Show & Tell: My Makeup Storage Unit

There have been a lot of posts cropping up on my Dashboard about storage ideas and all sorts so I thought I'd give you all a look at how I store my makeup and my collection. Before you scroll down let me make a couple of things clear:

1) My collection has taken me a very long time to build and I'm very protective and proud of it

2) 95% of the products you'll see in the drawers has been purchased by me over the last few months/years.

3) I'm not the most organised but I like the way I have things set out because it works for me

All that said and done... Let me introduce you to my unit... *cue Star Wars theme tune* - Don't ask but it just goes with it... I don't even like Star Wars.

A black metal six drawer unit on wheels from WH Smiths. I inherited this from Mandy last year who picked it up for the bargain price of £15.00 (I think) as it was looking a bit tired and one of the wheels is a little dodgy - That'll be the one with the piece of cardboard lodged underneath it.

As you can see, all drawers are clearly labelled so everything has a home which makes it easier for my mum to go hunting through the drawers when she is looking for something specific. The drawers are 9.5cms deep, 38cms long and 26cms wide so they are fairly big and can fit a whole lot of goodies in them with the right organisation. I lined each drawer with rubber matting from Ikea so nothing slips and slides inside them and it makes the drawers easier to clean.

Now, on to the contents...

The Top

Things you'll find here:

- Brushes, sponges, MAC Fix+, MAC Brush Cleaner, flannel and mascaras

The brushes are stored in a Muji stationary holder, MAC Brush Cleaner has been emptied into a travel spray bottle from Superdrug and mascaras are stored in a plastic tub which was full of sweets at one point.

Drawer 1 - Face:

Things you'll find here:

- Foundations, concealers, tinted moisturisers, powders, primers, blotting sheets and extra travel mirrors

The plastic containers once held business cards and were the perfect size to keep things seperate and in order, although it might not look like it.

Drawer 2 - Cheeks

Things you'll find here:

- Powder blushers, cream blushers, bronzers, highlighters and all limited edition cheek products.

The gold container that you see holding everything was once part of a perfume gift set that I was given as birthday present that turned out to be the piece of the puzzle that I needed to organise my cheek products. Right at the back of my drawer is wear I keep all my untouched limited edition blushers and bronzers - I know it's probably silly but they look too pretty to touch so I shall keep them for as long as I can!

Drawer 3 - Eyes

Things you'll find here:

- Pencil eyeliners, liquid eyeliners, gel eyeliners, single eyeshadows, duo eyeshadows, primers, eye brow pencils, cream eyeshadows and loose eyeshadows.

The plastic tray at the back of the drawer is from Muji while the smaller container with eye pencils in came with the unit, courtesy of Mandy, and is probably the lid to some sort of box.

Drawer 4 - Lips

Things you'll find here:

- Lipsticks, lip glosses, lip balms, lip conditioners, lip tints, lip liners and lip scrubs.

The gold tray at the back of the drawer is the lid of a perfume gift set which now stores all my lipsticks and the little plastic tray inside it was the other half of the business card holder that you saw in the first drawer. Again, the tray with lipglosses is from Muji and I think was on some sort of offer like a 2 for 3, or something.

Drawer 5 - Palettes

Things you'll find here:

- Palettes, palettes and more palettes

I wish I could fit all of my eyeshadow palettes in here but I can't so these are just some of the ones I use most of time. There isn't really any kind of organisation in here purely because it's so hard to fit them all in and have to make squeeze them in wherever a space opens up!

Drawer 6 - Nails

Things you'll find here:
- Nail polishes galore!
Again, no organisation in here at all because there are just way too many and I'm always rummaging around in here when looking for a different shade to wear. I can't actually fit anymore in here so I've got another tray type thing on my desk...

A rollover of all the products that don't fit in my nail polish drawer, the container was part of an aftershave gift set that my brother received. This once was enough to fit the rest of my nailpolishes comfortably but clearly it isn't any more and I now need another tray of some sort!

So there you have it... I have makeup and other bits stored in several plastic storage tubs but this unit is where you can find me while getting ready for a night out or simply having a swatchfest. Also, you really don't need to spend a whole lot of money on extra trays and bits because you can usually find a way of re-using something you already own like I did. I would love for a bigger drawer unit but it's difficult to find one with more than 6 drawers and on wheels - but if you've seen one then let me know.

How do you lot store your makeup??? If you've got a makeup storage post on your blog then drop the link in the comments box because I'm always looking for ideas!

Until next time...

Keep swivelling those hips in your