Makeup Organization

Let's talk makeup today. But before we get started, I have a disclaimer. I own a lot of makeup. I'm not making this up (har har, I'm punny). I used to have what we'll call a touch of makeup obsession. However, when money was tight in grad school, I had to cut myself off from the makeup world.

In doing so, I stopped following the latest collections being released. I stopped having panicked thoughts of "LIMITED ITEM - MUST BUY!" I definitely still have a healthy collection though. And now that hubs and I are both working grown-up jobs fulltime, I'm sure I'll buy some fun stuff from time to time.

Okay, one more disclaimer. This is not all of my makeup. This is the makeup that I use day to day. I do have more in less accessible areas, and this is after I went through and purged my collection somewhat during the moving process this summer. I threw away old stuff and gave away some to my MIL.

The vast majority of my collection is MAC. I feel that MAC gives you the most bang for your buck. But I do have a few items of comparable brands scattered throughout - most of these I purchased at Sephora (ex: MUFE, Too Faced, Urban Decay, Nars).

So there's your introduction, and now let's get on to my set up!

To begin, this is how I've stored my make up for the past year:



Yes, that's a train case. I had essential items (like 4 and 6 shadow palettes) in there. The rest of my collection lived in moving boxes since I didn't really have a dressing table area in Kansas City.

When we moved, purchasing such a dressing table was high on my list of priorities. I've had my eyes on the Malm Dressing Table from Ikea for years. And lo and behold, we finally moved within reasonable distance to an Ikea! A trip there revealed the Micke desk. It packs more space than the Malm and was about $60 cheaper.

Here's the end result of my new set up:



I'm loving how it looks and I'm loving the convenience! Underneath the desk are my train case and a tub full of nail polish. Maybe I'll do a post on nail polishes if there's any interest (or I just run out of things to post about). Here's a closer look at my setup!



My lipsticks are stored in a custom holder built for me by my hubs and his dad a few years back. Unfortunately, when my lipstick habit spiraled a bit out of control, my collection outgrew this space. But between losing a few (facepalm!) and having a few more scattered in purses/around the house, this mostly holds what I have left.



Yeah, so, my brushes really need to be cleaned. No judgment, please. This holder was inspired by the brush holders are Sephora. To be honest, I put this together a few years ago, and I can't remember exactly how I did it. I think the little beads are from Hobby Lobby's floral section if I remember correctly. Here's a better view.



Moving on, we have my large eyeshadow palettes and a cup with essentials like mascara and shadow primer.



Next are the drawers for storage of various items. It's not perfectly organized, but it's been working pretty well for me. Here's the wide shot view.



On top of the first drawer, there are more essentials that I use daily. My MUFE foundation, Nars Orgasm blush, and Charged Water.



On top of the second drawer are my pigments. I would probably put these into a drawer if I had room.



Want to look inside the drawers? Well, I'll assume that you do.



This drawer has mostly eyeshadow bases. Paint pots, shadesticks, fluidlines, etc. And a couple of liners.



The second drawer has my mineralized eyeshadows and a few single shadow pots that I've never gotten around to de-potting.



The third drawer has my small shadow palettes. I use these A LOT because I'm lazy.



This drawer has my lip glasses and a few other random lip products that won't fit in my lipstick holder.



Now we're getting to the point where I had to start cramming products into the drawers to get them to fit. This drawer is a bit of a hodge podge with lip glosses, concealer, and a couple of MSF's that wouldn't fit in the bottom drawer with their counterparts.



This bottom drawer holds my blushes and MSF's.

And now all that's left is the lighted mirror and a couple of other random products that don't fit anywhere else (makeup remover, brush cleaner).



I'm so happy to be using more than just the few items that fit into my train case. It's really like having a whole new collection, and I'm having fun playing around again. Three cheers for organization!