Closet Organization 2012

I've finally gotten my closet organized for now....I still want to cover the metal cabinet with decorative fabric I love....get a window treatment up..........




This is an old tie rack of my husband's....works great for this.......

 Walking in the door, I have my pants on "multi-pants" hangers, something new for me.  I really love them.

My Makeup Station......with my back injury, I cannot bend over so keeping this at standing height makes it really easy for me.

I have makeup organized in the shelves under the mirror....in the colorful ceramic decorative item and then on the shelf to the left.

I got these makeup organizers at Marshall's and TJ Maxx in our area in separate visits....

Looking the other direction...

To those who know me, not shocked to see color-coordinated clothing...... and the jewelry organizer hanging holds all my earrings...

I have dressier shirts on top shelf and casual shirts on bottom....pants/jeans to the right....  If you have never tried not only organizing your clothes by item (pants, shirts, etc.) but by color.....you really don't understand how fun your closet can be.  And easy too!!  It is like shopping at the store.........

Shelving behind makeup station...and my jewelry selections...color-coorinated, of course


Paint color in closet is Sherwin Williams Perfect Greige.

Show Us Your Life - Beauty Tips

This is a perfect time to put a post up about my current beauty tips.  I love reading other blogs and getting ideas of what works and what doesn't!

First things first:  Shower

I have had so much success with the following hair products, my husband has started using the shampoo.  His hair was thinning more and more and frankly, he was using products with ingredients that cause hair loss!  When someone mentioned my luxurious hair and fast growth, he had a light bulb moment.  His hair looks amazing now!

I have wavy, "can be curly if I try hard" hair and this shampoo and condition is to die for:

 Kinky Curly "Come Clean" Shampoo and "Knot Today" Conditioner.

These do NOT have SLS or other damaging products.  I purchase mine at Whole Foods - but you might need to ask - they usually are not with the other shampoos and hair products.

Also in the shower, every day I will use Burt's Bees Citrus Facial Scrub.  Love this! It is  a grainy, fruity concoction.  I get a little bit and smear it all over and scrub, being careful to not let chunks fall on the floor.  I buy mine at Target as I can't find it anywhere else around here.

When I get out of the shower and squeeze excess water out of my hair carefully, I use a Microfiber towel to soak the rest of the water.  This is incredible!!  I bought a "dog" towel at a local store that works just as well and much cheaper!  This will eliminate blow drying time. 

The product that has transformed my hair into luxurious is Morrocanoil.  This smells heavenly and the result in my hair is amazing.  I never spend this much money on my hair, but after my stylist used it month after month.....I was convinced.  You cannot find a single negative testimonial about this - folks swear by it.  Be careful ordering on Amazon - I've heard there are some "fake" products being sold.  I buy mine at my salon.

I've also started using Agadir Argon Oil Spray and it is also wonderful.  I had used it only once when I went to my stylist and she mentioned how soft and healthy my hair was.  For processed hair, that is a good thing!

I put this on after I take my hair out of the drying microfiber towel.

 While my hair is up in the microfiber towel, I use my highly recommended  

Simply Divine Botanicals  

products.  I swear by these.   I am 44 and after 1 year with these products, my skin looks like this:

Please excuse the marks on my nose from my cheap reading glasses.

I have written many times about these products - click HERE.

This company uses ALL NATURAL ingredients - we should be careful what we put on our skin.  Read my link above or go to the company to read all about their philosophy and ingredients.

Be sure to order SAMPLES.  I recommend the main sample pack and the seaweed sample set to start off with.  Samples are great for traveling!

These are the photos of the products I love.

Butter Me Up - VERY thick, I use this every day on my newly shaved legs.  Several scents to choose from.

Body Cream - very much like normal lotion.  Several scents to choose from.

Honey I Shrunk the Pores - LOVE this.  Use it 3-4 times a week.  My skin is so tight afterward.  You could eat - smells very raspberry. 

Peel Me a Papaya - this looks like oatmeal and I keep it in the shower, being careful not to get it moist.  I pour a little in my hand, add a tiny bit of water, tilt my head back (so as not to lose much on the floor) and then scrub into my skin for 2-3 minutes.  I had hubs do this the other day and he was surprised how soft his skin was afterward.

Amazing Face - my favorite day cream.  Light lemongrass scent.

Creme de Rose- a light rose scent.  My daily night cream.  

Rose du Jour - another light day cream.  LOVE the strong rose scent.

Gypsy Rose Tea Astringent/Toner - I've NEVER used this type of product before and now I can't live without this.  Use it morning and night and it lasts forever.

Black Velvet Fabulous Foaming Face Wash - you have to try this to believe it.  Your skin honestly feels like VELVET after use.  They also have one for blemish-prone skin called You Can't Zit Here Foaming Face Wash.  I go to her "Tools" section and also buy the Foaming Bottle for $4 - the product lasts longer this way and actually foams.

Skincredible - a tantalizing sandalwood scent, great for rosacea, wrinkles, bruises, cracked skin, broken capillaries, blemishes, discoloration and other skin issues.

Melon Medley - I love this serum.  While it is oily to touch, my skin soaks it up and feels so soft.


Pure Rose Distillate - I spray this on multiple times a day for hydration. I love the rose scent - very calming.


~~~~~~~~~~

A sea salt peel I have used for the last 7 years is Swisa  Beauty Dead Sea Facial Peel.   I used to find it in mall kiosks, but now order it off ebay.  Your skin, in one use, will say WOW.  You won't believe how much dead skin you peel off and then are left with baby bottom soft skin.

I use once a week.

I also swear by my DermaNew Microdermabrasion System (that I found for a steal at Marshalls!) 

Did you know that products like C.hapstick have some ingredients that not great for us?  We started using this Vitamin C lip balm from Walgreens, and my "chapstick addicted" husband switched over and has never gone back.  Try this for super smooth, nourished lips.

As for makeup, I have several products I highly recommend:

Nars Orgasm Blush - I've used this on all my female family members and it was beautiful!  I would normally NOT have bought this color but reading all the amazing testimonials, I gave it a try.  So glad I did!

VERY pigmented and lasts forever.  I've had this over a year and use it all the time!

Urban Decay Primer Potion - ever wish your eye shadow would stay all day and not crease?   I prefer the EDEN, as it gives me a neutral base.  The original one goes on clear. 

Some of my favorite brushes come from CVS - Essence of Beauty - check them out!

Dual Ended  - packs on color very well.

I recommend getting these makeup palettes at Sephora.  My husband just commented the other day how much use I get out of them.  Easy to travel, too.

This one has colorways that pull out to take with you for the day.

Use a fan brush for your blush - makes a huge difference.  You can run this brush through multiple colors at a time, shake and then apply.  Perfection.  Also use a Kabuki brush for all over blending.

Kabuki and Fan brushes

And ladies, the PERFECT under eye concealer is by Eve Pearl:  Salmon Color!!!  You will be shocked at how well this works.

Another new product I am using is to contour - this one is great!

Smashbox Contour Kit

Oh and almost forgot - my newest purchase -

M.A.C. Mineralized Skin Finish in Soft and Gentle.  Fantastic highlighter!!

 

Two inexpensive Sally Beauty Supply products are:

Palladio Herbal Facial Primer

and

Palladio Rice Powder

And I recommend keeping everything well organized!

One more huge beauty tip for those of us over 35.  When we use peach products with our brown eyes, it ages us.  Try using more pink/purple tones (as a neutral) and see if folks don't comment on looking younger!  I didn't believe it until I tried it. Now, you will hardly ever find me in neutral, peach shades.

This colorway is your friend!!!  Give it a try before saying "no".  I did and now won't go back.

I think this about covers it.  So many more things, but these are my favorites.  Enjoy!  Now I'm off to go see other blogs and ideas!!

 Kelly's Korner Blog

Hair Day

Just had my hair appointment and she asked if I wanted flat ironed or curly.  I was in the mood for curly.  She worked and worked, we chatted, meanwhile I was facing away from the mirror.  She turns me around and my eyes got huge - I have Taylor Swift hair!  Very cool - hubs was in town for an appointment of his own so I sent him a text asking if he wanted to see my "do" before it fell.  Well, sure enough he did (having a fascination with my hair and all.....)

 

I met up with him in the parking lot of his doctor's office and needless to say, he DID love it.  He took these photos so I could remember how to do it myself.  lol   Last month, I came home with "Barbie" hair.  So fun!! 

Do you have a creative stylist or do you get the same ol' same ol' every time?  I love being surprised. I love having long enough hair that many different things can be done with it.

You know how quite a few blogs have "Outfit of the day", or Style of the Day"?  I wear the same thing over and over, being home all the time.  But I could do "Hairdo of the Day" of "Makeup of the Day".  lol  Seriously, I have a major makeup obsession and go through eye makeup remover like we have 5 girls in this house (just me, sorry......).  Always playing, trying new things.  And hubs?  Well, he loves that too.  As he says, never knows who he's coming home to every night.  Plain, simple?  Cat eye sexy?  Smokey eye, red lips?  I buy those kits for a steal with all kinds of color (the decent ones from Sephora or Ulta, not from the corner drug store, lol).  Like this one:

That is 98 eye shadows, 70 lip glosses, 6 cream eye liners, 2 lip pencils, 3 eye liners, mascara, 4 applicators

This is still available from Sephora for $48.  Click HERE.  I use almost every color you see here.  I have a fan brush that I sweep over all 3 of those blushes in the middle for a beautiful light blush color on the cheese.   The only "oops" I had was when I took that reddish pencil there to the left in the middle?  And lined my eyes with it.  Ha!  Seriously, don't know where my brain was.  But I had quite the look - bright red lined eyes....just take a moment and imagine that......and then I looked at the pencil and it  said..........LIP pencil.  HA HA HA HA  So then,.....more eye makeup remover.  lol  Do you see the purple pencil just above it?  Gorgeous to rim the eyes!!!  And those lip glosses - some are VERY pigmented and a little goes a looonnnngggg way.  My favorite is to take a medium dark pinkish color and then use that top left gold color on the right hand lip gloss area to cover - gives a gorgeous gold glow with speckles over the pink base color.

OOops, looks like that set is sold out due to high demand.  I also have this one - HERE.

What I love about this set is you can take the "color set" you are using for the day and take it with you in the travel case (to the left in the above photo).  Very cool!


Seriously, you'd think I was 14.   lol  And if you think I'm not kidding, have you seen my "Makeup Organization Station"?  Enjoy -  Cheri's Makeup Organization Setup

When people ask me how I handle my daily nerve pain?  This is one way!!

Have a glorious day!

Closet and Makeup Organization

It's Spring!  Even for you gals covered in snow right now!  Is your closet crying for some attention?  I'm all for even decorating your closet to make it a welcoming place.  If you've seen my "color" posts, you know I'm a big believer in color affecting mood.  Well, organization and having a clutter-free dwelling also impacts your mental health and overall happiness.

My Colorful Life

Take small baby steps - and one small room to try is your closet!

I am a naturally organized person and always have been.  I suspect my "sensory issues" impact my need for a clutter-free life.  When my surroundings are in disarray, I feel stressed.  The sense of calm I get from cleaning and organizing makes me desire to do this daily.  lol  (One reason I LOVED home staging before my health crisis - loved helping others also!)

I wanted to share what we have done in my closet for my makeup area particularly.   Not being able to bend, lift or twist requires me to reorder many areas of our home and I love what we were able to do with this.

To start, we have had this large metal cabinet for years, to keep things locked up that kiddos don't need access to.  We deliberately chose a tall one to use for my makeup station and being 5'8, I can walk right up and the mirror is at my head level.  No bending necessary.  (My next project will be to make a decorative fabric cover for this "ugly" metal cabinet.) Here are some photos:

Rug at the base of the cabinet to protect carpet from all the things I drop!  To help pick those items up (since I cannot bend ever again), I use a grabber - $9.99 at stores like W.almart.  I have 5 around the house and it is also how I do laundry.

These grabbers/grippers can pick up a bobby pin off the floor.  I love them!

So, on the top of this cabinet, I have always kept my make up mirror, but I had to lean down a bit and had my makeup and other items scattered all around the top, along with in the carousel to the left.  Made it hard to keep clean, dust, etc.  I asked my engineer hubby for help on getting the perfect organizing storage items and this is what we came up with.  I love it!

This is actually a makeup carousel AND a plastic 2-tier lazy susan (from wally world) below, holding the makeup palettes.  The makeup carousel had broken and on longer turned.  This worked perfectly and holds all the smaller items.

This is one of my favorite all-time gifts.  My dear mother got this for me from P.ier One several years ago and it holds earrings and other jewelry, along with anything else I throw in there.  And it is so pretty!  Those are ceramic drawers.

We purchased this metal organizer at wally world and then purchased a small bag of plastic bean bag filler beads at M.ichaels.  This makes a perfect medium to put the brushes in and they stand up and come in and out easily.  I found it now much cheaper at J.o Ann's.

Since I originally posted this, I decided I needed a cleaner 'look" for the makeup brushes and found this ceramic container on sale and with a coupon.  It works better and looks much cleaner.

Michaels also had a 40% sale on the Loew Cornell paint brushes, and I was able to get the Maxine Mop brushes (purple handle with white brush bristles, although in the photo above, the handles look more blue than purple - they are to the right hand side of the photo) for 40% off.  They are originally $3.99 and $5.99 or so?  How awesome is that?  These work JUST as well as the MAC brushes, which can run over $30 each!   There were 2 displays of the Loew Cornell and American Painter brushes, but a separate section had a mixture of natural bristles.  We were able to get the percentage off showing that coupon (they didn't ring up automatically on sale). 

Ok, now to the large drawers on the main unit.  Of course, my engineer hubby had to go to Lowe's and get me some non-skid rubber mats.  Love him!

Top drawer holds my different creams.  If you want to feel utter bliss, go to Simply Divine Botanicals and order their Samples Pack - this is all those smaller white containers. 

Middle drawer has separate organizer drawers (of course, lol) and holds eye liners and gels, lip products, concealers, and then mascaras.

Back to organization.  Do you have an old tie rack from years ago?  Hang it and use it to hold necklaces!

For my clothes, I recommend sectioning shirts, pants, dresses, etc.  And for me, nothing beats color-coordinated items!  Even little things like this can make a huge difference in what your brain perceives as clutter.  Quick dressing and beautiful to look it - perfect!

Now for shoes - I don't keep the original boxes as that "looks" cluttered.   These plastic see-through containers can be purchased very inexpensively and protect your shoes. I've seen some folks take a photo of the shoe inside and put it on the outside edge, to make it even faster to find what you need.   I have narrow feet and cannot purchase cheaper shoes, as they fall right off my feet.  When Andy met me 24 years ago, I was selling higher end shoes and I warned right then and there that if he had a problem with purchasing quality shoes, I wasn't his girl.  Not to worry, as I found out - his favorite shoes then were Allen Edmonds to the tune of over $200 a pair (in 1986!!).  What I spent for shoes paled in comparison to this, so I was safe.  ($50 was expensive to me.)  Match made in heaven. 

Sadly, I can no longer wear ANY of those shoes.  These are the dressier shoes that can no longer be worn.   Heels or any shoe that is not perfectly flat presents a danger to me.   I am slowly discarding these.   Sigh........  These are the shoes I CAN wear:

Notice how no bending is required?  I can just slip them on.  Dankso shoes are very safe for folks who need stability and require ideal shoes for posture.  Nurses and health professionals love these shoes.  Definitely pricey, but they last forever.

We vacuum every week, so I keep the floors clean and tidy as well.

I am willing to sacrifice the entire left side of my closet to be able to iron peacefully!!  I recommend it!  The shirts are next up for ironing.   

And finally, we keep a file cabinet for our private papers and I use the top for additional storage.

This keeps the bathroom counter clean and tidy, as I can reach in quickly to get what I need.

When I met Andy, he had the most organized closet and was one of the most organized men I had ever met.  Nowadays, not so much (lol), but I wanted to show you his closet.  This is how he prefers to keep his closet - and I don't impose my color-coordination on him.  lol

I will be linking to the following:

Motivate me Monday

Metomorphosis Monday

Make it for Monday

Toot Your Horn Tuesday

DIY Day

Talented Tuesday

 Show Us Your Organization Tips!

Nester - 31 Days - Organization

Sunday Favorites

Have a glorious day!