Makeup Organization and Cleanout

As part of Linens and Loo month (thanks to iheartorganizing) I decided to go through all of my makeup and make sure I was keeping up with what I have. I don't want old products hanging around, especially if they are gross! I hope to one day have a vanity and a place to store my makeup but for now that is not a possibility so I use what I have!

This makeup drawer has been cleaned out recently so there wasn't a ton to do in here. I took off the packaging on the almay palette, and tossed a few older items in this drawer. Soon it looked as good as new!

My top drawer holds cough drops, contact items, band-aids, and floss. This was a complete disaster...

I tossed a few of the old cough drops, some of which I got in college (over 3 years ago...) so I felt I might as well ditch those. I also have WAY too many contact cases. I decided to save two, and donate the rest. Someone else could definitely use them more than me!

Looks so much better! 

This drawer was looking a little crowded but unfortunately there wasn't a whole lot to toss. All my Disney lip smackers are fine and like collectible items for now. I have a few lip glosses and lipsticks. The Lush lip gloss was all dried up however so that got tossed...

Not much different...but a little bit neater!

The bottom drawer holds all my nail products. There is no after picture for this one because all of these items are still here ready to be used. I have remover, nail pens, scizzors, emery boards, and clippers. There wasn't a whole lot to got through.

Another drawer with no after picture is all my makeup brushes and tools. I don't have a lot of brushes or anything- so there really isn't a ton to sort through!

Same with my hair drawer- elastics, bobby pins, and clips. I will use everything in here so there is no reason to toss anything in here.

This basket lives on top of my plastic organizers and has tons of random items inside. It was overflowing and some of the items needed to find a new home- fast!

I decided to take my pedegg and other foot items and place them in my nightstand drawer. That is where my foot lotion lives- so I might as well use them there.

Everything else fit inside of the basket nicely. Looks so much better!

I have a few more makeup items that live next to my plastic organizer. Mostly they are Lush and Bare Essential items. I also have a Jesse's Girl palette. These items don't fit inside the plastic organizer so they just sit next to it for now.

All my nail polish lives inside old candle jars. This is a great way to reuse old jars if your nail polish collection is small. Mine is quickly outgrowing these jars. I love to paint my nails and enjoy having an array of colors to chose from. I always manage to find different ones on sale too which is a great way to get different colors for not a ton of money. 

All the makeup I used daily lives inside this decorative box. 

As you can see I don't use a ton. I like to have all the makeup I use daily in one place. I do my makeup in front of my wall mirror so it's nice to have everything close by. In here I usually have a mascara, my facial moisturizer, eye cream, eyeshadow primer, eyeliner, liquid eyeliner, and an eyebrow pencil. My Urban Decay Naked Palette lives directly behind this box so that is close by too!

So, that is how I organize all my makeup! As you saw, some of the products I had were tossed because they are too old or for whatever reason. I plan on doing an empties post in the next few days so watch out for that!

Have a great day everybody!

Weekly Couponing Wrapup!

This week wasn't a big week in the couponing department- there was a ton going on so I really didn't have a lot of time to head from store to store getting the best deals!

Roxy had surgery this week- getting a couple cysts removed- one from her eye and one off her back. She is recovering quite nicely in her Patriots jersey (a nice alternative to being a cone head) and will hopefully be back to normal soon. We spent a lot of time coordinating our schedules this week so someone would be home with her at all times so we could make sure she was as comfortable as possible.

I did manage to head to Staples and pick up a ream of free paper! I love these free reams- I use a lot of computer paper and it is so nice to get them for free!

As a side note- if you don't know how the Staples easy rewards works: When you buy the paper you pay $6.99 up front, and then fill out a quick online form- then within a few weeks you will get a rewards check in the mail. I love getting these checks in the mail- and spending $6.99 up front isn't a huge deal when you know you will be getting it back soon!

I also went to CVS but was a little disappointed with the outcome. As I may have mentioned that someone had been using my card and stealing my extra care bucks so I e-mailed back and forth with CVS corporate and they have hooked me up with a new card. It's not here yet, so I didn't have my card with me when I completed this transaction.

I had a coupon for $5 off 2 almay products. I also had a $3 CVS coupon for Almay. I also had a coupon for $1 off 3 Nutrigrain bars. I ended up paying in almost all ECBs, my total was just over $4 that I paid out of pocket. I didn't end up getting ANY ECB back because I did not have my card. =(
I probably could have pressed the issue but whatever. I will just start again fresh once I get my new card!

I have already looked at the ad for next week at CVS and I'm hoping my card comes in so I can cash in on a few deals by the end of next week!!

Cleaning Out My Samples.

Dear lord. my samples were slightly out of control.

Yeah, I know. So I gathered them all up as you can see above. I get samples through the mail from different companies. I get them from hotels I stay at. I get them free at stores. I am always receiving free samples which is amazing but if I don't know what I have I will never get through them. I wanted to sort them out by type and find a different spot for each one. Eventually I hope to have a different set up for this but for now- this will do!

I took all my lotion, toothpaste, shampoo, and conditioner samples and placed them inside this bin. This bin will be what I take when I go away on vacation and need a small size. I also use these lotions in my purse so when the one I have in my purse is empty I will trade it out for one of these.

I took all of my food and medicine samples and placed them in a pile. I took them and placed them in my closet for now, but I will donate what I don't use and will definitely used some of them. 

All of my smaller size samples I piled together to find a better spot for. You'll see where they ended up in a minute. These are small lotion, shampoo, conditioner and skin samples. I know I want to use these up sooner then the bigger bottle samples. I will be grabbing shampoo samples when I want a change in the shower and same with lotion when I'm looking for a different scent.

I also had a couple of beauty products I bought recently that are full sized and needed to get placed with my regular makeup.

I have TOO many perfume samples. I need to use some of these up-but perfume is so hard to get through!

My samples that I want to use up soon are placed in this Birchbox which I have put on top of my jewelry armoire where I will see them everyday. Hopefully this will help me get through them a little bit faster!

March Birchbox

The birchbox I received in the mail this week was THE BEST BIRCHBOX EVER! Seriously!

Here are the items that came inside...

When I opened the box and saw this Macadamia Deep Repair Masque I freaked out! I already use this product, but it is very expensive so I don't purchase it very often. I was so excited when I opened up the box and saw this inside!

I have never used the Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment but I am so excited to try it! It is definitely a GREAT size sample- just like the little ones you can purchase in the drug store.

This supergoop sunscreen will definitely be used since the sun is finally starting to shine around here! Sunscreen is definitely something nice to get since I will use it no problem.

I'm also excited to try this benefit bene tint. It is a cheek and lip stain but I am really excited to use it as a cheek stain. I have been thinking about purchasing a cheek stain recently so this couldn't have come at a more perfect time...

This shave gel smells amazing. I have never heard of a shave gel smelling like blueberries, but it smells FANTASTIC! I can't wait to try this.

This emery board is the last item in my box and it is definitely beautiful. It was a nice little extra to get in the box.

I really think that this is really the best Birchbox I have ever received. I am so excited about the hair products especially. I love the natural elements to the Macadamia Oil products and am so happy that Birchbox included them in my box. 

Time to Organize the Bathroom!

The bathroom is the smallest room in the house- but one of the most important to keep organized. Unfortunately I share the bathroom with my brother- not the most organized person in the world. He is also not the cleanest person in the world. He also has friends that like to use my things- meaning I don't keep a ton in my bathroom. Someday I hope to be able to store more items in the bathroom but for now only a few things of mine actually live in there. I knew going into this project that there wasn't a ton of things to get rid of the bathroom but I mostly wanted to reorganize a few things and make sure everything was clean and nice!

Opening the under-the-sink cabinets was shocking. Yuck. I keep my towels in my personal closet- these are guest towels and my brothers towels. The first step was to take all of the towels out- refold them and place them back in nicely. I also lined up all the cleaning supplies nicely. I would like to get a little caddy for the cleaning supplies but for now having them lined up nicely will do.

Looking better already!

Next I checked out my side of the medicine cabinet. Like I said- I don't have a ton in here but I definitely had a few items to sift through.

I found a few items to purge in the cabinet but mostly just lined everything up nicely and made sure I still needed each item. 

Then I went into the drawers and checked inside each one.

My top drawer is the only drawer I'm in everyday. I have my toothbrush top, my toothpaste, a spare razor, and extra razor blades. 

In the middle drawer I keep all my LUSH bath products. I also have a spare hair brush and some wax strips in there too.

In the bottom drawer I have all of my feminine hygiene products...I take all the outside packaging and throw it away and put all my items inside a blue container.

When all was said and done- I only found a few items that I needed to let go of. I really don't have much in the bathroom to start off- meaning theres not that much to give away!

Luckily since I stay pretty on top of my bathroom, there wasn't much to worry about with this project. The items I keep in the shower rotate frequently and I don't keep much in there. As you saw, my drawers and medicine cabinet are pretty sparse as well. Someday I'm sure I will keep more IN the bathroom-but for now organizing it is a breeze!

Weekend Fun

After work on Saturday I was able to enjoy a nice relaxing weekend just hanging around with my family! Other than doing errands and hanging around the house- we went to the beach with my cousins on Sunday. It was a little chilly during our outing but we had a great time!

Can you believe this bumper sticker? So funny!

And here are some pictures from our beach outing- of course Roxy came too!

Overall it was a beautiful weekend! What did you do this weekend?

PS- I can't wait for Bachelor tonight!!!!