My makeup storage and organisation

Makeup storage and organisation blog posts and videos are some of my favourite to read or watch. They are generally very highly requested and well loved as people, including myself, love to be nosy and have a bit of a snoop around other people's stuff! I like to think I'm a pretty organised person and love getting inspiration on how to best store things, being a beauty blogger this is mainly for my makeup and skincare.

My makeup storage has definitely changed over the years, I'll insert a couple of pictures here to show just how much it has changed....

So, at one point, many years ago, my makeup all fit into one makeup bag... what happened between then and now? Far too many makeup shopping sprees - that's what! Then it got moved into the top drawer of my dresser and was separated by boxes, this really wasn't the best storage method as the drawer was too deep and it meant I had things piled on top of one another making it harder to see what I had. So basically I stuck to the basics and didn't really use what I had. As you can see from the picture below it was really disorganised. I also used a clear acrylic stand for my most used bits and bobs on top of the dresser alongside my makeup brushes and some other beauty bits I was using at the time.

After my collection grew even more I decided it was finally time to invest in something a little more aesthetically pleasing. I'd been eyeing up the Ikea Alex Drawer unit for a year or two by this point. It's very well loved by beauty bloggers, I'd be surprised if you haven't seen it floating around beauty blogs and YouTube channels by now! But when it came down to it I just couldn't justify spending £90 on a 9 drawer unit. So after umming and ahhing for a year or so I decided that I would buy two of the Alex 5 drawer units and a table top from Ikea too, essentially making it into a dressing table with plenty of storage underneath!

The drawer units cost £60 each (link here) (although they now seem to be reduced to £50 so if you want to buy them I'd get onto the Ikea website quickly!) and the table top cost £25 (link here). The mirror and chair are also from Ikea, the chair I already had and the mirror I recently bought on my latest trip to the storage heaven that is Ikea (which I'm sure will be easy to find on their website). The drawer units came in flat-pack form and were relatively simple to put together however it was slightly time consuming!

I keep makeup in the upper-most two drawers on each side. In the other drawers I keep skincare, bodycare, hair products, and hot tools such as straighters, curling wands etc. and a drawer for makeup and wash bags. This means that as my collection grows I will have room to accommodate for it by moving about the contents of the other drawers.

I keep my makeup brushes in various pots and mugs on the top of the dressing table along with an acrylic letter rack which I used to store my large palettes. On the right hand side I keep my most used hair and body products so they are at easy reach... essentially meaning I actually remember to use them more often!

If you'd like to see an in depth post on the contents of each drawer then let me know in the comments.

Lipbalms - is it just me who hoards them?

Something I never seem to be without is lipbalm. I keep them all over the house and always have at LEAST one with me every time I go out. Is this just me? I don't even feel like I use them all that much however it seems to be an item I can't bare to be without.

I keep one by my bed, in each bathroom, on my dressing table, on my desk, in my car and I always have a ridiculous number of lip products in general in my handbag... somehow they just accumulate until I realised I have over 10 lip products in my bag. At this point I tend to do a bit of a sort out and then the process begins again.

I'm not even really someone who gets particularly dry lips, more so in the winter and when I'm ill. Still I never seem to be without one!

I have a few favourites - Lanolips lip balms are the best! They are ultra moisturising and very glossy! For times when I want something a little less glossy, I love a bit of the French Pharmacy classic, Nuxe Reve de Miel Lip Balm (for those of you who don't speak French, its essentially made from honey, thus having a delicious honey scent!) A few other favourites are Burt's Bees, EOS, Maybelline BabyLips, The Body Shop or Nivea lip butters, Soap and Glory's 'A Great Kisser' or the classic Vaseline in its variety of shades and scents.

I'd love to hear your recommendations!

Pamper Night Must Haves

It's very easy to slip into a rut of simply taking makeup off, cleansing, moisturising and going to bed. I am guilty of this occasionally, so to compensate I like to dedicate one evening a week to pamper my skin and hair. I tend to pamper my body more often funnily enough, especially in the summer months as I regularly exfoliate and slap on a generous amount of body butter (see my last post on The Body Shop Early Harvest Raspberry for more info). But when it comes to using face and hair masks I often forget unless I dedicate a specific slot of time for it.

I put on some chilled out music to make the waiting process in between masks less boring, I also tend to scroll through Instagram when waiting for a face mask to dry for example (trust me, the time passes in no time at all this way!).

 

So onto the products I use! I regularly exfoliate my skin with a manual scrub and use my Clarasonic Mia to cleanse my skin on a daily basis so when it comes to treating my skin I find I need a clarifying mask and a hydrating one. I used to be very un-loyal to face masks, probably because I hadn't found 'the one' yet. At the moment I am loving the Una Brennan Super Facialist Tea Flower Deep Cleanse Purifying Mask. It is really inexpensive as it can be bought in Boots and Superdrug and the range is often on special offer, so look out for that! It has a thick texture and applies really smoothly. It cleanses my skin of all impurities and stubborn dirt and oil that builds up that a regular cleanser fails to remove fully. I also like the Origins Clear Improvements Active Charcoal Mask, which is a pricier item but is an excellent option!

I like to follow this up with a soothing hydrating mask to replenish and re-balance my skin. My absolute holy-grail option for this is the Origins Drink Up Intensive Hydrating Mask. It smells really spa like and soothes my skin after the harsher deep cleansing mask. This is the intensive version of the mask which means you leave it on over night, so in effect its just like an amped up version of a night cream. Its a real treat for your skin and the next morning I wash my face as normal to reveal a brighter, more even skin tone. My skin honestly glows the next day in that ''I've had 9 hours sleep and my skin is naturally this glowy and nice'' kinda way! Nothing hydrates my skin quite like this Origins mask. To get even better results I apply the Indeed Labs Hydraluron Serum before this mask. This serum has hyaluronic acid in and can hold up to 1000 times its weight in water meaning that whatever moisturiser (or hydrating mask) you layer on top works 100 times better! I use this either with a normal night cream or this mask and it really helps to give you fully hydrated plumed up skin.

Now onto the topic of hair! I use a number of leave in conditioners as I battle with dry ends and a lack of shine in my hair but once a week I love to treat my hair with a really intensive condition to repair and protect it. Recently I've been loving the cult favourite, the Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque. Although rather pricy at around £26, it is so worth it! I wasn't sure if I believed the hype from all of the many beauty bloggers and vloggers but once you try this product you will agree with me! Its like you're hair is brand spanking new after using it! My hair is less dry, shinier, has more volume, is easier to manage in general and overall my hair looks 10 times healthier after using this wonder hair mask. I would 100% recommend it despite the hefty cost it comes with, for a more budget friendly however I also love the Aussie 3 Minute Miracles Range of  deep conditioners. I apply this to freshly washed hair and brush it through with my Tangle Teaser to evenly distribute the product through the lengths of my hair ( not at the roots as it will create product build up and may make your hair a tad  greasy!), I then put my hair into a bun on the top of my head and after 5-10 minutes rinse it off to reveal beautifully conditioned hair.

Personally I think it's really important to take some time out to yourself to look after our face, body and hair.

Hope you enjoyed this post - let me know your pamper night must haves below in the comments or on twitter @OliviaEBeauty

Raspberry Goodness

Let's be honest, although it's meant to solely be about the product on the inside and all that, I know I'm not the only one who likes aesthetically pleasing packaging and the product itself to smell like heaven.

Well here you go, a body range in sleek and bold packaging that smells good enough to eat. Want to know what I'm talking about? The Early Harvest Raspberry range from the Body Shop of course!

I use the raspberry body scrub to get rid of all those dead skin cells and whilst doing the job perfectly it's still fairly gentle but also leaves the skin feeling moisturised rather than dry, tight and aggravated like some other body scrubs do. It has a unique jam-like consistency which is also fairly intriguing about this product!

Recently I've been following this with the body butter from the same range. I knew I already loved The Body Shop body butters and have tried many in the past but the raspberry one has to be my favourite scent so far! I honestly think this is the closest thing to what the taste/smell of a raspberry actually is, and that is rare with products as often they are reminiscent of the thing (e.g. a raspberry) but I find they never quite match up to the original, smell wise, whereas this does. It really is on point both with the product itself and also the heavenly smell.

I'd highly recommend going into the shop and giving the tester a good old sniff - it really is the perfect body combo!

Handbag Essentials

I like to think I'm that 'mumsy' type of person that is prepared for every situation. When I'm out and about I like to be the person who's able to supply people with everything and anything from hair bands to blister plasters.

The contents of my bag changes depending on where I'm going and what I'm doing. I tend to reduce my stash of handbag essentials down to the very basics when I'm carrying a smaller bag.

Let's get the boring bit out of the way, I have the basics - purse, keys, phone, headphones, gum and sunglasses, I'm pretty sure most people carry that, minus the sunglasses depending on the weather but at the moment us Brits are experiencing somewhat of a heat wave.

As I've said I like to be prepared for every possible situation and for me that generally means I carry a bag that's rather large and very heavy, I can't pack light for anything! Being asthmatic I can't go anywhere without my inhaler, I also keep painkillers, eye drops, a spare pair of contacts, tissues and a mini pack of wet wipes to freshen up my hands after being out and about.

Smart phones are amazing, and I'm rarely seen without mine because quite honestly I feel lost when I don't have it in close proximity. But the problem comes when I'm out all day or night and my phone's battery simply can't keep up. So to save my phone from running out of battery and becoming useless I bought a portable charger online. I keep it charged up and in my bag at all times to ensure that I never have to be without my phone!

Now, down to the more exciting bits (for us beauty lovers anyway)! I tend to keep these items in a separate makeup bag in an attempt to keep by bag organised. I carry deodorant (boring but important), a mini hairbrush, hair bands and hair grips in case I need to re-vamp my hairstyle, or (more likely) simply throw it up into a bun at the end of the day. I also keep a mini facial mist which is especially useful in the summer months. I find they're great not only to refresh the skin but also to lock makeup into place and to keep it looking its best. I love the Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray, which I decant into a smaller spray bottle or the La Roche Posay, or Liz Earl ones. I like to be able to top up my perfume throughout the day but don't want to carry a big heavy glass bottle around with me, so opt for a smaller, more travel friendly rollerball one. At the moment I'm loving the Taylor by Taylor Swift one for keeping in my bag.

I don't carry much makeup around with me on a daily basis, only the bits that need to be topped up, this usually consists of a pressed translucent powder, the Urban Decay one is my favourite for on-the-go, my Lanolips lip balm which can fix even the driest of lips in no time at all, and the lip product I'm wearing that day, I will also bring concealer with me from time to time depending on how good or bad my skin is.

I know I love knowing what people carry around with them to look for new ideas and also to see if I carry too much or too little in comparison to most people.

Is Bioderma cleansing water worth it?

I don't like to be too quick to say I love something... But sometimes you just know!

I've wanted to try the highly loved Bioderma micellar cleansing water for a number of years but as I love the L'Oreal and Garnier versions I held back due to the price.

Paying £14.99 for a bottle of what essentially looks and feels like water seems a little crazy. But I figured that this miracle water must be fairly good as I haven't read a single bad review (and I read a lot of blogs!).

One cotton pad, a bit of Bioderma Sensibio H2O (that's what it's really called even though everyone just refers to it as Bioderma, which is actually the brand name.) and a full face of makeup is gone in seconds. 

It has to be the simplest, quickest, easiest and most effective method of quickly removing makeup. It's also perfect for a morning cleanse to refresh the skin. I do however, go in with a second cleanser after makeup removal in the evening, to fully cleanse my skin as I'm very particular with my skincare routine. It can also be used on a cotton bud (or Q tip if you're American) to correct mascara or eyeliner mistakes.

Here are the figures if you want to compare prices :

Bioderma - £14.99 for 500ml - £3 per 100 ml

L'Oreal -£3.33 for 200ml - £1.67 per 100ml

Garnier - £4.99 per 400ml - £0.83 per 100 ml

(Many other brands make cleansing waters but these are the few I have tried and tested.)

All in all I think it's an amazing product and I would say it's most definitely worth the money. However if you are on more of a budget or simply can't bare to pay nearly £15 for a cleansing water (as I originally couldn't) then the L'Oreal and Garnier versions are good affordable options.

Meeting Lily Pebbles and Anna from ViviannaDoesMakeup

The two well known English bloggers and Youtubers Lily Pebbles and Anna from ViviannaDoesMakeup held a meet up in London today. It was a lovely day out, we all had a picnic in the park, and luckily the sun was out! (A rarity in England despite it being summer)

We exchanged blogs and met lots of new people with similar interests.

But when it came down to it I was incredibly excited to meet the bloggers and youtubers I'd been following for a number of years. Lily and Anna were so lovely and we had a good old chat about shopping and blogs. I even gave them a bag of Ben's Cookies as I know it's one of their favourite places in London for a snack. It was really nice to be able to see them in the 'real world' as opposed to on my laptop screen, as surreal as it seemed.

I met two other lovely girls who came to the meet up and spent the afternoon with them.

I had a little time to kill so stopped by a recent discovery, thanks to Lily Pebbles, Zest Pharmacy near Oxford Street. And needless to say I spent far too much on cult pharmacy products (mainly French). (Reviews to follow soon!)

All in all it was a great day out in London, despite getting rather sunburnt! (That'll teach me for being lazy with suncream!)