Updated Makeup Collection, Storage, and Lighting Ideas

Over the past few months I've sorted through my makeup collection and given away over 5 pounds of makeup, as well as constantly giving away products here and there to friends and family. I wanted to pare down my collection and organize my vanity area anew. Having done that has given me such a new found love for the products I already own, and I've rediscovered products that I forgot I had that were sitting unloved in the back of a drawer somewhere.

Many of you asked to see an updated collection video, so I filmed one and also took some pictures of my state of affairs at the moment. I didn't take a picture of every drawer, nor of all my eyeshadow palettes that I own, but I wanted to give a little peek behind the scenes of MissChievous.

Watch my video for lots of details, plus some tips on my furniture, storage solutions and lighting.

Whew! I know it seems like loads (and it is for the average person) but I think it's really not that gigantic compared to others on Youtube. I'm trying to reduce the amount of makeup I buy, I think over the last year and a half, I've really reduced the amount of money I spend on beauty products because I just want to enjoy what I already have. It's hard to find truly unique items anymore once you have a sizable collection. Of course, often I buy things specifically to review or use them in my videos, and some things I receive from PR.

I hope you enjoyed watching! :)

xo,

Julia

5 pounds of Makeup

Have you ever wondered what 5 pounds of makeup (about 2kg) looks like? Wonder no more!

About a few months ago I finally came to the point where I realized I needed to go through my collection and do a massive purge. I've been procrastinating until today where I finally got sick of seeing all this stuff just sitting around not being used, so I've thrown away a bunch of lipgloss and lipstick, and this is what still can be used.

I haven't completed my purge, I still have several drawers to go through and one whole cabinet of random stuff. I feel like I'm drowning in makeup, and hoarding all this stuff is taking the fun out of it for me. I'd rather have a smaller collection of products I actually use and enjoy, than have fives tubes of old lipstick stashed somewhere of the same hideous color family that I no longer wear.

If you're wondering where this is going, I don't think I'll be doing a blog sale quite yet. Most of this stuff is not high end, and with shipping costs being what they are in Switzerland, it would make no economic sense to sell them. Some of the things were sent by PR companies, which I obviously wouldn't sell for monetary gain, but the majority is my own.

I might do a blog sale if I have a bunch of high end makeup I want to be rid of, but for now I'm handing out this stuff to friends and family members for free. I'd be happy if someone else got enjoyment out of it.

Have you ever done a massive purge of your collection? How did you feel after?

Update: Thanks to some of your suggestions, I'm currently trying to find out from a local women's shelter if they will accept my makeup as a form of donation to the women they are hosting. I sent an email to see if they would like it, that would be an awesome thing to do and would make me feel not bad at all for getting rid of all this stuff!

My quick and easy depotting method

If you are someone who has a large collection of make-up, especially where eyeshadows and blushes are concerned, you will at some point want to find a better storage solution for all your products that takes up less space and is easy for traveling. The perfect solution for this is depotting eyeshadows and blushes from their packaging, and putting them into magnetized palettes.

The tricky part is getting the eyeshadow pan out of the packaging. Over the years I've relied on this very simple method to do just that, using basic tools that almost everyone has at home. The key item you will need for this method is a hair straightening iron, but since many women have this at home, this technique should be quite easy for most to accomplish.

Watch my video tutorial on how I depot my powder eyeshadows. In this demo I use a Catrice eyeshadow, but the same method can be used for almost all brands - I also use it for Illamasqua, MAC, and Lancome shadows. The only step you will have to do with these brands is to use a sharp knife to pop out the insert containing the pan before you place it on the heat element. This method works perfectly for powder products like eyeshadows, blushes, and powders.

Link to my video tutorial on Youtube

Bathroom De-Junking

Today I tackled my bathroom cabinet to sort out products I don't need anymore from the products I reach for a lot. Included in this was a huge assortment of skincare, makeup removers, body lotions, hair products, and other random things. In the past few years I've amassed so many products that I either purchased or were sent to me to try out, and for whatever reason, they just didn't end up working out and I had no further use for them, but didn't want to just throw them away so I kept them. Some are even great products, but everyone has different skin type so they didn't work out.

Well today I had enough of bottles falling out as soon as I opened my bathroom cabinet, so I went through everything and began to sort. Many things were nearly empty, which I ended up just tossing, and the products that were still usable but I had no use for I put in a box to give away to friends and family. Some of these things are even luxury and high-end items, but I just don't use them. Here's my box of nearly full items to give away, some things are a bit hidden below.

And here's my bathroom cabinets pared down to the products I actually use:

Much better oversight! I feel like I can now actually find and use what I need and want. I might do some more paring down in the next few weeks, I have another basket of products in my bathroom that I rarely look in, a lot of samples, face masks, lotions, sunscreens and other items, many of which probably just need to be tossed.

My Makeup Collection

After so many requests on Facebook, I decided to film an updated makeup collection and storage ideas videos. I'm really happy with my current set-up, so hopefully this will give you some ideas on how to create your own beauty space! I realize a lot of this stuff is from IKEA, but even places like Office Depot, Target and Walmart might have some good storage solutions.

I don't go crazy with buying too much makeup anymore, but I like to add new pieces now and then that will further my variety. So I won't buy my 10th nude color lipstick, but rather now I'd buy stuff that is very unique and I don't already have a similar product.

Link to the video.

DIY: Hair Extension Storage

Ever since I acquired some new hair extensions (review to come soon) I've been trying to figure out a way to store them in between use so they don't get all tangled. I didn't like the idea of laying them out in a drawer, or folding or tying them up somewhere, so I decided to make a DIY hair extension holder out of a coat hanger!

To do this you will need an enclosed coat hanger, some sturdy string, and scissors. Tie the string on one end of the hanger, and then wrap it multiple times around the hanger. At each end, wrap once around the hanger to make sure the strings stay in place and don't just slip off. Then when you have a few layers of the string, tie the end with a few knots and cut it off. This way each piece of the extension will have its own space, you won't have to clip multiple wefts onto one string.

And voila! Extension hanger extraordinaire! You could even cover this with a duster bag, the kind you get at the dry cleaners, but I don't have one.

My new IKEA Storage

Today I headed to IKEA with my boyfriend as we've been meaning to make a few purchases recently. We decided instead of wasting money on silly Christmas gifts this year, we'd just spend our allotted budget for improving our home and buy a few larger things that we've wanted for a while now. One of the items I desperately needed was additional makeup storage, so my original plan was to get the Helmer cabinet. But upon seeing how tiny (and ugly) that one was, I realized that wasn't going to cut it, so I decided to go for the large, 9-drawer Alex unit. It was on sale too for about $100, down from $150. This drawer unit is absolutely perfect for beauty product storage as the drawers aren't too wide or deep, making it perfect for lots of smaller items on the top 5 smaller drawers, and some bulkier items on the larger bottom 4 drawers. I would recommend the large Alex unit for the serious makeup junky or collector, as it offers a lot of space. The Helmer unit would probably suffice if you have a smaller collection, and it's also a favorite among nailpolish junkies as it fits the bottles perfectly.

Alex was a bit of a pain to assemble...but instead of asking my boyfriend to do it, I decided to "man up" and do it myself for a change. Girls can do this stuff too! And with my shorter nails, I didn't even have to worry about breaking them either - hah!

Looking a bit worse for wear after a long, long day. I haz a hammer!

Whoopee! One drawer screwed and assembled, 8 to go. *sigh*

Finished!! Isn't Alex handsome??

Standing next to my vanity - excuse the untidiness! I also got a beautiful orchid at IKEA - my fav flower.

My previous plastic storage set - begone ugliness! Hiding the hideousness beneath my vanity. My old traincase seen on the far right. Can you believe that all my makeup used to once fit in that thing??!!! LOL!

Top drawer: Nail care supplies and Sally Hansen backups - plastic insert also from IKEA.

All my nailpolishes fit in one drawer - omg! It looks like so much less, but there's over 100 bottles in here I believe. I definitely prefer this over a polish rack, less dust and more space. I decided to organize them in rows by brand as I can easily find the color I'm looking for that way.

Random stuff and some things for giveaways.

All brand new stuff to give away in a contest.

I found a better home for my butterflies...

My new orchid plant - so pretty. And so much cheaper at IKEA!

Some of the other drawers just have some random bulky things in but most of them are still empty. Which is what I like - more room to grow. I'll probably do some more re-organizing tomorrow and dedicate one drawer to hair tools and my GHD flat iron and other hair things. This is definitely the best purchase I made since my Malm vanity table!

What do you think? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for looking :) Toodaloo!

xo,

Jules

Lip Products Re-Organized

My vanity table is starting to reach its maximum capacity in products; it's becoming difficult to find things. Today I reorganized my lipstick tray so that I can actually see the products easily without having to rummage through finding a particular lipstick or gloss. I hated doing that!! I basically switched around the trays I was using for holding blushes and lipsticks, then jammed the lipsticks in with the labels up so I can easily read the shades and brand.

I've organized the lipsticks by brand, starting on the left and working over to the right: MAC, Nars, Illamasqua, NYX, Rimmel, L'Oreal, Barry M. Then lipglosses from MAC, Kiko Milano, NYX, Obsessive Compulsive, and Gosh.

SO much better this way! And it's made me realize I still have quite a bit of room for additional lip products on the right side, where I currently am housing a Bobbi Brown Shimmerbrick and some blushers to jam up space so the lip products stand upright. Hah!

How do you store your lip products? Do you have to rummage through a drawer trying to find the shade you're looking for, or are you able to locate them easily using a similar setup as myself?

IKEA releases a new MALM vanity!

So you probably all know the infamous MALM vanity from IKEA by now that I, and many other makeup enthusiasts, own.

A lot of people, however, just don't have space for this vanity in their home because it is 191cm in length. IKEA has now released a new, smaller version of the MALM vanity that measures 120cm in length! In a recent video I saw on Youtube, the drawer inside looks like one solid compartment, versus the 4 individual compartments of the larger one. But everything else looks pretty much the same!

May be worth checking out at your local IKEA store if you always wanted a MALM vanity but size was an issue for you. Please check your country's IKEA website for prices, locations, etc as prices vary from country to country.

If you want to see my vanity area, I took these pictures over a year ago when I originally purchased the vanity. I would say my collection has doubled or tripled by now though as these pictures are quite outdated; I had to buy a separate little chest of drawers for extra storage and I'm running out of space again! It's getting a bit ridiculous, honestly. I'll have to do some re-organization soon.