I got the Ikea Alex unit :)

This was on my wishlist for January and I'm happy to say I finally got the Ikea Alex drawers!

Here's mine:

I've stationed the draws next to my wardrobe which is a mottled midnight blue colour so they don't match at all. Put that together with my pink carpet and cream walls and it's a whole mish mash going on. I'm not too fussed though. When the wardrobe falls apart I'll buy a new one that matches but it's doing its job now so no point changing anything :)

Looks like it's leaning over here! It's just the angle I'm taking the picture at but actually it's straight.

The drawers hold the bulk of my makeup collection and I've kept the bottom three drawers for nail stuff, skincare and odds and ends whilst the top holds my meager lipstick collection and hair bands. I'm also considering using it for stationary when I use up some of my makeup and can empty out the drawers a little.

This unit is ideal for makeup because the top 5 drawers are not as deep as the last 4 drawers and so are perfect for storing makeup flat so it's easy to see everything. The deeper drawers are better for larger items (for example I store my hair dryer and Lush containers in the bigger drawers).

On the top I've stored brushes, liners, perfumes and my orange and peach handcream:

Here's an example of one my eyeshadow drawers:

The Urban Decay palettes fit into the shallower drawers perfectly. The Balm and the Beautiful palette you see here is actually on top of another Urban Decay palette so layering products is also possible.

Here's another example.

I added a divider that's actually a cutlery organiser to sort out some of my eyeshadows. This looks like a complete mess but there is some organisation going on. On the left are pigments, middle loose shadows, right MAC singles and furthest larger single shadows and liquid liners. I also stored my new mascaras in an old Ferrero Rocher container (those things work a treat!) and the two that are on their final uses seperately (so I know to throw them out soon). Everything fits perfectly.

Here's my final example drawer. This one holds blush, bronzers and highlighters.

I've never been too keen on blush, probably because I've got some redness on my cheeks (from healing spots) so have preferred not to add any more colour to my face. but recently I've gone on a blush binge. I was so used to seeing pink blush that didn't suit me at all that when I tried a peach blush at random last year I was hooked. Peach, coral and orange shades suit my warm toned Asian (NC25/NC30) skin way better than pink so I've bought quite a few new blushes recently and don't think I will need any more for a long time! My favourite blushes are from Sleek and NYX so I'm not going to foray into high end blushes in the future. Here you can see that again, it's easy to store blushes flat in the drawers but it would also be possible to store them upright after putting them in some kind of container.

I'm still organising and reorganising everything so will do a proper tour of my entire set up when it's all completed and a lot more tidy!

Overall I love the Alex unit as it is sturdy and the drawer sizes in it are ideal not just for makeup but all sorts of paraphernalia. At £81.99 it doesn't come cheap and it also doesn't come in an array of colours so if white isn't your thing you probably wouldn't like it. But it's a great storage solution and comes in both sets of 9 drawers as well as shorter 5 drawer units if shorter units are your preference.

Other Ikea units that look good for makeup storage are:

The Malm

The Helmer

The Moppe