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Do you have a dedicated space for your makeup?


Do you have a dedicated space for your makeup? Share!

I have a loft, which is where I keep the majority of products before they’ve been photographed (it is also where I take the photographs). I have a second bathroom that’s just for me to use for when I apply my makeup (so there aren’t a lot of temperature fluctuations, though the shower is in a separate room), where I keep basics like foundations, brushes, etc. I’m using a spare bedroom that holds the “archive” so-to-speak, which are products that I’m keeping that have already been tested!

Thanks to reader Me for today’s question! Do you have a question idea? Submit yours here.

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Melinda Avatar

Yes. I have a vanity where I put on my makeup, and I keep all my brushes on there in two vases. I keep my most used makeup in all the drawers, and next to the vanity I have a makeup train case I keep all the rest. I keep all my extras, and unused makeup in my closet.

xamyx Avatar

I have a huge closet with built-in shelves that are quite large. In there I keep foundations, lipstick, and other face products. I also keep my Sterilite drawers in there, and those house eyeshadow singles/duos & small palettes. I keep my larger palettes in bins under my bed, as well as nail polish. My brushes, primers, concealers, & mascara/liquid liners are kept in pretty boxes on top of my dresser, and liners are in cups in the closet. Every day products like sunscreen & TMs are kept in the bathroom, although I keep only 2-3 in there, as well as 1-2 powders. As I type this all out, I realize I have way too much makeup, LOL!

Amanda Koker Avatar

I need an extra room, but my stash is all on my desk in our study. My computer can hardly breathe between all the makeup. It’s another reason why I like putting all my stuff in palettes. Keeps them organized and saves space.

Kalli Avatar

Yes! I have a vanity dresser where I’ve always done my makeup, with a lighted makeup mirror. Last year, I cleaned out all the drawers of junk and organized my makeup into it.

Lizzi Avatar

As of right now, everything is crammed into the bathroom/packed. But me and the fiancé are getting a bigger apartment with the 5th as the move in date. The second bedroom is all for me as an office/makeup vanity & storage. I’m looking forward to going to ikea to see what I can use.

Ryou Avatar

Most of my possession (including make-up, most are new and in box, no less) is locked in a self-storage unit in USA where my husband is, with some stuff still left behind in my home country. I only keep a small train case with me, plus three business card holders that hold all my loose eyeshadow samples. They’re usually on my desk but they’ve been hidden in my closet to protect them from a heatwave we’re having.

I sincerely hope I can end this nomad’s lifestyle soon, although the initial plan to move to the USA might be scrapped due to financial issues that makes immigration procedure near-impossible. No idea how to move all my stuff down here, though, it was easier to move them to the US because international flights to North America get SO much more baggage allowance compared to flights to other destinations.

Samantha Avatar

I just recently re-organized my vanity and decluttered a lot of stuff, and here’s what I ended up with; I have the Ikea malm dressing table with two Alex 9 drawer systems on each side of the vanity. On top of the Malm table I keep my makeup brushes, beauty blenders, a magnified mirror, hand sanitizer, My daily face moisturizer, cotton rounds and q-tips, skindinavia setting spray, a little jar with all of my eos lip balms and 1 acrylic lipstick organizer (holding 24 lipsticks) where I keep all of my favorite lipsticks at the moment. I had plans to put a couple of muji drawers on top as well, but I didn’t want it to be too crowded. Inside the drawer of the malm dressing table I keep all of my favorite products, or things that I’d like to use more often. On top of the alex 9 drawer systems I have some of my perfumes on one, and my favorite body lotions on another. I could go on and on and bore everybody, but i’ll stop at that. I don’t know why I felt the need to say all that instead of simply stating the organization I use..but oh well lol.

Erin Avatar

Unfortunately, no. Unless you count my shelf in the bathroom medicine cabinet. I have a small European apartment, so it’s not really possible without some major reorganizing which I’m not willing to do.

Veronica Avatar

No. My most used makeup lives on a drawer in my bathroom vanity, my bathroom is divided by a wall and door between the vanity and the toilet/shower, so there is no humidity in the vanity area.

The rest of my stash lives in Sterlite drawer units stacked on shelves in my closet.

Mindy Avatar

I had a makeup room, but now it’s the nursery so I’ve been slowly downsizing my stash to fit in one Ikea Alex 9 drawer and will be putting that in my bedroom. I store what I’m currently using (so minimal product) in my vanity area of my bathroom, which is actually separate from the toilet and shower.
I hate destashing…

keG Avatar

I use my entire linen closet for makeup. I have plasic and fabric bins to keep things organized. This way, when I have company, no one has to see my vast collection, and it keeps my countertops free of clutter. I also like the closet because there is no exposure to sunlight or heat.

xamyx Avatar

Linen cabinets are great, and that’s what I used to use. However, in my current apartment, the pipes run directly behind it, and the laundry room is adjacent, so it gets too hot.

Rachel Avatar

Well that was pretty awesome! So organized and efficient. Although I admit I was happy to see that even you have some products that just can’t be stored neatly. That always aggravates me so much! 🙂 Also, Mellan is super cute.

A. Mar Avatar

I keep my storage units (Ikea Helmer) in the bedroom. I have a vanity dresser I do my makeup at. The room has great natural lighting and is really the only room with decent temperature consistency. All my skincare is stored in the medicine cabinet. It works for me! I live in a small space.

Ashley Sarah Avatar

I never did have a space for my makeup until recently. It was all kept in makeup bags which was kind of messy. Now I have a four draw container under my computer desk, which is where I do my make-up. Having a designated spot for it has cleaned up the apartment lol.

Sarah Avatar

My guest bedroom has become “The Makeup Room”, as my friends fondly refer to it. I have my vanity in there, plus a lingerie chest of makeup, plus some plastic drawers in the closet… I also may have too much makeup.

Meghan Avatar

Yes, in my bedroom I have a vanity that my mom bought for me last year & an Ikea Malm 6 drawer chest. Makeup palettes are in one drawer of the vanity, while hair brushes & elastics are in another, and product samples (in packets) are in another. The Ikea Malm chest contains:
-face bases
-powders & highlighters
-blush, bronzers and eyeshadows
-lipsticks/ glosses and some skincare oils, masks, duplicate face bases that are too dark for me mid-winter
-hair styling products, oils, serums, creams, elastics, bobby pins etc.

I have another bathroom with more storage like for bigger skincare stuff, nail polish… I’m a makeup & skincare junkie!

Emily Avatar

When I calculated what it would cost to buy enough high-end cabinets like Christine’s to replace the Sterilite I’ve been using, it was crazy-expensive. So, instead, this past November, my husband built three huge cabinets and one 3/4-sized, all with adjustable shelves, and I moved the ugly plastic cabinets inside those. They are distributed throughout our bathroom, closet, and bedroom. Now the plastic shelving (with all the nooks and crannies that got so dirty) stays dust-free, and the enormous cabinets are way easier to keep clean.

While I was at it, I bought pencil cups, desk organizers, and those Linux plastic boxes to store most of my brushes, glosses, and lipsticks that were too large or shaped wrong to fit in a standard lipstick holder. These live on the top shelf of the closet cabinet, along with makeup that isn’t harmed by the cold. Before this, I was using a large plastic storage box with the pencil cups inside, and on top, four plastic tackle boxes (listed on amazon as fishing apparatus!), which my husband bolted together with blocks of wood to make two containers that each opened from both sides. It sounds silly, but what the doubte-tackle box thingies did was twofold: they held the double-sided brushes and kabukis that wouldn’t fit well in pencil cups, and, set side by side on top of the storage box, they acted as a removable cover for it, so my open pencil cups and the brushes in them didn’t get dusty. They were super-useful but not too pretty, so now they, too, are hidden in the big white cabinets.

Sorry for the long answer, but I think reorganizing stuff is really fun, and maybe my techniques will help someone with an equally sprawling collection. I got all of my early ideas from here and other bloggers.

Bonus: the organizing bug was contagious, and my husband built two more of the huge cabinets to store everything in our dining-room-that-acts-as-a-utility room. There’s so much more room to move around everywhere now!

J Avatar

No! I feel like I’m the only person, haha. I have a train case, a bunch of makeup bags, and loose makeup in pretty much every room in my house. Still trying to figure out a good space for all of it.

Tory C. Avatar

You must have so many products that you’ve tested that you aren’t interested in keeping. What do you do with all of those products? Ever considered a blog sale?

Samantha Avatar

I am sure that they really appreciate that! I worked at a domestic violence/sexual assault shelter and gave makeup tutorials/parties. Just showing the women how much fun makeup could be was entertaining, but seeing them regain self-esteem and confidence was what made it well worth it.

Susan Dowman Nevling Avatar

I have a Sterilite cart- 6 drawers and a large plastic box- same size as cart on top. I use the top for brushes, mirrors etc, and the drawers for make up and primers. It’s on wheels so I cover it with a white towel and keep it in my closet. I keep my skin care cleansing products in the bathroom cabinet and serums and moisturizer in two boxes on my night stand. Unfortunately, I don’t have a dedicated space to apply makeup so I sit on my bed with towels covering the linens. My house is about 100 years old and has nooks and crannies but the bedrooms and bathroom are on the small size.

zainab Avatar

I have on shelf, which is high enough to keep it out of my nearly three year old’s reach. I also have a spot in the fridge for my lipsticks because we’re having 40C and over weather and they’d probably go melty at room temp.

Emilie Avatar

My dresser top is where I keep everything (with the exception of skincare, tinted sunscreen, and my eyebrow grooming stuff, which is on my bedside table). I’ve got palettes stacked on top of each other, so I don’t have adequate storage stuff right now and it’s really unorganized looking. Hoping to get some stuff from the container store to put it in soon.

Michelle Avatar

I keep mostly eye stuff in a little plastic four drawer cart with a train case on top with lip stuff, mascara, and miscellaneous. Two coffee cups hold eye brushes and pencil liners. My lighting is horrible in the bathroom, but I prefer to put on face makeup in there so I can multitask with hair. So I have a small wire shelf, a basket, and another coffee cup for all my skin care, primer, foundation, brushes, blush, etc. Someday I’ll have a bigger place to live and organize my stuff logically.

Heather Avatar

Hi Christine! So happy to be back on Temptalia, for awhile you weren’t in my emails .. but now I am getting them again YEY. Ever since I was about 12 I have had what my family called, Heather’s make up table. Sometimes with a mirror and drawers and sometimes just a desk , whatever I had to do I always had and still have a table, desk whatever for make up, a spot to blow dry my hair , put my jewelry and get ready for work. I like to decorate it too, sometimes a retro old fashion feel with older bottles and an antique phone or sometimes I put tulle over it and make it like a drag queen station. lol SO much fun.

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