How to Set up the Ultimate Beauty Station at Home
We all strive to create some sense of order in our closets, kitchen, and laundry room because we use these corners of our homes daily.
But what about our beauty products? Gather together those lipsticks and eyeliners strewn across the bathroom vanity or dresser (or throughout your house), because it’s time to create a functional and organized beauty station.
Organizing our makeup and hair products into drawers and containers will not only cut down our morning routine (who hasn’t had to deep dive to find the blush?), but it should also make you feel like your life is back in order.
Etoile Collective is the destination for everything you need to organize and optimize your beauty station. We spoke to Etoile’s founder, Michelle Hu, to get her advice on how to store and use your beauty products at home, and why lighting is key!
So make Marie Kondo proud and follow these ten tips:
Use Clear Transparent Storage
Use storage that lets you see what’s inside, so you don’t have to be constantly scrambling to find that brush. Clear storage will look clean and let your items shine on their own.
Divid Instead of Combine
Rather than combining all your products and throwing them into drawers (resulting in an absolute bombsite), divide it up by either product type or what you reach for most to least. We recommend using drawer dividers.
Keep Your Makeup Brushes Dust and Germ Free
Unlike bronzers, highlighters and palettes that are covered, our makeup brushes are usually left uncovered and exposed to dust particles and germs in the air. Keep them covered in a brush holder with a lid to ensure a clean makeup application.
Label Everything
Save yourself time by labeling everything, especially when they’re not in clear containers.
Try a Makeup Organizer
If you’re running out of storage space and have more makeup than you need, try organizing ‘upwards’. A tiered beauty box ($33.29, Amazon) with multiple drawers can be the perfect solution for makeup fanatics.
Consider Accessibility
Have your top go-to products in an easy to access spot. Your daily items should ideally be within reach from where you get ready every day.
Natural Lighting
The best source of light will always be natural lighting: you don’t have to be adjusting brightness or temperature, it’s free and it gives off a beautiful glow.
Use a Ring Light
A ring light ($19.99, Amazon) is the next best thing to simulate natural lighting and can remove unwanted shadows. Look out for ones with an automatic brightness and temperature dial.
Lighting to Avoid When Applying Makeup
- Fluorescent lights: No one looks good in fluorescent lighting. It’s overly cool and overly bright, which can cause you to overcompensate for a lack of color in the form of too much foundation or bronzer.
- Yellow lights: Yellow lighting makes you look tired and unwell, no matter how refreshed you’re feeling. In an attempt to conceal pimples and dark circles, this can lead to too much powder or concealer.
- Rosy lights: Rosy lighting is a real confidence boost, as it can make you look healthy and – well – rosy. This sounds great, but it can mean you miss areas that need extra attention.
- Downlighting: Ensure lighting is evenly projected onto the face, or it will create shadows and circles where there aren’t any, and really emphasize wrinkles. Again, this can lead to over-doing it on certain makeup products.
Control How Soft You Want The Lighting
With artificial light, move your ring light or equivalent equipment further back to create a softer light. The closer it is, the harder the light which increases contrast and shadows.
This article originally appeared on our sister site, Homes to Love
