Organising My Makeup

I recently wrote about my affordable makeup storage and since it went down pretty well, I thought I may as well show you what is in some of the drawers. The 5 drawer Muji acrylic storage is situated between two cheaper storage boxes which are full of random makeup items whilst my Muji is all neat and tidy. I love that the top of the Muji storage is flat so you can see what's in the top drawer but it's the perfect height to have my mirror on and some other daily items I use. I love having my makeup on display, especially because my lip products seem to be my most loved beauty products. I'm currently trying to use a different lipstick every day to use the ones that aren't as loved, especially some Nyx and Mac shades that are near enough new.

On the left storage box I have my foundations including three shades of Double Wear, my primers, and mascaras. Next to those are my L'Oreal lipsticks and a few Bourjois matte liquid lipsticks. Behind them are lipsticks that have been demoted to the back, such as ones from Topshop, Rimmel and Maxfactor since I don't use them very often. On the right storage box are my very much loved Mac lipsticks, and some others from Charlotte Tilbury, Nars, YSL, Rimmel, Kiko and Maybelline. To the side I have 'things that don't fit in any storage' because the rest of it is full, such as my Make Up For Ever setting powder which is perfect for seamless makeup, a L'Oreal True Match foundation, two Barry M face/body glitters, my Nars Hot Sand Illuminator, and a Revlon lipstick in Black Cherry.

The top drawer in my Muji is for liquid lipsticks since they can't be stood up. I have all of my Nyx cream matte lip creams and one lip suede (which is just as good), some Makeup Revolution laquers, one from MUA (which is not worth it but the colour is nice) and one from Sephora. I also have a Nyx butter lipstick, three Nars chunky lip pencils and a mini Nars cheek and lip tint from my November Nars Glossybox.

The second drawer contains some chubby sticks, lip glosses and a few liquid lipsticks that can't fit in the top drawer. I have a L'Oreal lip gloss here which is supposed to have the pink version next to it but must be in my bag, which are honestly the best lip glosses I've ever came across. I also have a HD Brows lipgloss which is more sticky but has a lovely colour. The three Kiko lip pencils are supposed to be the pencil alternative to a lip gloss but they're similar to cremesheen and satin lipsticks. I don't think there is much difference in quality between chubby sticks and I have them from Clinique, NV, MUA, Ted Baker and Revlon. Finally I have a lipcote I've never used and two lip balms to keep my lips moisturised.

I have a love-hate relationship with my pencil drawer. This is part of the reason I'm looking at buying a second Muji box so I can have two separate drawers for lip liners and eyeliners. Anyway, to the left I have lip pencils from Revlon, Makeup Revolution, Charlotte Tilbury, Kiko, Maybelline and Rimmel. I then have three white liners which I use for both lips and eyes (not the same pencils obviously) which act is a little border! My eyeliners are from Nars, Makeup Revolution, Rimmel, Collection, Maybelline and a few random brands. 

My eyeshadow drawer is probably one of my favourites. I never used to be a fan of individual eyeshadows as most of my palettes contain all the shades I need. I rekindled my love for Maybelline Color Tattoos and it grew from there. I've also fallen in love with the good old Barry M Dazzle Dusts as the glittery shades are perfect for intense eye looks without the cost. The blue L'Oreal eyeshadow is one of the most pigmented shadows I've came across and I'm annoyed at myself for not picking more up. Slightly disappointed with the bottom left Nyx shadow as it doesn't have much pigmentation at all.

inally, in my bottom drawer I have some face products I use most days. Underneath my Nars blusher I have Benefit's Brow Zings which is amazing paired with Nyx Tame & Frame pomade. I have a big Benefit blusher palette and luckily Hervana was the only one not in it, as this was purchased before the palette. I used Maybelline powder daily which adds just a touch of colour. The rest of the drawer contains mascaras, brow gels, concealers, primers and eyeliners which don't seem to have much of a place, but they're the ones I use a few days a week. If I did buy more Muji storage I'd definitely give all of these a drawer of their own.

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Cheap and Affordable Makeup Storage Solutions

I always envy bloggers with the most perfect makeup storage. There never seems to be the perfect answer. One minute everyone is looking at acrylic storage and the next its the expensive Alex drawers from IKEA, and there seems to be little consensus over whether we prefer our makeup displayed in front of us or tucked away for nobody to see. It does depend on how much makeup you have and what you can fit in the space dedicated to it. I'd always wanted a white desk to apply my makeup and to double up to take blog photos on but really don't have much space in the room I share with my boyfriend since we moved in with my Dad and the rest of my family. To make the most of little space on a budget, I came up with this multi-purpose storage system.

To make the most out of the space we had down the side of our bed, next to the window, we bought two IKEA Kallax shelving units side by side in white for £20 each. As they do have space in them for boxes instead of drawers, I have four of the Drona boxes in the floral pattern for £3.50 each to fit in bulky things like hair styling tools, large makeup palettes, skincare etc. Andy has four Drona boxes in black for £2.50 each which holds his camera, photography items and some of his clothes. We bought them in mind that this is temporary storage and when we eventually buy our own house we will separate the two, hence why we have different coloured boxes. They aren't too deep like some desks you'd find so you can comfortably apply your makeup without the storage taking up too much space. As an added benefit, I bought a £5 Ikea fold up chair which is tucked next to the storage which is obviously very convenient since I don't have the room for a fancy chair.
I do have some acrylic storage boxes just so my most used makeup isn't stuck in one of the boxes underneath. I have two boxes from Ebay which I bought about a year or so ago that have lasted well and were under £20 each. They hold small palettes, extra lipsticks, awkward shaped products and minis. My high end lipsticks sit in an extra lipstick storage box that is also from Ebay. I did used to have a third Ebay box but have since replaced it with my new love. In between them I have the 5 drawer acrylic storage from Muji which is an absolute dream with the drawers opening smoothly, deep enough to fit the longest of my eyeliners and have a completely flat top to allow extra storage there too. I have a small mirror that sits on top and is in the perfect place as it allows me to apply my makeup with natural light as I face the window. Overall I love the unique layout I have and whilst I do have a small space, I feel I've definitely made the most out of it.

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