A couple of years ago, I finally dug into my massive collection of old hair and beauty products and purged about 80% of them. The collection that had once taken up two countertops, dozens of boxes in my closet, and several feet of floor space now fit nicely under the two bathroom cabinets and in a small five-drawer organizer sitting atop the cabinet.

My makeup collection especially saw a big reduction. So much, in fact, that I only had to use two of the five tiny drawers in that organizer to store my makeup.

But there was a problem. Actually, three problems, which showed up in ensuing months:

• The drawers often got stuck because of a makeup product’s packaging blocking the way
• Some of the makeup products, especially lip glosses, slowly leaked when put on their sides (the way they had to be stored in this drawer system)
• The makeup that got accidentally shoved to the back of the drawer never saw usage, because I couldn’t see it/access it anymore

I had to do something about this. I knew I wanted a more open storage system for my makeup, something that I didn’t have to open and close to get to…but I also wanted to be able to see everything in my collection without having to move other things out of the way. Plus, I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on whatever organizing system I got, just in case it didn’t work.

Then, I happened to be at Walmart, when I spotted something in the office supplies aisle:

It was a clear desktop organizer, meant for office supplies and the like. I, however, saw it a little differently. I bought it, brought it home, and within about 30 minutes, I had transformed my makeup organization space.

BAM!! 😀

Yep, these are all the makeup products I own, and they all fit in this little desk organizer that takes up just under a square foot of space. Amazing, huh?

But even with all this awesomeness, there were a few issues I had to address while I was putting each item into place. Here’s some handy hints for storing your own makeup in such an organizer:

1: Big tall compartments, like this one at the back of this organizer, are great for large palettes and tall items (like the eyeliner pencil at left). Don’t put small items (like travel-size lip glosses) in these compartments, because they’ll just fall over and get hidden by bigger items. (Learn from my fail.)

2: Use the very small but still high-walled compartments for items like lipsticks or other stick makeup that are best stored vertically. For me, this was key, because some of my glosses had begun to leak when stored horizontally; the vertical storage solves that issue! Tiny compartments also help keep the tiniest items from falling over, like those five tiny glosses in the middle compartment.

3: Use medium-sized, flatter compartments for smaller palettes or individual items–here, I’ve used them for blush, bronzer, face makeup, and even my sharpener because I feared the little thing would get lost otherwise. Also, be careful that your smaller palettes don’t get jammed down in the flatter compartments–I had to do some serious prying after my blush compact got stuck in the left compartment. That’s why it’s stored propped up the way it is!

Now that I’ve had my makeup stored this way for about a month, I love it and wouldn’t go back. I can see every product and pull it out easily to use it, and more importantly, nothing gets ignored because the organizer is clear. It makes getting ready a LOT easier–and all because I tuned into my repurposing radar. Neat!

Product Information

Available at Walmart