My new makeup storage

I've been looking for a way to store my makeup, since I have quite a variety of small things. I saw in-drawer storage solutions that crafty people made by hand and everything fit perfectly, and they looked wonderful! However, I don't have time to make something like this, nor a spare drawer to put them in. I went to IKEA and browsed for nifty things, but nothing was quite as handy as what I needed, save for buying a new desk (which I need to do anyway) and make sure the drawers work for what I need makeup-wise.

Then I saw this post from Sew Many Ways where she used a hardware drawer from Home Depot to organize small items. PERFECT. So I went shopping, and here's what I found!

My new storage solution from Home Depot. It has a handle on top, and the doors snap and/or lock shut.

This is Husky Mobile Pro Organizer with 18 Small Parts Drawer from Home Depot, for the incredibly low price of $15. Holy goodness batman. And the cute little huskies on front! My mom always said I always had a "punk rock" style, so this is awesome for me, but if you don't like the doors, you could just cover them with cute fabric. When I get sick of seeing my makeup behind the doors, I'll put some fabric behind it so it looks organized without covering my little huskies.

This is what it looks like on the inside now. 12 small compartments (eyeliner, mascara, lips gloss, eyeshadow, primers, etc) and 6 huge ones (powder, foundation, awkwardly shaped containers). They have a depth of just under 7.25 inches space. They are held in back by just some extra plastic (not a solid back, just pieces to keep the compartments from moving), and you can close the doors on front to keep them in if you're moving it.

Just showing you what kinds of organization/storage I used. You can see what the containers fit well (Sephora eyeshadow, an older Maybelline eyeshadow, LA Colors and Hot Topic smokey eye palettes (not shown), Maybelline Color Tattoo, e.l.f. duos, some older Clinique eyeshadows) and what containers didn't fit so well (Sugarpill loose pigment was too tall, The Body Shop color cubes were too wide (though I could have taken them out of the big square and into the small cubes and it would have fit fine), old Hot Topic eyeshadows by Warpaint Beauty). The larger ones were a perfect height for my drug store liquid foundations, perfect length for anything that came in a tube or sticks of eyeliner (except the new Wet n Wild 99 cent color icon pencils), and large enough to handle anything that was just barely too skinny for my small drawers.

Then I took these pictures and went "hmm, I might have too much makeup!" No such thing, I know, but this is super convenient and super cheap. If you need a different solution, there are more compartmentalized storage solutions/cases at Home Depot for much cheaper than I have ever seen at any makeup audience store.

Neutral with Pop of Color

This was just a simple, quick look. Lots of neutrals that blended in, just a smudge of color. You can use whatever color you want here, the joy of having such a basic lid with this look is really anything matches. (Purple, red, green, emerald, yellow, orange - whatever eyeshadow you can never find a way to use but it looks so great, use it here!)

Products Used:
Concealer (in place of a primer)
Sugarpill loose pigmenet in Tipsy (metallic light green) - or whatever eyeshadow you want, this is the wildcard
Maybelline New York Expertwear Eyeshadow in Rose Tints (sheer shimmer light pink and sheer light brown)
Clinique eyeshadow in Midnight (matte black)
MAC Fluidline (gel eyeliner) in Blacktrack
Brow pencil (random drugstore brand, I think Maybelline?)
Maybelline Lash Stiletto (mascara)

Wow, I have a lot of Maybelline.

Anyway, start off this look by priming your eyelids. I don't like to use my expensive ones using neutrals personally, just because it's a light wash of color and it looks almost natural. I just put my concealer over my lids to give the product something to stick to other than an oily eyelid throughout the day.

Next up, I just grabbed my dome eyeshadow brush (natural, fluffy.. any brush really) and put some of the sheer, light brown on. Mine has a little shimmer to it. (Maybelline Rose Tint duo, darker color. I'm not sure if this product is new or not, I bought this originally when I started doing makeup like ten years ago. I wasn't an eyeshadow fan until recently and this is just an easy color to apply that's difficult to mess up, so I use it sometimes.) Just put this from the lid, through the crease, and into the upper eyelid - stop before the browbone. I just used this to darken up the eye area and give it some dimension.

Next, grab a fluffy brush and use some of the shimmery light pink (Maybelline Rose Tint duo, lighter color). Put this on your browbone and inner corner as highlights.

Now use a thin brush and grab some of your color of choice. I used a bright, glittery, shimmery green (Tipsy by Sugarpill). Apply it right up against the lashline, going from the tear duct to the outer corner. Grab a smudge brush (short, stiff) and just go over it in sweeping motions to blend it out.

Apply eyeliner with your favorite brush, I used an angled one and went from inner corner to a winged outer corner, increasing thickness to emphasize the wing and elongate my eye, simply because I prefer that shape. Line lower lash line as well (push in gently on your skin to push the waterline out, don't pull down). Next up, grab any skinny brush and go over that gel liner with some black eyeshadow (Midnight by Clinique) to set it.

Fill in your brows, curl your eyelashes, put on your favorite mascara (Maybelline Lash Stiletto).

Metallic Red Smokey Cat-Eye

 I was in a rush when I did the look this morning, that's why the eyeliner isn't quite straight across my lashline. Oops! (I also need to take care of my eyebrows, I swear this cell phone camera shows EVERY imperfection.)

Products Used:
Scotch tape
Urban Decay Potion Primer (eyeshadow primer)
Sugarpill loose pigmenet in Asylum (metallic red)
Clinique eyeshadow in Midnight (matte black) and Slate (matte gray)
SHANY 180 Color Eyeshadow Palette (shimmer pinkish white, shimmer light brown)
MAC Fluidline (gel eyeliner) in Blacktrack
Brow pencil (random drugstore brand, I think Maybelline?)
Maybelline Lash Stiletto (mascara)

So, first off, I have to tell you how amazing Sugarpill loose pigments are. I can't find a red this amazing ANYWHERE else. Given, it's an uncommon color, but dang it's gorgeous.

First I prepped the lid with Urban Decay Potion Primer. With a look like this, I think a primer is absolutely necessary - a concealer just won't cut it. You really don't want the black or red to move and crease, it'll show up so clearly if they do. Next up is the secret for that sharp cat-eye look - and it's really easy. I just grabbed some scotch tape, put it on the back of my hand so it wasn't quite so sticky and painful on that sensitive eye area, and placed it following the natural curve of the lower lashline. Make sure it really sticks on that corner of your eye, you don't want any dark pigments messing up your line.

Next up, I put Sugarpill in Asylum (metallic red) on the lid with a standard eyeshadow brush (flat/stiff), just pressing the color in - don't use sweeping motions. Make sure to only put as much as you need, you don't want it transferring into the area above your crease when you open and close your eyes.

I grabbed my highlight with a fluffy eyeshadow brush and put it on the browbone. (Shany palette, just a light shimmery pink.) Next, I found a really light brown to blend the red into the highlight. This is a super light shimmery brown for me, since I'm pale as a ghost. Choose whatever blends it well for you. A matte color here would contrast the shimmers well, but I was in a glittery mood today, if you couldn't tell by the fact that I'm doing a metallic red smokey cat-eye.

Then grab your matte dark gray with a pencil brush (rounded, small tip, stiff). I used Slate by Clinique. First you're going to place it just on that outer corner, like a really thin eyeliner. Then take it up a little into the crease to create an outer-V. Now lightly blend that grey along the crease, creating a dark separation between the red and the brown. You want to take this about 2/3 through the crease. Now pull it back along that scotch tape, making that cat-eye shape. Just gently bring it out, then blend it towards your crease. I did more of a straight line, just filling in the triangle between lashline and tape. You could just as easily make it a gentle flick by just gently blending up slightly from the tape and not filling it in.

Now grab the matte black (I used Midnight by Clinique) with that pencil brush again. Put it on the same places and with the same techniques, just don't go out as far. You're just putting in more darkness, making more gradient, and smoking it up. I put this about 1/3 through the lashline. Blend well.

Next up, eyeliner! I use a gel liner, but it's really your preference. Place the eyeliner through your lashline as close as you can, then put it along that scotch tape. You can be really messy here and still get that awesome line - that's why we used the tape! Now, you can make it as thin or thick as you want, going from thin inner corner to thick outer corner will make this look even more dramatic. Mine was a bit thick today because I'm in a hurry, but I usually would just do more of a push-liner motion instead of a sweeping one if I had time. Line the waterline as well by pushing into the lower skin with your finger, not pulling it - this will flip it out without causing premature wrinkles. Make sure to join the lines in the outer corner. You can also connect the inner corner for a more dramatic look, but be aware that connecting and lining the lower line will make your eyes appear smaller, so avoid this if you have small eyes.

Now set that gel liner with more of your matte black eyeshadow. Just use a liner brush and gently sweep it over, or press it in if you absolutely don't want it to move and to be super precise. Do any of the under-eye work you need done, then take a liner brush and do a thin line of more red (Asylum by Sugarpill) and the inner corner highlight. Fill in your brows, curl your eyelashes, put on your favorite mascara (Maybelline Lash Stiletto).

Done!

Please excuse the glasses mark, I was on break at work!

Sunset Shimmer

This looks much more blended out in person, I promise! My cell phone camera just loves making me look bad.

Products Used:
Black eyeshadow pencil
Urban Decay Potion Primer (eyeshadow primer)
Sugarpill loose pigmenet in Hysteric (shimmer purple)
SHANY 180 Color Eyeshadow Palette (All shimmers - white or light gold, sand, yellow, red-orange, orange-pink)
MAC Fluidline (gel eyeliner) in Blacktrack
Brow pencil (random drugstore brand, I think Maybelline?)
Maybelline Lash Stiletto (mascara)
Black eyeliner pencil

Prime eyelids with UD Potion Primer.

For this look, I actually started out by lighting using my black eyeliner pencil gently smudged under the eye, then brought up to create the wing. This gave me a very visual cue for where I wanted to place shadows, and also made it much easier and quicker to do the gel liner later. Just follow the lower lash line as if it were to continue outwards to make that wing. Connect starting somewhere between center and outer third, then fill in the gap. Make sure it's symmetrical on both sides.

Next up, I started with the highlight of a light gold (white would work as well, warmer undertones are better here) on browbone and inner corner, then I put a sandy color in above the crease. This is just a shimmery nude for me, which is what I wanted - a nice color to blend that bright yellow into. Next up, I placed the yellow with the tip of my stiff eyeshadow brush. I wanted it to have a lot of pigment like that brush delivers, but I also wanted to move quicker than a tiny little pencil or smudge brush.

The thing I do differently with this look is eyeshadow placement. I typically do a highlighted inner corner, color on lid, and darker outer V. However, for this look, I didn't lay the first color (yellow) flat over the entire lid. I wanted each color to stand out as it went further, so I basically took the yellow and put it along my crease, connecting my inner corner with my eyeliner wing, but not filling it in really. Just enough pigment that you can see the yellow.

Next up, I used the same brush to grab some red-orange eyeshadow. Put that just below the yellow, again not filling in the gap, but just drawing a line. Next up, pink - same technique. I did a slight outer-V shape with this one, but it was very very slight. This was enough to have the pink blending into my eyeliner just a little.

We're not done with eyeshadow yet, but I don't want a bold, black line, so I'm going to use a gel liner and set it with the final purple color. So, gel liner and angled eyeliner brush over where you put the eyeliner on the upper lid originally. (We did the lower lash line as well, but I think that's enough darkness as is for me, no need to add more product just to try to smudge it out.) Line the waterline as well.

Next up, I used another eyeliner brush to pick up Hysteric loose pigment by Sugarpill. I pressed it on (no sweeping motions yet) to both upper and lower lashlines, then blended it gently with the same brush. The eyeliner gave it the sultry, almost smoked look, but the purple kept the sunset going, plus this pigment has a lot of interesting shimmers to it.

Finally, fill in your brows and throw on your favorite mascara. (Mine is Maybelline Lash Stiletto.)

Shimmery Golds and Pinks

I don't usually go for "normal" colors, but I got a lot of compliments today, so here we go.

Products Used:
Clinique eyeshadow in Midnight (matte black)
SHANY 180 Color Eyeshadow Palette (shimmer white, shimmer peach, shimmer pink, shimmer darker pink, matte brown)
MAC Fluidline (gel eyeliner) in Blacktrack
Brow pencil (random drugstore brand, I think Maybelline?)
Maybelline Lash Stiletto (mascara)

Since this isn't a very outlandish color and I'm not so concerned with creasing, I just used my face concealer on my eyelid to prime it. It's less expensive, but still gives the eyeshadow a base other than natural oils to stick to.

Next up, I put eyeshadow here -
Shimmer white - browbone, inner corner
Shimmer gold - inner half of lid
Shimmer pink - outer half of lid
Shimmer darker pink - outer third of lid, blended out and up a little
Shimmer peach - crease/upper lid
Matte brown - lower lashline
Blend them all together at the edges where they meet other colors, like I did above. You can kind of see that the outer third got out of hand, but I was in a bit of a rush, so I let mine get a little wild. You'll want to try to keep yours in the imaginary lines meet from your lower lashline extended out meets your eyebrow extended out... Mine got too low.

Apply eyeliner with your favorite brush, I used an angled one and went from inner corner to a winged outer corner, increasing thickness to emphasize the wing and elongate my eye, simply because I prefer that shape. Line lower lash line as well (push in gently on your skin to push the waterline out, don't pull down). Next up, grab any skinny brush and go over that gel liner with some black eyeshadow (Midnight by Clinique) to set it.

Curl lashes, apply favorite mascara, fill in brows.

Bold Emerald and Gold

This picture was taken after a 9 hour shift at work. Held up pretty well, don't you think?

Products Used:

Urban Decay Potion Primer (eyeshadow primer)
Maybelline Color Tattoo (cream eyeshadow) in Audacious Asphalt (charcoal)
Sugarpill loose pigmenet in Tipsy (bright green)
Clinique eyeshadow in Midnight (matte black)
SHANY 180 Color Eyeshadow Palette (shimmer gold, shimmer white)
MAC Fluidline (gel eyeliner) in Blacktrack
Brow pencil (random drugstore brand, I think Maybelline?)
Maybelline Lash Stiletto (mascara)
Black eyeliner pencil

First up, UD's eyeshadow primer applied with finger. Then I used a stiff synthetic eyeshadow brush to apply Maybelline Color Tattoo in Audacious Asphalt. I really love Sugarpill's green, but I wanted more of a dark base under it today. If you're going for super bright and shiny, skip the Color Tattoo. Next, I used a stiff natural eyeshadow brush to apply Sugarpill loose pigment in Tipsy to the lid up to the crease. Then I used a fluffy brush to apply a shimmery gold color from my Shany palette to the upper lid, and blended the two. Then I used a pencil brush to put black on the outer third of my lid and bring it gently into the crease, just to add some dimension to the look.

I used an eyeliner pencil on the lower lashline, then blended it out with my finger. (Color Tattoo seemed much harder to control in such a skinny space, this is again just to add darkness to Tipsy. If you skipped Color Tattoo, you can skip this as well.) Use a clean pencil brush (I used a different eyeliner brush, 'cause it's also pretty skinny and I didn't mind going back in for more pigment) to the lower lash line and buff it out. Finally, put shimmer white on the browbone/inner corner for a highlight. Blend well.

Apply eyeliner with your favorite brush, I used an angled one and went from inner corner to a winged outer corner, increasing thickness to emphasize the wing and dimension with the black eyeshadow. Line lower lash line as well (push in gently on your skin to push the waterline out, don't pull down). Next up, grab any skinny brush and go over that gel liner with some black eyeshadow (Midnight by Clinique) to set it.

Curl lashes, apply favorite mascara, fill in brows.

Smoked Out Garnet

Products used:
Urban Decay Potion Primer (eyeshadow primer, don't wear eyeshadow without one!)
Maybelline Color Tattoo (cream eyeshadow) in Audacious Asphalt (charcoal) and Pomegranate Punk (garnet-ish)
Shany Eyeshadow Palette (a shimmer garnet color, a pink-ish white, a soft brown)
Clinique eyeshadow in Midnight (black)
MAC Fluidline (gel eyeliner) in Blacktrack
Maybelline Lash Stiletto (mascara)
Brow pencil (I don't remember the brand, just a cheap drugstore thing)

After using UD's pot primer, I used a stiff synthetic hair eyeshadow brush to put down Pomegranate Punk on the lid up to the crease and blended out the edge a little. Then I put on Audacious Asphalt closer to the lashline, and blended it just a little. This was just to get the darkness there and make sure these colors really didn't move.

Then I started with my Shany Eyeshadow Palette. This was a 180-ish or something palette I got from Amazon for about $25, I just wanted a lot of cheap colors. Basically any cheap eyeshadow palette will work, most of them are just licensed under different names, but made in the same manufacturing plant in Asia anyway.

Anyway, I just grabbed a light pink-ish color, put it on browbone/inner corner. This palette had a wonderful garnet that looks just like Pomegranate Punk but shimmery, so I put that on the entire lid with a stiff natural hair eyeshadow brush. Then I grabbed a fluffy brush and put on the light brown on the upper lid (above the crease, below the browbone) as a blending color. Just blend it out, make the transition as smokey as possible. I also used a pencil brush to put some garnet on the lower lash line, this really completes any look well.

Next up, I put MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack along the lash line. I used an angled eyeliner brush, but a push brush would work even better, since I did a pressing motion to get the most pigment along the lashline. Then I winged it out a little, just 'cause I love making my eye longer. I also lined my waterline (don't pull it down, use your finger or a Q-tip to gently press in, it'll flip out the waterline slightly and cause much less aging wrinkles). Then I used a smudge brush just to soften the line out. Finally, put some black eyeshadow (I used Clinique in Midnight) to set the eyeshadow. Just set it on, and smoke it out into that garnet color.

Curl lashes, apply favorite mascara, and done!