Tips for Organizing Your Makeup and Beauty Products

beauty products

Are your cans of hairspray, tubes of lip gloss, bottles of nail polish and powder compacts slowly taking over every inch of your bathroom vanity? This is a common problem in many bathrooms, as there are so many products that we need on a daily basis — but that add up to a lot of clutter.

This post will explain how you can organize your beauty products in a way that makes them easy to access without overwhelming your space. It will also highlight the benefits of keeping your bathroom organized, such as safety, cleanliness, saving time and being prepared for impromptu guests.

The Benefits of Keeping Your Bathroom Organized

Although spending the time to organize your bathroom might seem like a pain for those who are not naturally neatness inclined — there are a number of benefits to keeping your bathroom organized and tidy. First of all, one of the major benefits to a tidy bathroom is that you will be able to find all of your beauty products when you need them. You won’t have to rush around looking for your shimmer eye shadow or your hair brush when you’re late for work. Everything will have a rightful place and you will be able to get ready in record time.

Secondly, another major advantage to keeping your bathroom organized and tidy is that everything will be much cleaner. Leaving makeup compacts lying around or tubes of lotion open makes them susceptible to bacteria, which you will eventually be applying to your face! Keeping everything tidy will ensure that your products are clean and pleasant to use.

Also, when you have a clean and well-organized bathroom you never have to worry about impromptu guests that show up unannounced. You will be able to be the perfect host no matter what and your guests will be able to use your bathroom without having to wade through piles of clutter.

Bathroom Organization Tips

So now that you’re sold on the benefits of organizing your bathroom, here some tips to help you do so in the most effective way possible.

  • Look through a bathroom design website. Find a bathroom vanity with a lot of drawers, cupboards and storage space so that you can store the items that you need.
  • Divide your drawers. At any home décor store you will find drawer dividers that have different sized sections, such as the type that are used for storing cutlery in the kitchen. These are perfect for makeup because you can keep your items such as lip glosses separate from your eye shadows and avoid having everything jumbled together.
  • A hanging organizer on the back of the bathroom door is another brilliant solution to clutter problems. These can usually be found at most home product stores and are quite inexpensive.
  • Clear plastic containers are great for storing items like nail polish. You can see exactly what’s inside without having to dig through the container.
  • If you have a lot of beauty products, you can invest in a tower storage unit to keep everything separate and accessible.
  • Take inspiration from the kitchen and find decorated plates and trays to store your most attractively packaged cosmetics, and other products.
  • Install a small shelf and arrange your nail polish colors on it, according to the hues of the rainbow. It makes for a beautiful design element while keeping the bottles off the counters.
  • Avoid keeping your beauty products in a sunny window sill. Exposure to light and heat over time will cause serious damage.
  • There are many cute designs of toothbrush holders that you can attach to the wall. They could also easily be adapted to become places to keep your makeup brushes and hair brushes.
  • Try using a glass container and filling it with marbles or coffee beans. Stick the makeup brushes in the marbles and they will stand up by themselves, so that the bristles will not be crushed or damaged. This can look quite chic and stylish in the right bathroom.

These are just a few fun ways that you can organize your makeup and beauty products so that your bathroom will be kept neat and tidy.

 

About the Author: Lisa Morgan is a fashion and beauty blogger and mother of two. She is addicted to lip gloss and has a collection of dozens of different colors — all arranged within clear plastic tubs in her bathroom.

Win Prizes from SOHO Beauty!

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SOHO Beauty has a couple of really cool giveaways going on all this year on Facebook that I wanted to share with all of you, because the prizes are awesome!

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Lipstick Lover’s Paradise

I just wanted to share a little something with you that makes me extremely happy. Voila:

That’s my main lipstuff storage. I’m kind of obsessed. I like to open the drawer and just stare at it.

*stares*

Perfume Collection & Storage

Just like the title says… this post is my perfume collection & storage. The storage is new! I just set this up a few minutes before writing the post. I do have a couple other perfumes but they’re ones I’m either “rehoming” or don’t use as much – although L’Occitane Cherry Princess is missing from this box because it was in the other room. See why I needed new perfume storage? 
I used to kinda keep them all just messily arranged on the dresser, which drove my boyfriend nuts. I used to also keep body sprays here, but in the interest of keeping the peace I’ve decided to move them elsewhere. ;) The new storage box itself is from Bed Bath & Beyond. The brand is called “Kangaroom”. I don’t see it on their website but it was in the section w/ the hangers & other organizational things. 
Alright, the collection! Sorry to say a lot of these aren’t made anymore, but you can possibly find them at fragrance outlets online. On the left hand side in the big open compartment I have:
Valentino Rock ‘n Rose — I LOVE this perfume. My boyfriend got it for me so it always has a special place in my heart, and he loves it when I wear it. I’m not a big rose fragrance person but this is a really nice one. 
Squished next to RnR is Bath & Body Works Dark Kiss. I don’t wear this too often because it’s a “heavier” fragrance than I usually wear, but for cooler weather or night time, it’s a sweet and sexy fragrance that I enjoy. 
Then I have Marc Jacobs Daisy & Daisy Eau So Fresh. Daisy is probably my favorite perfume to wear, and Daisy Eau So Fresh is also really really nice– it’s like Daisy but fruitier and sweeter. If you like Daisy you should check out Daisy Eau So Fresh for sure! (You can also see my full review of  Daisy Eau So Fresh for more info.)
In front of the MJ perfumes is Dior J’Adore, which my amazing friend Melissa got me for xmas one year after I raved about it. It was one of my first “fancy” perfumes, haha. 
On the right in the back are:
One of my favorites for just every day is Caudalie Fleur de Vigne. It’s a very light, very fresh scent with notes of grapes. 
In front of the Caudalie I have Escada Ocean Lounge, which I love but I hate the packaging because it’s a top-heavy bottle! Keeping it wedged in front of Caudalie is more for its safety than anything. This fragrance was limited edition I think (Sephora no longer has it) but I’m sure you can get it online as most discontinued Escada fragrances are easy to track down. Escada fragrances are typically the kind of perfume you either love or really hate. They’re very fruity and there usually is nothing subtle about them at all. ;) I actually have Escada’s Island Kiss (in rollerball form) in my purse right now. That one’s still available!
If you’re into perfumes at all you probably recognize the two bottles next, as they’re Aquolina Pink Sugar & Chocolovers. I’ve had both of those for so long. They’re so so yummy. Pink Sugar is definitely the sweetest most sugary perfume I’ve ever smelled in my life. Chocolovers is so chocolaty that I actually was giving a friend cravings once. I wear these for me definitely because Mr. Boyfriend hates them lol. 
And next in the very tall skinny bottle is mark. White Tea Vanilla fragrance mist which is discontinued. It’s a very light, every day, unoffensive fragrance. Kind of a shame it’s discontinued. 
Then there’s Daisy Fuentes Dianoche Love, which is from Kohl’s. It was gifted to me a long time ago when I went to my very first press event as a blogger. It’s a really neat concept; the bottom of the bottle is a daytime fragrance, and the top part is a night time scent. I love things that are unique like that, and they smell really nice. Though shh don’t tell I usually wear the daytime fragrance even at night. Sorry, I don’t think this one is available anymore either!
In the front of the right side I have my other Bath & Body Works fragrances, Velvet Tuberose and Enchanted Orchid. LOVE those, but Velvet Tuberose is a very in-your-face floral so I don’t wear it too often. Naturally since I love these, B&BW has discontinued both scents. Sigh.
Also in the front compartment are my Stila perfumes. Jade Blossom is one of my favorite scents (I actually have a back-up of it in storage and a rollerball on my vanity). On an aside, Bumble & Bumble’s Does It All Hairspray smells a little like Jade Blossom! I also have Mandarin Mist, which I love but don’t wear very much because it’s not very long lasting. :( Mandarin Mist is also one of my mom’s favorites though, so I will probably give my bottle to her at some point. 
There’s a couple of little teeny perfumes in that front compartment too! Remember the Urban Decay Revolver perfume oil? That little guy lives there, and so does my Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy rollerball.
And that’s it! I have a few samples of fragrances I like that I may purchase someday (like YSL Parisienne and Versace Bright Crystal), but only if I can make room in my perfume box! I have reviewed a few of these already but if you want a full review on any of the others please feel free to ask! :) 
If you’re looking for discontinued perfumes, try FragranceNet or Perfume Center. Both of them have big selections of discontinued fragrances at a discount. :)

VIDEO: Nail Polish Storage & Favorite Polishes

Another video! If you’re 21+, you can play the drinking game. Very simple, just take a drink every time I say the word “pretty”, lol.

The video features my massive nail polish stash and its “containment system”, which is a red Ikea helmer. I’m not sure how many there are; I’ve actually never counted! I love the helmer. It was not that much money, looks nicer than plastic drawers, and is a lot more sturdy. It wasn’t even very hard to put together (Mr. Boyfriend helped). It also comes in grey and white, but I wanted the red to kinda jazz up my office area. If you wanted to, you could decorate it with magnets, as the whole thing is made out of metal.

All of the polishes featured as favorites were purchased by me. I get my polishes & nail supplies from:


Transdesign
Ulta
Ebay
Amazon
Zoya
Cherry Culture
Migi Nail Art
Buy In Coins
brand websites like MAC/Urban Decay etc.
Makeup Alley swaps
drugstores like CVS & Walgreens
and various brick & mortar beauty supply stores

Organization Tip: Wonder Hangers

Have you seen the infomercials on TV for these bad boys? I have seen them, but I hadn’t seen them yet when the boyfriend and I were wandering around Target a few months ago. They come in a box like this:

If you haven’t heard of the Wonder Hanger, they are these nifty plastic hangers that can hang horizontally or vertically. When hanging vertically, they maximize your closet space by holding up to six regular hangers with garments or accessories on them. This picture explains it best:
We have very limited closet space since we had to move in with my parents. Our room is a decent size but we have to share a sort of small closet. Since both the boyfriend and I have a lot of clothes (Mr. Boyfriend is somewhat of a fashionista), this has been problematic for us. The pack of Wonder Hangers comes with 8 of these little gadgets and we figured for about $10 (and returnable if they were epic fail) they were worth a shot.
Their claims:
*Maximizes closet space. (They said you should be able to get 3x as much stuff in your closet.)
*Easy to assemble.
*Easy to take clothes on and off.
*Holds up to 50 lbs
*Clothes won’t wrinkle when stored this way.
I have to say, these babies are pretty darn awesome. I’ve been very impressed with them. The only “assembly” required was to click the hook into the little rack part. Took about three seconds, if that. They definitely help maximize our closet space as you can hang 6 things while taking up about as much space as 2 things. Of course it depends on the bulk of all your items how much space width-wise each cascade of 6 garments will take up. It’s certainly easy to take things on and off the cascade rack without dislodging the other items, too.
As far as holding 50 pounds, I’m not sure. But I have hung up heavy items such as jeans on all 6 hooks with no problems. I also haven’t found any issues with clothes wrinkling from being stored this way. I could see this being an absolutely awesome storage system for purses, too! Most of mine are shoved away in boxes in other parts of the house or I’d try it out.
For $10 this has been one of the best investments in organization we’ve made. I love these. I’m normally an As Seen on TV skeptic, but these are totally worth it! I’d absolutely recommend them if you’re looking for a way to magically create more storage space.

Makeup Set-Up & Storage

I’m not going to preface this post with a “this is not bragging” disclaimer. Because the true junkies know that this is like our version of porn, not bragging. We love looking at stashes!! In fact, I invite any of you who also have stash pics to link me to them so I can go see! :)

All pictures can be clicked to view full size.

Here’s my basic vanity set-up. This is right after I cleaned up. It hardly ever looks this neat, lol. Unfortunately it’s right next to the litterbox, which is why I have a can of Oust spray on there haha. Stinky kitties. ;) The vanity is a refurbished desk I got from a Craigslist ad. I’m still kind of moving into it, so not all the drawers have stuff in them yet. The middle drawer is face/cheek stuff. Top left drawer is palettes. Top right (and the one below it) are lipstuff. There’s a big double-size drawer on the left that has all my hair crap like dryers/flat irons etc.
Those drawer thingies came from Target. They usually only have white, but around back-to-school time (like now??) they have different colors. I’ve seen purple, and the next time I see a purple one I’m going to bring it home. They’re not expensive, which is great. The rack holding my MAC palettes is a DVD rack I got from The Container Store. It fits MAC palettes perfectly. So cool. Underneath the MAC palettes you can see moisturizer, sunscreen, and some primers. Up top are some larger palettes (Urban Decay, Mehron, 88 palettes). The clear palettes are from Face Atelier– I love those palettes. They don’t fit in the DVD rack though because they’re ever so slightly smaller than MAC palettes. The white thingy holding the palettes came from The Container Store. I’ll show you what’s in some of the drawers (I skipped a couple that are kinda boring).
This drawer just has some odds and ends that I’m either testing out for an upcoming review, just got and want to play with, or things I reach for frequently.
Cream & gel blushes! There’s Stila Convertible Colors, NYC blush creme sticks, a MAC Cremeblend, some Mehron cheek cremes, and more.
Ahh the precious. My special packaging MAC lipsticks. As much as I love a lot of other brands, I’m definitely a MAC girl. I do collect these, but if I have a color I don’t use I do swap or sell it– I’m not cuckoo. :) MAC lipsticks are probably the thing I have the most of out of all my stash. Just giving you fair warning. I’m obsessed.
Various low-end palettes. I’ll be honest, these don’t get a ton of use right now. I go through phases with my makeup. I’ll be ALL ABOUT mark. or Maybelline for a while and then go into a MAC phase, then UD, or whatever. I actually use these a lot when I do makeup on other people because they like when I tell them if they love something they can go buy it for like $5. 
Mineral pretties! All of my Purely Cosmetics stuff. Well, actually I have a few back-ups of things like foundation, etc. The Diamond Perfect Finish and Oil Absorb powder are items I reach for every single time I do makeup. Period.
Random eye stuff. The stuff in this drawer gets used a lot. You can see Daddy UDPP (XL) and Baby UDPP (mini)! Also have stuff like my mascaras, NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils, my 3 most-used Mad Minerals creme shadows, brow powder, lash curler, etc. The little black zippered pouch holds some of my favorite pencil liners. What’s in there? MAC Undercurrent, Urban Decay Rockstar, MAC Feline, Urban Decay Underground, and a couple Prestige Total Intensity liners, to name a few.
In addition to being a fiend for MAC lipsticks, I also have a huge collection of MSFs. The tray they’re in is a cutlery drawer organizer from The Container Store. The basket on the right is blushes. There’s some random foundations in the back too. Front is foundation, tinted moisturizer, concealers, bronzer, contour powder. I have been toying with the idea of thinning out my MSF collection. If I do, I’ll be selling them on the blog. 
Okay, I told you I’m a MAC lipstick freak. The holders they are in are from Cabela’s. They’re shotgun shell boxes with the tops cut off. They were $3 each and are the best solution I’ve found for lipsticks. I still have the tops to the boxes since I just cut the plastic hinge. I can put the tops back on and tape them for moving. Oh and *yay* Stila lipglaze sticks! I think I have every one of them. Such an underrated product.
And lip drawer #2! I’m also thinking of letting go of some of those tendertones/jellybalms. They’re nice but they don’t see the light of day too often. I love how they smell and feel though.
And finally, the palette drawer. UD, Clinique, The Balm, NARS, TooFaced, Laura Mercier, Bobbi Brown, and LORAC. There’s also my faithful Smashbox Bright Eyes Quad (LOVE that!!!). 
That concludes what I have to share. There’s a bunch of stuff not pictured (like all of my lip glosses?), but I don’t want to show stuff that isn’t tidy/organized. ;) If you have any questions I’ll try to answer them best I can! And if you want to see a review or overview of anything you see here, that’d be fun too! Let me know!
I hope this gives you some organizational ideas, or at least some drool-worthy stuff to look at haha. Like I said above, if you have stash pics, link me! Or if you don’t have a blog, feel free to email me your stash pics. Maybe yours will be featured here on the blog! *wink*

It’s Z Palette of Your Dreams

Okay…truth time. I hate a lot of homemade palettes. No, really. There are lots of very clever individuals who have made palettes out of all sorts of things…CD jewel cases, DVD cases, etc. I hate ’em. I want to keep my makeup in a makeup palette. With a few exceptions, I think the homemade ones look kinda…well. How to put this delicately…like something a kid made for a school craft. Not to say they aren’t functional and totally cool from a repurposing goods perspective, and a saving money perspective. For sure. But they’re just not for me. Personally I get a lot of pleasure from just gazing upon my stash and admiring it, and I want it to look a certain way.
That said…not all brands make palettes for their pretties. And very few brands make palettes with clear tops. MAC has a clear-topped 4-pan, but their 15-pans are black. I heard a rumor they were going to make clear-topped 15-pans, which would be stellar, but I heard that a while ago and they have yet to surface even on the radar of the upcoming MAC collections. So then what other options are theere for a see-through lid? There’s Face Atelier, which makes a great study 12-pan that has a clear top. I love them, actually. I have 3. However they are kinda pricey, and the shipping to the US from Canada is also kind of expensive for the girl on the budget. And there is the limitation of only being able to fit 26mm size (MAC size) pans in them.
Enter, the Z Palette.

I first saw the Z Palette at IMATS, and I thought “meh, kind of expensive…gimmicky…” but since then I’ve truly realized that this product is needed, serves a great function, and they are actually priced pretty reasonably. The Z Palette comes in 2 sizes, a large rectangle and a small square. The small square holds up to 9 26 mm pans and retails for $14. The large one holds up to 27 26 mm pans and retails for $20.

Before you balk at the price and complain that the MAC palettes are only $12.50 and hold 15, realize this: to hold 27 MAC shadows you would actually need to buy 2 15-pans, which would be $25. The large Z Palette is $5 cheaper. And the shipping is free. And if you have other shadow pans that you’d like to de-pot and have no idea what to put them in…bonjour! This palette is for you. Gone are the days of suffering through a product’s awful packaging because you have no idea what palette to put it in. There are also some brands that for some reason charge ridiculous amounts of money for an empty palette (*cough* MUFE, Chantecaille…). You don’t have to pay that nyah nyah nyah. Just get a Z Palette.
I think one of my favorite things about the Z Palettes besides the palettes themselves is the wealth of information available on their website. They have a chart of prices of pans vs. pots to compare the overall savings of buying makeup for palettes. They also have a really awesome list of de-potting methods and tips. I like a company that goes out of its way to make their product easier to use, don’t you?
You may also be wondering…are they sturdy? I am delighted to tell you yes. They are! They are made from recycled matte paper and close via a magnet. The clear window is plastic (sturdy plastic). While to some of you this may seem flimsy compared to the plastic MAC palettes, have you ever had one of those break on you? In my experience the first things that break on those babies are the hinges or the clasps. This palette has no hinges or clasp. A-ha. You see what I did there?
So if you’re looking for a classy way to organize your shadows but don’t want to waste time opening and closing palettes looking for a particular color, check out the Z Palette. If you’re going to be de-potting, they also sell packs of magnets for your pans. ;)

Lust Alert – Rolling Pink Train Case

Need…I…say…more? It’s huge, it’s pink…it would hold all my pretties.

Do want. :P

It’s from Yazmo.

What To Do With ALL That Makeup

So, makeup mavens. What do you store your stash in? Do you have a vanity? A traincase? A shoebox?

I currently have a vanity (which is actually a desk), but I also have some stuff stored on my actual computer desk. The reason for this is I tend to do my morning quick makeup at my desk rather than in the bedroom where my vanity is because Mr. Boyfriend is still sleeping at that hour and I do not like to wake the sleeping beast. ;) It makes him cranky. I figured I might as well embrace the fact that I always have makeup all over my computer desk anyway, except now that I have a storage unit on my desk there is now room for another important desk accessory:


That’s my cat Sienna. Curled up on a totebag and the latest issue of Glamour. By her foot is the box from my ELF studio bronze/blush duo, and my Sony CP apple lip balm. But behind her is the little drawer unit that holds my skincare treatments, sunscreen, moisturizer, etc. and a ton of lip products. What I keep on my desk is the stuff I use every single day, stuff I’m going to review, and certain color products that I just can’t get enough of at the moment.

Oh, and for real hardcore makeup lovers…to the far left of the screen, upside down, next to Sienna’s paw is a little pot of love: Mad Minerals indellible cream shadow in Nude Frost.