My Favorite Ways to Organize an Abundance of Cosmetics
Since there are so many types and colors of makeup, it’s easy to amass a large collection even if you only use a small portion of it every day. It’s important to have a clean and organized makeup collection—not only because it’s more aesthetically pleasing, but also because organization can help you keep track of what products you have and when they expire.
If you’re ready to tackle your chaotic makeup routine, I’ll share some organizational principles to get you started, then recommend a few of my favorite items to help me keep my own collection organized.
Basic recommendations for organizing makeup
When I reorganized my makeup collection last month, I used a few decluttering hacks to pare down what I had, then invested in a few new organization tools to pair with the ones I was already using. The end result looks like this:
The prevailing wisdom is that you shouldn’t store your makeup in the bathroom, since moisture doesn’t do it any good, and you don’t want germs from the bathroom getting into your brushes and other materials you regularly apply to your face—but not all of them. of us have the square footage to make this a reality. If you have room for a vanity in your bedroom, closet, or whatever, that’s great. Personally, I don’t have one, so all of mine are stored on a shelf above the toilet .
Make the most of the space you have and remember that current recommendations depend on your living conditions. (And if you’re going to complain about my installation above the toilet in the comments, which has happened before, feel free to send me money to get a bigger apartment.) If you have to store your things in a damp area within the confines of your bathroom, try to cover brushes and sponges, so that they don’t get dirty. Keep the toilet lid closed and turn on the fan.
In addition, try to adhere to the general expiration dates of your products. The palette may last forever, but that doesn’t mean it should. It is not necessary that the color payoff or integrity of the product will decrease over time (although it may do so slightly), but the material simply becomes contaminated. You can use a site like Check Cosmetic to determine the expiration date of your specific products. Personally, however, I try to extend my life as much as possible by adding a little rubbing alcohol to the spray bottle and lightly misting palettes and powders from time to time. Makeup becomes unpleasant for the same reason that brushes become unpleasant: repeated contact with the skin. You clean your brushes , so you also need to keep an eye on the age and integrity of your products.
Classic makeup organizer
When it comes to organizing your makeup, you have classic options and a few unconventional ones. I like to use a combination of both. Let’s start with the standard things.
Above, you’ll see the gold standard for makeup organization: the humble acrylic shelving unit. They come in a variety of sizes and configurations, but usually have several small holes for lipstick, several drawers, and several large built-in containers for brushes, eyeliner, or anything vertical. There are several good options, for example:
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Rotating multi-layer organizer with space for brushes, pots and containers of varying heights ($11.74).
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A nicer organizer with space for palettes and bottles and a rotating brush holder ($14.49).
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Capsule-shaped organizer with lid, ideal for those who store makeup and brushes in a damp area ($36.99).
My clever makeup organizing hacks
And now about more, let’s say, tools of creative organization. Don’t get me wrong: I have a lot of standard acrylic organizers. But I’ve also found other cool tools that are supposedly meant for something else but are great for storing makeup.
The letter holder is great for palettes. My problem with storing palettes in drawers is that it’s hard to remember what you have when you need it. Keeping them somewhere where you can see them, but still organized , is more helpful here. I also use adhesive floating shelves for this as they save counter space.
I use two different types of pen organizers to store all my brushes. In my opinion, they are better than a large cup or open container because they keep the brushes separate and are easy to see and grab. Sometimes after washing my brushes I put them back in a little damp so they can dry without touching each other or laying flat while maintaining their shape.
Lastly, I use these lazy Susans to store my large bottles and brush holders so I can simply rotate the turntable to access everything I need. Placing my other storage solutions on top of these was very helpful because it allowed me to use the backs of the shelves instead of having to line everything up in the front.