February Books List

(1)  The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
A beautifully simple and short book that tells the story of a relationship through dictionary definitions.  The unconventional manner of how its written perhaps lends itself to the story not flowing in any order, so instead, each definition is like a glimpse of the relationship.  Some of the definitions are a little cliched, but the majority will strike a cord with anyone who has ever experienced the rollercoaster of emotions that are associated with the pleasures and pains of being in love.  [5/5]

(2)  A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
This book is just amazing!  It crams in so much on everything from space to evolution to our current existence and everything in between.  Completely accessible and never dull, Bryson really has a gift for explaining complex science terms in ways that anyone can understand them.  I wish Bryson had been my science teacher at school!  [5/5]

(3)  Nothing To Envy by Barbara Demick   
Powerful and highly emotive, this is a glimpse into how people are forced to live their lives in North Korea.  Demick tells the personal stories of several people who have managed to escape in a way that is easy to relate to (in terms of things like falling in love, being young, wanting to get a good job and education etc) but at the same time, completely alien because of how the dictatorship runs everything (famine, no freedom, mass censorship etc).  Despite the overall grim subject matter of a nation of oppressed people, Demick's writing style makes it accessible with the use of short chapters and simply fascinating true life tales.  It's a real eye opener to how hopeless some parts of the world are when they are ruled under such vicious dictatorships, yet I can only hope that for the people of North Korea, that rule ends soon.   [5/5]

(4)  Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
I must have had this book on my shelves since I was about 17, though I'm glad I read it at this age, rather than as a teenager.  I enjoyed it a lot; the characters and war missions that they undergo are completely surreal and crazy.  At the same time it's frighteningly clever and quite frankly some of the best satire I've ever read.  The way that Heller manages to illustrate the madness of war so plainly, yet in a humorous context, is a work of genius in itself.  If you've ever been cynical/critical of people going to war and love satire, then you must read this contemporary classic if you haven't already.  [4/5]

(5)  The Maze Runner by James Dashner
The Maze Runner was so much fun to read and definitely one of the best books to have come out of the whole YA sci-fi/dystopia boom.  Our main character is a boy called Thomas who gets randomly thrown into the 'Glade', a prison like place that seems completely surrounded by high stone walls.  He has no recollection of how he got there or why he's there, and everything he comes to know has been told to him by the other boys in the Glade.  The story reminded me a bit of the TV show LOST because you're just plunged into this strange place with Thomas and end up feeling as confused and terrified as he is.  Thanks to Jayne for recommending this :) [4/5]

What have you been reading this month?

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February Empties / Products I've Used Up

Ready for another Empties post?  Let's get stuck in then!  Here are the products that I managed to finish up recently:-

DGJ Organics King Of Colour Glossy Brunettes Shampoo & Conditioner* - (review)

Natural haircare can be so hit or miss, but these worked so well for me that I'm actually sad to see them used up!  Repurchase?  Definitely will after the spending ban.

I Love... Mango & Papaya Exfoliating Shower Smoothie 

A product I am happy to see go into the recycling bin is this one because it's been lingering around in my bathroom forever.   The scent is very artificial and it's rubbish for exfoliating with.  Repurchase?  No.

Philip Kingsley Scalp Toner - (review)

I thought this was OK, especially when my scalp was getting super dry due to the cold weather, but it seemed to stop working as well as it initially did as I reached the end of the bottle.  Repurchase?  Probably not.

L'Occitane Pivoine Flora Shower Gel

Used this up in my travel bag, and I wasn't that keen on the scent as it's way too heavy and flowery for my liking.  Nice foamy formula though.  Repurchase?  No. 

LUSH Cosmetic Warrior Fresh Face Mask - (review)

I have to admit that I didn't use all of this pot up because it started to smell really off last week, despite it still being within the best of date.  It was an OK mask, but I prefer other LUSH masks a lot more.  Repurchase?  No. 

Laidbare DIY Cleanser & Toner* - (review)

Love, love, love this stuff!  I've been raving about it since I first tried it out and I still think it's a fantastic natural budget beauty buy.  Repurchase?  Already using another one that was in my stash!

Beauty Formulas Deep Cleansing Nose Pore Strips
These didn't do anything for me, so I'll be sticking with the Montagne Jeunesse ones in the future.  Repurchase?  No.

Essential Care Mineral Concealer in Fair* - (review)
Liked this a lot, was great to use under the eyes and around the nose especially.  Repurchase?  Might do, but at the moment I have loads of concealers to use up.

Witch Pressed Powder - (review)
This is brilliant stuff for keeping your t-zone shine free and so cheap too.  Last ages as well!  Repurchase?  Yes, after the spending ban.  

Have you used up any products this month?  
Feel free to link to your empties posts below!

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Weekend Pampering: The 15 Minute Miracle

As much as I love to indulge in long, relaxing, pampering sessions that involve bath oils and scented candles, sometimes time is just not on my side.  For those occasions when you need to get ready in lightening speed but still want to fit in some beauty maintenance, I turn to these products for a 15 Minute Miracle pamper. 

In the shower, I'll shampoo my hair, squeeze out as much of the water as possible and apply a small amount of Macadamia Oil Deep Repair Masque through my lengths and ends.  Although this works best when you can wrap your hair up in a turban and leave it on for half an hour, it does give glossy results in less than 10 minutes too.

Whilst the masque is getting to work mending my usually heat damaged hair, I'll slather myself in LUSH Ro's Argan Body Conditioner.  This is a beautiful formula that has argan oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, almond oil etc in it to seriously hydrate the skin and leaves it so soft afterwards.  It's a must when you're getting ready in a hurry because you don't need to apply any body lotion afterwards and the lovely scent means that I don't have to use shower gel either, genius!  Just slap it on and wash it off.   

Once I'm all rinsed, towelled off and bungled into my fluffy dressing gown, it's time to do a mini facial with Liz Earle Brightening Treatment Mask* which gets to work in just 2 minutes.  It's the Queen of all quick fixes for dull, tired skin and instantly brightens up your complexion.  And you're all done!

Do you have a 15 Minute Miracle routine for getting ready quickly?

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Currently Using: Nail Products for a DIY Manicure

Lazy Saturdays in my house usually mean two things; tackling a mountain of chores that I've let stack up over the week, and then treating myself to a bit of a DIY manicure.  These are the nail products that I currently like to use:-

Boots Acetone Free Nail Polish Remover & Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover (review)
First things first, I remove any existing nail polish and use either Boots' own brand acetone free version or Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover which is also acetone free.  

Gwdihw Nail Wizard Balm* (review)
Next, I'll apply a tiny bit of this nail balm to the cuticles and leave them for 10 mins or so to soften them up, then I'll wash my hands.  This makes it a lot easier to do the next step if needed.

Leighton Denny Remove & Rectify Cuticle Remover  (review)
Usually once a week, I'll treat my cuticles to a little of this twin action remover and conditioner.  It's a lot gentler than some of the more rapid removers on the market because of the conditioning element it has, but it still does a good job.  I then simply use an orange stick to make everything look neater.

Mont Bleu Glass nail file 
To shape the nails, I use a glass nail file.  Since I've switched to using just glass, I've noticed an improvement in the strength of my nails, especially around the edges where they tended to be very weak in the past.  Would highly recommend getting one and they apparently last for years too! 

OPI Nail Envy & Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
For a base coat, I mainly use OPI's Nail Envy which helps to strengthen the nails and provides a smooth base.  To add a glossy finish, I'll then just apply a coat of goold old Seche Vite.  Done!

What nail products do you use for a DIY manicure?

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Review & Photos: I&K Clip In Fringe/Bangs in Darkest Brown

 I&K Clip In Fringe/Bangs in Darkest Brown* (£25.99, link)

Humans are funny creatures in that they always want what they don't naturally have.  Hair is a classic example of this - how many times have you heard women who have naturally straight hair say that they want beachy waves or flowing curls?  Or the ones who have naturally curly hair, say that they want poker straight locks?  

Me, I've always had major fringe (or 'bangs') envy.  But only recently, and probably due to the current trend of fringes looking cool on everyone, especially people like Taylor Swift, Carly Rae Jepson, Daisy Lowe and Alexa Chung.  Whilst I admire other people's fringes, I know the pain of growing one out from my childhood years, which is why I may never brave the hairdressers' and ask for one to be cut in. 

But that doesn't mean I can't cheat with a faux one!  Step in I&K Clip In Fringe/Bangs, your easy, stress-free antidote to all of your fringe cravings.  This fringe piece is made from silky soft 100% human hair and has a clever triangle back shape with three clips for a natural looking finish.  The clips fit in very securely and feel comfortable on, which is obviously what you want when you're putting in any kind of hair extensions.  Want to see what it looks like on?  

First attempt at fitting it went pretty well.  The clips are SO easy to put in, and this is coming from someone who has minimal experience with hair extensions.  The fringe looks kinda realistic, but there's so much hair with it, that it just looks a little too poofy at the sides.  So...

...now that's more like it!  After some smoothing and rearranging, I managed to get it looking a lot more realistic.  The longer length bangs at the sides frame the face well, but there's an obvious problem that you can see here.  I picked out the fringe in the Darkest Brown shade, which on screen, looked identical to my current, natural hair colour.  However, as you can see, the fringe is actually a little lighter so do bear this in mind when it comes to ordering.

Despite the colour match being not right for me, I thought the quality of the fringe was excellent and the clips were remarkably easy to fit and felt very secure.  Plus, I can always try to dye it to match my hair colour properly at some point if I fancied wearing it out.

Available from Hairtrade. 

What do you think?  

Have you ever experimented with clip-in fringe/bangs?

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My Favourite Makeup Primers

For a very long time, I never used any primers.  They always sounded far too high maintenance for a lazy girl like me!  But as my interest in make-up grew, it seemed inevitable that I would eventually pick one up and now I really appreciate all of the benefits of using them.  Here are my current favourites:-

Murad Skin Perfecting Primer for Blemish & Shine Control* (review)
This is my absolute holy grail primer and one that I constantly recommend to anyone who has an oily t-zone and blemish prone skin.  It leaves my face shine-free all day, has Salicylic Acid in it to prevent breakouts and it prolongs the wear time of my make-up.  It's also tinted, so will cover minor blemishes or marks, without the need for extra concealer.  Win-win!

bare Minerals Prime Time Foundation Primer (review)
Despite it being silicone based, I haven't had any problems with this primer at all.  I always enjoy that silky feel it gives the skin and it makes the smoothest base for foundation.  It helps to keep my foundation put for 8-9 hours so I often use this in the week before I go to work.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion (review)
I've been using UDPP for years and its become a make-up staple for me.  I usually always apply this before putting on any eyeshadow because it stops any creasing or fading on my oily lids.  I also like how it intensifies some eyeshadow colours too and really makes them 'pop'!

Benefit The POREfessional  
I have a love/hate thing with this primer, but thought I'd include it because it really does reduce the size of my pores so its worth it for that factor alone.  Sadly, it also breaks me out if I use it too often, so if I keep it for special occasions only, we get along just fine.

Do you use primers?

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Worth The Hype: Perricone MD No Concealer Concealer review

 Perricone MD No Concealer Concealer* (9g, £37, link)

I've lost count of the amount of times that this concealer has been recommended to me, so when the opportunity arose to finally try out this cult product for myself, I jumped at it.  Perricone MD No Concealer Concealer is described as 'not your typical concealer', which sums it up perfectly.  

This multi-tasking, unconventional concealer comes packaged in a luxe glass bottle with a pump that dispenses the right amount of product every time.  It promises to camouflage imperfections, dark circles and brighten the eye area, whilst also protecting it with a broad spectrum mineral-based, non-chemical SPF 35.  So does it live up to the hype?

Well, mostly, yes!  I found the formula to be beautifully lightweight and non-greasy which I wasn't expecting at all when I first applied it because it's thicker than most liquid foundations I've tried.  Somehow, it just manages to blend seamlessly into the under eye area for an easy and natural, 'I'm not wearing any make-up' look.  It also lasted on me all day without creasing (a big positive for me as I have quite a few lines under my eyes) and didn't dry out or go cakey either.  Very impressive!

Perhaps the only minor downside for me was that I found this more useful as a corrector for my dark circles, rather than a complete concealer.  This is probably because my dark circles are quite severe, so if yours aren't, I imagine this would be perfect for most people as an all-in-one product.  If they are, then I'd recommend applying just a small amount of your usual concealer over the top to completely cover them up.  It would also be good if this came in a few other shades for those with very fair and darker skintones, but overall, I'd say it lives up to the hype!

Have you tried Perricone MD No Concealer Concealer?

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Currently Using: The Body Lotions Stash

If you utter the words 'body lotion' to the average person, you may hear some major grumbles as a response or simply a strange look which says 'What's that?'.  In my many chats with fellow beauty bloggers, I usually find out that applying body lotion is one of the most boring beauty-related chores, or something that people just don't do.  I, on the other hand, love body lotions.  This is probably due to the fact that I have very dry skin, so moisturising it on a daily basis is second nature to me.  On top of that, I just enjoy the pampering ritual of applying it after a shower or bath.

So to share my love of body lotions, I thought I'd do a post about the ones I'm using at the moment.  At present, I have these eight open, which is frankly ridiculous and one of the many, many reasons why I'm partaking in the 100 Day Spending Ban!  My justification is that they all serve different purposes (or something like that...):-

The Everyday Ones
For everyday, I mainly rotate between using Laidbare Butter Me Up*, Essyta Body Moisturising Lotion for Dry Skin* and Skin Blossom Organic Bloom Orange Flower Moisturising Body Lotion.  All three of these sink into the skin quickly which is an absolute must when I'm running late in the mornings, and they keep my skin hydrated and happy throughout the day.

The Eczema Calming Ones
Every now and again I get plagued by eczema flare ups, so to soothe and calm everything down, I always reach for either Steamcream, Lavera All Round Cream or LUSH's Dream Cream.  These really help and I've repurchased them several times now.   

The Luxury / Pampering Ones
When I fancy a bit of pampering, I turn to either L'Occitane Almond Milk Concentrate or Neal's Yard Remedies Bee Lovely Body Lotion*.  Both always leave me with silky soft skin that smells gorgeous!

Are you a body lotions fan?

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Review: LUSH Cosmetic Warrior Fresh Face Mask

LUSH Cosmetic Warrior Fresh Face Mask (75g, £5.95)

I've tried out nearly all of the Fresh Face Masks from LUSH that are suitable for my skin type, but there's been one that I've always avoided.  Yes, if you're already familiar with LUSH masks, you may well know what I'm taking about; it's the 'smelly garlic one', Cosmetic Warrior.  Now I have no problems with garlic in cooking, but the idea of slathering something that contains garlic all over my face?  Not too appealing.  Nevertheless, I decided it was time for Cosmetic Warrior and I to meet each other.  I picked one up recently as freebie when I traded in five black LUSH pots, and I've used it about three or four times since.

Cosmetic Warrior is a face mask for those with troublesome spot-prone skin and it uses its key ingredients of fresh garlic and tea tree oil as a natural antiseptic to clear any blemishes up.  In addition, it has fresh white grapes in it to cool and deep clean the skin, whilst fresh eggs tighten, and honey softens and moisturises, so its ideal if you find most anti-blemish masks to be too drying.  

I thought CW was a good mask for a weekly blemish-clearing, but I don't think it's as effective or as fast-acting as either Cupcake or Catastrophe Cosmetic are IMO.  On a side note, it's not nearly as smelly as I imagined it would be thanks to the strong scent of the tea tree oil in it, but it's still pretty whiffy!

Have you tried this?

Do you have a favourite face mask from LUSH?

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P.S The winner of the Yves Rocher Sexy Pulp Lipgloss is Juicy Satsuma, congrats!

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Review: Inika Creme Colour for Cheeks & Lips in Rosehip & Creme Eyeshadow in Champagne

 Inika Creme Colour for Cheeks & Lips in Rosehip* (2g, £22, link) & Creme Eyeshadow in Champagne* (7ml, £18, link)

It's always exciting when an eye catching press release for a brand new product drops into your inbox, but even more so when it's for an organic and natural brand like Inika.  New organic make-up just don't come about as often as you'd expect, so I couldn't wait to try out two of Inika's latest offerings from their recently released Creme Colour range. 

In simple black matte packaging with their trademark gold insignia name, Inika's Creme Colour for Cheek & Lips is a brilliant little compact to have in your handbag.  The shade I have here is called Rosehip, a bright red with orange undertones.  

I was a little worried about how bright this would be on the cheeks, but despite how wonderfully pigmented it is (and it really is, you only need the smallest amount!), it's very easy to blend and sheer out for a pretty natural flush.  If you prefer a bolder blush look, then the creamy, light, non-greasy formula is easily buildable too.  This lasted on me for around 8 hours which was very impressive!

On the lips, I was again amazed by how pigmented it was, and it delivers a beautiful nearly matte finish that didn't feel drying at all.  It lasted around 2-3 hours before I needed to reapply, and I'd suggest using a lip brush to apply this because it is so pigmented.      

Inika's Creme Eyeshadow comes in a dinky little bottle with a slim nozzle tip so you don't waste any product when you squeeze it out.  Champagne is light pink neutral shade with lots of gold shimmer that works well at brightening up the eyes, especially when blended into the inner corner.  The cream formula is very light and sheer, plus it takes a while to dry fully (best leave it 2-3 minutes).

Sadly, this creased almost straight away on my oily lids, and with a primer underneath, it only lasted for an extra hour or so before creasing again, so personally I'd just use this as an inner corner highlight.  Alternatively, if you like very shimmery face highlighters, then this shade could work well for that.

Summary: Whilst the Creme Eyeshadow wasn't that great for me personally, I do really love the Creme Colour for Cheeks & Lips.  Slight downside is that I wish you got more product for your money because it is tiny, but then again, it's also very pigmented too, so it would last a good while before you hit pan.  There's currently only four shades in the Creme Colour range (two for eyes, two for cheeks & lips), so hopefully Inika will add some more Cheeks & Lips ones soon!

The new Creme Colour range from Inika is out now and available online.

Inika products are organic, natural, vegan and halal certified.

What do you think of the new Inika Creme Colour products?

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5 Mini Reviews: Talika, REN, Cowshed, L'Occitane & NEOM

Time for a 5 Mini Reviews post -  I've been seriously slacking on the 'using up samples' front recently, so it's been something of an achievement to finish these five recently!

(1) Talika Lipocils Expert Eyelash Primer
I wasn't expecting this to do anything when I first began using it, but instantly my lashes looked thicker, more pigmented and held their curl longer than they usually would.  Impressive!  It was easy to apply and didn't irritate my eyes either. 

(2) REN Moroccan Rose Otto Body Cream
A subtle and fresh rose scent accompanied this easily absorbed body lotion so I really enjoyed using this mini bottle of it.  It's quite light though, so not heavy duty enough for my dry winter skin, but would be lovely to use during the summer months instead.

(3) Cowshed Wild Cow Invigorating Bath & Shower Gel
I wasn't that keen on the lemongrass and ginger smell of this, so it's my least favourite Cowshed scent that I've tried out, but it's a lovely non-drying formula for a natural shower gel.

(4) L'Occitane Volumising Hair Mask
This one use sample sadly didn't add any volume to my medium-thick hair but it did defrizz it a treat so I'd consider purchasing a full size bottle of it just for that reason alone.

(5) NEOM Bath Oil in Complete Bliss
Heavenly modern rose scent for a truly indulgent bath.  I know I always say this, but if you enjoy relaxing baths and haven't yet tried out NEOM bath oils, then you really need to!

Have you tried any of these?

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Worth The Hype: Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquers - Celestial, Luna & Nude Eclipse - Photos & Swatches

 Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer (5.5ml, £5.99 each, link)

Apocalips, Apocalips, Apocalips.. I hope you're not all bored of reading about these amazing, creamy, super pigmented lipstick/gloss hybrids yet, because here's another post about them!

I instantly loved the look of the Apocalips Lip Lacquers the minute I set my beady eyes on them and I was even ready to break my spending ban just to pick some up.  Luckily I had a ton of Boots points on my card left over from xmas, so the hard part was simply deciding which ones to get.

I played it safe and picked up two of the most everyday, wearable shades, Celestial and Luna, plus the token nude, Nude Eclipse, to try out.

 Nude Eclipse

Like all nude shades, Nude Eclipse will be a love it or hate it thing for most people.  I'm still on the fence as to whether it suits me or not, but regardless, I'm sure it's one that will quickly grow on me the more times I wear it.

 Luna

Luna on the other hand was love at first sight.  This beautiful warm peach shade works like magic for instantly brightening up my complexion, and it's a perfect colour for the upcoming Spring season.

Celestial

Celestial has proven itself to be one of the most popular shades on the blogosphere and I certainly see why!  This blue-toned, dusky-esque pink is so easy to wear and you can make it look brighter (as above) by applying just a little, or darker by adding an extra coat (like the swatch).

I'm a big fan of these and find them long lasting, non-sticky and moisturising.  I would recommend exfoliating your lips before applying them though, because they will show up any dryness, but other that, they're pretty amazing and well worth the hype!

Have you picked up any Apocalips yet?

Which ones are your favourite shades?

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Review: LUSH Tiny Hands

LUSH Tiny Hands (60g, £4.15, link)

Amongst my many beauty related obsessions, hand creams are something that I use virtually every day and is an absolute must during Winter.  Like dry lips, I can't stand having dry hands, so I've tried out a lot of hand creams over the years.  But a solid hand cream?   That's something brand new to me!

LUSH's Tiny Hands is in fact a sort of hand cream/serum in a solid form that seems to be based around how they make their gorgeous massage bars.  It's mainly made of cocoa and fairtrade shea butter combined with a blend of extracts and oils such as chamomile, aloe vera, marigold and vanilla etc., the latter of which gives it a delicate sweet floral scent.  

You have to warm the bar between your palms for a bit before you use it, but once it starts to melt a little, it's fine and doesn't feel greasy in the slightest.  I've been using Tiny Hands before going to bed and it's been softening my dry hands really well.  I also expect it to last a while too.

    Have you tried Tiny Hands or another solid hand cream?

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MUJI Clear Makeup Storage #1

I'm a terribly disorganised person and my make-up collection has been living in a chaotic mess for a very long time.  One of the main problems I had with my old make-up storage system (if you can call it a system!), was that everything was essentially all crammed into a series of make-up bags, beauty boxes and old shoe boxes stacked on top of each other.  I couldn't see what I had or where anything was.

As I received some MUJI vouchers for xmas, I decided to finally purchase some of those clear acrylic drawer boxes that I'd heard so much about and I love them!  They look great, are really compact so they can fit almost anywhere, but at the same time, you can still fit quite a lot of things into them.  Best of all, I can see exactly what I have and where it all is!

I decided to buy one 5 drawer box and one 2 drawers wide box to start with and I've put the make-up that I use the most often into these.  Once my spending ban is over, I'm going to be looking at buying some more storage to fit the rest of my make-up collection in so that everything's all together, but for now, here's how I've got it set up. 

The first unit here was actually a gift from a friend and I believe she may have picked it up from John Lewis, but you can find similar on eBay and Amazon too.  It comprises of four main sections: one at the back that's narrow and split into two - this is perfect for mascaras and eyeliners etc.  Next to that is a small stand up part where I keep my Benefit Hoola Bronzer and Liz Earle Foundation.  At the front, there's a larger stand up part where I have bits and bobs like an EOS lip balm, ELF Cream Eyeliner, Daniel Sandler Watercolour Blush etc.  Lastly, the other section is mainly for lipsticks, but I've used the front four slots for my Benefit minis.

Underneath that, I have my MUJI 5 drawer box.  I decided to pick this up because I wanted to keep my make-up singular and flat (so not piled up on top of each other in the drawers themselves).

First drawer of 5 has my most used lip products, so things like my Korres Lip Butters, Revlon Lip Butters, a couple of MAC lipsticks that I wear all the time and some Revlon lipglosses etc.  As you can see you can fit quite a lot in one of these little drawers!

Second drawer of 5 contains my most used eye products.  Here I mainly have a bunch of singles and some trios.  Near the back of this drawer, I also keep some eyeliners that I want to use more often.

Third drawer of 5 has some bronzers and blushers, as well as couple of lip products that couldn't fit into the above drawer.  With larger items, you'll find that you have to play a bit of Tetris to see how they'll all fit together!

Fourth drawer of 5 contains my current favourite blushers and MAC's Harmony which I use for contouring.  Here you can see that you can fit up to 8 regular sized MAC blushers if you wanted to.

Fifth drawer of 5 has my Urban Decay Naked Palette, Sleek Storm palette and a Stila palette.  I thought it would nice to put my favourite palettes into a drawer of their own, but in hindsight I don't think it's the best use of space and I'll probably put them somewhere else at some point.

Moving on, I keep all of my make-up brushes & tools in mugs and containers like so.

Underneath my brushes, I have the MUJI 2 drawer wide box which fits a mix of bulkier items that won't fit into the slimmer 5 drawer box.  The first drawer has primers, my mineral foundations, thick packaged eyeshadows and some other bits.  If you have a lot of MAC Paint Pots, then those will fit nicely into this.

In the last drawer I've put my Urban Decay Alice In Wonderland palette which I love so much, but shamefully rarely use.  I'm hoping that having it like this will encourage me to use it more often, though like the palettes in the 5 drawer box, I still think the space can be used more efficiently for other items. 

If you're looking to buy some MUJI clear storage for your own make-up, here are some pointers:-

- Think about what size of drawers you want to get: sounds obvious I know, but some items will simply not fit into the narrower 5 drawer box etc.
- Alternatively, you may find the other storage options like their partition boxes and singular deep drawer boxes better suited for your needs.
- Phone/email your local MUJI store for stock queries:  I found that the 5 drawer box was out of stock for a while at my local store, but they notified me when new stock was arriving so that I didn't make a wasted journey.  Alternatively, check their website and see what's in stock on there.
- Be aware that this storage can get dirty quite quickly:  Like NARS packaging, these plastic drawers will look grubby in no time if you're using them regularly, so perhaps make a habit of giving them a quick wipe once a week to keep them looking clear.

So that's it for now - I'll be sure to do an updated post when I get some more storage from MUJI in the near future!

How do you store your make-up?

Do you like the look of MUJI storage?

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