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On the heels of one of my purge/de-stash sessions and a bit of organization the Beauty Spotlight Team started a series on Beauty Storage & Organization. This is my week and, let me tell you, it really needed done. Yes, again.
A month or two ago I went through some of my makeup and got rid of it – and I tried to be as ruthless as possible. It was just time. The items I got rid of were either old (and now live that garbage life) or were something I never reached for (given to friends/family). Of course, I couldn’t get rid of everything that I don’t reach for constantly (what kind of beauty blogger/collector would that make me?!). One of my favorite places that items went were to a nursing home. I sent my husband in to work with a huge box of items and one of his co-workers took ALL of the nail polishes to a nursing home where volunteers painted the residents nails. It’s now a “thing” there and I’m so excited the polishes went to a good home and are making people smile and feel pretty!
When my day for this series approached I realized I still had a lot more to do. I’d purchased a few more items to help me organize things as well as bought a new mirror and I hadn’t even opened any of it yet. Below are pics of most of my makeup storage – don’t worry, I’ll be more descriptive underneath. 😉
My vanity is from Kirklands, I believe. My husband bought it for me at some point in time during the first year we were dating (so this is back in 2003). There’s also a matching full length mirror. I’m trying to be an adult and get a new one, but you know in your head when you want something you have to find exactly that and you can’t settle or be happy with anything else? I’m on the hunt for an antique vanity. The problem is, they’re expensive and people are rarely selling them (around here, anyway) unless they’re all busted up to the point where you can’t redo anything.
On top of the vanity I have the Zahra Beauty x Coffee Break With Dani 5 Slot Organizer ($25.00 // Zahra Beauty). This is a recent purchase and I thought it would be fabulous for keeping all of the brushes, eye liners, lip pencils and mascaras that I use the most frequently right where I can see them. Too often I’m digging around in my liners and I can never find what I’m looking for. Now, it’s right there in front of my face. I believe it’s limited edition, so if you love it, pick it up now! In front of that I got the Isaac Jacobs Acrylic Makeup Organizer ($13.90 // Amazon) just to hold a few more easy-to-grab essentials like lipsticks, glosses, primers… I also finally picked up a simplehuman Sensor Mirror ($200.00 // Neiman Marcus) and got rid of my old one. The look of the simplehuman really cleaned up the vanity and gave me a lot more space.
Under my vanity is a 3-drawer Organizer Cube that I picked up at Michael’s. It was my original storage for my polishes and now holds hair products for myself and my daughter. I also have a lazy-Susan in that Tiffany blue shade… I picked it up at Ross or Marshall’s… something like that… and it’s probably for crafting but it holds makeup brushes. Before I got the 5 Slot Organizer from Zahra it held ALL of my brushes. Now it holds extras and back-ups.
To the right of the vanity is a tall jewelry armoire that I found on Craig’s List (and lived to tell the tale, woooo!). Originally I gutted the inside to hold my makeup but grew out of that pretty quickly and moved it all to the Sherrieblossom ICEbOX Wide ($415.00 // Sherrieblossom) on top. In the ICEbOX are more items I use frequently enough to not put them back in my beauty room. In the jewelry armoire I now have only jewelry and some skincare.
Below is the beauty room, aka where the magic happens! It holds everything I can’t bear to part with and favorite items that I use for special occasions, bright or bold looks… etc. To build the desk we went to IKEA picked up two Alex Drawer Units ($79.00 // IKEA) and a long table top. I keep all my “beauty to do” and flower props on top of it and it’s never this clean and organized. Ever.
Underneath are bags of product to give away on the blog and also to give to friends/family/donate. Fun fact: this room was supposed to be a master bathroom when we built our addition. Momma needed a beauty room! Some day we’ll figure it out and make it a bathroom lol
On the other wall is a tall white storage cabinet. Two of the shelves are used to hold nail art items, makeup bags and some backups of my favorite beauty products. The rest of the cabinet has items for my etsy Sticker Shop, scrapbooks and play-doh. Because, mom life.
I also have a lot of lotions and body washes… shampoos and those types of things in my bathroom, but I felt like this post was definitely long enough lol We can save bathroom beauty storage for another time 😉
Check out my Top 10 Beauty Organizers & Makeup Wars Storage Wars!
How do you organize your beauty products? Let me know in the comments!!
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I seriously want this in my life. I love the transparency and the ability to see everything you have, all in one place.
Kristie recently posted..TRESemmé Easy Styling Tutorials
heyyyyy! getting organized! i need to do that
Laura MyNewestAddiction recently posted..Sculpting Tutorial | Real Techniques Sculpting Set
I think I may be makeup ignorant. How do you use all of that without wasting loads before it expires?
A very good question and definitely not makeup ignorant! It couldn’t possibly all be used before it expires (not by one person anyway). A lot of the product was sent by various companies for swatches/review purposes and a lot was purchased by me. It’s probably 50/50. I use some myself, some I give away but some I keep because I do some makeup on the side. Some I keep past expiration for potential future comparisons or because the packaging is pretty or limited edition and makes a good “staging scene” for photos. Sometimes I keep ALL the red lipsticks because I have a “thing” for them. My daughter likes to play in the stash sometimes, too 😉 Basically a lot of reason. Necessary? No. Fun? YASSSS lol
My storage would make most people faint or go into shock from disorganization
I’m entirely jealous of your incredible stash of makeup! All I have is a small drawer in my bathroom closet as well as another storage box for extra soaps, toothbrushes, etc.
Jessica H. recently posted..The Not So Scary Truth About Filing Taxes as a Blogger
While I don’t have nearly as much stuff to organize as you, I could do with some. I throw everything into one big basket and it makes getting ready a huge pain in the butt!
Ashley recently posted..DIY Glitter Slime
You are great at organizing and I love your vanity!
Cindy (Prime Beauty) recently posted..Welcome to Aveeno Skin Relief Gentle Scent Collection +Giveaway!
I love that you have so much space to organize! I’m jealous!
Justina recently posted..Low Maintenance Hair Product Favorites from Matrix
Love all your storage! I have only purchased a few byAlegory pieces so far and have filled them up quickly, lol. I need to do a complete overhaul in my cube shelf though. One day, one day…..
Kat Dinges recently posted..ColourPop Ultra Satin Lip – 4 Shades
I need to hit the lotto and do my ultimate organization lol I think if I did it NOW I’d also get a maaaaad hubby!
Girl, you’re so organized! My vanity is a mess 🙁
I cleaned it up for this post. The before wasn’t so nice =\
I did not get the organization gene, but I did get the hoarder gene. Not a good combination! I need to purge and organize.. and stop buying! But I love beauty stuffs!
Nidia – Lit From Within recently posted..A Rose That Smells Sweet, and Helps Sensitive Skin
Can’t stop won’t stop buying lol
I LOVED this post! You are so amazingly organised! I wish my system were half as good. Wait, what system?
Renu recently posted..Island Kiss Tropique Pomade Lip Moisturisers
Thank you!!
I’m actually surprised that you have less than what I thought, show me everythang!!! Lol
I maybe didn’t open alllll the drawers lol It’d have to be a video, that’s too many pictures to edit haha
Yeah so I’m going to need to get one of these. All my stuff is on top of a drawer chest, in drawers, in bags, etc… I have to remember what I put where and let’s face it my memory isn’t so good anymore.
Aleya Bamdad recently posted..Atlantis Bahamas Review
I hear that (on the memory)
Brooke, you win! I have never seen such an amazing organizational system that is functional and well, perfect! I have a hodgepodge of different storage solutions. Yours is so well thought out. amazing
Allison recently posted..Make Contouring Easier with Beauty Junkees Contour Brush Set
Thank you! It’s working for now. If I had the money and the space it’d be much better. I drool over these amazing beauty rooms I see on YouTube! I think Patrick Starr has my favorite!
Organization is a must…especially when it comes to makeup 😛 #makeupAddict
Maya recently posted..Playlist of the Week |March 28, 2016
OMG I wanted to reach in and steal some of your items to try…………
I store my items in a plastic cabinet with drawers that I have placed dividers in. One thing i do all the time is DATE MY PRODUCTS WHEN I OPEN THEM. Either with a black sharpie or labels that stick on.
I really need to start doing that. Sometimes I use my blog for reference but usually I use them weeks before the blog post goes up =\ so the time open is skewed a bit.
Bathroom beauty storage next please! I have a tiny shower with a hard glass door so I can’t put a tower or one of those curtains with pockets.
My shower is similar! We have the glass door and need to use the shelf on a glass block window. I’m constantly moving things around for the perfect set up. The struggle is real for us glass door people!
Ummmmmmm…. WOW! I have a drawer for my make-up and it is pretty messy right now, but I am blown away by your collection of makeup brushes alone! Great job organizing everything! 🙂
Carrie @Frugal Foodie Mama recently posted..Easter Egg Hunt Rice Krispies Treats
I’m obsessed with brushes! I joined the LiveGlam Morphe Brush of the month club. It’s $20 and you get a collection of brushes a month. GOOD brushes, too!
I love seeing how people organize their stuff.
Erika recently posted..Kenra Platinum Revive for the Care and Feeding of Blonde Hair #blondehairdontcare
So aptly timed, I JUST went to the store to get inspiration for organization today!
Miranda | SlashedBeauty.com recently posted..Choco Strawberry Banana Superfood Smoothie Recipe
I love that you have a beauty room. If I could organize my life better I’d love to have one too.
MarciaF recently posted..Are you curious about the mystery flavors of ChapStick®? Learn and win in our giveaway.
Love seeing how you organize! This is awesome!
Phyrra recently posted..The Blush Tag
Thank you!
I need a 5 slot organizer like that. I have a few different drawer thingies but nothing like that!
Christa @PerilouslyPale recently posted..Brooke from Blushing Noir Shares Her Epic Beauty Storage and Organization
I’m loving it! I recently saw one at Target that was cheaper but it was WAY too big. This one is sized perfectly!