No one’s going to force you to chop off your lipsticks and put them in a pillbox to keep track of them. (How does that even work for touchups? Guess what, it doesn’t. Please don’t follow that Pinterest advice.) But we can get behind some simple, clever ways to find your favorite shimmer stick at the speed of light when you’re trying to get out the door. You’re welcome.
Invest in cheap plastic containers for drawer storage
Photo: Instagram/beautybysap
These little dollar-store finds will do wonders for corralling loose items. Keep lip stuff in one, eye stuff in another, and the like. Tracking down a lip liner that goes with your coral lipstick will entail turning over the lip-stuff container, instead of your whole drawer, in your manhunt!
Guard drawers with liners
Photo: Instagram/howjendoesit
Keep the inside of your drawers looking like new with a roll of budget liner. It’ll wipe clean with a wet paper tower after any nightmarish powdered blush spills.
Organize countertops with clear drawers
Photo: Instagram/Lindsay.lindley
If you prefer to keep everything in sight, consider a set of clear acrylic drawers. Two or three drawers alone will do wonders for putting the stuff you use the most within sight.
Store items with the labels visible
Photo: Instagram/mademoiselle_lala
Save yourself the trouble of opening all your MAC lipsticks to find the right red by storing them upside down. It works like a charm for nail polish, as well.
Take items out of bulky packaging
Photo: Instagram/taniamanuel87
Remove sponges, and cotton pads, balls, swabs and any other beauty disposables from bags, and tuck them into plastic containers. Keep said containers near related products like eye-makeup remover and toner.
Keep products handy where you’ll use them
Photo: Instagram/ushshl
Sounds a bit obvious, huh? Ban stuff you never use from your medicine cabinet, (like those weird plastic flossers), and save that limited storage space for stuff you use every day, like cleanser, moisturizer and the like. Line them up in the order you use them.
Store brushes upright in containers
Photo: Instagram/theninaexperience
Keep bristles intact with vertical storage in a pretty container. Easily DIY it with a dollar-store vase and marbles or beads.
Leave out your good stuff
Photo: instagram/moyeressentials
Some beauty essentials aren’t pretty, like your beat-up, discontinued eye shadow palette or the economy-size bottle of drugstore body lotion. Stash those in cabinets and drawers, and reserve ledges and open shelves for your prettiest items like boutique bath oils and diptyque candles.