A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Remember how I told you that I’m supposed to be on a no-buy?  As in… no-buying anymore beauty crap until I’ve redeemed my spendy ways and bought enough substandard, veneered beech/birch/what’s the difference flat-pack from IKEA to furnish our new flat?  Well, I’m getting devious in my old age.

We went to IKEA last night and I totally came back with beauty stuff in the guise of it being for the new bathroom.  1-0 to me!

Ok, so it’s not the most exciting beauty purchase since the time I got all excited about finding a jumbo sharpener to fit my NARS Glitter Pencils but c’mon, a girl’s gotta get her beauty fix somewhere?  The blog-worthy thing about these IKEA NÄCKTEN flannels (guest towels/whatever) is that a). they’re 20p each and b). they’re BIG – about twice the size of normal flannels – which means that they soak up twice as much water as normal flannels and really give your pores a good steam.

They’re perfect for encouraging us grubby lot to change our flannels more regularly.  At 20p eahc, you can afford to keep a stash that you can just throw at the laundry basket (bonus points if you get it in) when you’re done.  Judging by the washing instructions, these should even survive my refusal to acknowledge anything that can’t be tumble dried – the lazy girls iron.

So next time you’re trudging around IKEA all sad-faced ‘cos they’d run out of Daim Cake and only had that trio of ugly mini-cakes that NO ONE EVER EATS, EVER – don’t be glum, go and buy some flannels or something.

And a hot-dog on the way out.

What are your favourite ‘cheap’ bathroom essentials?

Most of my makeup is split between five old-style Ikea FIRA chests and a couple of Ikea HELMERS.  When Ikea discontinued the FIRA, makeup-loving hearts were broken across the globe, they’ve since replaced the storage solution with a hugely inferior version called the MOPPE which is about 2x the original price and half the original depth of the FIRA. No bueno.

I’ve been loving my HELMERS more and more since I threw some cheap drawer dividers in there, it wasn’t pretty but it helped to organise each drawer a little more effectively.

I went to Ikea a couple of days ago and came across some plastic basket inserts called ANTONIUS.  They come in one size, with one compartment configuration.  They cost a mere £1.80 a-piece and THEY FIT THE HELMER!  It’s actually a little bit of a squeeze to get them in there but fit they do!

Wanna see?

How sexy is that picture?  I just need a Dymo printer to make those little labels and I’ll be happy left alone in my room for the next seven years.  That’s a bit of a miscellaneous drawer by the way: powder highlighters, cream and liquid highlighters and lip products that don’t fit in my lipstick drawer!

On the right is mostly MAC MSFs, which should give you an idea of how big the compartments are.

A different drawer.  These are blushers.  It’s so much easier to be able to store them on their side with minimal rattling about or ‘foraging’ to find the right shade.

So how much would a full makeup storage solution set you back?  Well… let’s do the maths.

1 Ikea HELMER @ £24.99

6 Ikea ANTONIUS @ £10.80

Total = £35.79

Not bad eh?

I couldn’t be without my HELMERS.  Sure, I love the look of the ALEX but… these serve their purpose really well and after nearly three years of daily use, they look as good as the day I bought them.  I have one which fits snugly under my desk for nail polish and one that sits ontop of my desk (I have a huge corner desk) with the rolling casters removed.

How are you storing your makeup?  Got any tips to share?

Irregular shaped bottles of varying sizes, shades and styles – nail polish.

You can’t stack ’em, slot ’em together and there’s only one way up for them!   No wonder they give me a headache.

I have around 208 bottles that were literally overflowing their allotted space in the stackable drawers I’d bought from Asda.  It was time for them to move house…

Into a brand new Ikea Helmer!

Oh, Ikea Helmer… you are the stuff of makeup-lover’s dreams.  Perfectly sized, you’re small enough to be considered compact yet spacious enough to hold our treasures within your functional (but not too officey) exterior!

The Helmers comes in white, red or silver and are priced at just over £20 each.  I own two white Helmers and they hold SO much crap it’s astounding.

If I’m completely honest though, I lust after an Alex:

But at over £80 a-piece, the price difference is hard to justify.

Here’s a quick phone snap of my polishes all snug and comfy in their new home.  Look how perfect they are, all divided by colour and standing to attention!

But my favouritest thing about their new home?  It means I now have plenty of space for more!

How do you store your nail polish – do you own a Helmer?