My Dressing Table & Makeup Storage

I've never been so excited to write a blog post as I am today! :) I love reading about other bloggers dressing tables and how they store their makeup (I also like to have a good nose at their makeup collections!) 

**I'll just put a little disclaimer here to say that yes, I have a lot of makeup but it's my hobby and my passion. I have built this collection up over about 4 years and unlike a lot of people in their twenties, I never go out drinking, I don't smoke and I rarely spend any money on clothes! I'm in no way showing off, I'm simply sharing my passion with the readers of my beauty blog.

I'd been wanting a dressing table for the past couple of years but I couldn't decide which one to get. I thought about a pretty, Venetian style table with a little drawer and a fancy little stool but it was just too impractical for me considering how much makeup I own! Then, about a year ago, I started seeing the Malm dressing table from Ikea pop up in blogs and on youtube videos, with bloggers and vloggers raving about the practical but stylish piece of furniture that could store a ton of products. I immediately knew it was the one for me, but I couldn't justify the splurge back then. Fast forward a year and the beautiful Malm is finally mine!

It's quite a simple design and I'm a sucker for anything white at the moment so that's the colour I chose (I believe you can get a black and pine version). It comes with a nice hefty pane of glass for the top which is much needed to make cleaning spillages easier :) but the main feature that I fell for was the huge drawer. It spans the length of the table, which is 120cm so pretty big! and I knew I could fit the majority of my makeup in there.

I tried to keep the top of the table reasonably clutter free but I wanted it to look pretty too :) 

On the left are my makeup brushes (excuse how messy they are! It's brush cleaning night tonight...), my face brushes are kept in a black and white polka dot box that I had lying around, the eye brushes are in a cute little pot decorated with large gems that I picked up in The Range about a year ago. In the middle of the dressing table I've got a small set of acrylic drawers from Homebase. They're called the Osco drawers and they come in various different sizes but I chose this one for £12.99. They're so handy to keep my 'everyday' products in. In the first drawer I've got some lip glosses I wear often, concealers and my Urban Decay Naked Basics palette. The middle drawer holds a couple of primers, my Elf brow kit, my mascara etc and the third holds my Eyeko skinny liner (which I featured in my recent favourites post here), a sharpener, my Seventeen heavy duty concealer and a couple of other essentials that I reach for every day. On top of the drawers I keep my beloved Soleil Tan de Chanel cream bronzer which I love and my current obsession - the Makeup For Ever HD powder. I also keep my samples of Benefit's Posie Tint and Cha Cha tint there too.

Next to the acrylic drawers are my 'everyday' lipsticks, so the ones I tend to reach for often and I keep them in an acrylic lipstick holder which I bought on ebay a while ago for £2. I also have my EOS vanilla lip balm handy - dry lips are a no no! :) My current day cream is next, the Decleor oil mattifying fluid as well as my trusty Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream. 

At last I now have a place for my No 7 mirror! I got this in Boots last summer when it was reduced to £15 and I love it :) I had the white wicker heart in my wardrobe doing nothing, so I tied it around the bottom of the mirror and I think it gives the dressing table another pretty touch. Unfortunately I can't remember where I bought it but I'm quite obsessed with hearts! I love buying any decorative hearts I can find. Finally I have my glass cake stand from Homebase (£7.99). Yes, cake stand! I thought it was the perfect thing to add a bit of glamour and I keep some special products on there, my MAC Fix Plus and my Motives 10 Years Younger - my two favourite setting sprays, my YSL Rouge Volupte lipstick in Opera Rose, Estee Lauder eyeshadow duo in 'Raisins', my Chanel lip palette, Guerlain bronzer, my Swarovski earrings, Lancome 'La belle est vie' perfume and my new Tanya Burr nail polishes (one of them is currently downstairs as I painted my nails last night). I have my beautiful Japonesque Safari brush set over there too because it's too pretty to keep in a drawer :)

Now for drawer...

I picked up a large cutlery holder from B&Q which takes up half of the drawer and houses my face products. The rest is organised into various boxes. 

From left to right - Foundations, primers and skin enhancers, correctors, more foundations and BB creams, face powders, blushes, highlighting powders, concealers, eyebrow pencils and mascaras. That's everything in the cutlery holder. Then there's bronzers, single eyeshadows, eye bases, MAC pigments, liquid liners, pencil liners, eye primers, lip liners, lip glosses, lipsticks, my Urban Decay Naked palettes, Stila In The Garden palette and my Z palette which contains MAC and Makeup Geek eyeshadows and finally at the back I keep my eyelash curlers (which I never use) and false lashes.

The only things I can't fit into the dressing table are my larger eyeshadow palettes and my Sleek palettes which I'm keeping on the floor under the table until I can think of a better home for them :) 

I hope you enjoyed reading about my gorgeous new dressing table! I can't stop looking at it and I'm so happy to finally have a good storage system for all of my products. 

MAC Blush in Desert Rose

On a trip to MAC back in December, I decided to splash out on a new blush. I don't own any other MAC blushes and in all honesty I'd gone in there with Melba a firm favourite in my head, but after swatching a few, I had a new favourite - Desert Rose. 

Having a beauty blog and reading other beauty blogs usually means I get swept into lusting after certain products (hence why I thought I wanted Melba) and I hadn't seen any posts about Desert Rose so it was completely unknown to me. But oh how underrated this little blush is! 

Desert Rose is a deep, rosy pink and it's completely matte. I have a fair few shimmery blushes so a matte blush is a lovely addition to my collection. This is the sort of colour I usually gravitate towards, it's natural, understated and compliments my skin tone. This is the kind of shade that will work on lots of different skin tones and it's a great everyday matte product. If I'm wearing quite shimmery eyeshadow, I like to balance things out by wearing this. 

The pigmentation is excellent as you can see in the photo above and I'm extremely glad I bought it. (Sorry if the packaging looks messy in the photos, it's been well loved the past couple of months!). 

Needless to say, this will not be my last MAC blush purchase, so if you have any recommendations then please leave them below :) 

MAC 'Desert Rose' Blush - £18.00 - Link

Current Favourites - Skincare, Makeup & Jewellery

On this rainy, cold Monday I needed some cheering up. And seeing as there's nothing I love more than rambling on about beauty products, I deemed it the perfect day to share my current favourites with you! 

I know most bloggers like to give a monthly update with regard to the products they've been loving, but sometimes I have the same favourites from month to month so I like to be a lot more casual and infrequent with these kind of posts. I have a selection of goodies that have really stood out over the past couple of months so let's get on with it...

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette

I've posted a review on this which you can read here, so I won't say too much about it other than I haven't been able to put it down the past few weeks! I love the rose gold tones and as usual with UD eyeshadows, they're buttery soft and beautiful to apply. 

Biore Deep Cleansing Pore Strips 

I remember using these as a teenager! Biore has been around for donkey's years and their pore strips are still going strong. This box of six strips is super cheap and they still do the job all these years later. You apply a strip over your nose, wait about ten minutes, pull it off (can be an eye-watering experience..) and voila! Clear pores :) This really does pull all that built up grime out of your skin and as disgusting as this sounds, I get serious satisfaction out of inspecting the strip afterwards, I use one once a week and I can't see myself ever not using them. 

Antipodes 'Avocado Pear' Nourishing Night Cream

Bit of a tongue twister! This is my go to night cream at the moment and has been for the past month. It's packed full of goodness such as 100% pure avocado oil (restores skin cells), calendula oil (heals and repairs) and active manuka honey to smooth and moisten. I use an Antipodes cleanser too and I have to say I'm really impressed with the brand. The products feel lovely and natural on my skin and I love to use a thick night cream like this one to give my skin a good injection of moisture through the night.

Eyeko Skinny Liquid Liner

I'm not a huge eyeliner lover, it's not something I wear on a daily basis but when I do I've been reaching for this one more than others. With it's felt tip applicator, it's fool proof and glides onto the eyelid with no fuss and no mess. It's super black and opaque and I can really quickly wing my liner out with this. If you're looking for a good liquid liner, give this a go.

Seventeen Phwoarr Paint

This heavy duty concealer is flippin amazing stuff! I'll admit I wasn't expecting much as the brand is at the lower end of the price scale and I can't say I've ever heard many raves about it. But I stand corrected! I've been applying this every single day since I bought it to conceal any darkness around my eyes, I do get some purple-greyness in my inner corners but this seriously covers it! It's really thick and creamy but definitely not cakey and it doesn't budge. I opted for the shade medium as it has a salmon undertone which is perfect for getting rid of any dark circles.

Motives '10 Years Younger' Setting Spray

This stuff is the business. If you want your face to stay matte all day even if you have oily skin, buy this. You will not be disappointed. I've never found a setting spray that keeps my makeup in place like this does, everything stays put for an 8 hour work day and that's something to rejoice over! It's pricey as far as setting sprays go but I'd pay it five times over for this.

Statement Necklace from The Jewel Shack

I came across The Jewel Shack on facebook and immediately I fell in love. Anyone that knows me knows I'm obsessed with statement necklaces. I have far too many and I just can't stop buying them! The Jewel Shack has such glamorous, over the top designs and this particular necklace is my first and far from last purchase. It's called 'Bailey's Latte' and it's the perfect accessory to go with just about any outfit. Check them out if you love your statement jewellery!