Storage for Makeup Brushes

Now that I've got the Storage for Cosmetics out of the way, I will share with you how I store my makeup brushes. The easy answer is - brush stands ^.^ The hard part is to find the perfect brush stands. So I searched high and low on the internet for brush stands and got, well, paint brush stands. These would be fine for some of the smaller Hakuhodo eye brushes with standard long handles, but for everything else, especially the Koyudo fu-pas, they wouldn't do at all. So back to the drawing board. This time, I searched for pencil holders, which yielded a ton of aluminum or mesh wire holders. Nope. Tried again for desktop organizers and finally somewhere.

Having found some interesting looking desktop organizers, I applied my criteria. I didn't want plastic or metal. I had considered bamboo, but bamboo can be splintery, which is a no-go because it'll scratch the nice lacquer on some of the brush handles. So solid wood only. I must have looked through hundreds of shops on Etsy but found nothing I liked. I know, all that work just to find holder(s) for my makeup brushes. Crazy, right? I was this close to giving up when I stumbled upon some beautiful woodworks from the most unlikely place: a shop that specializes in organizers/holders for e-cigarette/vaporizer pipes, "juices," and accessories. 

My first thought was, hmm, e-cigarettes/vaporizers... 

My second thought was, damn, those organizers/holders are gorgeous! 

My third thought was, well, these organizers/holders may have been made for e-cigarettes/vaporizers, but I'm going to use them however I damn pleased! Who the hell cares anyway?

So I contacted the shop owner, a gentleman named Byron from Texas, and told him I'm looking for brush holders for makeup brushes. He thought it was a novel idea (he was being nice :P) because no one has ever approached him for such a thing, so why the hell not?! Damn right! He agreed to do some customization for me and asked for pictures of the end-product in action so he could post them on his FB xD 

Behold my lovely trio of desktop, vanity, and brush organizers, handcrafted with tender love and care from Texas Premier Woodwork (not affiliated)!

Aren't they just breathtaking? Originally the slots are rounded, because, well I don't know why xD So I asked for mine to be squares instead, to maximize storage space. Byron oils these wood organizers after they're finished, so when they arrived I let them sit for a few days for the oil to set. So there's no worries of the oil damaging the lacquer on the brush handles. I'm careful about the placements of these 3 organizers, and not just because the big 2 hold my precious brushes. I keep them all away from direct sunlight and sources temperature fluctuation and humidity. 

- Desktop Organizer: the outer measurement is 6(L) x 5(W) x 3(H) inches. Is made of alternating slivers of walnut and pecan, resulting in a beautiful pattern of light and dark wood.

As you can see, there's plenty of room for everything! I can probably fit at least dozen pens/pencils into those 3 slots, and the tray can hold a variety of things. Right now in the tray I have a mirror, Boscia Blotting Linen, sticky notes, Victoria's Secret Lip Scrub and Balm, an Ettusais Lip Gloss I never reviewed (it's clear, thick, smooth, and moisturizing, enough said), white-out tape, sticky page marker, Maybelline Baby Lips 05 Quenched, Paul & Joe Lipstick 106 Guava (an icky milky color so I wear it at home like a lip balm). 

- Vanity Organizer: the outer measurement is 10.25(L) x 9(W) x 4.25(H) inches. Again, is made of alternating walnut and pecan for a beautiful pattern of light and dark wood. There was one concern I had with this particular organizer, and that's with the taller row of slots being about twice the height of the shorter row. This means some of the short-handled brushes I store in the shorter row would have their ferrules touching the wood behind and on the two outer sides. With the wood being oiled, the ferrule touching is an absolute no-no for squirrel hairs and iffy with goat hairs. So the brushes that go into the shorter row can't be too short, that or they'll have to lean outwards. 

In the slots, I store brushes I don't reach for as often, including the synthetics and a few Stila brushes that survived my previous improper care. The tray is sizable as you can see, so I store a few synthetic kabukis, double-ended brushes I can't stand up obviously, and the mirror and microfiber cloth I use with makeup applications. 

- Brush Organizer: this is a custom item Byron designed for me, an organizer with 19 slots for brushes as well as a 2-tier tray for miscellaneous. I love love love this thing to pieces! The outer measure is 7(L) x 8.5(W) x 3(H) inches, and the whole thing is made of solid walnut wood. 

Of course I put all my often-used precious in this organizer! I even made a point to separate the squirrels from the goats, because I'm so fearful one day I might accidentally grab a squirrel brush and apply a cream something with it. Eeeps!!! So I designated the entire far left column of 5 slots to all squirrel and squirrel mix brushes ^.^ The big powder fluffies are on the outer side for easy access. As you can see, this brush organizer is the centerpiece in my bedroom, set on my vanity table in the shade.


The 2-tier tray is great for short and flat items. On the top removable tier, I stood my Koyudo H Series White Kinoko, and on the bottom tier I plan to store my H Series fan brushes when they arrive ^.^ I'll have to pad the bottom tier with something so that the fan brush ferrules don't touch the oiled wood, but otherwise that's an excellent space for them!

Given the taller-shorter row problem I had with the above Vanity Organizer, I made sure the taller row in this Brush Organizer isn't much taller, and the result is just perfection! Check it out - the shortest brushes I own (Koyudo fu-pas) have their ferrule well above the slots so that the hairs will never ever touch the wood! Love!!!