My Favorite Beauty Products (& How I Keep Them Organized!)

Friend recommendations are the best so I’m totally excited about today’s “My Five Favorites” since I’m joining four of my blogging buddies to dish about our favorites in fashion and beauty! And since I’ll take any and every excuse to talk about home organization, I’m also going to show you how I organize it all! Along with my usual My Five Favorites crew of Pam of Simple Details, Lisa of Shine Your Light, and Jennifer of Dimples & Tangles, we have Cindy from Rough Luxe Lifestyle joining us as our guest this month. I met Cindy a couple of years ago at a trip to Round Top, TX for the annual antiques fair and I just totally adore her! In addition to having an amazing sense of fashion style, she’s a crazy talented decorator – I love how Cindy incorporates so many vintage finds into her spaces, like her gorgeous living room that looks so cozy and welcoming:

Thanks for joining us today Cindy! Now let’s get going with my five fashion and beauty finds and how I organize them (post includes some affiliate links – see my full disclosure statement {here}):

My Go-To Makeup Essentials

Unless it’s a special occasion, I never spend more than about five minutes putting on my makeup which is partially because I like a more natural look and partially because I have no patience whatsoever for using a zillion primers, pencils, etc. These are my seven favorites that are part of my quick and easy every day beauty routine:

1 – I love eyeshadow palettes and {this eyeshadow collection} filled with neutral and berry tones is my current favorite. I stick with the neutrals on a daily basis but also love some of the warm berry tones like red ochre when I’m dressing up. 

2 – I have thin brows but like having a quicker solution that doing the whole brow powder, pencil, & gel thing so on the daily basis I just use Gimme Brow available {here} (I use the “medium” color) – it’s like mascara for your eyebrows and takes all of 15 seconds to apply. Love!

3 – I have a fairly obscene nailpolish stash but Sally Hansen’s Greige (I can’t find it at a reasonable price online and just buy it at the drugstore) is my favorite that I use time and time again. {This nailpolish} is a close second. Funny how the colors we love to decorate with are also the ones we love to wear!

4 – For special occasions I use a mascara primer, mascara, and eyelash curler to really do my eyelashes up but on a daily basis I just use Roller Lash available {here}. It doesn’t clump or flake and adds just a touch of curl (it also helps hold the curl better when used after an eyelash curler). And it’s water resistant but not water proof so I’ve never had a problem with it running but it comes off easily when you wash your face.

5 – If I could only chose one thing to put on my face every day, it would be this foundation (available {here}). It does an amazing job of evening out my complexion (I have mild rosacea and you would never know once I have it on) but looks like I have nothing on. I should probably use some fancy brush to apply it but just put a few dots on my face and rub it in with my fingers. I use the Warm Nude shade. The only thing I don’t like about it is that you can’t tell when it’s getting low so I try to keep an extra bottle on hand.

6 – {This Lancome eyeliner} is my favorite – easy to apply and long-lasting.

7 – I don’t have a blush that I swear by (I keep trying new ones each time I run out) but this blush brush (available {here}) is definitely a winner! It’s super soft, applies blush evenly, and is great for contouring too. I also love that it comes with a snap-on plastic head to protect the brush when thrown in a makeup bag for travel. 

To keep all of my makeup organized and easy to get to, I use {this acrylic cosmetic/makeup storage case}. There are a few different configuration options but mine has three long drawers and four small ones: 

It fits all of my most-used makeup and smaller cosmetics, makes it so easy to see everything, and it was SUPER inexpensive compared to other acrylic drawer options. It actually came with black non-slip liners for each drawer that worked well but mine are full enough that things don’t move around much so I removed them since I like the look without them better. Normally I keep this in the small cabinet right by my bathroom sink but moved it out on my dresser so I could get a better pic of it for you 🙂

 

A Hair Dryer That’s Fast & Doesn’t Dry Out Your Hair

Just like I’m all about being quick when it comes to putting on my makeup, I’m the same about drying my hair (do you hate wasting time drying your hair as much as I do?). There are lots of expensive hairdryers out there that do all sorts of fancy things so mine might not be the best one in the world but I sure think it’s the best bang for the buck! It’s under $20 (I bought mine {here}): and is SO much better than the 10+ year old typical hair dryer I had before it. 

It has infrared heat technology and tourmaline ionic technology which… um, mean absolutely nothing to me – ha! But what I can tell you is that it doesn’t over-dry my hair (my hair seems less brittle and shinier) and it dries my hair quickly. 

To be honest, I have no great storage spot for my own hairdryer (my bathroom is the tiniest master bathroom ever) but in my girls’ bathroom, it hangs in {this handy over-the-cabinet caddy} which works really well for keeping it off of their bathroom counter and out of the way when it’s not in use: 

The basket in the middle is the perfect size for storing the hair dryer attachments and cord and the holder on the right is a great storage spot for a brush.

 

My Favorite Lazy Hair Day Product

Have you discovered dry shampoos yet? If not, you’re missing out! They work by absorbing and removing oil & sweat and are amazing for freshening up your hair on days you don’t wash it, especially when your hair is starting to get greasy. My youngest daughter and I both love dry shampoos and we’ve probably tried about 7 or 8 of them by now. My favorite is Living Proof’s Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo (I get mine {here}):

It’s definitely on the pricer end of dry shampoos but it works so much better for me than all of the lower priced ones I’ve used (they all left residue behind) plus it smells amazing! One word of advice if dry shampoos are new to you – you don’t want to just spray them on the top of your hair like hair spray. Instead, lift up big chunks of hair and spray the roots, give it about a minute, and then use your fingers to work it in and fluff up your hair. You will wonder how you ever lived without it! 

 

The Best Product for Keeping Your Makeup in Place ALL Day 

One other product in my beauty arsenal that I love is Urban Decay’s All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray (available {here}). I typically put on makeup in the morning and never reapply unless I’ve got evening plans so I like to use a setting spray that makes my makeup last. This product is my favorite! Once I’m done with my makeup I simply close my eyes, hold it about 8″ away from my face and give it a few sprays. It doesn’t feel sticky (I don’t notice it’s on my face at all once it’s dry) and it does a great job sealing my makeup, especially when I’m outside in the heat. 

I have VERY limited space in my master bathroom so having a compact way to store this spray along with my dry shampoo and all of my other sprays and bottles is a must – {this rotating makeup organizer} has been amazing!

The footprint of it is super small but it holds a ton of beauty products and they’re all easy to access since you can spin it around. And I love that the shelves can be placed at any height so you can customize it depending upon the height of your spray bottles. There are several different color and style options – mine is the “clear transparent” color and “square with tray” design. 

 

Accessories that Make the Outfit!

Similar to my passion for pretty decorative hardware, I can’t get enough of necklaces, bracelets, and earrings sooo I’m sneaking a few in on this post – close enough to beauty, right?!  Several of my favorites are ones I’ve had for years that are no longer available but I thought I’d share the still-available pieces in my jewelry stash that I think you guys would love starting with {this gold + black & white tassel bracelet}:

Lately I’ve been wearing it more days than not – I mean, it doesn’t get any better than the combination of gold, black and white, and tassels! I especially recommend it if you have chicken wrists like I do – it’s definitely made smaller than the typical bracelet although it does have some give to bend it open and closed a bit for getting it on and off if needed. Two other jewelry pieces I wear a lot and would recommend are {these beaded earrings} and {this cuff bracelet}.

I shared how I organize my jewelry several months back in {this post} about my favorite ways to stay organized but in case you missed it I use {this hanging jewelry organizer}  since I don’t have the space for a large jewelry box. It’s two-sided so holds quite a bit and the clear pockets make it so easy to see what I have at a glance:

And when I go on long trips, I simply take out what jewelry I won’t need and fold the whole thing up and throw it in my suitcase where I can hang it up at our destination!

So there you have it… those are my beauty favorites along with my solutions for keeping everything organized and easy to get to! Be sure to share in the comments if you have any of your own favorites that you think we should know about – I’d love to hear about them! I also can’t wait to dive into the posts of my four friends who are sharing their favorites too – hop on over and check them out for yourself here:

Pam – Simple Details

Jennifer – Dimples & Tangles

Lisa – Shine Your Light 

Cindy – Rough Luxe Lifestyle

If you missed any of my past posts from our My Five Favorites series, you can hop on over and take and peek at some of them here: