Budget Friendly Makeup Collection and Storage {DIY}

Any sort of collection you may have that involves a bunch of different little piece {makeup collection, craft/scrap book/etc} can be kind of hard to organize. In most cases, collections tend to grow over time and the way you store things will grow over time as well. This is how I used to store my makeup back in 2011/2012. I love those plastic drawer units. You can find those at any Target or Wal-Mart for a decent price.

Now that my collection has grown, the storage unit has also grown. I bought this Ten Piece Drawer Set at Sam's Club for a complete steal for only around $20! It was easy to put together and with a little bit of messing around with everything, everything fits perfectly.

All of the little bins inside of each drawer were either bought at Target ($1), Dollar Tree (3 for $1 and the larger ones $1), and Dollar General ($1).

Tips:

I was looking at the ten drawers in the order I do my makeup. The top drawer is face items {foundation, concealer, primer's, etc} Second drawer is blushes, + bronzers. Third and fourth drawer are eye products, going all the way down the line {with some exception. I should have made the brow products one of the tops drawers but whatever}

Start by figuring out what you have the most of/least of then designate a drawer accordingly. Then start placing your bins in each drawer and you will be surprised to learn that the bins just start fitting in each drawer almost like they were meant to be there- almost like a puzzle piece or something!

♥Adorable DIY Tablescape
♥Favorite Drugstore Matte Bronzers/Contours
♥Favorite Champagne Eyeshadows
♥Mally Beauty Brand Review

ok it's Friday night and I am so ready to to chill out and edit a video and some photos, have a marathon of The Challenge and Chardonnay and maybe order a pizza? I couldn't think of anything more fun to do. Dork. Yes. I am. 

How do you store your makeup?

Until Next Time!
Erica

12: What's In My Bag

The items that make up everything in my bag aren't things I reach for on a daily. When it was time to take everything out & photograph it, I started wondering why I ever even carry a purse. The only things I use on a daily basis are 1 lip gloss, 1 lip stick, 1 body spray, a pen (sometimes) & my wallet. The deodorant? I have never used it! I do suppose it is better safe than sorry when it comes to my "essentials". Either way, there is a method to my madness...kind of.

Bag A: I received this little bag from the Target free beauty sample program they run every now & again. In here, I keep makeup. I sometimes throw in a face powder but not normally. I am not someone that touches up my whole face throughout the day. I do touch up my lips every time I get in & out of the car, along with spraying some body spray.
1. Nyx Jumbo Lip Pencil in Brown
2. Stila Lip Glaze in Mango
3. Nyx Lip Gloss in Beige
4. Nyx Soft Matte Lip Color in Tokyo
5. Nyx Round Lipstick in Strawberry Milk
6. Revlon Lipstick in Prim Rose?
7. Revlon Lip Butter in Creamsicle
8. Essence Lip Gloss in Me & My Ice Cream
9. L.A. Colors Lip Liner

Bag B: Clinique was doing a promo where if you spent more than $50, you got a bunch of free stuff! Me & mom both got a bag, 2 shadows, 1 blush, 1 lip gloss, 1 lip stick, & 1 moisturizer. I love those promo's. In this bag I keep tampons & the following:
10. Garnier Fructis Anti Aging Roller Ball. Something that I think does absolutely nothing for me or my eyes. Don't buy this, lol.
11. Bath & Body Works Pocket Back Hand Sanitizer in Chocolate Chip Cookie
12. Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena Mini Lotion
13. Degree Body Spray in Classic Romance (I love pairing it with the Classic Romance deodorant!)
14. A Comb: If I tease my hair for the day, I like to touch it up throughout the day. It also comes in handy for a day at the lake or even if I have the windows down & my hair gets knots in it.
20. Lady Speed Stick Invisible Dry Deodorant: Sorry for the random number for this one, but I do store it in the Clinique Bag

15. Then I have my wallet. I got it at Rue 21 about a year ago. It is faux snake skin. It is still in great shape and I only paid around $6 for it. I love it.

I keep the rest of this stuff in a little side pocket in my purse. 
16. Orbitz Gum
17. A Heart Emery Board I got in my Birchbox.
18. A Leopard Mirror I got for Christmas from my Mom (:
19. That is a lipstick holder that I store perfume samples & bobbi pins. All of the Perfume Samples I get from Birchbox stay in there. If you have a lipstick holder you do nothing with, try this! I like storing my perfume's in it so I don't have to lug my bigger glass bottles with perfume around if I am feeling something more than a body spray.
20. Lady Speed Stick Deodorant Mentioned Above
21. Bath & Body Works Be Enchanted Body Spray (yum!)
22. Pens.

So know for the obvious question.....

What's in your Bag?

xoxo

Erica

P.S. I Made This Nail Polish Rack!

While browsing the web looking for a great nail polish rack I can buy, I quickly started wondering why they were all extremely overpriced and also bland. All 20 I looked at were just made from clear plastic **snooze**

So I actually found a video on Youtube about how to make one which I will link below if you wanna check it out.

Follow This Link to DIY

I followed her guidelines for the most part, except I jazzed mine up a bit using pretty pink damask scrapbook paper, hot pink, & zebra ribbon. I must say, it is far from an eye sore and I honestly cannot believe I made this!

It was extremely easy to make as well as a lot of fun. I paid about $16 in all, as I had glue, a glue gun, & an X-Acto knife on hand. I am thinking about doing a step by step blog post on my other blog, Meet Miss Jackson. Let me know what you think and if you would be interested in checking it out. It is far more rewarding looking at my nail polishes all in place with my very own DIY polish rack.

 Sorry about the lighting in the picture above! I simply couldn't wait for a sunny day to show of my amazing talent haha!

If you are thinking about making your own, here's a list of the stuff you will need:

Foam Cord (2 large pieces)

Elmer's Glue

Hot Glue

Hot Glue Gun

Scrapbook Paper or Wall Paper

Ruler or Architectural Scale

X-Acto Knife

Scissors

2 Spools of Ribbon

Seriously easy-peasy. Make one!

Have you guys ever DIY'ed anything? I would love to know what!

as always, thanx for reading!

xoxo 

Erica J

Makeup Storage Ideas

I dont know about you, but I am always looking for practical, functional, & stylish organization tips & ideas. I have learned a thing or 2 and have found some great ideas. Bobbie pins are always in my way so I was on a mission to find a great storage idea for them. Doesn't it seem like they are always everywhere? Only when you really need one, they are nowhere to be found! my latest brilliant idea which my best friend came up with was to throw them in these shot glasses we got! her work was throwing them away so we decided to give them a good home and make them a good home for our bobbies! success

I hear it is not good to keep your makeup in the bathroom, because the steam from the shower gives the makeup bacteria. That is the lightest place of my house as I do not have my makeup mirror anymore (I need a new one) and it just works for me to put my makeup in the bathroom. I have a roll-away stand that a store everything on which is great for when you wanna sweep-

the pink box thingee that is storing my face washes I got from the $1 section in Target- the Target dollar tree always gets me! Functional meets Stylish meets Cheap

So this is how I organize my makeup int the drawers you see in the picture above: you can kinda see what is what in each drawer if you look close.

• In the top drawer I keep all my brow stuff  & tools: stencils, brow powders, tweezers, pencil sharpener. all that kinda stuff. 
• Next drawer down, I keep concealers, highlighters, & primers. 
• Next drawer, I keep bronzers and blushes. 
• Next drawer after that I keep all eye liners and mascara's.
• In the last drawer I keep all of my lipsticks, liners, & glosses. 

In this silver bucket,  I just keep basically all of my foundations and powders in. Face items. I also keep my lash curlers just because they really don't fit anywhere else.

       

I hang all of my irons and hair tools up on the rack which works out pretty well. That way, they are tucked back and organized and the cords aren't running for miles, which really bugs me! My blow dryer is actually hung on a nail. As is the hand-held mirror. 

The basic rule of thumb is to keep like things with like things. Even tho my makeup collection isnt as big as some others, I still have a couple of each items. I find that the rule of thumb works out for me to find my stuff quicker, as I am usually in a hurry anyways, after all.

I see everyone do this with their makeup brushes. It's a great idea I think b/c you don't hafta store them just laying down where the brush hair could potentially get messed up. I had rocks and beads so I put the biggest rocks at the bottom and then the smaller beads are at the top...as you can see the rocks get messed up, but whatever. It really is a great storage idea- I bought the vase it's in for a buck at Marcs.

All of my eye shadows & palettes are in the bin at the bottom. Since I have the most shadows out of anything, I need the most space. You can find these bins at the dollar tree for cheap.

So yeah those are my storage tips for makeup and all that junk. Anybody have any other good ideas for storing hard-2-store stuff? Can you believe that this whole blog post was only supposed to be about how I store my bobbie-pins?! yeah, im crazy...thanx for reading!

Nail Polish Collection

Hey Bloggers! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day and I have been taking pictures for this post for about a week now. Wow! The colors are hard to capture esp. when they're all so similar sitting next to each other! But I think I got them...perfect actually! So yay! I have a big polish collection & I have been exited to share it with you guys and just let cha know what ones I love and opinions on the rest, so here goes: 

quick *note* I will mention the polishes from left to right, as pictured, so there's no confusion.

I keep all of my polish on the top of my dresser in this cute box I got from Victoria Secret- it was a set of a candle, lotion, and oil i think it was that came in this box- after 5-7 years I have had the box it is still really durable

Pinks:

Out of all the color's I have, I have the most pink ones! Some of which aren't pictured, my mom borrowed them

Essie French Affair-  I love this one, a really pretty pale, muted pink and the exact dupe for this one is the Finger Paints in Brushstroke Blush (pictured), You cannot tell the different between the 2 once painted on nail. 

Sally Hansen in Bubblegum Pink- I love this one too, another favorite. A couple shades darker than French Affair

Finger Paints in Brushstroke Blush- You can find this brand at Sally's

The color that is cut off is one I got for Christmas- and doesn't have a name

(2nd pic)

Covergirl in Sassy Strawberry 

China Glaze in Shocking Pink - Neon, but not as bright as the next one:

Nina Ultra Pro in Punki Pink - Neon pink which is perfect for the summer! I bought this at Sally's. Need a couple coat of this stuff- and since it is so neon, it goes on more matte than glossy- use a top coat

Greens:

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry in Mint Sprint. yes it dries quickly and I love the brush. If you can picture a foundation brush, that's is what the brush on this one is like. It comes to a point, almost- which I really love the brush on it

Sally Hansen in Mint Sorbet: Love these muted/pastel colors. My favorite Green I have

Avon Nail Wear in Jade

 Blues:

Avon Nail Wear in Vintage Blue: Another pastel. I love this one, and almost forgot about it! I have been wearing it all week! It like a perfect sky blue.

Sally Hansen in Blue me Away!: Its a nice bold blue.

 Yellows & Orange:

Maybelline Express Finish in Sunshine: Not a huge fan of this one. The color is a tad bit distorted in the picture but not by much. Its a bit brighter in person, I think it makes my nails look like i've been smoking a lot of cigarettes and they have stained my nails or something. 

Sally Hansen in Yellow Kitty: They shoulda named it like vanilla cake or cupcake or something I think, it's just cuter! either way, Its a muted/pastel yellow. It has the same brush as the Mint Sprint, which I love

Nina Ultra Pro in Solar Flare: I found this brand at Sally's Beauty. I wanted a Neon color that I could put on my toes for the summer when i'm tan, I just love neon's for summer. This is a nice color but once its on you def. need a top coat because it is matte, there's no shine to it at all! and be prepared to layer this color on!

Sally Hansen Sun Kissed: As the only orange, it's a nice orange punch for my collection

Purples:

Sally Hansen in Lacey Lilac- My Favorite Purple

China Glaze in Flying Dragon - Described as neon on the bottle, This one has blueish glitter running through it. 

Icing in Preppy Purple- I compared/reviewed this one here
Avon Mirror Shine  in Polish- Love these although the polish goes on really thin, but they are pretty! I have this one in pink too

Avon Luxe Lavender- a tad bit darker than the Lacey Lilac

 Nudes:

Avon Mirror Shine in Peach Ice:  I really like this collection from Avon. The colors look like metallic flakes on your fingers, they are really different. This one is nice. I just hate how you cant see the color through the bottle- sry guys

Essie in Sand Tropez: I love this. A pastel nude, perfect for me! 

Zoya in Jules: I got this in my BirchBox a few months ago, and this isnt one I would purchase on my own, but it is a pretty color and really different from any color I have, so that's a good thing.

Avon in Sheer French Pink: This is my second bottle of this, I love this for french manicures. I sometimes wear it alone as well.

 Blacks & Silvers: I hate to say that these ones never get used, mainly because they are all a bit old but I was so hip to the "dark nail" trend a couple years ago that will be making a come back by this fall! yay! I am exited about that.
Revlon in Patent Leather- black with sparkles  running thru it. actually im throwing this out- too gooey, it was my favorite polish when I bought it tho. I remember it was a good dupe for my private jet by OPI. I remember that because Kim Kardashian was shopping for it in the episode that she found that little dog (remember?) so I immediately had to have it- well at least a dupe
Finger Paints in Gallery Glam- yeah gooey as well because of how old it is. just black.
Finger Paints in Silver Sculpture- I bought this along with Gallery Glam and surprisingly this one isnt gooey. The formula is different I think its because of the metallic finish. Comparable to any of the Avon Mirror Shines as far as formula goes. Has a purple undertone to it
Pure Ice in Silver Mercedes- again very comparable to the Silver Sculpture as far as formula goes and color as well although this one is a truer silver

Reds- I have like 4 reds and they aren't pictured! Sorry guys i forgot about them because I never use them- i use one of them only to put the cherry on top of the cupcake

So yeah there's my collection and as we both learned I am a polish hoarder!  Ive seen posts like this and I think its a great idea to just see who has what and who recommends what so if you did a "polish collection" I would love to see it so please lemme know!

thanx for reading!

Clinique Freebies!

Hey beauties! So going on right now if you buy something from Clinique over $20 you get some goodies! You can either get the pink or the purple and I opted for the purple. I liked the pink lipstick better but I wanted the purple eyeshadow more so here's the purple collection:

What you get:

• 2 Makeup bags, one big and one small
• Dramatically Different Face Lotion- My mom loves Clinique and this lotion reminds me of my child-hood because of that- you either love it or you hate it. Im not sure what I think about it yet, I gotta try it out longer
• Take the Day Off Makeup Remover for Lids, Lashes, & Lips- this makeup remover isnt too bad, it took my day off- it is oil based tho
• Pretty Lips Color and Gloss Duo- I like the formula of this award-winning lipstick, it's nice to have it just in case im going for drama one day I can pop this out- color is quite nice but it's not something I will use on a daily (I prefer the pink one! why didn't I choose that one?)
• Lash Doubling Mascara- (claim) Magnifies lashes 2x their size and thickens them to max volume in minimum time. I personally like other mascara's better- but for me a new mascara is my favorite thing! So I am liking this although I have tried drug-store mascara's that are better than this- it's all in the wand yah no
• Clinique Color Palette- I loved the palette that was why I bought it- the colors are matte and for some reason I have been going with matte lately. I heart this little palette

All and all this is a wonderful deal and ladies were so sweet, they rung 2 of our items up separately so we can have 2 of these goodie bag's (1 for me and 1 for my momma)
Thanx for Readin!

Cute Storage and Organization Tip

hey everybody! My major used to be Architectural & Interiors I have an obsession with being organized and I just love little touches in a room. I am really fascinated with architecture and interiors, so I am always on the hunt for great adorable deals. I picked up some stuff recently pick little things up all the time so I wanted to share some things with you guys I am sure you will all enjoy!

I was shopping at Big Lots and decided between this or Revlon Colorstay invisible lip-liner....I was not sold in that "invisible" mess (anybody tried it?) so I opted for the much more practical, useful high-heel ring holder! Dont you love?!

Me and BFFF had to drive her mama out to Pittsburgh to catch a plane this past weekend so we decided to stop at Ikea while we were out there. I am really crazy about organization especially when it comes to paper everywhere. Something about seeing a bunch of paper on the floor makes me wanna puke! (im so weird, I know) Love these: 2 of them for 5 bucks!