As the weather warms up, many people like to spring clean their house and get rid of anything they don’t need anymore. However, many people tend to ignore their bathroom cabinets when it comes to spring cleaning, instead letting expired blushes and old skin-tightening creams pile up. To help you spring clean your beauty bag, we’ve compiled eight pieces of practical advice to get you started.

Empty everything out.

When spring cleaning your beauty products, you need to see everything you are working with. You should empty out not just your beauty bag, but also anything in your drawers, cabinets, or purse, so you can review all your products at once. We recommend laying everything out on a countertop or table so you can see everything you have at a glance. Don’t dump it directly on your bed, as this will probably stain your comforter; if you must put it on the bed, then at least lay a towel down first so your sheets don’t get stained.

Check the expiration dates.

The first and easiest step is to check all of your makeup and skincare products for the expiration date. This is typically listed on the bottom of the bottle, jar, or tube, but it may also be listed on the box. Expiration dates should list both month and year the product expires, and sometimes use a letter instead of a number for the month. If that date has already passed, then you should toss the product even if you haven’t used it all up yet.

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Figure out how long the products have been open.

Another factor to consider is how long the products have been open. Some makeup and skincare products have a pretty long shelf life if they remain unopened, but they do expire after opening at some point. Most anti-aging skincare products will expire between six and 12 months after opening, while make up products may not expire for 24 months or more. If your products have been open longer than that, then you should probably toss them even if the expiration date hasn’t technically passed yet.

Check the makeup for quality issues.

Dried out blush, cracked eyeshadows, crumbled bronzer, and separated foundation won’t apply correctly, no matter how great your makeup technique is. Sometimes cosmetic products simply develop quality issues even if they aren’t past their expiration date or haven’t been open for several years. If you have any makeup products that have any kind of quality issue, then we recommend tossing them and replacing them with new makeup that will apply smoothly.

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Decide what to throw out.

After you have eliminated all expired or damaged products, it’s time to do one final pass. Look for duplicate makeup products or skincare sets you have never used, as there’s no point in hanging onto those. If you tend to buy slight variations of the same product — for example, you’ve got 10 different shades of red lipstick – then we recommend pairing down your collection to the one or two items you wear the most and then tossing the rest.

Put away winter colors.

Your beauty bag should be stocked with the products you are going to use the most for that season, which means it’s time to put away your darker winter colors and bring out your spring palettes. Many people like to wear lighter and brighter colors in spring, to reflect the warmer weather and longer sunny days, so your makeup bag should do the same.

Many people also find that they wear different shades of foundation throughout the year as they get more or less sun, so you might need to bring out a darker foundation in the spring to mix it with your pale winter foundation. You might also find yourself wanting to break out bronzer and highlighters to give yourself a sunny glow as the weather warms up.

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Wash your brushes and sponges.

You should definitely wrap up your spring cleaning session by washing all of your makeup brushes and sponges and letting them dry thoroughly before using them. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends washing your brushes every 7 to 10 days, depending on how often you are putting on makeup, so this is a great opportunity to start the habit. While you’re at it, you should also wash your makeup bag in the washing machine if it’s made of fabric or wipe it down with a sanitizing wipe if it’s made of vinyl or another water-repellent material.

Invest in beauty organizers.

Once your beauty bag is completely full, it’s time to figure out what you were going to do with the rest of your beauty products. You’re way more likely to forget about products and let them expire before you use them if they are shut away in a drawer or cabinet that you never look at.

For that reason, we recommend getting clear acrylic organizers, which enable you to see all the products inside without even having to open the drawers. Putting these on a shelf or countertop you will look at on a daily basis will remind you to use the products you have kept and reduce the chances you will accidentally buy duplicates.

We hope these tips helped you feel confident about spring, cleaning your beauty bag, and letting go of products you’re no longer using or that have expired. We’d also love to hear your other tips for spring, cleaning your bathroom cabinets, and keeping your makeup collection under control! Do you spring clean your beauty bag each year or will this be your first time? How do you decide what products to keep and what to let go of? Let us know in the comments below!