Storage for Cosmetics

So after moving so many times in the past decade, I finally fulfilled my dream of having a *real* storage solution for my makeup collection. While I was away, they've been scattered in a few locations, at my parents' house, grandma's basement, etc. In Japan, Taiwan, and even San Francisco, I only had a few of my favorites with me, stuffed into various toiletry bags :( Since hubby and I moved home from the west coast, I decided my babies will no longer be subjected to toiletry bags, not even plastic tubberwares or organizers.

I had in mind exactly what I wanted, a multi-drawer craft chest. But locating one in a good size with good size drawers was a pain, not to mention the sticker shock. One place quoted me a whopping $800 for an oak-wood (the cheapest wood) unfinished chest with 12 drawers and stands to my chest. Finishing it (staining, painting, etc.) would be another $200, so a total of $1K plus tax! Erhh, come again?!?

I was really heartbroken thinking I'd never be able to afford decent storage for my goodies. Then came my dame in shiny armor: sis-in-law who was moving away to the west coast (I know, just as we moved home from there, they moved out there -.-"). She's an artsy one who's been doing craft since high school, and of course in her possession is a gorgeous unfinished craft chest with 14 drawers in 3 different sizes, also made of oak wood. She even took the pain to replace all the drawer knobs with quirky things. A craft chest with personality, just about perfect. And she gave it to me. For free. Weeeeheee *happy dance*

It took me a few months to set things up just right (no, serious!). I lined the drawers with padded liner sheets in 2 patterns, white polka dots on a Victoria's-Secret-pink background, and the same pink and white stripes. You can see these liners exposed with a couple of drawers below that aren't filled. Then finding the drawer trays, separators, and organizers was the toughest part. Thank goodness for the Container Store (not affiliated!), I found some stackable bamboo drawer organizers, bamboo drawer organizer trays, bamboo trays, and bamboo makeup organizers that are just perfect!

Here's the skincare drawer. Many of the items were parts of a set, or were GWP, and therefore came without a manufacturer's seal. So I seal them myself with saran wrap without ever opening them. I do not open anything until I use it, because exposing the content to air even just once will jumpstart its deterioration. 

Two base makeup drawers. One drawer (top photo) has bb creams, pressed powders, and highlighters. The other with loose powders, translucent or otherwise, with and without sun protection (will review more of these soon!). Oh, and some pot lip glosses and balms thrown in ^.^

Here are the three cheeks drawers. One drawer (top photo) has cream, gel, and liquid cheek colors, with a few pressed cheek powder tins/pots thrown in :P Another (middle photo) has pressed powder cheek colors from only Asian brands (Japan and Korea). The third (bottom photo) has pressed powder cheek colors from non-Asian brands (American, UK, etc.). See how those bamboo trays and organizers come in super handy? And see why I hate those Coffret D'Or Smile Up Cheeks (those bigg bubbly compacts in the middle photo)? They're really such a waste of space!

Here are three eye palettes drawers. One (top photo) has cream, gel, and liquid eye colors along with non-Asian palettes. See the pink and white polka dot (top photo) and the stripe (bottom photo) linings? ^.^ The other two drawers (middle and bottom photos) have all my Asian palettes, although as you can see about 90% of them are Japanese. 

This drawer holds all my eye shadow singles, and yes it's just one drawer, because the top two trays are stacked. The top photo shows the top stack and the bottom photo shows the lower stack.

These rest are drawers for lippies and eye liners. The shallower drawer holds lipsticks in standard size twist-up bullets, lip glosses, and lip stains. 

The deep drawer holds all my eye liners (pencils and liquids), eye primers/bases, chapsticks, glosses, lipsticks in taller pencil packaging, and lip pencils (balms, tints, etc.). And because it's deep, I stacked it. The two photos below shows the stacking compartments.

In fact, all the compartments in this deep drawer are removable so I took them out to show you ^.^ 

How do you keep your cosmetics organized?