For detailed photos and description of the storage solution itself, look here. Lots more storage solutions await you, too. You can see my MAC eyeshadow palettes in detail here. Also, all my MAC products are available with close-ups on the Temptalia Gallery.
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I’m always on the hunt for a new and improved storage solution for my makeup, and it seems like it is a never-ending quest. Keeping everything in my TV-stand-turned-vanity worked when I didn’t have to keep it in a closet, but for the past year, that’s where it has been. It makes using anything from it a pain in the butt, so stuff often goes unused instead. My bathroom was also starting to look like a Sephora threw up in it, LOL. (You can see my previous storage solutions here, too, to see the different stages!)
Just a heads up, these drawers do not really fit lipsticks or lipglosses standing up. They’re 2.75″ high, and the only lipsticks that I could fit were MAC — and they had to be on the top drawer only, because there’s a little extra room (heighth-wise) on the top drawer. Trust me, I tried, too. I had visions of all these lipsticks in one drawer dancing in my head, but no luck in realizing that dream. I found that these carts are sturdy enough for my purposes, though they’re not robust or ultra durable. The drawers do have a tendency to slip off their tracks when pulled in and out hurriedly, but it’s not a big deal to pop it back on. They’re small and compact, which makes them perfect for the space I’m in currently. (The second bathroom contains the majority of my stash–and nobody showers in it, so there’s no heat/steam issues.)
I used Shallow Drawers from The Container Store for inside the drawers, as well as black liner (to prevent shifting). Each drawer measures approximately 13.5″ long and 9.5″ wide. The shallow drawers are a pretty good fit, and you can use different sizes to suit what make up you might have. I still have a lot of my skincare and body products elsewhere, plus some stuff scattered in bathroom drawers. Overall, though, I ended up with only four empty drawers. I have just enough room to grow, hopefully!
Column 1: Antiqued, Cranberry, Limo;
Column 2: Coppering, Expensive Pink, Til Daybreak;
Column 3: Post-Haste, Passionate, Living Pink
Phew, here are close-ups of the eyeshadow palettes labeled :) I have some MAC holiday palettes, premade quads, and one self-made quad to accompany all of these eyeshadows, in case some of you were like, “How does she not own Carbon?!” My self-made quad is Carbon, Casablanca, Ricepaper, and Vex.
Finally finished my eyeshadow depotting project :) I have a bag full of empties, and nine full 15-pan palettes. Wow! There will be another post going up with close-ups of the palettes and the names of the eyeshadows shortly :)
Left half of my makeup cabinet (stored in a closet)
It feels so good to be organized again! It’s funny how your organization system always changes each time you put things back into place or slot new things in. I really condensed things into less bins than before, and I think I managed to clear off more counter top and utilize my drawers for some things that used to be on the counter top! (This will please my boyfriend!) This post mostly contains my MAC stash, both in my TV-stand-turned-makeup-cabinet as well as what products make it into my bathroom.
Last time I took photos, I was in a different apartment than I’m in now. The old apartment was around 800 square feet with lots of storage and space, and my new one, while definitely much nicer, is cramped in comparison at 640 square feet. My makeup cabinet now resides in my closet, which is overflowing with clothes and shoes, and this explains why you won’t see a full width shot of my makeup cabinet ;)
In the above photo, you’re seeing the left side of my makeup cabinet. The top shelf holds a silverware drawer filled with pigments. The middle shelf contains small containers housing mostly non-MAC, but I also have my Neon pigments/MAC glitters in one box as well as miscellaneous MAC products I rarely use (off color foundation, lashes, etc.). The middle shelf also holds a box of perfumes and LUSH products. The bottom shelf holds two of my three nail polish bins, as well as a big bin of crafting/scrapbooking materials. On the very bottom, you’ll see some bins with MAC in boxes… those are products I set aside to giveaway on the blog (I try to get a few things from each collection specifically to giveaway).
See the rest of my MAC stash, plus where most of it lives. Continue reading »
Talk about a mess! It’s been several months since I’ve organized my makeup, and this was my first “free” weekend in quite a bit, so I thought I’d spend the afternoon re-organizing all of the makeup I’ve accumulated in the past few months. I use an assortment of clear containers from The Container Store for the majority of my stash. I do have a few plastic organizers from Ikea, as well as metal silverware drawers from various stores like Target and Ross. I usually store all of my accumulated products in a shoe box-sized plastic container with the intent to “sort later.”
This post just shows most of my non-MAC products nicely put in their little homes :) I didn’t take pictures of some of my lower end body products (like Bath & Body Works), since it hasn’t changed at all since last time I did a collection post! My MAC organization coming soon! Continue reading »
I have a large amount of MAC products. I fully admit to my addiction, and I enjoy it to the fullest. Makeup is not just a hobby, but it is actually a job (you know, the blog, is now a semi-career that I’m carving out for myself) that I love and enjoy. Needless to say, to function as an addict, I no doubt need to have an insane-crazy-OMG! kind of amount of makeup. I’ve loved MAC since February 2005, just before Madame B launched. I bought every single shadow from that launch, which was twice as many shadows as I had originally (Amber Lights, Bronze, Goldmine).
The beginning of my love affair with MAC began with the multitude of beautiful, pigmented products; both eyeshadows and pigments had stolen my heart. I had never been into makeup prior to MAC; I didn’t even know what blending was when I started crushing on the brand! I was eighteen, and makeup appealed to me on an entirely new level. MAC does something no other brand had done to me: it caught me, and it caught me good.
There is something about the folks over at marketing that just know how to draw you into the store and give you something that keeps you coming back. I find so many are quick to fall for the brand once they’ve stopped in or bought a few products. I personally feel that a lot of it is their price point, which falls above drugstore, but still below the majority of high end brands (like NARS and Urban Decay). You can get the wonderful experience of talking to artists and playing with products before you purchase them, which you can’t get at most drugstores, but the prices aren’t outrageous (obviously, in comparison). But anyway, they had me hook, line, and sinker from the get-go.
This post is ultimately photographs of my eyeshadow collection, which I keep in 15-pan palettes. I do have a few pre-made quads as well as my staple smoky eye quad (containing Carbon, Casablanca, Ricepaper, and Vex) that are not photographed. I recently depotted 34 eyeshadows (and I need to do some blushes, too), so I had to rearrange my palettes and thought now would be a great time to take photos!
Here are a few answers to questions I’m sure plenty of you have:
How long? I’ve been buying since February 2005–that’s over three years of “collecting” so-to-speak. I didn’t get this much overnight!
Do you buy everything? No, no, no. If I did, I would have four or five times as much, not to mention I would be homeless! Over the years, I have swapped away shadows and products, so this has been very much an evolving collection. I never buy for the sake of buying; I buy what I like, and at this point, I do try to avoid getting 10,000 dupes of the same color (aka Deep Truth and its many, many variations).
Is this the biggest collection? NO! There are dozens of people who have posted photos of what they own, and what I own pales in comparison. I have a decent amount, but many have much, much more.
Why palettes? When I do a look, I like to open up a palette with a color family in mind, e.g. green, and then I can look at all the greens and pick what I think will work the best. I find this makes what I own much more accessible, in comparison to keeping shadows in their pots. I also find that this presents a much easier storage solution that takes up less room than individual shadows.
How can you travel then? I have about four or five empty quads that I have available to take with me. I usually go on short trips, so one or two quads is plenty. In the event of a longer one, I might take all of my quads, or I might take a full 15-pan palette or two (picking and choosing select colors, of course).
Don’t you feel this is a waste of money/overboard? No, not in the least. This is my take on it: makeup is my hobby of choice. Most people have at least one hobby, if not several, and they pour their money into it. Some like stamps, others are into crafts. Not all hobbies cost the same, and some even are more like investments. Makeup makes me happy, and I don’t buy more than I can afford. It’s only a problem when it interferes with you living a normal, healthy, and happy life–like when you get into disastrous debt as a result.
You can see close-ups of the seven palettes (updated with names!)…
A reader recently asked me to do a post of what I keep my shower caddy, and I’ve been meaning to do a post like that for awhile now, so what better incentive?
To be honest, I’m currently operating using all available tub-rim space possible, rather than a shower caddy. Partially because we nixed our previous one when we moved to the new apartment, and partially because I can’t stomach $20 for a new one (and thus have been waiting to snag one at a discount store, but haven’t gotten around to it yet). But even so, I’ve never been able to cram all my shower goodies into a single caddy.
So below you will find all of the buddies I currently keep in my shower. If there’s a link, that means I’ve done a full review on the product in the past, and you can read it by clicking the link!
Hey all! You’ll notice in the previous two posts, there are still photos of both my MAC and non-MAC stashes. I also uploaded two videos to coincide with the still photos, too. I’ve been hit with a nice bout of allergies today, so my voice may sound a bit gritty (well, grittier than usual).
I meant to take these photos ages ago, because I finally organized everything back in March, but alas, time is precious and I wasn’t able to find a chunk of time until this afternoon! This post contains photos and brief descriptions of my MAC Cosmetics products.
, I found myself getting two of the 
