Well, it's finally done! Kind of. When I was taking photos of each drawer in my new make up storage system, I started thinking about a couple of changes and tweaks I might make. I know, very annoying already, but here it is in all it's glory!
Sunflowers courtesy of Ms. CherrySue and reed diffuser from Rituals |
This is actually two units stacked on top of each other. I bought two of the Alex Drawer unit on castors from Ikea after seeing Makeup by Tiffany D's makeup storage video on YouTube and knew they'd be perfect. I'd originally been using this Malm unit from Ikea but over the past two years, found that the larger drawers were too deep and I ended up having to stack products on top of each other. Then I couldn't see everything and it annoyed me lots. We don't like to be annoyed around the make up.
So I took it upon myself to head to Ikea to see the Alex drawer units in person and once laying eyeballs on them, decided to bite the make up storage bullet. At €100 each, they're not cheap, but they're perfect for moi. I wanted something where everything was hidden, drawers were shallow and it looked sleek. Each unit has six drawers, all the same depth, but the front of three drawers are smaller than the other three. They took about an hour each to assemble and are bloody heavy, but despite that, I still had to stick a bit of blue tac between them to stop the top unit from moving.
After putting a few photos of the unit up on Instagram and on Twitter, I'd lots of requests to show how I have everything organised and for a little nose at my stash! I'll be doing a video showing everything in more detail soon so stay tuned for that.
Drawer 1
Drawer 1 contains my primers, concealers and brow products. I keep that empty plastic container handy so I can pick out what products I'm using that day and bring it downstairs where I do my make up. I might put my brushes in this drawer at some point so I don't have to have them on display.
Drawer 2
Drawer 2 houses all of my foundations, BB creams and face powders. Laying them all out like that gave me heart failure, but in all honesty, I could throw out a good few of them because I've had them for years, so by the time the video comes around, this will probably be a bit lighter on the foundation front! Having them all laid out flat like this is so handy and the same goes for the powders.
Drawer 3
I keep all of my high end eyeshadows in Drawer 3. I'm hopefully going to depot my MAC shadows soon and that'll free up more space. As we can see, I love me some Chanel! And I love the mini sized pigments from MAC and have been collecting them over the years.
Drawer 4
I love blush a lot. So Drawer 4 has my blush collection with my bronzers on the little plastic container on the right. I think I'm going to move the bronzers to the drawer below and dedicate this entire drawer to my cheeks!
Drawer 5
I keep my mascaras, eyeliners and highlighter products in Drawer 5. I only have so many mascaras because a lot are sent to me. Usually I'd only have a couple on the go but it's been a busy couple of months on the mascara front!
Drawer 6
Drawer 6 is the lip drawer! On the left I have all of my glosses and liquid lipsticks and love having them laid all flat like that. It's much easier to see what I'm looking for. In the middle I have my lipsticks stacked upside down so I can see the shades easily. I have my high end lippies in a container of their own and then have lip liners and my NYC lippies on the far right. This drawer makes me happy.
Drawer 7
I keep my higher end palettes in Drawer 7 and spent ages trying to get them to fit around each other so they'd be easy to see! I have my beloved Stila palettes on one side and on the other have Urban Decay, Inglot, Smashbox, MAC etc. Again, this is much better for my brain than having them all stacked on their side and not being able see what I want.
Drawer 8
I have my more affordable palettes in Drawer 8. If you see the palette in the top right corner of the drawer, that's the first palette I ever stole from my mam years and years ago, which started my obsession with make up! I don't use it as I'd like to keep my eyes in tact thanks very much, but I will never ever throw it out. I'm strangely sentimental like that and as you can see from my stash, I'm a collector. Ahem...
Drawer 9
I keep my more affordable single eyeshadows in Drawer 9. All of my MUA shadows are in the long container on the left and the rest are a mix of everything and anything. Hmm... This drawer looks a little empty wouldn't you say? Any excuse to go shopping!
Drawer 10
I just have the sets I bought in New York in Drawer 10. I could take the products out of the packaging, but I don't need to right now and they remind me of a great trip!
Drawer 11
Drawer 11 is very uninteresting altogether, having just make up bags and the bottom of a gift box in case I need it to organise something.
Drawer 12
I got the majority of my acrylic organisers in Homestore and more. They've four sizes and prices are €2.50, €2.99, €4.99 and €6.99. They're brilliant and have little rubber feet on the bottom so they won't move around in the drawers or scratch the bottom.
I'm over the moon with my new storage system and have found myself being inspired again to try different looks and have been rediscovering some products I forgot I had! For example. Remember a couple of weeks ago when I did my post on the Bobbi Brown Calypso Coral Pot Rouge? I told you this was the first one I bought? Not true. I totally found one I forgot I bought in the CCO in Belfast last year and hadn't even swatched?! So I'll be shopping my stash a lot and wearing all the make up. All of it. I'll set the make up gun to drag queen!
I hope you enjoyed this wee post and if you've any make up storage tips, please let me know!
I love storage posts!!! I see u have the purple smashbox primer-what do u think of it?
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed :) I don't have the purple one, just the regular photo finish one and one that helps brighten the skin, I can't remember what it's called. Love them both
DeleteFeckin. WOW.
ReplyDeleteLOVE this post!
lol LOVE this comment (& so true!)
Deletehaha Thanks laydeez! I'd millions more photos but it would have taken all day to load the pics ;)
DeleteIt looks great! I'm looking forward to the video
ReplyDeletethanks missus, I'll keep you posted x
DeleteI love the MAC Pigments too! I used to collect them every Christmas, was so dissapointed when they didn't have them last Christmas and they had those bigger wider pots...
ReplyDeleteThe minis are great aren't they because you never finish a pigment pot!
DeleteStorage PORN! Eleventy Million shades of cool!
ReplyDeletehahah thanks dood!
DeleteLove it! I have a lot of cleaning and orgasination to do in the next month or so. Makeup will likely be last and this will likely be on my list if everything goes well. Great job!
ReplyDeleteGood stuff :) The rest of my house is a mess but that's my little sanctuary where everything is perfectly organised :)
Deletenice work lady! if you are doing nixers please let me know x
ReplyDeleteI'll have my people call your people ;)
DeleteI have an Alex unit too and love it!! Loved seeing your collection! I want to film a video on mine but need to organize and clean out some stuff before I do it. It's a mess right now! :-)
ReplyDeleteJayme @ Her Late Night Cravings
Thanks Jayme, we have great taste what can I say! Looking forward to your video!
DeleteWow. Think I need to lie down after reading that.
ReplyDeleteNic x
I have a spare bed in the beauty room if you'd like to lie down there ;)
DeleteWOW thats all I can say WOW
ReplyDeleteamazing post great collection you have been a busy little bee buying makeup - I would NEVER DO THAT :)
*side eyes*
DeleteI'm a collector mags *ahem* I'm like the make up version of Indiana Jones, scouring the world for makeup and storing them except I've no trap doors or nuffin... And I need it for the blog... And I was given a lot... And I love it all so much that it gives me the squirts from excitement every time I visit it ;)
DeleteAmazing! I'm obsessed with storage - especially when it comes to make up! You could open a shop :)
ReplyDeleteLove this! Although now I have an overwhelming urge to shop (what's new?) my makeup "collection" is paltry in comparison!
ReplyDeleteWowsers, thought my collection was organised but you put me to shame with your drawers. I use the Homestore and More organisers too but then also some boxes from TK Maxx.
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing! Is storage a weird thing to be jealous of? Currently mine lives in various boxes and bags throughout my room, apart from the stuff I use quite regularly. I can never find what I need when I'm in a rush. I must investigate IKEA's offerings. These seem pretty perfect, and I recently bought a desk there with a little white panel, so these could match in nicely.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on getting it organised. You must have been at it for ages, judging by the amount of stuff you have there!
Ooh yes! This is properly stored makeup! I'm seeing so many things that I don't remember reviews on, going to go on a massive trek back through the blog.
ReplyDeleteI don't have many tips, just that I keep my lipsticks in a small (about the size of a copy book) box from paperchase. I keep the box at an angle, perching the bottom of the box on the lid at a slant, so that the lipsticks point up at me. Sounds odd but it looks grand and is handy for keeping my most-used ones in my line of sight. I've got a picture of it on Instagram, if I've done a shit job of explaining it.
I love this, it's so organised and just ready for you to jump on in whenever you need something! You will have ladies all over the country making the trek to IKEA now!!!
ReplyDeleteYour collection of make up is amazing! I would love to have a stash like that!
ReplyDeletei love it
ReplyDeleteAHHH! Your 3rd, 7th and 8th drawers! My heart just melted! GORGEOUS. I wish we had those units available where I stay. They look so space conscious and sleek <3
ReplyDeletehttp://makeitraynex.com/2015/01/make-up-storage-fun-ideas/
XX