Makeup Storage and Organization + Best Acrylic Palette Holder

Ever bought a beauty product, just because it came in a stunning packaging, thinking “hmm.. this will look so pretty sitting on my vanity!“?

Sigh… me too. 

I’ve loved beauty products ever since I spent my very first paycheck, (in its entirety, I should add) on two bags full of drugstore makeup in my local Walgreens. Now, many years later, my collection has grown ….. a bit. I’ve also acquired quite the taste for all those gorgeous products.

I did notice though, that a lot of the products I buy, don’t get used nearly as often as they should. I took a long look at my entire collection and decided that I need to cut back.

Yes, this is still a BEAUTY and lifestyle blog, but the thing is this: I let the fact that I have a blog dictate how I spend my money. And yes, if you have a blog then you know that to some degree, this is normal (almost to be expected). If there is a new exciting product that comes out I almost always feel that I have to have it. To test it, photograph it, use it and, eventually, share my opinion.

Empty candle jars are great for storing brushes, liquid lipsticks, mascaras, eye and lip pencils. I also love storing my little perfume samples in them, as well. 

The problem starts when I find myself willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a beauty product I’m not necessarily interested in, just because I think it’ll look pretty in my photos.

There. I admitted it.

So, last week, I decided to go through my entire collection and only keep products I actually use or want to use. I got rid of a bunch of old, expired products, gave away some new ones I didn’t even realize I had and dug out some favorites I…. forgot about.

I also removed all my products stored hidden in my vanity drawers and brought them out to daylight. I got a bunch of these acrylic makeup organizers that I found on Amazon and organized all the products I decided to keep.

I got about three [sets of two] of these stackable acrylic drawers and store products from different “categories” in each one. I ended up liking these better than my MUJI organizers, especially the fact that the price-point was quite different. In the first one I keep my moisturizers, primers and lip balms, which I so desperately need at the moment (almost halfway through my Accutane treatment, though! yay!).

In the next one, I keep things like concealers, correctors, eye primers. Then there are powder products, some lip products. The last one will usually hold a few backups or makeup products that I’m testing/reviewing at the moment.

Something that I’ve always struggled with in the past, was eyeshadow and face palette storage. I’ve heard of people using letter/mail holders for that, but I like when everything looks extra neat and “matchy-matchy” on my makeup table/vanity.

When I was buying these stackable drawers, I also found this palette holder and ordered three of them. I finally found what I was looking for. These fit all of my favorites: Tartelette palettes, UD Naked palettes, Hourglass Face Palettes, Tom Ford, Charlotte Tilbury face palettes, Lorac and ABH palettes. That same holder also has a place for six lipsticks and a few slots in the back that are perfect for storing foundation or other face products. Best thing is, it fist perfectly on top of these stackable drawers so it actually looks like a one, large makeup storage unit.

I also like keeping a few of my “essential” beauty products in the same palette organizer, as it makes it easy for me to grab them in the morning, and put them right back in their place.

For my MAC lippies I love this little lipstick stand I found at Marshalls (or TJ Maxx, they both always have a ton of them). This isn’t really ideal, as the shades aren’t easily visible, but it looks nice and organized and I usually carry some of my favorite MAC lipsticks  with me, in a “handbag makeup bag”, so I know where to look for those, if I’m in a hurry.

The main difference I noticed since I moved all my products from desk drawers and got rid of everything I didn’t use, is that now that I actually see what I have. I don’t tend to use the same products over and over again. I actually switch things up and don’t have to spend twenty minutes looking through my drawers trying to find that lipstick or eyeshadow palette.

Top: the palette organizer I fell in love with. Bottom: acrylic drawers. Drawers come in sets of 2 and you can stack them up as high as you want; the palette organizer fits in perfectly and stays in place. 

I wish I could say that I’ll never buy anything again, just because it looks pretty, but I’m definitely going to try. This year, one of my goals is to be more mindful and not create unnecessary clutter. I think that over the last couple of years I’ve gotten a lot better (no more impulse beauty shopping for me). However, I sometimes feel this strange pressure to get my hands on some beauty products, just because someone else (read: my bloggers/IG friends) has them.

I used to love “collecting” makeup and I think there’s still a huge part of me that wants to treat makeup in the same way as others treat collecting stamps or comic books or Pokémon cards (is this still a thing?). But I think that as this blog (which originally started as a beauty blog) shows, I now want to focus on different things, as well. I also want to make sure that I actually use the products I spend my money on.

With all of that being said, I’m still a huge makeup junkie and can’t imagine my life without my beauty stash. I am thinking of challenging myself to not buy anything new until my birthday in April though, whaddayathink?

Yeah.. I might fail miserably, but I’ll give it a go.

What about you guys? Do you actually use everything in your collection? What was the last time you had a good beauty stash clean-out?