My Affordable Beauty Storage : Makeup, Nails, Hair and Accessories Organisation Tips and Ideas!

Today I'm back with a post about beauty products organisation! I love to have everything organised in my home so I have been perfecting my makeup, nail, hair and accessories storage system ever since I started getting into makeup a few years ago.

I'm relatively pleased with how things are organised at the moment, so I thought I'd show you all how it looks along with a few tips and tricks I have picked up along the way to store everything neatly. Right now, everything is easy to reach and I can find what I'm looking for super quickly. It looks nice (in my opinion at least :P) and it's efficient! Do you have any makeup storage tips for me? Let me know in the comment section! ♥

Full Set Up

A few things you need to know about my set up :

- The white dresser does not contain any beauty products. It's just my clothes in there.

- I don't have a very big collection of beauty products. My full makeup collection fits within the first three drawers of the rainbow tower. Everything else is other beauty related items.

- Most of my nail polish is is the pink basket on top of the dresser. For reference, it can contain about 50 polishes (but they are tightly packed in there). I got the pink basket at Dollorama.

- All of the dividers that are inside the drawers were bought at the dollar store as well.

The vast majority of the stuff I use for organisation is very affordable and budget friendly.

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Rainbow tower

This rainbow tower contains all my makeup, nail tools, hair accessories, skin care and hot tools. I got it at Costco for 35$ It's great for keeping organised and it's super cheap :)

At the top, I keep :

- my light up double sided mirror

-a cute box (from the dollar store) which I store rarely used nail polish in

- my everyday skin care items : moisturizer  spot treatment, eye cream, lip scrub, eyelash curlers, body splash, eye makeup remover, hand lotion.

Dresser top

This is what I keep on my dresser. 

- I keep my makeup brushes in three vases I got from the dollar store filled with small plastic bead to help the brushes stand up.

- I keep my large palettes in a clear plastic file sorter from, you guessed it : the dollar store!

 Necklace organisation and clear tower

In the second white and clear tower, I keep hair products and tools plus travel sized items. I got this storage system at Walmart for 30$.

At the top I keep :

- 2 Double sided mirrors (both from the dollar store)

- My makeup wipes in their plastic container

- Cotton buds in a glass jar from the Dollar Store

-  Cotton Balls in an empty  Bath and Body Works candle which I recycled

- A small 8X magnifying mirror

As you can see, this is also where I keep my necklace collection. In order to help me find what I'm looking for quickly and to keep the necklaces from tangling up, I keep them on small nails that I have attached to the wall. They are divided by length and color.

This storage idea couldn't be more simple and cost-effective! It only costs 4 nails (so I'm guessing no more than a few pennies) and it looks cute on display like that!

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Now let's have a look at what's inside the drawers!

 ♥ First up is my eye makeup drawer! ♥

As you can see, I have divided this drawer using three plastic baskets. I have left one portion of the drawer empty to fit larger items. 

First basket : Liners and bases

Second basket : Mascaras

Third basket : Eyeshadow singles

To the side I have larger eye shadow duos, quads, small palettes, etc. I also keep my lashes and eyelash glue there.

 ♥ Lips drawer ♥

You can easily spot my lip balm addiction here :P

I have divided this drawer using 4 baskets.

First basket : Lipbalms (there is more than one layer of lip balm and it could fit another one easily)
Second basket : Lip sticks (also has two layers of products)
Third basket : Glosses
Fourth basket : Lip balms in a pot and backups

Super easy and neat looking, in my opinion :)

♥ Face drawer ♥

These pink dividers a a little different from my grey ones but they are also from the Dollar store. The small long ones are 3 for 1$ and the large rectangular one is 1$.

The baskets aren't exactly divided by type of product, more by the size and shape of the products. As you can see, the third basket contains small round products while the fourth has concealers and primers mostly.

 ♥ Bracelet drawer ♥

In this drawer, I squeezed four long and thin dividers.

First basket : Watches (mostly my boyfriend's watches)

Second basket : Fabric/string bracelets

Third basket : Stretchy bracelets

Fourth basket : Bangles

♥ Nails Drawer ♥

Again, different dividers, but also from the Dollar Store. These clear ones were a tad more expensive, but still not over 1$ a piece. The are also longer than the other plastic kinds. I love that they are clear they look very nice and clean.

First basket : Nail art plates, nail art stamp and scraper, buffing blocks, nail clippers, nails files, nail polish thinner.
Second basket : Cotton rounds, cotton swabs, pure acetone and toes separators
Third basket : Rhinestones, sponges, tweezers.

This is my least favorite drawer because it's a little messy looking in my opinion. Please let me know if you have any ideas for improving on this one :)

 ♥ Skin care drawer ♥

For this drawer, since product size vary so much and since some products are quite big, I couldn't find a proper way to place them into baskets. Instead, I chose to place an anti-slip fabric at the bottom so the products don't roll around when opened. 

The drawer is a little empty looking right now because I'm working on using some of these products!

♥ Beauty Tools drawer ♥

In here I keep makeup sponges, cosmetic cotton swabs, backup makeup wipes and perfume samples (inside the pink makeup bag - which is from the dollar store). Not very exciting, but you gotta put these things somewhere right?

♥ Bath and Body Works drawer ♥

Right now it's pretty empty looking, because I'm working on using up my products. I haven't been to Bath and Body Works in a few months! This drawer is divided with four baskets, three thin and one square.

First basket : Hand sanitizers

Second basket : Spare wallflower with recharges.

Third basket : Backup body splash

Fourth basket : Empty at the moment

♥ Hair accessories drawer ♥

In this drawer, I keep all of my hair accessories. This is the only way that I have found that is neat and organised to keep them. Otherwise I keep loosing all my hair ties and my clips. I think this looks very nice and clean and it's probably one of the drawers I am most happy with. I can always find what I'm looking for uber quickly.

First basket : Large hair clips

Second basket : Small hair clips and bobby pins

Third basket : Hair ties

Fourth basket : Headbands

 ♥ Hair tools drawer ♥

This is where I keep all of my hot tools. A great tip that I picked up from my mother is to keep the cords inside an empty toilet paper roll. It's not the cutest thing, but it helps keep the cords organised and protected. That way you're not damaging them by twisting them around the straightener. It also doesn't cost anything which is brilliant!

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Second tower

♥ First hair products drawer ♥

In this drawer, I keep my hair products which are in large cans or bottles.

 ♥ Second hair products drawer ♥

In this second drawer I keep smaller hair products.

♥ Hair brushes and combs drawer ♥

In this drawer I keep all of my brushes and combs. I have one basket which I put all the combs and small travel sized brushes in. For the brushes I like to put them side by side, but facing different directions so that the larger part of the brush isn't always on the same side. That way, I can save space and cram more brushes into the same amount of space.

I skipped two drawers after that because they just contain rubbish pretty much XD

♥ Travel sized products drawer ♥

Nothing too fancy in here. This is just where I keep all of my travel sized products and bottles. 

 ♥ Candles drawer ♥

Last but not least, this is my candles drawer (and the reason why I'm trying to finish off products before I go to Bath and Body Works again :P).

That's it for my affordable beauty storage tips! I hope you enjoyed this post and that it was helpful! I hope that it gave ideas to those of you who are still trying to figure out inexpensive ways to store your products!

Don't forget to follow me and like my Facebook page for more posts like this ♥

Preparation steps to leave for a backpacking trip

Once again, I should be studying for my exam on tuesday, so all my mind can think about is backpacking. While I was pondering on how to make my packing as efficient as possible, I started thinking about the different step I go through when preparing for a trip and I thought I would share them!


This is usually the process I go through when I decide I want to leave for a backpacking trip. I wouldn't call it planning exactly, it's more like a decision and research process in addition to preparing for departure. Thought it could help someone leaving for the first time!

Mathieu and I leaving for our third backpacking trip together, last summer :)

1) Decide where to go

2) Decide how long and when according to weather during the chosen period

3) Decide budget overall

4) Look up plane ticket prices and average daily expenses for chosen destination according to the level of comfort you are looking for

5) Using overall budget, plan an approximate daily budget

6) Make sure passeport is valid for 6 months before + after trip date

7) Figure out time off, what to do with apartment, bills, car, pets while gone

8) Research the visa situation for the destination according to your country of origin

9) Buy plane tickets

10) Buy travel insurance

11) Arrange for Visa if needed

12) Get shots and prescriptions for needed medication

13) Research your destination to know what you absolutely want to see

14) Get a good backpack suited to the length of the trip and your frame

15) Plan clothes according to the weather

16) Pack

17) Make photocopies of important documents and leave a copy with someone at home

18) Consider taking passeport pictures to bring if going from a country to another (for visa purposes)

19) Enjoy your backpacking trip!

BH Cosmetics 120 Eye Shadow Palette 1st Edition Review and Swatches

I've been using my BH palette for a couple months now and I believe I know the palettes and colors/finshes well enough to review it thouroughly.

First, I want to say that I really enjoy this palette and that the multitude of colors and finishes as well as the possibilities that it offers far outweigh, in my opinion, some of its flaws. This is to say that this palette isn't perfect (which you wouldn't expect it to be, since it's only about 30$), but for the price, the quality is definitely very good.

Ever since I got the palette, it inspired me to do tons of colorful looks. I have included some of my favorites along the review to help everyone visualise the kind of looks that are possible with this palette.

I would say that the two most important aspects to consider when buying this palette is pigmentation and texture. The main issue I have found is the pigmentation of many of the matte shadows in the palette. They tend to barely show up unless used over an eyeshadow base or primer (even then, some of the colors are still quite sheer). It is not uncommon with inexpensive matte eyeshadows however, and most of the colors can be used over a colored base for a better intensity.

On the other hand, I have had no issues with the pigmentation of shimmery, metallic and glittery eyeshadows, which all give great pigmentation (the results will of course be amplified over a base, which I recommend using anyway, since it helps the shadow stick and in the case of primers, will keep it from creasing).

Another slight issue with the palette is the chalkiness of some of the colors. Many shades have quite a bit of fallout, which isn't too hard to deal with, but something to consider nonetheless.

That is all the negative I have to say about the palette. Everything else is great. The color selection is mind blowing! With this palette you have every color of the rainbow, enough to make pretty much any colorful look you could think of. There are even a couple neutral shades such as gold, bronze, brown, white and black to smoke out looks or for natural crease and highlight colors. I don't think I will need much more than these eyeshadows in terms of colors any time soon.

The quantity of product for the price is also very impressive. You get 120 shadows that are about the size of a dime for a little less than 30$. That's around 25 cents per eyeshadow! An incredible find for anyone on a budget like me. The palettes are very often on sale too and you can get them for as low as 22-23$ sometimes. Now obviously the shadows are pretty small, but they last quite some time (and since there are so many, you never quite use the same ones, which also lenghtens the longevity of the palette).

As far as shipping goes, I always pay a bunch of money for it, since to get items here in Canada, shops from the US pretty much add a hefty 17$ to your shipping bill as soon as you mention your location (and Montreal is only about 1h30 from the border XD) even for tiny orders. I split the shipping for two palettes with a friend which was more reasonnable. The good side however is that the delivery was quick and that the product was very well packaged when it arrived (many layers of bubble wrap). All the shadows were intact, which I was very relieved about!

In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this palette for makeup beginners, or people that want to expand their collection. The quality is great for the price and I use it all the time. However, if you are used to high end shadows, you will definitely see some of its flaws. I personnally think it is worth the money though and I would definitely repurchase, I'm very happy with it!

Here are swatches of the whole palette. Keep in mind that this is swatched over Milk jumbo pencil (my only base at the moment -_- my UDPP ran out ages ago and I can't afford a new one!), since I wouldn't recommend using them without any kind of base underneath anyway!

From the first row up going down these are the swatches :

These swatched pretty sheer as you can tell. Love the 3rd one from the second row though!

More blues

Beautiful green shades, including yellowy ones.

The palette has an endless supply of greens XD

I love the first one from the second row! Isn't it intense? This one is also great with nothing underneath :D

Oranges! Cannot wait to use these for Halloween next month.

Blacks and whites, essential to most looks.

Pretty metallics! Some of my favorites of the palette.

These matte purples are great! Love pretty much all the purples of the palette :)

Look at that crazy hot pink! It's almost neon it's so bight (warning, it stains your eyelids, yep :S Love it anyway)

A real red shade! So rare in palettes (this one also stains, hence the rarity of the color). Tons of pretty pinks as well.

No palette would be complete without a couple earthy/neutral shades! Can make any look more wearable :)

Mini Haul : dollar store

I went to Dollorama with my friend yesterday and I was really excited to find a couple N.Y.C. products there! I also found a Elf powder brush and I jumped on it! ♥ I'm so happy!

So this is what I got for just 3 CAD$

N.Y.C. mascara, it's nicely defining and since the brush is tiny, it works awesomely for my lower lashes!

Good for all over powder, but a little more scratchy than I would like. It does seem to shed a fair bit too, but we'll have to see about that.

N.Y.C. liquid liner, I've only ever had felt tip liquid liners so far, this is a brush and I feel like I can make a really precise line!

I made this super thick liner with the N.Y.C. liquid liner, it think it came out super dramatic and pretty!

Who else loves cheap makeup?