Make-up Storage Update: Muji

Since moving homes again in October I've been fairly satisfied with how well a majority of our belongings have fitted together in the new house. My make-up storage on the other hand, was bothering me somewhat. I had been using a cheap, old tatty plastic set of drawers I got from asda about 5 years ago and each morning scrabbling through the bleakness was not giving me much of a sparkly feeling. 

Here are some photos of what my dressing table looked like before and how my make-up was stored

Overview

Palettes and some make-up bags 

Radio, Nail Varnish and Hair styling 

Tatty drawers

Base Products 

Blush, Bronzers & Highlighters

Eyes

Lips

Empties, Spares & Some tools 

  As you can see, my previous set-up was practical but not very pretty. After trawling various beauty blogs to figure out which storage solution would work best for me, I settled on buying 4 of the large muji 2 drawers for stacking. 

The units were just over £10 each and were delivered from the Muji UK website in under a week. I was so excited when they arrived! These units have little rubber tracks which allow for secure stacking without scratching the units below. 

 

After fiddling around a little, this is what I came up with - excuse the reflections of me in my pjs! 

There's still a little more switching, adding and general froofing to be done before I will be completely happy. The lighting in that corner of the room is AWFUL no matter what the weather, and thanks to some spot lights in the roof I have a lot of trouble with shadows appearing in peculiar places. Eventually I want to have the dresser clear of the clutter so I could maybe pop an office-type lamp there to help the lighting issue and stop make-up application from being such a guessing game!

I've kept the ugly drawers for now and filled them with my nail polish collection which was in the little wicker basket. That now houses my Mac and Ingot palettes which wouldn't fit in the Muji. 

I chose the large 2 drawers as I preferred the individual draw to be deeper. For point of reference this size can snuggly fit a bottle of Nars sheer glow or 2 of the naked palettes stacked on-top of each other. 

I also need to figure out an alternative to storing brushes as the yankee jar i'm using at the moment isn't wide enough and the Zoeva eye set are having to reside in their pouch for now! 

Hope this might be helpful if people are searching for storage alternatives like I was. If anyone has any bright ideas which might give my dresser a bit more sparkle please let me know!

Take care

Steph 

xxx

MAC Objects of Affection

Please prepare yourself for a bit of a picture heavy post - I'm a little late to the party raving about this product but I wanted to swatch some of these gorgeous pigments from the MAC Objects of Affection collection. 

 I got 2 of the pigment and glitter sets before Christmas (I think around early November time) and found them to be my most reached for eye products over the festive season. 

First of course is the eye-catching packaging that houses the miniature pigment pots - the chic black tin case is hardwearing and the glittery lid is so eye-catching. 

The Pink & Rose pigment and glitter collection contains 4 shimmers ranging from the palest champagne to burgundy plus the unique glitter.  

L-R Whisper Pink, Tan, Rose, Reining Riches glitter, Heritage Rouge

The Gold & Beige pigment and glitter set houses some more day-to-day shades and contains a matte shade for those times where a pearl or shimmer finish is just not required (What? When might that be??). 

L-R Lithe, English Gilt, Pretty it up, Gold glitter, Deep Brown 

I'll be the first to throw my hands up and admit pigments scare the living daylights out of me but once I mastered removing those funny little plugs, applying and blending the pigments is dreamy and fairly mess-free. I make sure I use a good amount of primer or cream shadow and find fallout can be controlled with a quick flick of a fluffy brush.

 Mac advise not to wear the glitter around the eyes so I suppose they could be used to amp up a nail design? I'm not sure, they're a bit OTT for me and even when passing through the party season I didn't manage to find a use for them.

The sets cost around £25 and considering i've yet to finish a full-sized pigment, I thought it was perfectly reasonable price to pay for the glitzy addition to my dressing table. 

If anybody has any recommendations for the glitters please point me in the right direction!

Take care

Steph

xxx

2015 Goals

Hi Lovelies, Happy New Year!

So much happened in my life in 2014 and it really was a great year. Now, I wasn't planning on creating hundreds of new years resolutions to make me richer or fitter because to be frank, I don't stick to them and find myself quite disappointed when I've spent my last fiver on a McDonalds. 

With that being said there is definitely room for improvement! 

1) Learn to cook - Since moving out (again) and making my own little home with Chris this last year, I feel it should be fitting of me to learn how to cook. I admire people who can take a pile of fresh ingredients and create a lovely meal from them. The best I can manage is fajitas or spaghetti. This year I aim to master at least 1 new recipe a month. 

2) Keep Learning -  I really wanted one of my goals to be: become creative. As much as I would love to turn super-crafty and create lots of lovely home-made goodies to give to my nearest and dearest, it just isn't going to happen. I have the imagination of a newt and the dexterity of a 4 year old. All the women in my family are the crafty kind but I just haven't managed to adopt that ability. Instead I want to expand my knowledge and keep learning! 2014 was a great year for my career and I can foresee things plateauing if i'm not careful. Therefore, whether it be work related, blogging orientated or maybe a practical skill, I want to take positive steps to ensure I document my learning experiences so I can look back and be proud of my efforts. 

3) Go Exploring - I'm quite a creature of habit and as a result often find my choices being quite repetitive. To avoid any ruts and to make sure I get the best out of my year, I want to try lots of new things. This include seeking out the opportunity to visit new places, choosing a different restaurants or maybe just picking a different genre of book. Generally just saying yes more often!

4) Drink more water - typical. 

5) Try harder with blogging. I enjoy reading other blogs so much and attempted in 2014 to set up Bella Mode. I have so much to learn to get the best out of blogging and I really want to give it a shot. Any tips would be gratefully received. 

I also don't think it would harm me to become more organised, take better care of my nails, and utilise my gym membership more often (guilty). 

There we have it, nothing too ground breaking, but a few goals I want to start working on in 2015. I Hope everyone had a lovely festive period and is now feeling wonderfully refreshed and motivated for this next year!

Take care

Steph

xxx