My Makeup Vanity and Organization

I am completely obsessed with makeup and because of that, I need a vanity that has enough storage to hold everything that I own. When I started to get into makeup, I was sitting on my floor and had my makeup in a sort of toolbox organizer (it was for scrapbooking though). I then “graduated” into the Ikea Malm Dressing Table ($169) with a long mirror sitting on top of it. For my lighting, I used Christmas lights. They were pretty but did not provide great lighting to do makeup in. As much as I loved this vanity at the time, I grew out of it very quickly, and the top started to become cluttered with clear acrylic drawers and lipstick holders. It was definitely time to get something bigger.

I searched Pinterest for ideas on how to organize, and to get inspiration for a new vanity altogether. I came across the infamous Alex 5-drawers from Ikea ($79 each) with the Linnmon 59” table top ($29.99). This vanity provides me with more than enough storage (for now) and I couldn’t be more obsessed with it. My vanity almost inspires me to play with makeup in a way because I’m just in love with the way it looks.

Mirror

Also while searching Pinterest, I came across the Impressions Vanity mirrors. I was in love with the look of them, but not the price. Over $500 for a mirror?? No, thanks! So I enlisted my cousin (who is good with construction) to make me a mirror like it. The mirror is from Walmart, it was only about $30. I am in love with how it turned out and sometimes just stare at it and can’t believe that it’s actually mine. I recommend it to anyone who loves doing their makeup because the lighting is awesome.

For the lightbulb placement, I measured the mirror length and did the math as to where to place them. Once I had everything measured out, I had my cousin drill the holes and do all the electrical stuff. I chose to do for four lights on three sides (excluding the bottom). I think this is the perfect amount for aesthetic purposes. I’ve unscrewed the bottom ones on both sides because it was too bright and it works great for me now.

Once my mirror was finished, we moved it into my room and placed a power strip on the inside of the vanity (on the side of the Alex drawer). We just used velcro to secure it instead of screwing it into the side, because my drawers were already put together. It has surprisingly not been a problem at all, and I love the convenience of just flipping my lights on and off instead of having to plug them in every time I do my makeup. 

Organization

As for organization, I knew what I wanted to do from the start. I knew that I wanted everything to have a specific spot, so I always knew where to find what I was looking for. I could have purchased the clear drawer organizers you see everywhere but those add up quickly and I wanted the cheaper way out. So I came across the Ikea Hofta drawer organizers. They are $1.99 for a pack of three, so this is the cheaper route to take and I think they turned out just as good as the ones you could purchase.

The only downside to using the Hofta organizers is that they are a little hard to cut. If you have shorter items (think lipstick), the dividers are too tall to be used without cutting. Now, this was the best and worst decision I made because while I do love the way they look, my hand ached for a while because the plastic is thick and required a lot of force to cut them off. Despite that, it was 100% worth it to me. My vanity is perfectly organized and I get happy every time I open one of the drawers.

Drawers

Out of the 10 drawers, I use 9 of them for actual beauty product storage – including hair and nail products.

Drawer 1

On the right side my vanity I have my mascaras, eyeliners, makeup wipes, and brow products in the first drawer. My favorites are the Stila Huge Extreme Lash Mascara ($23), Stila Glitter and Glow Liquid Eye Shadow ($24), and the ABH Brow Powder ($23).

Drawer 2

In the second drawer, I have my powders, highlighters, blush, and bronzers. My favorites in this drawer are the First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads ($32), the Colourpop Pressed Powder Highlighter in shade Dreamscape ($8), the CoverFx Perfect Setting Powder ($35), and the ABH Blush Trio in Peachy Love ($30).

Drawer 3

The next drawer down has all of my foundations, beauty sponges, lotion, primers, concealers, and my random James Charles Palette that is too big to fit anywhere else, lol. My favorites in this drawer are definitely my Hourglass Vanish Stick Foundation($46), CoverFx Power Play Foundation ($44), Tarte Shape Tape Concealer ($27), and my First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream ($12).

This drawer is getting pretty full, so I am either going to have to do a declutter or expand my collection towards the back of the drawer.

Drawer 4

The fourth drawer, arguably my favorite, is my lipstick drawer. As for the dividers, this drawer took a lot of effort but it was worth it in every way. These are all pretty much Colourpop Liquid Lipsticks ($7), I’m obsessed with them. I love the Ultra Matte lips the most. My favorite shades are WYD, Wild Nothing, Lumiere 2, and Beeper.

Drawer 5

The last drawer on this side houses my makeup bags, and any extra makeup I’m not using.

Drawer 6

On the left side of my vanity, the top drawer contains my brush, hair ties, bobby pins, and hair products.

Drawer 7

The second drawer has my nail polishes and Color Street nail stickers. After trying the stickers I have decided that I am never painting my nails again, haha. Seriously, the convenience of these nail stickers is amazing and I don’t think that I could be patient enough to actually paint my nails again.

UPDATE: I think the Color Street nail stickers have changed. They seem more sticky to me and are now making my nails peel. I won’t be using them anymore unfortunately.

Drawer 8

The third drawer, another favorite, has all of my eyeshadow palettes! This drawer is, again, getting a little too full so I need to figure out secondary storage for palettes I don’t use every day. I have A LOT of favorites in this drawer. They include Viseart Neutral Mattes 01 palette ($80), Morphe x Jaclyn Hill palette ($38), Morphe x Jaclyn Vault palette Ring the Alarm ($15), Urban Decay Naked Heat ($54), Urban Decay Naked Cherry ($54), Colourpop Yes Please ($16), and Jeffree Star Blood Sugar ($52).

Drawer 9

The fourth drawer down has all of my random items (this is the only drawer that isn’t even remotely beauty related). It has everything from random chargers to candles to notebooks and old phone cases. It’s quite frankly a mess and the only drawer that doesn’t have some type of organization.

Drawer 10

The last drawer has my hair curler and straightener, which I never use because I have a new found fear of burning myself, along with my hair dryer, which I also never use because I’m too lazy and I always let my hair air dry.

Extra Organization

The last thing I use to store makeup products are the Bekvam spice racks from Ikea. They are only $4.99 each and I painted them white to match my room decor and vanity. They hold larger non-makeup items that are too tall to stand up in the vanity drawers and keep my table top from becoming cluttered. I have my perfumes, deodorant, lotion, and nail polish remover stored here.

On top of my vanity, I have three mason jars that I painted rose gold, to hold my makeup brushes and an elephant that I got at Target that I also painted. I also have a smaller mirror that I actually use to do my makeup because I can see myself up close, and a q-tip dispenser (that is actually meant for toothpicks, I think) on the other side of my brushes. I do have a Bath and Body Works candle as well, but that is more for decorative purposes because I never remember to light it, haha.

That is about it for my vanity and makeup organization. If I didn’t cover something and you want to know where I got it or just have a question in general, don’t be afraid to leave me a comment down below or send me an email and I will get back to you! I hope you all enjoyed my vanity tour, and come back for more! Email me or follow me on Pinterest here.

Arianna