Thursday, July 4, 2013

Makeup Storage - Are you down with OBB?


Hi.  I'm Kristen, and I'm a neat freak.

Maybe it's my light smattering of O.C.D., or just the result of being my mother's daughter, but I am an organization junkie.  Growing up, our house was always pristine but never in a "no one lives here" type of way.  We never had vinyl couch covers or rooms we weren't allowed in; it was just neat and clean and gave me a tremendous sense of comfort.  I always made my bed and learned to "clean as I go" to avoid an overwhelming monster mess at the end of the day.  As an adult with my own place to care for, mom's penchant for clean is certainly evident in my home.  I still get that sense of peace and order after cleaning out a closet or reorganizing my desk drawers.  I've had people marvel at the emptiness of the trunk of my car and make fun of me for straightening up my desk before I leave work.  What can I say?  Clean = peace for me!  As a result, I LOVE browsing Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube for makeup storage ideas.  I've seen so many great photos and videos of how other people organize their stash, and they always inspire me.  Here are a few of my faves:


Image via Shannon / @srblane
Image via Fashion2828 / @makeupfash28
Apparently there was an acrylic makeup storage container (believed to be a Clear Cube) featured on Keeping Up with the Kardashians and beauty lovers 'round the world swooned.
Unfortch, most of these beautiful clear drawer sets will cost you big bucks ($300-$500 USD), but rejoice, ladies and gents - there are cheaper alternatives!  Andrea was the first person to introduce me to acrylic drawers, and ever since I watched her video I've been pining away for a set of my own.  I've come across MujieDiva, Ice Box, and Original Beauty Box through the power of Instagram and Google.  After several rounds of measuring and other generally obsessive organizational behavior, I have finally made some storage decisions!  

I decided to order the Acrylic Case 5 Drawers from Muji ($27.95 USD).  I feel like this is the perfect way to store my lipsticks, glosses, eye pencils, mascaras, and other skinny items since the drawers aren't very deep.  This case is little, it measures 10.2 x 6.9 x 6.3 so it's pretty compact.
Muji Acrylic Case 5 Drawers
Muji has a lot of options, but none of them satisfied my desire for my compacts and palettes to be stored on their sides.  I know this sounds insane, but hear me out: when items are stored on their sides, they take up much less room and are easier to organize than when they're stored flat.  And organization really makes me happy!  Other than the side-versus-flat nit-pickery, I also realized I'd be spending close to $150 bucks at Muji to get all of the drawer systems I'd need if I was going to have to store it all flat.

So, after about 5 months of ogling from the sidelines, I saved up and purchased an Original Beauty Box ($120 USD)!  I really REALLY thought about this purchase for months because I struggled to justify the cost.  However, if you look around the Internets and compare it to similar capacity drawer systems, it's a great deal!  I was loathe to disclose the price of this as I know some will think it's completely loco, but in the end I decided it's what worked best for me and I saved up my own hard-earned money for it (and boycotted numerous makeup releases that looked gorgiepants, Sephora's Disney Ariel Collection included).  So...on to the Original Beauty Box!  You down with OBB?  Yeah you know me!
Original Beauty Box
Look at that beautiful thing.  Compacts stored upright, everything neat and groovy.  The measurements for this pup are 10” L x 7” W x 9 1/2” H (TOP DRAWER: 1" DEEP, MIDDLE DRAWERS: 2 1/4" DEEP, BOTTOM DRAWER: 3 1/4” DEEP).  OBB has a larger option called the Deluxe Beauty Box that has 5 drawers and costs $160 USD.  Every OBB is handmade with love in the USA! :)

I will definitely post pictures after I receive these drawers and get my stash reorganized!  The people at Original Beauty Box are currently offering free shipping (no coupon code needed) because both the Original and Deluxe cases are backordered with a current estimated ship date of 7/17 (Original) and 7/30 (Deluxe).

Are you into storage and organization?  How do you store your stash?  If you do a post about it, please share your link with me!  If you know anyone with a great Pinterest board or Instagram account full of beauty organization inspiration, please share!

5 comments :

  1. TracyBeautyReflectionsJuly 4, 2013 at 8:42 PM

    This is SO COOL. I need one of these! And they ship to Canada too! Gotta start saving now!

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  2. Right?!?! I am so excited that they ship to Canada! WOOOOOOOHOOOOOO!

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  3. Wow, this looks so neat! I got an IKEA ALEX and that's how I organize my stash. It works well but not as cool as a completely transparent one!


    Incidentally: one of my best friends saw the ALEX last night. She knows NOTHING about makeup and has about 5 items in total in that department. Guess what impressed her the most (besides the fact that I have a piece of furniture dedicated to makeup LOL)? Eyelash curlers and Guerlain Rouge G's! Hahaha. She couldn't believe those are LIPSTICKS ;)

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  4. OMG, that is AWESOME! I loved that story so much. I recently had the pleasure of doing my friend's makeup who typically wears none. i did a very natural application with soft colors so as not to overwhelm her (you know, Urban Decay Naked and Sin on the lids, no liner, a soft pinky brown MAC blush). We get her all done and she reaches for the NARS CARTHAGE! I was like WHOA! She wanted to try it and she was so adorable after she put it on! She really got out of her comfort zone and I thought it was so hilarious! I figured blush was going to be too much, and then she goes for hot pink matte lips!


    The Ikea Alex is awesome! My desk is made up of 2 Ikea drawer sets and a table top and I love those drawers!

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  5. Wow Carthage??? No kidding! I think it worked out perfectly well though! If you had given her more dramatic eyes, the lipstick would probably end up being too much!


    I'd never urge anyone to wear makeup, but when my friends who wear none start showing a bit of interest in what I do, it's always so sweet!

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