For most products, I organize by brand, and then within brand, I organize by type (or sometimes, size of a compact). I don’t usually organize by color or alphbetize products, but my MAC lipsticks are alphabetized. For eyeliners and lip liners, in the archives, I have them separated by high-end/budget-friendly.
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I organize by 1) frequency of usage; 2) type of product; and 3) color family.
For example, I have my every day makeup in my bathroom where I do my face. (Those are held in 3 cosmetic bags.) However, I have a small bathroom, so most of my makeup has to be stored in a bedroom organizing system (stackable drawers).
Then I group all items like primers, foundations, concealers together. Then all the blushes, bronzers, and highlighters– powders and creams are sub-grouped. All the eyebrow, eyeliner, and mascara stuff together. All the eyeshadows together. All the lipsticks– pencil liners, traditional, liquid, gloss.
Then within those groups, I might organize according to color family. The lipsticks range from pink to deep burgundy, left to right. (But it’s not easy to color-coordinate the eyeshadow palettes– I stick those wherever they fit according to size and shape… and I only have black mascara.)
I tend to mix up the brands within those categories. I definitely have “special occasion splurge” brands like Tom Ford in the mix, but they’re still stored with other brands according to type and color.
I don’t which is the problem. I use to divide everything into product categories like lipsticks, foundations, eye shadows, etc. And then within categories like liquid lipsticks, traditional bullets, etc. and then by color. That didn’t work. I know I have the perfect mauve lipstick and it should be right here and then I discover that it read more brown on me than mauve and was in with the browns which I don’t have many of since I look terrible in them. And I started hearing YT gurus talking about “top drawer” products so started moving things into piles that I would use daily and that didn’t work since I would never dig anything else out. I don’t have a rotation system. I just get up in the morning and think, okay to day feels like a neutral brown day with a coral lipstick. Nothing I have tried has worked for me. I am leaning towards organizing by brand since I know that I have a particular Chanel eye shadow palette. I also recently watched a YT video where the young woman goes through on Sunday night and picks a product from each category and commits to using those products for the next week. That might remind me to use products that I have tucked away and don’t remember that I have them.
I am hoping that there will be some really get organizational ideas. I like the actual organizing systems that I have. I am definitely an antiques girl and have several pretty turn of the century cupboards and a lovely vanity so whatever system will have to work in those storage tools. I have reorganized so often that my daughter runs when she hears me mention that my current method is not working.
Does it make sense to have different systems for different categories of products like lipsticks stored by color but eye shadows by brand? Foundations by finish?
It was all a lot easier when I had one foundation, one powder, 5 lipsticks and a couple of eye shadows, LOL.
Basically by type. Lipsticks are kept together in several areas, including where I keep those not presently in rotation, another spot on top of my makeshift “vanity” for those I currently am reaching for most. Single eyeshadows are mainly kept in 2 stackable trays in the top drawer of my Sterlite, also all brushes are kept in a tumbler inside the corner of that drawer, the other corner has my gel liners, eyeshadow primers, etc. 2nd drawer is most of my larger eyeshadow palette, the rest are crowding out the socks in my sock drawer! Bottom drawer stores cheek and lip products in plastic trays, lip liners held together with a ponytail tie, same for pencil eye liners. All my MAC singles quads are kept (mostly?) in MAC holiday Lipglass thingy that I took the inside out of. Liquid lipsticks and glosses are in my son’s coffee mug (he’s gonna kill me if he ever knew!) and a large glass. And now I’ve secured a little acrylic makeup organizer, it’s not as large as I thought it would be. #LifeOfAMakeupAddict
I organize most products by brand. The items I organize by function because I reach for them daily include primers, foundations, concealers, correctors, finishing powders, mascara, lip liners, lip glosses and lipsticks. Lip products are organized loosely by season (spring/summer and winter/fall)
does it fit in the small, everyday bag and will you use it every day? ok put it in the small everyday bag. is it too big for the bag but you will use it every day? ok onto the windowsill. does it fit neither of these? put it in the Big Bag in the cabinet.
boom. I have a small collection, ha.
I organize by type. Bronzers in this drawer. Highlighters in this. Mascaras in this jar. Eyeliners/pencil type products in this jar. So and so on
I’m impressed by alphabetizing but I don’t have time for that. My stuff is organized by what I use frequently (that is kept in my little bathroom, in a cabinet; lipsticks and eyeliners are stood up in an empty Godiva chocolate box; shorter handled brushes are also in that box. Smaller palettes are lined up on their ends almost like books on a shelf and the “bookends” that hold them in place are the Godiva chocolate box and another box that holds pressed face powder and blush compacts. On the shelves above are moisturizers, primers, facial sprays and MAC quads stacked in short piles as well as Nars duos and all my cream shadow jars, along with foundations. Some shelves in the small sink vanity hold cleansers, toners, BB and CC creams and masks. A large drawer in my dresser holds stuff that’s rarely used or not currently in the “rotation” and another drawer in my daughter’s former bedroom holds rarely used stuff that I still want to keep but isn’t “worthy” of better real estate!
It’s a pain but with MAC lipsticks, it’s necessary. There are just soooo many. I do keep the permanent ones separated from limited edition/discontinued shades, but I probably have 1,000 LE ones at this point from MAC, lol.
I organize by product type, then by brand within that. Except for my palettes – those are in a large vanity drawer and I have them organized by size… it’s more aesthetically pleasing 🙂
I have my makeup in three spots – a carrying case I travel with, for things I use the most; one of the clear drawer units for most things that don’t get used as much, and a larger drawer unit for things I almost never reach for.
In the travel case, things are mostly split by what they are – brushes, liners and lip products, face products (there’s actually two sections for those), and palettes that travel with me. In the clear drawers, there’s lip things (I have a lot of lipstick, I love lipstick), blushes, miscellaneous face products again. In the larger drawer unit it’s mostly loose eyeshadows and extra cleaning supplies: facial wipes, brush cleaner, isopropyl alcohol, Cetaphil, various cleansers/moisturizer (I’ve been having some issues with my skin recently, so I keep trying products to try to alleviate it). There’s also a cup for brushes that I don’t use as much, and a knock-off beauty blender that I just sort of didn’t mesh with.
Lipsticks – By type (cream, frost/high shimmer, lipgloss, matte, sheer). Then by tone (cool/warm). Then within tone, by shade.
Eyeshadow singles – By finish (matte/shimmer/frost and metallic) and then by shade.
Eyeshadow palettes – Divided up by intensity (bold vs. neutral)
Blush and highlighter – By tone (cool/warm) and then by intensity/shade.
Eyeliners – Grouped by shade
Lip liners – Grouped by tone (cool/warm)
I keep all my eye products together, my face makeup together and moisturizer-primer-setting sprays together. I lay them out in groupings in order of application.
It’s by type per draw, then by brand if I can.
I just organize according to how often I’ll use a given item — so favorites and most frequent wear items closer at hand. I don’t have enough items or time lately to do more than that. So not much of a system but I think I’m needing one now, and I shall learn from others’ posts.
I organize by product and in the dedicated drawer by Color. Not by brand.
Separated in trays within drawers in the following categories: Foundations, Concealers, Face Palettes, Powder and Cream Blushes/Bronzers/Highlighters, Eyeliners, Eyebrow Products, Eyeshadow Singles and Primers, Eyeshadow Palettes, Lip Products.
I organize by brand, then product, then alphabetize (i.e. I have all of my Mac blushes together, then I alphabetize those).
Nope no organization at all! I have a smaller collection than others on this forum, and I have just recently moved and will be moving again twice in the following 3 months, so everything was in a cardboard box and two travel makeup bags. My brushes are all in three brush rolls. I guess the real only “organizing” is that I put all my cheek products in one makeup bag, and all my lipstick in another in storage.
I organize by product type and then by frequency used!
All of my palettes are in order by height, the smaller compacts are in a drawer randomly.
My lipstick is in a Zahra Spinning Lipstick tower in order by brand, the others are in lipstick holders also by brand.
Brushes are in order by size (bigger in one “cup” and smaller in the other).
Primers and brow items are in a drawer together
Foundations and concealers are in standing in an organizer together.
My collection is primarily organized by use, but some are organized by brand for easy storage. My large eye shadow collection is separated by type (loose, cream/hybrid, pre-made palette/singles & DIY palette), then by color. My lipsticks and glosses have their own bins and are organized by color.
My DIY palettes are separated by how I use the color (lid shade, outer corner, crease, highlight). I’ve been thinking of a slight re-org by scheme lately. I’ve been craving the yellow/orange/red palettes that have been released even though I have dupes or better versions that work for my skin tone. The grouping of those shades is pretty to look at.
By type. I have a few drawer organizers in my draws, but with a variety of product..one organizer might hold highlighters while another holds blushes all in the same drawer. Within those organizers, I put the products in size order, mostly so I can see everything. I organize my drawers by what the product does: base products in one drawer (primer, concealers, foundations, powders) but they all have their own little organizers in that drawer. The other drawer holds powder products (blushes, bronzer and highlight) and the last drawer holds all eye products (besides palettes because they’re too big and are displayed) such as eyeliners (divided by colors), pigments, colourpop, glitter, etc. I have a little drawer unit on my vanity to hold skincare, most used eye products (brow pencil, eyeliner, current mascara, etc) and other little tools like eyelash curler and tweezers.
I absolutely love organizing my makeup and being able to go through a specific type of product to see what I haven’t used in a while. Once an organizer unit gets too full or I start using only what’s on top, I declutter and get rid of things to keep my products fresh and well used (or to buy something new lol)
For stash:
By type (e.g. foundations, bronzers, brows, etc), but lipsticks by brand.
For current season use:
By type, but lipsticks by color.
For current most-used:
All together and ready-at-hand in a small open box.
Face: By product type.
Blushes and highlighters: By product type and brand. Singles are depotted and put in magnetic palettes. Pre-made palettes are stacked on a shelf next to those.
Eyes: Eye products are by far the largest part of my huge collection. I organize by product type. Eye palettes get stacked by size/shape and whether they’re brights or neutrals. Singles and duos are depotted and sorted by color family into magnetic palettes.
Loose powders and pigments: Face and cheek products are sorted into drawers. Eyes are sorted by color family in small, clear, plastic tubs with labelled lids.
Lips: By product type. Lipsticks are by sub-categorized by brands. Lipliners are sorted by color.
Brushes and tools: By type.
Nail polish: By color. Nail tools are in a basket.
Skincare: Cleanser and clay mask is in my bathroom. Moisturizer, toner, sunscreen, etc. are in a vanity drawer.
I am fortunate to have a very big vanity . Things are organized by type of product, put in to the right type of organizer and then put in to the drawers . For lipsticks I keep the original package next to each lipstick or I’d never know which was which . Any back up purchases or stash is kept under my bed in train cases.
1 vanity-top sorter for products in current rotation.
Storage: 1 box for Chanel, 1 for MAC, 1 for Nars, 1 for Colourpop. All products and colors together, divided up by brand.
All other lipsticks of all other brands in 1 box, divided into compartments, sorted by color family.
All other products (blush, bronzer, eyeliner) stored together in separate boxes or drawers based on product type, regardless of brand or color.
You just had to know there were going to be some creative answers to this one! I organize by type; since most of my products are stored under my sink (I know – but my bathroom is cool and dry – it’s probably the coldest spot in the house) it helps to keep like things together. Eyeshadows in palettes in the back since they’re the bulkiest/tallest, cheek and base products in a jumbo Tory Burch toiletry bag, highlights, bronzers and face palettes next to the face products and in front of the eye palettes; eyeshadow quads in medium makeup bags one behind another, and then singles in two bags next to the quads – split by frequent use and infrequent (cream v powder still had me digging too much) and then current skincare along the far right to the back; brushes liners and liquid and stick shadows (think Armani eye tints) are all in designated cups on the vanity.
My linen closet is where everything else lives, segmented mostly into large clear shoeboxes – masks gets it own for all the different types, backup skincare that I use and finish frequently spills into two (bulky boxes, deluxe samples, etc), backup tools in another – like Clarisonic heads, razor blades, polish remover and I keep a separate shelf for samples – which is a love/hate. I’m on a mission to work through and properly use duplicate open skincare items to focus down to the ones I really prefer and not bring in new ones and to work through my samples. It’s a little tedious in that you end up with little packets and bottles everywhere, but I’m determined to go through them and the non-holy grail skincare items before bringing anything new in. I’ve been doing this successfully with shampoo/conditioner, body wash, and lotion (to a lesser degree) that was accumulating in the other linen closet. Ideally, I’ll eventually attempt this on the color cosmetic side, but that’s a more daunting task and there is still more coming in on that side that isn’t going back out. It’s a work in progress!
I organise my stash by:
1. Every day usage – a bag that contains one mascara,eye brow pencil, setting powder, highlighter and blush.
On the bathroom bench is my daily moisturiser, primer, foundation and tub of brushes
2. Eye shadows are divided by colour – blues, greens, neutrals, mixed. I rotate one neutral and one or two colour quads/quints per fortnight or so.
3. Lipsticks are all in a bag on the bench – I really need to sort those out so I can find the colour I want more easily.
Right now my palettes are in two cardboard mail sorter type containers, and I have them roughly divided by colorful palettes and neutral palettes (give or take a couple that just needed a space to fit). My lipsticks are divided by brand, same with my indie brand shadows and singles. My blushes and highlighters don’t really have a rhyme or reason right now, but when I move in August I plan on getting better storage, and at that point it will probably be by brand. I know a lot of people organize by color, but I prefer brand because the formula is usually consistent and I have a good memory for associating colors with brands.
I organize by formula within a train case, with each tray as follows:
– jumbo eyeliner pencils and liquid liner
– standard eyeliner pencils
– liquid highlighter and cream contour
– concealer, brow products, mixing mediums, primers, mascara
– eyeshadow, blush, bronzer/contour
Lipcolors are stored in a plastic tray that fits in a drawer, with each compartment as follows:
– liquid lipstick, stains, lip tar
– bullet lipsticks, pan lipsticks, balms
– gloss
Palettes are stored separately in a drawer by size
Brushes are stored horizontally in a large, flat, plastic bead organizer (with adjustable rows) by both size and type (face vs eye brush)
At the moment, foundation is just loose on my bathroom counter, as the bottle is annoying to store otherwise
Such as it is I organize by purpose, all foundations together, eyeshadows, blushes etc. Then I separate by brand where appropriate…blush, highlighter, single eyeshadow. Eye liners are organized by color, Lipsticks by brand. Concealers are divided according to whether high end or drug store. Eyeshadow palettes by size then brand.
I realize now that the guiding force behind my organization has been space requirements rather than any well thought out strategy, lol.
I’m trying to come up with a better way to avoid forgetting my small eyeshadows. I stack them mostly by size so I can see better inside my two Ikea dark wood ones not the Alex cabinets which are getting full. I have these two cabinetas in each side of the sink the top three shelves are glass then three drawers. On top I put my eyeshadows on the left side inside a beautiful cardboard flowered box, the bigger ines on the side. Middle one is for blushes, powders and highliters. Bottom one I use for lipsticks I keep a rectangular lid on the back and on the front keep a cute broken tile oval container with my loot sticks for the season. On my right shelve I keep eyeliners, mascaras, liquid lipsticks, tweezers and such all in candle pretty glass containers or a few owl coffe mugs. My brushes for eyes and two other cups for blush, highliters. Second row is P.F. blushes and powders, bronzers, lip balms I love PF. blushes especially for heading out to exercise they look so natural. Bottom shelf miscellaneous small things cottons in a glass jar, face masks, my latest collection of Colourpop eyeshadows, q-tips in another cute glass jar. Oh! I use all my family’s iPhone boxes to separate powders, small eyeshadows, etc. The entire WetnWild unicorn set. Lol! I find it easy within view and I can rotate easily. I’m liking my invention! Working on better placement for my eyeshadow palettes I don’t own big ones only up to 12 shades.
On drawers I keep headbands, rollers, and more big sized highliters, pms pads and tampons separate on one, hotel little shampoos and some empty small containers for traveling. I keep my daily spf, facial wash, facial wash and moisturizer in a cute yellow box on top of my sink and a few foundations as well.
Type-brand-from light to dark
First of all, reading these replies, I feel really unorganized! Some of you have a serious system, and I want to be you when I grow up.
Since I don’t have a lot of space to store things and unfortunately have no room for the Alex drawers from IKEA (I used to look at those and think “there’s no way I’ll ever have that much makeup” Ha!) I store things by type. Which helps because when I look at new highlighters or blush, for example, I know those drawers are full. And I haven’t come close to hitting pan on anything. The only thing I’ve made exceptions for is eyeshadow palettes because we all have our weaknesses lol. So the new ones (there’s only a couple…for now) get stacked on top of the palette organizer until I figure out what else to do with them.
I organize them by type, brand and sometimes color. So for example: eyeshadow cream, Maybelline, nudes.
I usually organize by category and then size of compact! I try to at least make it somewhat easier on myself to find something! Haha!
I organize first by type of makeup. The bullet lipsticks are organized first by brand, then by color within that brand. I keep liquid lipsticks in their own little drawer (I don’t have many and they all tend to be dusty mauve-type colors). I have an organizer specifically for palettes. And another one for single eyeshadows, which I organize by brand and then by how often I use the color. Cheek and face powders have its own drawer, as do mascaras and eyeliners, which I keep together. I keep my foundations, primers, and setting/finishing sprays in their own tray.