How to Organize Beauty Products: Storage for Hair Products and Makeup

By Petra Guglielmetti

You think you've got beauty-product clutter? Try being a beauty writer who receives tons of samples on the regular. Rough life, right? Still, it makes for the ultimate organizational challenge. This year I'm committed to figuring out new ways to sort my hair, makeup, and skin care loot so that everything has a place in my limited available bathroom space. Click through to see what I've come up with, and feel free to steal a few ideas and make over your own beauty space.

To break up my drawer space into tidy, product-friendly compartments, I went on a Target shopping spree, filling my cart with a variety of small containers (some from the kitchen aisle, some from the bathroom and closet aisles) and played with ways to fit different styles, shapes, and sizes together. These acrylic Room Essentials trays ended up being my favorite for makeup and skin care because the soft lining and rubber feet prevent slippage when the drawer is opened, and they can easily be cleaned. Unlike bigger drawer organizers, these minis can be individually taken out as needed (really handy when it comes to everyday makeup supplies).

These Threshold drawer boxes are my second-favorite find for dividing a beauty drawer. Although they're not as easy to clean as their acrylic counterparts, there's something to be said for the beautiful simplicity of bamboo. They make for an especially clean way to house beauty tools, including brushes, should you not want to keep those standing upright in a countertop jar.

Speaking of countertop jars, there's nothing revolutionary about storing brushes, cotton pads, Q-tips, and the like in glass jars, unless you haven't gotten around to doing this, in which case it will be revolutionary in how it streamlines your routine. You can use vintage mason jars, used-up candle jars, or more modern-looking vessels, like the metal-lidded Ikea kitchen canisters I have here. Stash the jars in an under-sink cabinet if you lack counter space; they'll still make supplies much easier to grab.

Hair tools and products are the bane of every type-A beauty girl's existence. From heat-styling appliances with bulky, tangled cords to too-tall hairspray cans, it's the hair stuff that always seems to pose the biggest organizing issues. Rather than shoving it all into a cabinet or drawer, try hanging it on the back of your bathroom door. This roomy (and cute!) woven Ikea Nordrana organizer alternates smaller and larger compartments, making it perfect for keeping different-size supplies within reach. Another awesome option? This industrial-chic door organizer.

If you have a linen closet, claim a couple of shelves and create your own beauty closet (who needs that many sheets and towels anyway? Extras are easily—and conveniently—stored in under-bed bins instead). I'll break down exactly what's going on in mine, but first, note the gray woven-plastic baskets that happen to match the aforementioned Ikea Nordrana organizer, which is hanging inside the (not-shown) closet door. The visual coordination makes my perfectionistic soul happy, and the roomy bins now happily house all my excess bottles of body lotion, sunscreen, and hair products.

The two-level plastic containers shown in the previous closet photo are actually Interdesign Fridge Binz, designed for, you guessed it, the refrigerator. But they are also amazing as beauty-product containers. You can easily see labels, so you can keep track of what's where with zero digging, and there are endless ways you can stack these, both top to bottom and front to back, on closet shelves—or under your bathroom sink. PS: I hope you've already discovered the miracle of medicine-cabinet risers. If not, check out Glamour.com blogger Kim Fusaro's medicine-cabinet makeover.

By Marci Robin

By Jake Smith

By Bella Cacciatore

Sadly, gone are the days of my devoted nail polish closet. But the aforementioned stacking fridge organizers help compensate. Stack a couple of the wider eight-inch ones (or several of the four-inch style) to easily see all of your gorgeously arranged colors through the side.

Because my nail color collection tends to get overwhelming, I keep favorite shades, plus nail treatments, topcoat, tools, and remover in this separate container that nestles in front of my larger, stacked beauty bins.

My everyday makeup stays in my bathroom vanity drawer, but this is where I keep all the other goodies I sometimes play with. For excess makeup, nothing tops acrylic drawer organizers; they come in every size, from my tiny Container Store version to Kardashian-worthy giant ones. What makes this solution work is that you can assign drawers to different categories—I have a whole level devoted to bronzers!—and see what's inside. Plus, how efficient is it to line up lipsticks so the colors are clearly visible before you even open the drawer?

This is another idea that's obvious yet still life-changing once you employ it. In fact, it's the only thing I've ever tried that gets my husband to (mostly) put his grooming supplies away after use. I just put a cute tray near each of our sinks on the double vanity, and that's where we contain heavily used items like cleanser, lip balm, his shaving cream and razor, moisturizers, you name it. Somehow, when neatly grouped on a tray (try Home Goods for inexpensive options in every style imaginable), even not-so-pretty beauty products look dignified and almost fancy. And nothing beats not having random bottles scattered across the counter all the time. You can also assign trays on the countertop or in cabinets and drawers to catch those always-wayward objects like tweezers, nail files, and hair elastics.

By Marci Robin

By Jake Smith

By Bella Cacciatore

Let's face it, spinning things is fun—and this has to be one of the best-ever ways to maximize a small slot of space. For the new year, I repurposed this bamboo lazy Susan I've had forever to display key products I'm currently testing for a story and stashed it right underneath my vanity. No more digging through random boxes of product!

Finally, the crowning glory of my beauty product reorganization project: this insanely chic Pottery Barn mirrored makeup organizer. What better way to lend your primping routine an air of old-Hollywood glamour, even if you aren't lucky enough to have a posh vanity table? Its smart compartments and drawers can be used to hide or artfully display tools, bottles, jars, and makeup.

By Jake Smith

By Bella Cacciatore

By Glamour

By Jake Smith