Thinking outside the box

Make up storage was becoming somewhat of a nightmare for me. It shouldn't have been, because there are hundreds of storage solutions available, but I was on the lookout for something practical, yet pretty and budget friendly. My Mam is a very creative person, and lives by the motto "If you can't find what you are looking for, make it yourself". And so, I have. Well... kind of. After rearranging my bedroom on Thursday, I realised that I never actually showed you my make up storage. But that's okay, it wasn't anything special - just a load of boxes and drawers stacked on top of a shoddy old desk. Very practical but very ugly, which bothered me! This is my new 'make up station', a lot more pleasing to the eye :

And the best part? Most of this was stuff that I either already had, gifted to me, or 'borrowed' from other rooms of the house, so it hardly cost a penny. If I was to do this by repurchasing everything from scratch, I doubt it'd cost more than £150 anyway, so hardly budget breaking.

The actual table is less than 6 months old. My brother was using it in his room for his TV, but he is blind and to watch TV he has to sit up super close so that he can make out shadows and colours. It was uncomfortable for him to sit high up, so he bought a new, lower table. I jumped at the chance to have this one from him because it is the perfect size. It has one little drawer which I store my skincare in, and a shelf on the bottom where I store my main make up collection.

The mirror was a gift from my Mam and Dad. I'm not sure where it was from or how much it cost, but I saw one similar in Dunelm Mill yesterday, if it wasn't the exact same one. The butterfly is a clip on one from Hobbycraft. My Gran, my Mam and I each bought some last year, and I found this one lurking around unused. I already have mine clipped to my living room mirror and thought it looked really sweet, so I replicated it on this mirror. I think they were only about £3.

The three perfume bottles in the middle were a Christmas gift, also from my parents, and the two at each end were 'borrowed' from my Mam's lounge. I think they look better in my bedroom than her lounge! The lamps are from Ikea and I've had them for years. I'm sure they're still available and they also do them in different colours. I don't use them to apply my make up because they cast a pink glow, but they're perfect for creating a bit of ambience in the room. Here is a bigger one I keep on my chest of drawers, just to demonstrate the pretty pinkness of it.

My make up brush holders (with dirty brushes - apologies!):

I saw my Mam drinking tea from one of these the other day and thought it would look cute on top of the table with something in. I ended up putting my make up brushes in there, and used popcorn kernels to make them stand up. A temporary measure, but it does the job. She hasn't noticed the cup has gone from the kitchen cupboard yet! Whilst I was in Dunelm Mill yesterday, I saw it's twin looking sad and lonely on the shelf, so I snapped it up. For £1.49 it would have been rude not to, even if it was a replacement cup for Mammy. As it happens, I've put my face brushes in there, so now I have two pretty brush holders. And my Mam is still missing a cup...

These little pots are actually candle/tealight holders from Ikea. As I said, my Mother is extremely creative, so she has oodles of ribbons and embellishments in her craft room. I thought this pearly one was pretty and fitted well with the loose 'shabby chic / vintage' theme I was trying to create, so I just glued some around the candle holders. I put some cotton buds in one and some bobby pins in the other, both of which I need within easy reach.

So, onto the shelf underneath, complete with my radio! I can't live without my radio in the mornings. I listen to Radio 1, which wakes me up a treat. The box on the left holds my hairdryers, straighteners and curling tongs, and was bought for £1.49 yesterday in the Dunelm Mill sale. Only now I'm realising most of the things on my dressing table came from Dunelm Mill haha. It's covered in pretty, pink, rosy fabric and although it's a squeeze to get my goodies in, they do fit. Phew! The rose tin on the right was 'borrowed' from the kitchen. My favourite cake stand came in it so has been sitting reduntant in a cupboard. I use to to store my rollers, bobbles, hairbands etc.

The middle section holds my make up. I have a drawer unit from WHSmith which doesn't go with the room at all, but it is covered in cupcakes and is absolutely adorable. To be honest, my collection has outgrown it, but it will suffice for now.

The top left drawer holds my mascara, eyelash curlers and false eyelashes. The middle drawer on the top row holds all of my eyeliners - pencil, liquid, gel, glitter etc., and my pencil bases, like my NYX Jumbo Pencils and MAC Shadesticks. It is chockablock and is a pain to rummage through to find what I want, but I have a cunning plan for storing these in the future. The top right drawer holds my lip balms and lip pencils.

The middle row has two bigger drawers, and the left one holds my cheek products - all my MSF's, pot-form blush, bronzers, cream blush, highlighters etc. This is my favourite drawer of all.

The right drawer holds my eyeshadows and loose pigments. I don't store my MAC palettes in here because there's no room, but I have some Urban Decay palettes and Sleek palettes, aswell as my primers like Urban Decay Primer Potion and Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadows. The little plastic tubs are empty cotton bud tubs - always handy to store things within your storage.

The big bottom drawer holds my face make up, so my foundations, concealers, primers and powders.

My collection is pretty small compared to some, but it's still substantial and I'm forever rearranging things around in the drawers to find the best fit! On top of the drawers are my two MAC eyeshadow palettes, and my MAC blush palette. I have my most worn eyeshadows in one palette so it's easier to grab in the mornings, then the other has pressed pigments and my lesser worn colours.

Also on top of the drawers is my favourite part of my make up collection, my lipsticks and lipglosses. I store them in this gorgeous, ivory, wooden box that my parents got me for Christmas. It has roses painted on the lid and is the perfect size for lipsticks.

I put my lipglosses upside down in an old cotton bud pot so I can see the names. If a lipgloss is too big to stand up, I just lay it down at the front. To store the lipsticks, I cut the MAC lipstick boxes in half. I try to arrange them in colour order, from lightest to brightest, but because I store them upside down, I can read the names when I'm in hurry.

Phew, this was a bit of an epic post, but I wanted to show you some storage ideas aswell as my stash. You don't have to use boring boxes or pots, but if you do, try jazzing them up with some inexpensive embellishments. This is my favourite part of my room now, which is odd because my bed is there too... haha. When my budget allows, I'm going to buy a white, French style dressing table. That's the ultimate dream style for my room.

How do you store yours?

xoxo