What’s In My Stash: Forgotten Finds & Organization Overhaul

This weekend I finally battled my stash, and I believe I’ve succeeded in wrestling it into submission.  I may have ragged fingernails, skinned knuckles, and more bruises than I want to contemplate, but after a weekend of hauling around boxes, sorting piles of products, and late-night furniture assembly, I’ve finally managed to properly set up my stash!By that, I mean that I wanted a way for me to visually see my skincare stash at a glance instead of having to go digging through drawers and boxes, because I have a lot of interesting things that I just don’t pull out and ogle nearly enough.  Like these:

IOPE, why did you have to change your refill inserts right after I bought this limited edition case for a giveaway?

I’m not usually too concerned with the state of my stash organization, because I have it organized in a spreadsheet that keeps track of it all for me, but my home office had become overrun with partially-unpacked orders, various photography trappings, and a thriving colony of packing materials that seemed to be breeding in every corner.

I’m good at keeping track of what I buy (that spreadsheet, yo) but I somehow manage to forget to enter the things I receive as gifts, either from friends or “gifts with purchase” which arrived in store orders.

In this post:

• The result: behind the scenes in my home office & tamed stash
• Interesting finds from the depths of my stash: “Oh hey, I should totally use this!”
• Adventures in stash wonderland: inside drawers, shelves, refrigerator, & my bathroom counter
• What’s left on my to-do list

I was amazed at how little space it took up once I sorted through everything and pulled out all the empties, boxes, and discards– I have no idea how large the average beauty blogger’s stash is, but compared to the jaw-dropping stash videos I’ve seen, mine is downright tiny!  Bless you, spreadsheet, for keeping me in check, even if you can’t display all the pretty packaging.  Time for lots of photos!

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The result: behind the scenes in my home office & tamed stash

Here’s a shot of my office as I was taking the photo of the products which normally live on my bathroom sink, ie. what I’m currently using on a regular enough basis to warrant sink real estate.

I have three windows in this room which mystifyingly don’t normally bring in enough natural light for photos (how?! There are three of them!), so I have some inexpensive softbox lights (these on Amazon) which help reduce the aggravation of trying to get a clean photo.  At least as far as lighting is concerned.  Why are photos always such a struggle, argh.

The entirety of my stash is in the top left cabinet and the rolling set of drawers.

I have some photo-related items stored beneath the table, such as the DIY cherry wood I use for some of my Instagram photos like this one, and a box of props which are now consolidated into one place instead of stashed in every nook of my office, migrating underfoot, attacking me while I contort myself trying to take a shot, and generally driving me insane.

Interesting finds from the depths of my stash: “Oh hey, I should totally use this!”

Adventures in stash wonderland: inside drawers, shelves, refrigerator, & my bathroom counter

What’s in my shower and on my bathroom counter

On the left is my bath and body products: shampoos, conditioners, body wash, scalp spray, BHA body spray, etc.  On the right are the products that lurk on our sink (although it only takes up one corner when it’s not all spread out) plus the AHA that my husband uses to spot treat his CCs.  At his own initiative.  I’m so proud.

Peeking out from behind the Sum:37 cleansing water is a giant box of facial cottons.

Some of these have reviews, such as the Su:m37 Skin Saver cleansing water, the Glossier Milky Jelly cleanser, the Cremorlab T.E.N Cremor Gel Oil, the Mizon AHA/BHA toner, the Cosrx BHA Blackhead Power Liquid, my Curology Azeliac acid + Niacinamide Rx, the semi-discontinued Beauty of Joseon cream, and the Goodal Mild Protect Natural Filter SPF50+ PA+++ sunscreen.

If you’re a regular reader, you already know I don’t use all these products all at once, but they’re in my skincare wardrobe and see heavy use.  Most of the unreviewed products are part of my Winter is Coming: Plotting My K-Beauty Skincare Routine for Colder Weather fall lineup, which will fill out as the weather cools.

Masks, makeup, and nerdy things

Does anyone else repurpose TesterKorea boxes for storage?  Because that corrugated plastic is amazing.  Anyway, that Hyundai Mall box contains all my sheet masks, save a few boxed ones in the cabinet, and the bottom shelf is all my nerdy stuff.  Research materials, pH testing gear, decanting supplies, etc.  The rolling drawers has non-sheet masks, samples and decants, beauty tools, and makeup.

Yes, I have two boxes of pH strips because I’m always wandering off with them and losing them.

I’ve snapped the drawer contents as well; I migrated my skincare out of these drawers into the cabinet, because it’s much easier to just open it and see what I have instead of having to open a drawer and go pawing around!

Left: lip products, right: eye makeup and the few palettes I own.

I don’t own a lot of makeup by beauty blogging standards, partly because I don’t wear a lot of it (I work from home) and partly because I’m a serious derp when it comes to makeup application.  My go-to look is base, groomed brows, colourful lip, and bare eyes.  I’m looking forward to practicing with that Lorac palette, though!

Also if anyone can tell me how to sharpen those limited edition Snow White eye pencils from Beauty People, please let me know!  They don’t twist up like an auto pencil but they’re plastic so they don’t seem to be able to be sharpened either?  So confused, halp.

On the left, beauty tools incl. applicators & brushes, facial cottons, and foaming nets.  On the right, base makeup incl. cushions, powders, contour & highlighters, and concealer.

How I’ve collected so many makeup brushes over the years despite hardly ever wearing eye makeup, I just don’t know.  I recently reviewed the gorgeous Sulwhasoo peony cushion here: Sulwhasoo Perfecting Cushion #13 Review & Swatches, which was the prize for an International giveaway on my Instagram.

The right side of this drawer used to contain my sheet masks, but it was awkward to paw through them so they’ve been relocated to the shelf for easier access!

I actually really love these little single/double use mask pack capsules, especially the clay mask ones, as I rarely use them and thus a full size would mostly go to waste.  I love deluxe sample sizes in general, and you can read more about why I think they’re usually a better buying choice (for me) here: K-Beauty & Portion Control: Why Sometimes Good Value Can Be a Bad Idea

On the right: decants, and samples I actually plan to use.  On the left … let’s not talk about that.

Like most K-Beauty fans, I have a drawer of sample shame, where the inevitable random samples that come with one’s orders go to to be forgotten.  Rarely do I get samples that I’ll actually end up using, but swapping decants with friends is a great way to try out products that aren’t available in sample sizes without buying a full size.

I don’t purchase backups these days, unless a HG product is discontinued, which sadly has happened to one of my favourite Korean beauty products of all time, the Beauty of Joseon cream.  However, skincare is perishable, so backups aren’t ideal.  Still, if you have to squirrel away a few, a cold, dry, dark place is usually the best place.

Yes, that’s 3 backups of Joseon cream. I’m mostly through my current jar, and winter is coming.

The Xai Cosmetics cream on the left will be stashed back in the fridge until I’m ready to use it as I’ve had it since the spring, and the Paula’s Choice Vitamin C serum is an L-AA and needs to be kept away from light and heat.

And finally, the bulk of my skincare stash:

What’s in my skincare cabinet

My in-laws are moving, so she passed along this little cabinet to help out with the limited storage of our Victorian-era house.  I think she intended for it to be used for something other than skincare but I snatched it up in my harpy claws and pressed it into service.

I couldn’t figure out why all my photos looked off, and then I realized that both the cabinet and the house were warped with age, and there wasn’t a straight line to be had anywhere!

How did this end up barely filling the cabinet?!  Ah wait, I know.  Gulp.

The top shelf holds essences, serums, oils, creams, etc, and a few items I’m planning on giving away.  The middle shelf is products I’m planning on using soon, and my stable of cleansers.  The bottom shelf is divided (by a few boxes of sheet mask) between used/emptied products overdue for review on the left, and body/hair care products on the right.

Look at all that unused space!  It’s amazing how much more reasonable this all looks when it’s tidily arranged together rather than encroaching on every available surface and threatening to spread to the floor.  I decline to confirm if it was that bad before I took on this project, but I will admit that Dr. Mr. the Pear was amazed he could now walk freely from one side of my office to the other without risking his life.

What’s left on my to-do list

I have two boxes left to sort and … do something with.  One is all the beautiful things that I’ve emptied (or retired if they didn’t work for me) but have beautiful packaging worth keeping.  The other is a giant 25″ x 25″ box (which contained my husband’s charcoal grill!) which is filled almost to the brim with empties, the packaging of products I’ve unboxed but not yet reviewed, and products that have been banished to the discards pile.

Why haven’t I purged it yet?  I’ve learned that throwing things out always leads to regret later as one digs through various boxes looking for XYZ to photograph, only to realize you’ve thrown it out right before you needed it.  RAGE!  Tackling that box, and the box of pretties, will be my next task, but that will be for another day when my aches and scrapes have faded.

Do you have stash set up to share, or photos of your ‘shelfie’?  Hit me up on Facebook or Twitter and let me know!