So I recently bought myself a new desk so I could actually work at my desk instead of having half of it covered in makeup. Let's be real, though, I bought it so I could apply makeup with more ease. BUT, my actual work desk is now usable, which is nice.
I've been pretty good with the organisation of my makeup since I've had enough to call it a collection. I have a lot of friends who just have makeup bags or leave their makeup in the bathroom. I did once do that too, about six years ago, though. I've got a fair amount of the stuff now, which means I need to be fairly creative in my organisation of it, so it's usable. (You ever have that thing where you don't use a product for ages because it's underneath a lot of other stuff? I'm trying to avoid that).
Now, for the first time in my life, I have a proper space dedicated towards my makeup, and it's super exciting. I can spread out my products so I can get to all of them, whilst still deploying some organisational skills to keep it neat.
This here is my new set up, and I love it. On the left I have lip products, on the right I have my eye products. My tools and face products are in the front. Very simple.
First things first is the mirror. I don't have a particularly large one, so I have stacked mine on top of some Glossy Boxes (I said I would find a use for them). The boxes are attractive and big and sturdy enough to hold the mirror safely. I also store some makeup wipes and a makeup remover behind the mirror, just because there is the room and it looks a little neater.
Next are my everyday tools that don't have a dedicated space, this being liquid foundations, concealer, primer, brow gel and cotton buds. I use these frequently, so I like to have them easily to hand. (The palettes to the left are lip ones and thus are in the correct place, sort of).
The rest of my face products I have in another Glossy Box. This includes blush, contour, bronzer, highlighter and face powder. I don't own many of these things, so they all fit in one box nicely together. I stack them in order of use, again, for convenience.
For my brushes and liners I use pencil pots (from WHSmiths I believe). The Real Techniques brushes stand by themselves, so I have them to the side. For the liners I have a bit of cloth at the bottom of the pot to prop them up a bit. This isn't ideal to me, it could do with some improvement, but I've yet to do something about it. At the moment it works fairly well, I just have to take a little time looking for lesser used brushes and liners.
For the tools I use day to day I use a little ramekin dish that I got with a Gu pudding (which, for reference, are fancy desserts that you can buy in supermarkets in the UK, they're delicious, just expensive). I wash out the ramekins and then use them for other things, such as holding makeup items. In this dish I have lash curlers, tweezers, a pencil sharpener, nail scissors, lash glue and my Real Techniques sponge (the sponge I got from my October Glossy Box doesn't fit in very well).
For my spare tools I use the top section of this makeup case. I also store the false lashes I use most in this compartment.
The next compartment down I use for more special effects things, such as my fake blood, rhinestones and costume lashes. It also acts as a little bit of a dumping ground as it's not used very often. (The tiny ornate box contains cut up bits of false lashes, basically for Electra Heart era Marina and the Diamonds looks).
The final section contains the rest of my false lashes, which are so hard to organise, I swear to God. I put lesser used ones in here, basically because I don't want to disturb the arrangement. I got this box many years ago, it originally contained makeup, I just pulled out the organisers and used it for my own purpose. You might possibly be able to get an equivalent now, considering it's nearing Christmas and all.
Next is my single eyeshadows, loose pigments, glitters, gel eyeliners and cream eyeshadows. Basically everything eyeshadow related that's not in a palette. This is arranged rather haphazardly as I don't use these products that often. The most used is Cork in the corner, which is easy to get to. The box is one I got toiletries in years ago (I cling on to useful things), any box will work.
In front of this box I have my three Inglot palettes, well loved and well used. I have them here for convenience.
The rest of my palettes are stacked near the back. My sleek ones being in a letter divider I also got from WHSmiths (stationary organisers are good to organise makeup too). My other palettes are propped up behind this, easy to see and easy to get to (I use my Vice Palettes a lot).
This is another Glossy Box, which contains ramekin dishes to hold up products that can't stand on their own. The Glossy Box is only for neatness sake. There is a semblance of order to the ramekin dishes; one contains glitter and liquid liners, another contains lip glosses, another contains lip pencils and lip pens, then there is just a miscellaneous one for things that don't fit else where, basically. I have my liquid lipsticks standing alone as I use them a lot.
Finally, I have my lipsticks (and Sleek Pout Paints). I got these acrylic lipstick holders from amazon for very cheap. They came chipped, so be warned, but they function perfectly and organise my lipsticks beautifully.
There you go, my makeup collection and how I organise it. It could be neater, but it works for me.
