When my plethora of lipsticks and gossamer falsies are finally in place after a good organizing session, it's like slipping in the final piece of a 1,000-piece puzzle. The process is relaxing, even addicting — though mostly, it's time-consuming and a little frustrating. In the end, though, seeing my makeup laid out by color, shape, and type always feels (and looks) incredible. There just has to be an easier way to get there. To help solve our beauty puzzle, we tapped six influencers with followers in the millions — and makeup collections to match — to give us a little guidance. When your job is to try out every new mascara that hits the market, you have to have some sort of magic filing system, right? Ahead, social media stars share their go-to makeup-storage devices. Get ready, because you're going to want to snag these, ASAP.
Leigh Ann, @leighannsays
Houston-based YouTuber Leigh Ann of LeighAnnSays mixes makeup and humor in an absolutely delightful way. Not only does she share honest product reviews and makeup tips with her 700,000+ followers, but her sassy spirit is the perfect pick-me-up anytime we're due for a laugh.
"I am not what you'd call an organized person...on any level. However, bringing in two Alex drawer units from Ikea has been one of the best efforts I've made to contain the madness of my makeup collection. These units seem to be a standard in the beauty community, and for good reason.
"They come in different shapes, but I like my shorties on wheels because the drawers are all shallow and I can't be trusted to avoid over-piling products into deep drawers. They're also huge, easy to move around, relatively affordable, and convenient."
Ikea Alex Drawer Unit On Casters, $199, available at Ikea.
Maryam Maquillage, @maryamnyc
Maryam, of Maryam Maquillage, is what we like to call a winged-liner expert. Her Instagram and YouTube channel (which have followings in the hundreds of thousands) are full of incredible tutorials on both natural and glam looks. They'll definitely inspire you to pick up some glitter and experiment with new techniques.
"Simple, straight-to-the-point acrylic cases for storing flatter objects such as liquid lipsticks, glosses, and/or palettes. [These drawers] received the most screenshots in my makeup-organization story on my Snapchat, MaryamNYC."
Muji Acrylic 5-Case Drawers, $38, available at Muji.
"[These are] perfect for decorating your shelves with some of your favorite lipsticks. I use these for my higher-end lipstick collections or those in pretty packaging."
The Container Store Acrylic Lipstick Risers, $7.99, available at The Container Store.
"[This is] great for traditional makeup brushes, as well as dual-ended ones."
The Container Store 4-Section Acrylic Cosmetic Organizer, $17.99, available at The Container Store.
"I have three of these...for storing my immediate, go-to products: foundations, primers, powders, setting sprays, as well as my favorite eyeshadow products, palettes..."
Ikea Alex Drawer Unit, $79, available at Ikea.
"Perfect for the ultimate makeup junkie for storing your cosmetic backups as well as any non-makeup products like jewelry, sunglasses, nail-art tools, [and] hair extensions."
Ikea Alex Drawer Unit with 9 Drawers, $129, available at Ikea.
"By far, my favorite drawer divider. This organizer can be cut to fit into any of Ikea's drawers, but I love it specifically for the shorter, wider Alex drawers (on casters). I use it specifically for organizing products in rounded packages that tend to roll around (gel liners, glitters, etc.). These dividers are made out of rubber, so they also prevent your stuff from getting shuffled around while you open or close the drawers."
Ikea Summera Drawer Insert, $7.50, available at Ikea.
See all the makeup goodness in action. Spy anything you like?
Patrick Starrr,@patrickstarrr
If you ever meet Patrick Starrr in person, he'll be the first one to embrace you with a big hug. The vivacious makeup artist, YouTuber, and Instagrammer is poised to hit one million subscribers on the video-sharing site in the coming weeks, and recently launched an extremely successful collaboration with Sephora's Formula X nail-polish line.
"[I love this] for traveling with a bajillion freaking brushes. I used to have three canisters for my brushes, but now I just have one big-ass one. Literally, I have like 50 brushes; it holds everything."
Morphe Mega Brush Tubby Case, $19.99, available at Morphe Brushes.
Manal Shaikh, @wakeupandmakeup
Manal Shaikh, the tour de force behind the #WakeUpAndMakeup sharing platform on Instagram, which has almost 10 million followers, is a nail-art pro and social media maven (obviously). Now, she's also the proud cofounder of eyelash brand Eyeris Beauty (launching April 3).
"I would consider the twirling lipstick stand the ultimate lip-product organizer. It allows you to find the lip color you're searching for with just a twirl (the full-360 turn), as opposed to finding products from a drawer, which can get messy and frustrating. It also allows you to store up to 116 lipsticks, and can fit both round and square lip gloss [and] lipstick bottles."
Juvia's Place Twirling Lipstick Stand, $64.99, available at Juvia's Place.
"The Helmer drawers are small filing cabinets from Ikea that are small enough to tuck under your desk. They are great for storing your nail polishes [because they will stay at a] cool temperature. [This will] maintain their formula and keep them from drying out or getting goopy. They manage to fit up to 100 bottles per drawer."
Ikea Helmer Unit, $39.99, available at Ikea.
"The Impressions Vanity Hollywood Glamour Vanity Mirror is the must-have makeup mirror and the perfect decor piece to glam up your bedroom or makeup space."
Impressions Vanity Hollywood Glamour XL Vanity Mirror, $349, available at Impressions Vanity.
Nura Afia, @nuralailalov
We are no strangers to Nura Afia here at Refinery29. The YouTuber is a voice for Muslim women in the beauty industry, as well as a makeup maven. Plus, if you watch her videos or Snapchat story, you might catch a glimpse of her hilarious lip-sync sessions.
"I just recently bought the Algot frame with drawers for extra storage for my makeup. I was really drawn to these because you can switch between the two sizes of baskets in one frame...I really love that I can see through them. They're also super-easy to clean and way cheaper than the popular Alex drawers. They tend to go on sale as well — I've seen them go on sale twice!"
Ikea Algot Frame, $44.99, available at Ikea.
Laura Gurrola,@laurag_143
Gurrola, who at any given moment is toting around a cool 2 million followers in her pocket, is not only an influential beauty guru on Instagram and a wedding planner, but also has her own line of quick-drying nail polishes.
"I use CosmoCube. I like that you can see through it and that way it’s easy to figure out where your stuff is. The one I have is six drawers, and some of them have different dividers and you can customize them. So if there are four rows in there, and you want two because you’re putting in compacts instead of lip gloss, you can adjust it. It’s big enough to where it fits a lot of stuff, but it’s small enough where it fits on your vanity or a desk or dresser."
CosmoCube Posh Makeup Organizer, $185, available at Sephora.
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