I've recently completely re-vamped my beauty storage and added a few finishing touches to my bedroom so a few of you asked me to show an updated dressing table and beauty storage/collection. So here it is!
(Goes without saying but there are gonna be a lot of pictures, so I've put them behind a cut!)
My makeup collection has basically exploded this past year but I'm trying to keep it under control now and value quality over quantity. Although I'm probably moving back out fairly soon, for unknown reasons I decided to buy a load of makeup storage for my bedroom! None of it is massively expensive so I'll link you to as much as possible so you can maybe get some ideas for your own.
I'd wanted a set of drawers for my makeup for ages instead of having it all out on my dressing table, however I had a wide TV bench, which meant there wasn't the space. However after having a clear out of old books, games, DVDs and CDs, I was able to condense my favourites, plus a few candles down into the IKEA Kallax Unit and I was able to get the blogger favourite: the IKEA Alex Drawers and just have my TV on the IKEA Malm next to them. I got the 5-drawer unit as it goes just in front of my window and I didn't want it to be so tall that it would block the light coming into my room. I have only filled 3/5 of the drawers (and hopefully it'll stay that way for a bit!) but you get 2 small ones and 3 that are twice as deep.
In the first small drawer I have a cutlery organiser from IKEA that fits perfectly (it was £1-2). At the back left is where I keep all my lip pencils. My favourites are the Essence and Rimmel Exaggerate ones, however I have quite a few random brands as well as a couple from KIKO and MAC. Next to them at the back I have some Makeup Revolution palettes: all 3 Flawless palettes as well as the 2 new Iconic Pro ones. Coming round to the front, I keep all my lip products that are crayons, pencils, glosses and lacquers here, though to tell you the truth I'm more into a conventional lipstick. The middle section houses all my drugstore bb/cc creams and primers. Then finally we have my drugstore foundations, most of which aren't quite the right colour for me unfortunately!
In the next drawer I have another IKEA cutlery organiser. The front part houses my medium Makeup Revolution palettes; the Salvation and Pro Looks ones. Then behind those I have all my potted cream and gel eyeshadows, which (as you can see!) are mostly Maybelline Colour Tattoos. With the IKEA Godmorgon drawer dividers you also get these little pots that fit on the side of the drawers without hindering them closing. So I use one to hold my eye pencils and sticks (mostly from KIKO) and the other to hold my pen and pencil eyeliners.
The final drawer is the only deep on that I've filled and houses another cutlery organiser. Down the side I keep some of my high-end palettes from Benefit and Too Faced, as they don't really fit anywhere else. The front section has my e.l.f. cream blushers (which, again don't fit anywhere else). At the very back you might be able to see I have some budget palettes: the 3 Collection Eyes Uncovered ones as well as 3 Barry M eye and cheek ones. In the middle are all my contour and highlight products, my favourites being the 3 Makeup Revolution Radiant Lights highlighters and the Sleek Face Form kit.
On top of the Alex drawers I have 3 of the Muji 5-Drawer Boxes. On top of one of them I keep my lipsticks in 2 of these clear holders I got from Amazon for about £3 each. I have a variety of brands but my favourite high-end ones are MAC and my favourite budget ones are the Makeup Revolution Lip Hugs. I really love the Muji Acrylic Storage as you can see exactly what's in each drawer and it doesn't matter where you move to or how much you re-decorate, they're always going to go with your room.
There's not much to see in the first drawer, just a few powder and brow products. The second drawer has all of my budget single blushers, my favourites being the Sleek blushes and the KIKO cream sticks. The next drawer down holds all my budget single eyeshadows, pigments and potted liners. I really like the £1 line Makeup Revolution do, and the e.l.f. cream eyeliners are amazing. The fourth drawer is home to my more high-end single blushers, which I don't have that many of! Finally, I have a few high-end eyeshadow palettes; of course there's the Urban Decay Naked, my custom MAC quad and my only Charlotte Tilbury quad.
Over on the other side I have 2 stacked on top of each other. The tops drawer is an assortment of my most-used nail polishes right now (the rest are in jars on top of my Kallax storage) and lipsticks I don't use much or that aren't seasonal right now. I have just the Makeup Revolution Naked Chocolate palette in the next drawer and in the third are my KIKO Daring Game compacts, which are so beautiful and great-quality. Next are all of my Makeup Revolution Iconic palettes, which are £4 for 12 shades! Then finally I have my MUA palettes, which are doubled up with more underneath.
In my final one of these boxes I have my Sleek eyeshadow palettes in the top drawer, along with the eye and cheek palette from them. The second drawer has all of my budget blusher palettes, again mostly Sleek but I have a couple of Makeup Revolution ones underneath. The next drawer is a bit random due to things not fitting in together; I have my Makeup Revolution I Heart Chocolate palette along with my Sleek lip quads. Drawer 4 has just my Wetnwild eyeshadow palettes. Finally I have assorted budget palettes in the bottom drawer from brands I maybe don't have so much of.
Finally, over to my dressing table (we're nearly done!) where I have my last Muji box. I only recently got this because it's described as '2 drawers wide' on the website so I thought it was going to be wider than the ones I have, however it isn't, it's just deeper. So I got it to store my everyday makeup, which I switch up once or twice a week. It's a good way to ensure I'm using everything and to prevent me having to dig around everywhere in the mornings. Usually there's products in there I think need a bit more love or new ones I'm testing out for reviews.
On top of it I have a lovely lamp I got from Homebase. I spotted it on Porcelain Beauty and I'd assumed it was probably £100+ but when Heather told me it was just £25 I snapped one up! On it's base I have an emptied-out tinned candle from Bomb Cosmetics where I keep all my lip balms and scrubs. The top Muji drawer has my prettier makeup, as you can see into it, whereas the bottom drawer has more base makeup.
So, this is where I do my makeup! The wicker chair and seat cushion are from (you guessed it!) IKEA and the owl cushion is Sass and Belle. I keep my hair products, deodorant and so on in a little wicker basket out of the way on my window sill.
The reason I got the Alex drawers was to keep my desk more or less tidy and I'm much happier with it like this however there are still a few bits on it. My dressing table, like my wardrobes, was built in when my mum bought this house and has a white stained-oak effect. I just bought some cute handles from eBay to add my own touch to them.
I have some fairy lights from Urban Outiftters I keep in an empty Yankee Red Velvet candle jar and I have an acrylic Muji desk organiser (can't seem to find it online at the moment). Underneath I have a decorative bowl I got from Urban Outfitters but is made by dotcomgiftshop where I keep my most-worn stud earrings. I also have a little sewing kit and an IKEA candle-holder with my most-used dangly earrings. I have another one on top with my favourite necklaces, bracelets and watches. I also have a ring dish (from M&S, I think) with my favourite everyday and cocktail rings. Finally, I have an empty Muji candle tin with hair ties inside and on top of that a cute teacup from dotcomgiftshop which holds my hair grips (it's great as they're really accessible). Next to it I have a lovely little tray from ASDA, would you believe, I only went in for some bedding but at £12 I couldn't resist and it's perfect for holding my perfumes. I also keep my makeup brushes on here (on top of a random placemat from Sainsbury's I often use as a photo background). They're in IKEA candle holders, which were £1-2 each and are so pretty! Most of my brushes are Real Techniques with a few from Nanshy and Zoeva. Just behind them I have 2 jars from Home Bargains I use to hold cotton wool pads and buds.
The last bit of my storage are the drawers actually built into my dressing table. I use one of the larger ones for makeup mostly. I have a few of these little basket things, one holds hair clips and dividers, one has my eye mask and ear plugs and the other is a random assortment of samples and things I want to get rid of.
Next to those is the IKEA Godmorgon Box. The front holds my high-end bases, with the largest compartment squeezing in my primers. All of these are products I love. Just behind that are my concealers; there are a couple from Benefit and then some cheaper ones. Next to that I have all of my eyeshadow primers. Behind there are nail scissors and tweezers and next to those I keep my Makeup Revolution Vivid Blush Lacquers, which are great for this time of year. The next row back I have some eyeliners and samples in one compartment and then it's all of my mascaras! To the far right there are two compartments, one with random tools like setting sprays, sharpeners, eyelash curlers and eyelash glue and another with mostly nail tools.
The top drawer is home to skincare and body care products. I have a desk organiser from Home Sense and a little tub from IKEA. I keep my everyday bits to the front, body butters and hand creams in the middle and the IKEA tub and my 'once a week' bits towards the back. Down the right-hand side of the organiser I have a few samples and sachet face masks. My favourite body care brands are the Body Shop and Soap and Glory and my favourite skincare brands are the Body Shop and La Roche-Posay.
My other skincare is kept in the bathroom. I have this great little organiser, though I can't remember where it's from!
I tend to just keep similar things together: face masks in one section, micellar waters in another, foaming cleansers in the next and so on. Again there's a lot from the Body Shop in here! These are just all the products I need running water for or that can get a bit messy; anything I wouldn't want to be applying in my bedroom.
This was a pretty huge post so I hope you weren't bored and congratulations if you stayed until the end! I've really enjoyed it though as it's made me take stock of what I have and appreciate the fact I don't need to be buying anything new for a very long time...If there's any products you've seen you'd like to know more about or that you want me to post on, please let me know in the comments. Otherwise I hope you enjoyed seeing my products and how I keep them :)
How do you store your beauty products?
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PR Samples have not been marked in this post as it doesn't really seem applicable. I would say 95% of the makeup here was bought by myself.