Budget-Friendly Tips and Tricks to Organize Your Skin Care Products

 

IF YOU STORE YOUR PRODUCTS IN MAKEUP BAGS…

If you are dealing with lack of space—think: living in a dorm room or a small New York City sublet—storing your skin care products in makeup bags can be a great way to keep your area clutter free. You can separate the bags by morning and night time routine, or get specific and organize them by product type (this is helpful if you hoard beauty products, like we do). Mark one for your face masks, one for your creams, one for your serums, one for your sunscreens (hey, we like options!), and so on. If your makeup bags are canvas material (or any other type of fabric that will hold an iron-on patch), iron on some letter patches so that you know what bag goes with what routine or item type. You can spell it out with mini letter patches, or use a symbol or one letter initial to differentiate between the bags.

Editor’s Tip: In addition to keeping bags for our product types and morning/evening routines, we like to keep a separate makeup bag stocked with travel-size skin care products. That way, when you are packing for your next getaway, you won’t have to scramble to find all of your toiletries and can breathe easy knowing you didn’t leave your night cream behind.

 

IF YOU STORE YOUR PRODUCTS ON A SHELF…

If you store your products on a shelf, we recommend putting them in order by purpose—i.e. start with your cleanser and end with your moisturizer and sunscreen. You can break it up by placing clear jars filled with cotton swabs and cotton pads in between the products, a succulent plant, a picture frame, beauty-related books, magazines, and so on. This makes your skin care shelf both functional and decorative. If you have space (or a second shelf), you can also store your makeup products in this way, too! Instead of jars of cotton pads and swabs, decorate with trendy makeup brush holders. If you want to get super organized, you can even separate your brushes by purpose (i.e. eyeshadow brushes, face brushes, etc.)—and organize your smaller items (like lipsticks and eyeshadows) in acrylic organizers or drawers.

 

IF YOU STORE YOUR PRODUCTS IN A DRAWER…

Storing your products in a drawer can be a great way to stay super organized and hide your skin care addiction (wink, wink). Depending on the size of your drawers and how many they take up, you can either get special organizers (think: underwear drawer organizers, acrylic organizers, and so on) and separate your products that way, or designate each drawer to either your morning, evening, and weekly skin care routine or specific product types. Break out your label maker—or, even better, get some fun letter stickers—and label each drawer accordingly.

Editor’s Tip: If you’re like me and have an entire dresser designated to beauty products, you can create a cute little vanity space on top for the products you use in the morning and night. Right now, my rosewater facial spray, moisturizer, deodorant, body lotion, and collection of lip balms sit on top of a silver tray next to a floral scented candle, my perfume collection (let’s be honest. I hoard those, too), a small picture frame, and a cactus plant that I picked up from the farmer’s market recently. Having these products within reach is both convenient and decorative.

 

IF YOU STORE YOUR PRODUCTS IN A CADDY…

If utilized correctly, shower caddies are great for organization. If you have one that is separate from your shower head (like the kind you’re advised to purchase for your college dorm bathroom), you can use a label maker or stickers to label one side of the caddy “morning” and one side of the caddy “evening” and separate your products accordingly. Since caddies come in all shapes and sizes and there are so many different ways to stay organized, you may also want to organize your caddy by product type (like we did with the makeup bags). That way if you’re looking for a face mask to use, you know exactly where to find it. Have too many products for one caddy? Don’t worry! Use your caddy to organize the products you use on the regular and store the rest in either a properly labeled plastic bin or a drawer in your dresser.

 

IF YOU STORE YOUR PRODUCTS IN YOUR MEDICINE CABINET…

Similar to storing your products on a shelf, storing your products in your medicine cabinet is a great way for you to both see what you have and conceal your collection. We recommend either putting your products in order of application—like you would on a shelf—or, designing one shelf for the morning, one for the evening, and one for weekly use (i.e. your face masks and exfoliators). And if you have extra space, you may even want to store your makeup products in your cabinet, too. If you want to get extra organized, you can get a label maker and label the shelves “morning,” “evening,” and “weekly.”

Editor’s Tip: Proceed with caution if your medicine cabinet is in your bathroom. Some skin care products are meant to be stored in cool, dry places. Check individual product labels for storing instructions before storing your products in the bathroom.

 

IF YOU STORE YOUR PRODUCTS IN A BAR CART…

One of our favorite ways to store—well, anything—is in a small bar cart. It’s cute, easy to keep organized, and can move around for your convenience (or, laziness). If you have a two-tiered bar cart, you can create a vanity space (like we did with the dresser) using your daily essentials, a pretty plant or vase of flowers, a candle, a picture frame, and any other knick-knacks you’d like. On the bottom, keep it organized with small wooden crates or bins for your morning, evening, and weekly products.

 

IF YOU STORE YOUR PRODUCTS ON A VANITY TABLE…

If you store your products on a vanity table, we recommend keeping the essentials on the tabletop and adding a few accent pieces like a small plant and picture frame. Once you have determined what is essential, organize the rest of your products in the drawers by skin care routine (so, morning, evening, and weekly) or product type. If your vanity table does not have drawers—or, the drawers aren’t big enough for your loot—you can purchase a small decorative filing cabinet or dresser to place next to your table for the rest of your products. If you can find one that is the same height as your table, this can also create extra table space—win, win!