You don't drink, don't smoke. What do you do?

I have had a lot of questions over the years on how I stored my makeup. How much I have. I have shared pics over the years but have been remiss lately to share because people judge. Do I care? Yes and no. I mean I know my financial situation and they don't but I freaking HATE the "oh aren't you lucky" comments. Ain't no lucky involved. I work hard for what I have. I have money in the bank, I don't buy clothes regularly and all my bills are paid and food in my cupboards. Yup I have a lot of makeup. Yup no one needs this much. Do I care? Not really. Do I love it. You betcha. Not that I have to explain myself to anyone but I don't mind sharing.

I ask for it for holidays. I spend holiday money on it. I used to work for first Mark then Avon. I spend money I make from the blog (it isn't much. Annually I could probably buy 1.5 pair of Danksos If you wonder exactly how much.) on makeup. I don't have ads or I'd probably have money to buy even more! mwhahaaa. We each have a lunch money allowance and I hoard mine and eat cheaply. Does my husband mind? Not at all. He encouraged the purchase or DID purchase most of it. When we are in a store and the sales people say "would you like to try..." I put my head down and don't make eye contact and Dave says loudly while pushing "SURE SHE DOES".

Also I make friendly with people at my favorite companies and try to stay loyal and they in turn give me handfuls of samples, sometimes deluxe ones. (Dior gives you HUGE samples. I have THREE free makeup bags I got with product from them. And I only buy one thing every 6 months from them. But I always buy it from the same girl. She also loves to touch up my makeup when I am going out after work.) I walk out with a fresh face of pretty makeup and some samples in my pocket and I didn't spend a dime.

And when there is something I really want, a new Chanel lipstick for example... I save up. I'd rather have one thing I love then 3 drug store items I might never wear cause I couldn't try on and the color was not me. Makeup doesn't care what size you are. It doesn't. (neither does polish)

Hey it's cheaper than therapy. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I lipstick.

ON WITH THE SHOW.

Inside

For Christmas you might remember my dad make me this desk from a antique top and he made the base.

When he showed it to me in his garage I immediately said "OOOH A MAKEUP DESK" to which my dad made THAT FACE (you know the face. I'm sure you've gotten it from your parents. It's the "whose child are you" face)

"NO NO NO that is for paying bills on" he said

"Get with the times dad we pay bills ON OUR IPHONES."(he has an iphone and is only 54 I don't know why sometimes he acts like he is 75)

"Dave don't you let her push you around this is your desk too" he says(mind you this was my only presents and Dave got a set of tools from him)

As soon as he was out of ear shot Dave said "it's yours." Of course he couldn't say that in FRONT OF HIM!

Brushes.

I store all the brushes in this cup Dave made me a VERY long time ago. (remember when paint your own pottery places were hot? We totally went once. It was really fun. Until I realized I could of done it WHEN I WAS IN POTTERY class the year before.)

My brush collection is kinda spastic. Some I had since highschool. About 1/4 of them came in kits. Some are from CVS or Wal-Mart (highschool), a bunch are from Mark or Avon I got for literally $1-3 dollars each. I have a small Sephora kit from Dave, Sonia Kushak ones from Dave and some are actually paint brushes! Never used for paint. Bought to use with makeup. Forever I refused to pay for brushes so I'd go to craft store and try and find a paint brush like the fancy MAC brush someone said I "needed" Then Dave got me the Sephora and Sonia ones for Christmas a few years ago saying if you don't have a good tool for the job then you are just doing yourself a disservice. But I still refused to spend more than $10 on it. Then at MAC a artist handed me her liner brush and told me how to apply the swoop and she stood there and watched me use it. OMG WHAT A DIFFERENCE. I had a slanted liner brush from Wal-Mart but the back one was thinner and gave me a smaller more defined line. The two liner are the only ones I have invested in so far. Both under $20. If you are going to buy one brush I'd say get the slanted liner. It's amazing. I'm glad Dave bullied me into it.

Top left drawer. Primers liquid liners and mascara.

Top right drawer. Cream and loose shadows. (I made the ones in the tiniest jars!)

I stack all my palettes and if it is in a nondescript package I write what it is on the end of it.

I stack everything on its side in these tins and write what it is on them so I can easily slide the tin out and see what is in it. Since I did this I have been utilizing my collection more cause I can see it all! Where did I find all these amazing tins and lids that fit everything so perfectly? They were all from Sponge Bob square pants watches Burger King gave away about 8 years ago! Ha. My stepdad worked for a guy who owned a bunch of them and he gave me a ton one Christmas. I knew I saved all these tins all these years for something! I mean look how perfect they are for everything!.

I also used a bunch of chocolate boxes and tins I took from everyone at Christmas time.

All my face stuff lives in this Pyrex that my friend Emily gave me for Christmas last year. It fits nicely on the shelf and I pull it out every morning.

Lipsticks live in this 12 gauge shot gun shell case. Dude they cost like $2-3 at Wal-Mart and they are PERFECT. I had my dad measure my lipsticks with his bullet measuring thing. It live on the bottom right in the top photo of the desk.

My MAC shadows are labeled on the outside what colors are in the palette and inside I wrote the names. I plan to redo this on the computer. We FINALLY got a working printer just this weekend! (I have a label maker but I don't have tape small enough to fit in between things or I totally would of done that here and on edges of packages above!)

As you can see I utilized all object I found around my house to organize everything. I didn't want to drop money at Container Store when I knew I could make it work if I was just creative. This is my most special storage container. My MIL had an older brother who passed away when they were kids. She and him used to have these little hot cocoa glasses they'd each have their cocoa in. She gave them to me when Dave and I were dating. (she must of KNOWN we were meant to be) and I have kept them in the cabinet and I never use them. They are so small and I worry about breaking them but this way they get USE and are in a safe place!

WHEW how is that for long winded? If I could I'd give you all who came this far a cookie.