Beauty Storage Hacks and Ideas

[JoSometimes]

I was getting tired of digging through a tiny little drawer to get to my nail clippers, file, tweezers, etc… so I repurposed a cheap magnetic knife holder into grooming tool storage. It’s so much neater and easier to access now.

From this… 👎

To this! 👍

And that got me thinking… what beauty storage hacks or ideas do you use at home/work/school? I’d love to exchange ideas and see what you do to keep your beauty products or tools organized. 🤔

[CynthieLu]

It has come in pretty handy 😄 @JoSometimes and it keeps everything in one place so it's easy to see what I have and I'd like to use that day. 

I'd love to have an old vintage dressing table. The look of the old ones is something else 😉 One day, when I have more space and have room, I'd love to own one 😍

[WinglessOne]

Good storage idea, @JoSometimes ! 

A few years ago, I turned one wall of my bathroom into a magnetic storage station. In the last year or 2, I've been very slowly moving my makeup and most brushes out of the bathroom to a new spot in my bedroom (using my old home office desk + hutch as a vanity). Some makeup and tools are still on my "magnetic" bathroom wall. Here's its current haphazard state: 

I've moved most of what was here to my new makeup area, but there are still stragglers.

The silver mesh rings holding the brow brush and Kimiko brow gel are actually pencil/pen holder magnets. I have several of them. When I wash makeup brushes, I hang them upside down in those pen holders to dry on the wall (unless the brush handles are too skinny for the pen holders to grab, of course). I have a few self-adhesive thick magnet sheets. I cut out magnets to stick to things, which I can then stick to a metal vertical surface. That's how those ColourPop Super Shock eyeshadows and the jar of By Terry setting powder are hanging on the wall. 

My liquid lipsticks and glosses now live on the big pullout keyboard tray of my old work desk. I keep them in horizontal spice racks meant to be used in drawers: 

Spoiler

Split into 3 photos because the pullout tray is very wide. These photos were originally posted in the ✨❄️December 2022 Challenge - 12 Days of Makeup Inventory - Show Off and Catalog Your Collection!!❄️✨ thread. All my solid bullet/crayon lipsticks live somewhere else. 

Pretty sure Lancome's discontinuing the L'Absolu Lacquers, which is a terrible decision because they're THE BEST glosses ever.Aw, so many discontinued products in the bottom row.All Sephora branded products here were generously gifted by Sephora. Pretty sure this photo's missing a Fenty Gloss Bomb or 2.

And this year I moved all my lip liners and eyeliners to binder pages meant to hold pencils and pens. (No, I don't keep 'em in a binder. 😂) Here's one of the binder pages (front and back) I use for eyeliners; I've since bought a second one to hold the rest. A third one holds all my lip liners. 

Eyeliner pencils. I... might have a problem.

Oh, and for a while, this was my primary makeup bag for travel. It's a Kipling pencil case. I cut out the flap of additional pencil elastics so I can just use the lid to hold brushes without smushing them. 

Spoiler

2 more photos originally posted in that 12 Days of Makeup Inventory thread. These are the items that permanently live in my travel kit. I recently bought a makeup brush book that might replace this as my new travel kit. 

I keep saying I'll paint the outside someday but still haven't.The dark grey mesh things tucked into the case's tag on the right side are brush guards, in case I fully wash a brush (these guards let me dry brushes upside-down on countertops).

I'm currently creating new storage for some of my makeup brushes. Maybe I'll come back later and post that stuff, once it's finished. 

And now that I think about it, there are a few old threads floating around about vanities and beauty spaces... first one that comes to mind is Show Me Your Beauty Collections!💗 which includes some people's storage ideas. 

[Westcoasty]

@WinglessOne   Wow - @danielledanielle pointed me to this thread. I literally almost cried, looking at your beautifully organized products. I love exquisitely organized systems, even if I struggle to create them for myself. Love, love, love. 😍

[WinglessOne]

Thank you @Westcoasty ! 😊 (I saw your organization thread before your reply here.) That bathroom wall's not exactly exquisitely organized anymore, since I've been randomly removing makeup from it to store elsewhere. But I look forward to repurposing it soon for skincare and hair products/accessories. Gotta get all my hair accessories better organized. And I'll still use that wall to dry freshly-washed makeup brushes. 

[CynthieLu]

@WinglessOne You are organization goals. 🙌 😀 I love how everything is laid out where you can easily see and grab whatever you need. 

@JoSometimes This a very fun and satisfying thread idea 💡 🙏 

Seeing the way everyone stores thier makeup, accessories skincare etc.. is sooooo satisfying 😌 💖

[WinglessOne]

Thanks @CynthieLu ! Figuring out storage options that are compatible with my brain is (sometimes) fun! And it's always neat to see how other folks store their goodies. 

I've been driving myself kinda nuts with nail polish swatch stick storage because I have to rummage through 'em in my current storage solution—but I also hated storing all those sticks on rings/screws for a couple reasons. Today I think I figured out how I need to store them for better efficiency. Gotta visit a couple stores tomorrow for supplies to make it happen. 

[JoSometimes]

@CynthieLu I have a few more ideas but I need some time to execute them. Do you have any hacks to make storage easier?

[CorgiMommy]

@WinglessOne great collection 

[WinglessOne]

Thanks @CorgiMommy ! 

[FatCatFashion]

BRB running to the store to get a pencil case to store my eyeliners!!! GENIUS IDEA! 

[WinglessOne]

@FatCatFashion Oh, I hope you find one that meets your needs! Storing my pencil liners like this has been a game changer for me. 

[JoSometimes]

An entire magnetic wall is amazing @WinglessOne! And I’ve been wanting to find some of those flat pencil organizers. I like that you can see everything at a glance without having to rummage through.

[WinglessOne]

@JoSometimes  I bought my binder pages from Amazon: 

There's also a black version. Last time I checked, it cost a bit more than this teal green one.

Having to rummage through cups/bins/trays of liners is exactly why I bought these. Well, that and trying to convince myself I already have too many liners and don't need to buy more. 😄 Theoretically, being able to see them all like this will stop me from buying many more until I've used some of these up or they've gone bad. We'll see how that plays out. 

If you don't have many liners, another good option is a pencil holder case that has elastic slots like these pages but also has room to hold other things—something similar to my Kipling 100 Pens Case (aka my old travel makeup kit). That'd be a good option to store, for instance, eyeliners, mini and quad eyeshadow palettes, and gel pot eyeliners, all in one place. In fact, if I start using my new brush book as a travel makeup case, I'll probably use my Kipling case to hold my Inglot AMC gel pot liners (if they'll all fit in there) and store liquid liner pens in the elastic slots on the lid. 

[JoSometimes]

Thanks @WinglessOne! I’ve only checked dollar stores for these but they only have the pouch ones. 

[bakeamuffin]

I love that you did this @JoSometimes , it makes utilizing everything so much easier!!

I recently organized a drawer at my bathroom sink for my most-used products to make doing my makeup more stream lined and I’m so happy with the results! I just switch out what I intend to use every few days from my big stash storage and voila. 

 I grabbed a clear organizer from ikea and I’m loving it so far, I think I’ll order a variety pack from Amazon for other drawers. 

[CynthieLu]

It's a beautiful drawer set up 💕 @bakeamuffin Good idea,  rotating in the items on you want to use that day or week or whatever 😀 I don't know about you but if I don't see it I sometimes forget about it 😅

[bakeamuffin]

I am totally that way @CynthieLu ! I have to be mindful & intentional, this little system really

helps me achieve that, at least some of the time 😉 it’s also fun to carve out time to go through my stash and think about what looks I want to create that day or week. 

[JoSometimes]

This is so pleasing to look at @bakeamuffin! Everything is so organized and within reach.

Ikea is such a dangerous store. I always walk out with more than what was on my list. I saw a video on social media where they taped a large sheet of paper (might have been newspaper or flyers) to the top of a drawer and traced the edges. They pulled it off and brought it to Ikea. They started setting down storage trays on the paper and the outline of the drawer they traced told them if it would fit or not. No more worrying about adding up dimensions or not taking into account any lips or handles that might add to the width of the tray. 

[bakeamuffin]

Oh I love that idea @JoSometimes ! Nothing is more annoying than getting home and realize nothing fits properly. 

ikea is so dangerous @JoSometimes , I try to make an online shopping cart and stick to that but it doesn’t always work out, they just have such great stuff. I could spend hours upon hours in that gigantic store 😂