Organization Quest

What You've Been Waiting For: The Makeup Organizer

If you've been following the Quest, you know that I tried to create my own makeup organizer this spring, which you would not think would be such a daring or difficult feat but it landed me in the emergency room nonetheless.  Anyway.  I tried to let the experience go, really. I lined up my makeup in neat little rows, only to have everything fall into eachother whenever I opened the drawer.  "That's fine," I'd lie, whenever I'd open the drawer to find blush toppled into what had been clearly designated as the eyeshadow area.  "A tidy makeup drawer isn't worth the risk of losing a finger."

Sure, I could have gone to the Container Store or Target and found an approximate replacement for the makeup organizer I'd envisioned making for myself, but that just seemed so . . . cowardly.  I felt like I'd just given up and let the X-acto knife win without a fight.  And that I just couldn't do.

"What are you doing?" Alpay asked as I dug out my heavy-duty protective gloves, safety glasses, and measuring tape.

"I'm gonna make that organizer once and for all," I said.

"Please don't," Alpay said.  But he knew better than to force the issue with a woman holding an X-acto knife.

In the end, it was fine.  Better than fine!  Are you kidding?  My makeup organizer is beautiful.  It's exactly what I wanted, completely and totally customized to fit the drawer and organize my favorite products. Only don't ask me for details on how I did it. It was enough to take a chance with my own finger, I'm not taking any chances with yours!

Above: life before my makeup organizer This is as good as it got; usually it was a lot worse.   

Creating Customized Make-Up Dividers out of Foam Core

Taming Travel Chaos with Free, GWP Bags

There is something about the term "Gift With Purchase" that shorts all my circuits.  Who can resist those cute little bags full of free goodies?  Nevermind that the bags are often cheap plastic things that you would never, ever actually use as a clutch as advertised.  It's free!

Well, sort of.  You do have to buy product--usually to the tune of $20 bucks or more--to get the gift with purchase bag.  But the upside is that you do get exposed products and colors you might not otherwise try, and the gift usually comes with at least one or two neutral stand-bys everyone can use, which explains why I haven't had to actually  buy mascara, clear lip gloss, blush, or make-up remover in years. 

Still, there is the question of what exactly to do with an ever-increasing supply of little vinyl bags.  Happily, there is no shortage of ways to get some actual use out of them. As I recently realized, GWP bags are especially helpful for taming travel chaos.  Here are 8 ways we put GWP bags to use on our trip to Turkey:

#1: Organizing Vitamins, OTC Drugs, and Prescriptions
It's handy to have one place for pills and medications.

  

#2: Stowing Feminine Protection Products
If you've been following the Quest, you might recognize this bag from my medicine cabinet makeover.

#3: Pen Storage
Handy even if you don't feel compelled to travel with a handful of fountain pens at any given time.

  

#4: Cotton Balls, Q-Tips, and Cosmetic Rounds
I've found that cotton balls, Q-Tipsand the like have a tendency to get yucky if stored with makeup.  While you can use a ziplock baggie in a pinch, baggies tend to tear and give out over a number of days of heavy-duty travel.  This bag is also suitable for around-town essentials, i.e. ipod, credit card, and gloss. 

  

#5: Camera and Camcorder Bag
This is one of my favorite bags--and probably the most unusual: there are two compartments to the soft-sided, square-shaped bag: one large and one small.  The large side provides storage for our 35mm camera, while the small side is big enough for the camcorder.  Perfect!

 

 

#6: Binocular Bag
The original bag for the binoculars didn't fit as well as this freebie bag!   

  

#7: Travel-Size Soap, Toner, and Cream Organizer
This is probably closer to what the GWP bags are intended for.  I've found that this square-shaped bag, which has a three-sided zipper, is particularly useful for cleansers and face creams, as it lays flat on a hotel room vanity or counter and makes it easy to keep everything in the bag making it easy to pack up and go.

  

#8: Organizing Spillables
This is one of the most useful GWP bags I've gotten:  a heavy-duty plastic bag that's ideal for storing all kinds of spillables like perfume, large toner bottles and the like, minimizing potential breakage catastrophes. 

  

Tomorrow: creating a quick, organized day pack of travel essentials with free GWP bags.

Quick Tip: Getting the Most out of Powder Cosmetics

Back in the original Makeup Week that ran in April/May, several posts featured cosmetic safety, including expiration dates and avoiding microbial contamination.  The latter post detailed why such makeup-extending practices as adding water to the original product is not a good idea, as the introduction of foreign material increases the likelihood of product contamination.  But there is at least one way to be frugal that isn't an infection risk: when loading cosmetics onto a brush or applicator, start with the corners of the pan and work inward, thus avoiding the ubiquitous dip-in-the-center syndrome. Why bother? Because when you dip into the middle, you push product to the sides, where it is hard to reach the last little bits without breakage and waste. 

Where the Freebies Are: Finding Gift-with-Purchase Goodies

Later in the week I'll be writing about the organizational potential of gift-with-purchase bags that accompany cosmetic giveaways, but I wanted to write get this post out before it's too late, because there are some might nice gift-with-purchase (GWP) deals going on right now. 

How to find those GWP? The best way i've found is to go right to the manufacturer's site, i.e. Estee Lauder, Prescriptives, Bobbi Brown, etc.  Sometimes there's a link to "events" where you can input your zip code to generate a list of nearby stores and information on the next GWP. Sometimes the manufacturer itself will offer GWPs through their website. Just how good the gifts are vary wildly according by the manufacture--some are pretty lame while others can only be described as extravagant. 

Here are some of the current deals:

Lancome: Hands-down, my favorite manufacturer's site is Lancome's.  It's also the only one that I've bothered to join as a "member" in order to get extra goodies.  At least once a month they have a seriously great giveaway.  Example:  until July 24 lancome.com members can choose four products from a selection of samples, including an eyeshadow quad, lip pencil, lip gloss, self-tanner, blush, bronzer, or juicy tubes, plusget a large Genifique sample, plus free shipping for purchases over $50. 

Smashbox: Free lipgloss with $60.00 purchase; from what I've been able to gather, in addition you may get foundation plus choice of one of three "deluxe-size samples" including foundation primer, tinted moisturizer, or lip gloss. There's also the strange "free gift Tuesdays + Thursdays" which cannot be combined with other offers; this involves a free, full-size product when ordered between 9am and 2pm Pacific time on Tuesdays or Thursdays.  Plus free shipping on every order!

Clinique: Choice of men's 3-step samples (three products) OR mascara sample OR Almost Makeup Sample + free shipping for orders over $50.00.  The website also features an event calendar giving information on in-store GWP. 

Estee Lauder: A "10-day supply" of Advanced Night Repair, + a choice of two samples, ranging from "trial size" eyeshadow to perfume, to 5-10 day supplies of various products like cleanser or firming cream, + free shipping for orders over $50.00.

Prescriptives: Free shipping on any purchase + a free sample (not disclosed on website and subject to switch-out)

Bobbi Brown:  Free shipping for order over $65.00 + two free samples (not disclosed on the website until checkout; when I checked, the only choices were for foundation)

You can also try department store's sites for information.  Current deals going on now include:

 Nordstroms: Lancome Gift With $29.50 purchase, including mascara, eye shadow quad, makeup remover, cleanser, lipstick, wrinkle cream, and tote.  In addition, Nordstroms also has a Estee $29.50 GWP that includes "lifting cream," 9-shade eyeshadow compact, full-size lipstick, mascara, and three different cosmetic bags.

 Macys: Estee Gift With $29.50 purchase (pictured below) including Cosmetic bag, eye pencil, eye shadow, perfume, full-size lipstick, high gloss, mascara, and patent tote.

Quick Tip: Washing Cosmetic Brushes

Brushes are great for applying any number of products, from foundation and face powder to blush, eye shadow, eyeliner, and even lipstick.  To keep brushes clean, just wash with anti-bacterial soap and warm water and air-dry.

 

Quick Tips for Speeding up Your Beauty Routine

Tuesday is my Monday, the first day of the week I have to be on site at work.  And so after a lazy, cosmetic-free weekend that spills over onto my work-at-home Monday, I'm often tempted to throw caution to the wind and shun makeup Tuesday morning, quite as if I simply can't spare the 30 seconds it takes to line my eyes or put on a little lip gloss, nevermind that whenever I go into the office bare-faced, there's always someone who will wonder--loudly and often--if I'm sick.

I came across "50 Ways to Speed up Your Beauty Routine" on Oprah's site a while back.  Because saving time and  streamlining routines is a big part of being organized, I thought it would make a good post for the Quest.  I've tested  most of the makeup tips and a good quarter of the hair and general grooming tips, and I have to say I'm both surprised and pleased with the tips I've tried.  I may not switch to a tinted moisturizer for foundation or use a light dusting of blush in place of eyeshadow every day of the week, but it in a pinch both techniques seem to work well enough and they do make good on their promise of saving time.