My Whole House Is Overrun by Beauty Products—Here's How I Finally Got Organized

Before:

Photo:

@court_higgs

Emboldened by all the professional organizing shows appearing on my Netflix feed and resolute to stop the mess dead in its tracks, I decided to finally commit to a beauty product organization solution that would not only free up some valuable space in my home but that would also make for a more efficient setup to help me do my job that much better. Spoiler alert: I did it! Keep scrolling to see the journey unfold.

Photo:

@court_higgs

To prepare for this mission, I hit the internet hard, watching organizational shows and trolling Instagram for all the inspiration I could find. Celebrity hairstylist Jen Atkin recently shared an in-depth IGTV house tour detailing her ultra-organized space, including a lengthy section dedicated to her solutions for keeping all her beauty products in check. Right away, I noticed that she used tons of acrylic drawers and organizers, and if I know one thing, it's that The Container Store is the place to locate every variation of those clear bins and, really, any other organizational solution I could dream up. So I dove headfirst into its website to start planning.

To get some tailored advice specific to my situation, I asked Kelly Welch, a professional organizer and owner of Organized by KW, for some practical tips to ensure this project went off without a hitch. Here's what she had to say:

Tip #1: "With any area you are organizing—closet, kitchen, or, in this case, beauty products—the first step is to put everything, and I mean everything, out in the open! Take it all out."

Tip #2: "Now that you have everything out, it’s time to go through it all! First, check expiration dates and toss out anything that’s expired. Now the hard part: If you haven’t used that product in at least six months, toss it. Trust me. I know it’s difficult, but what you’re left with are the products you actually use, without the clutter."

Tip #3: "Now that you have a good sense of your inventory, the fun begins with categories and labels. Find a system that best organizes your products into categories that make sense for you. Everyone is different, but one general tip is not to go too broad to where you just end up with clutter again. Instead of face products as a category, try something more specific like lotions and serums."

Tip #4: "Now that everything is categorized, time to put it all back. Prioritize the products you use the most and put them in your prime real estate areas. Those can be places that are easy to reach, display areas for your nicer products, etc."

The process:

Photo:

@court_higgs

My biggest takeaways had to do with the types of containers I needed to use in order to keep myself organized (clear ones to give me a better view of all the products in my collection) and the method by which I executed the organizing process. I knew it would be necessary to wrangle everything into one place and that separating it all into piles was the only process that would be effective for me.

I divided my stash into piles for hair, skin, makeup, body, and nails. Once I went to load things into my drawers, I further broke down those categories so that each drawer would contain a hyper-specific collection of products. During this process, I was also able to weed out expired and unwanted products to trash as well as a huge box of giveaway items to send to the fellow beauty lovers in my life, like my mom, aunts, cousins, and friends.

Photo:

@court_higgs

As you can see, all of my beauty products are officially beautifully displayed and organized. And the best part is that I can finally access each and every bottle without having to search in four different locations. The biggest lesson I learned throughout this process is that I need to take stock of everything in my collection much more often to avoid letting products go to waste. I have too many beauty lovers in my life and know of too many charities that accept product donations to be able to justify that amount of waste.

Though my organizing journey isn't done just yet (I found that really organizing all my makeup is going to require some more thought and planning with the IKEA Alex drawer tower I already own), I'm so happy to be on the path to a hyper-organized life.