powder eyeshadows, blushes, highlighters, and foundations. This unique tool’s capabilities do not end there; you have the creative freedom to create your very own custom colors. Whether you want to create your own shades by mixing colors together or use this tool to recycle your makeup. For the products you hit pan on, you can easily repress or use the product to create new products.

1. Getting Started- Remove the top section of the press.
2. Break & Dump- Using the pointy side of the spatula included in the kit to cleanly break the powder. Scape and dump everything last bit of product from the container into the grinder
3. Grind- With the grinding tool press the powder into the screen using circular motions.
4. Choose your pan- The kit comes with 3 sizes of pans: small, medium, and large. Choose your desired size and place the pan into the corresponding size hole from the top of the press.
5. Pour- Use the corner of the container to pour the product into the pan. There are fill lines to help determine how much product will fit in the pan.
6. Spray- Shake the Fixy Binder and spray about 5 inches away from the pan. It is recommended about 2-3 sprays for small pans, 3-4 sprays for medium pans, and 4-5 sprays for large pans.
7. Press- Take the top of the press and align the pegs with appropriate size holes. Press down firmly for about 10 seconds.
8. Shake- Lightly tap excess powder off and voilà you are done. Add your new pan to your magnetic palette.

If you are tired of the messiness of loose glitter getting all over your bathroom and makeup kit the Fixy Cosmetic Glitter Binder may be the answer you’ve been looking for. The Fixy Glitter binder allows you to press any biodegradable loose cosmetic glitter into a pressed glitter. This means you will not have to worry about the dreaded fallout when applying glitter to your eyes.

You do not have to have a Fixy Makeup Creation and Repair Kit to use the Glitter Binder. You will need the Glitter Binder, metal pans, and biodegradable glitter to create your pressed glitter shadow.

1. Fill the bottom of the metal pan with the Glitter Binder.
2. Use the small spoon that comes with the Fixy Glitter Binder to fill the base of the pan with the glitter.
3. Level out the pan.
4. Slowly add glitter until the pan it is full and you have cream-like consistency.
5. Using the pressing cloth that comes with the Fixy Glitter Binder to gently press down for about 5 seconds.
6. Remove the cloth, then smooth out uneven areas with the pressing cloth.
7. Glitter is ready to use.

In the last LIVE of our “Fit Kit” series, we spoke with Brianna Meshack, founder of StunnerBee Beauty, professional makeup artist, and makeup educator, and creator of th e behind Beauty Boss Backpack. As a working MUA, she would see these other artists come to set with huge suitcases as their makeup kits. After seeing a void in the industry for professional bags that were functional for the working MUAs, Brianna felt the need to create something efficient, that allowed her to work better as an artist, and that looked stylish. As an artist, you can spend so much time looking for products to use in your kit that it can cut down on your time working on your client. When working on a set, being timely is important. Having the working MUAs all over the U.S. in mind was important when designing the Boss Beauty Backpack. Taking into consideration an artist in NY taking the subway, the artist in LA in and out of Ubers, she wanted to create something for her community that was stylish, practical, and easy to carry.

• 5 pockets on the exterior of the bag that open extra-wide
• Durable nylon stitching to withstand the weight of a heavy kit
• Convenient crossbody strap option
• Ergonomic top handle
• Stylish gold-tone hardware
• Luggage feet so the bottom so the backpack never hits the floor
• Padded Ipad or laptop compartment
• 3 PVC and Crocodile Embossed Faux Leather Carryall bags

Working out of your backpack allows you to compartmentalize your kit. This will allow you to pack only what you need. Use the exterior pockets of the backpack for your grab-and-go items. These may include your makeup palettes, disposables, touch-up products. Use the carryall bags to separate your products according to the way you work. For example, have separate bags for skin prep, complexion, and powders. This will allow you to work more efficiently. Using this method to organize your kit, will you to know exactly where your products are, and it will ensure you have a quick breakdown at the end of your day.

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Camera Ready Cosmetics was founded in 2003 by Makeup Artist Mary Erickson. She dreamed of having a pro makeup showroom where artists could play with professional products without the typical makeup store attitude.

Today, our team of beauty industry veterans work together to curate the best quality products on the market. We partner with brands who respect the industry and formulate products for true working artists. You won’t find CRC in high-end malls, and we don't wear matching brush belts.

If you want to play with products for a few hours and buy nothing, that's okay ... come in and play! Our store is your playground.