Dressing Table Tour Part 2: Make Up Storage

I'm back with the second part of my dressing table tour!

Part one of the tour focused on all the pretty trinkets displayed on the dressing table and you can catch up with part one here. Today I'm going to show you how I store my make up.

So, who would like a peek in to my drawers?

My dressing table has three small drawers down one side. Two drawers hold my make up, and the third holds my nail polish collection. Let's take a look!

The top drawer is kept organised by a wooden cutlery tray which I bought in Cargo over a year and a half ago. Cutlery drawers make fantastic make up organisers, and often look much nicer than cheap plastic dividers. They're a lot cheaper, too. This one cost me £8.

On the left are my lip products. I don't have a huge collection of lippy, but I'm gradually building it up. The other three sections, from the back, contain my blushers, mascaras, and base products. In the gaps around the tray are a few lipgloss and lipstick sets, some nail files, and an epilator I haven't used in forever. I love how colourful this drawer is.

Up until a few months ago all my make up had been stored in one drawer- and I miraculously managed to keep it organised. Now I'm looking at these photos and wondering how I did it! I had to expand it to a second drawer at Christmas when I gained several new make up sets and even now it's cramped.

The second drawer is home to my eye make up collection. Most of the palettes are eye make up sets, but there's also a couple of face powder palettes that are too big for the first drawer. I also keep some cleansing wipes, and a mirror to do my make up with in this drawer.

Last week, I got fed up of the disarray and made these dividers out of a sturdy cardboard box that once held chocolates. The box was square, so I cut a section of the lid off to size, and sellotaped it to the end of the square to make a rectangle. I wanted it to fit the length of the drawer to make the best use of the space. I then took another piece of the lid and sellotaped it to the middle of the square to divide it in to two.

I now have an organised make up collection and it didn't cost me a penny! This will probably just be a temporary storage solution until I can purchase another cutlery drawer or drawer tidy, but it's sure worked a treat at keeping my make up tidy!

The front section is home to my liquid and pencil eye liners. The middle and back sections hold my powder eyeshadows, most of which are singles, but there are a few duos and palettes in there, two. Along side the divider are several Inglot, Stila, and Soap and Glory palettes.

I'm addicted to green eye make up, which I'm sure you can tell from the photos, and I love good quality make up products. My favourite make up brand has got to be Inglot, but I like and use both drug store and high end make up brands.

My favourite products are still my gorgeous Inglot eyeshadow palettes. The colours are highly pigmented and I have a rainbow of pretty colours to play with.

And finally, the bottom drawer is home to my nail polish collection, nail art pens, and tools. 

I have quite a large collection of polishes; the last time I counted I had more than 110! Oops. I think I may have a nail polish addiction!

I try to keep my nail polishes organised by colour, glitter, and effects, as it makes it easier to locate a particular bottle. This is less organised than it usually is. I need to take it all out, go through them all, throw out the ones which have dried up, and give them a tidy.

The purple pot holds my tools such as a glass nail file, dotting tools, tweezers, manicure scissors and so on. The cupcake is a little manicure set I was given for Christmas.

The drawer isn't the most ideal way of storing my nail polish collection, as it's so easy to forgot about particular colours when they're stored away. I want to get a little display cabinet to hang on the wall above my dressing table where I can display some of my favourites and remind myself to use them, but in the mean time the drawer is more than adequate for keeping them all neat and tidy.

And that is how I store my make up collection!

I hope you've enjoyed this little peek in to my dressing table. I've really enjoyed putting it together.

Look out for part three of my dressing table tour coming soon, when I'll be showing you how I store some of my accessories.

How do you organise your make up and cosmetics? If you've done a post like this, I'd love to see your links!

Dressing Table Tour Part 1

I finally feel like my dressing table is coming together, so I thought it was time I gave you a dressing table tour! 

There's a lot to show you, so I'm splitting the tour in to three posts to break the length down a bit. Today I'm going to show you what's displayed on the table top and surrounding walls. I should warn you that this post is photo-heavy and a bit of a long one.

It's been about a year and a half since I last did one of these posts, and it's fair to say it's changed quite a bit since then. I still have my ugly, old, rectangular, pine-look dressing table and mirrors which I've had since my early teens. I hate the appearance of the thing, but it serves its purpose and I'm not in the position to afford new furniture right now so I just make do. I'm thankful I have one, but I can't wait for the day when I can get myself a beautiful ornate white or cream vanity with an oval mirror, and heaps of storage.

This is how my dressing table currently looks, cluttered with trinkets and cosmetics. It's squeezed in to one of the alcoves in my bedroom. There's a window just to the right of the shot, and my bed is just in front of it. As I'm currently stuck living with my parents, my bedroom is pretty crammed with my possessions, and I don't have enough floor space left to be able to sit in front of the dressing table on a stool. There's about a foot gap between the table and my bed, so I just sit on the bed. I have to pretty much side step around the bed to get to it! It isn't ideal, but everything is easily within reach and I'm pleased with the way it's coming together. I'd usually keep the mirror in the centre for symmetry, but I've had to angle it in a way that doesn't catch my reflection while I'm in bed. If I see a pair of eyes looking at me while I'm half asleep, I'd give myself a heart attack!

The left hand side of the surface is currently very cluttered with most of my lotions and potions. The plan was just to keep cosmetics in the cake stand on display, but that soon went out of the window! I bought the cake stand last year from Homebase, (pink version available here), because it complimented my jewellery stands, and I thought it would be a great way to utilise my limited space. I was right! Tiered stands are invaluable if you're very tight on counter and storage space, and they look pretty, too.

The cake stand is home to my lotions, body sprays, cleansers, and travel sized toiletries.

The glass jar holds my cotton wool pads. I found it in Hobby Craft a couple of months ago and it was only £2.99! They stock the jars in a few sizes and I think this one is the smallest.

I've had the jewellery mannequin for years. It did have a stand until last year when my mother accidentally broke it whilst redecorating for me. Thankfully it doesn't look too bad without its legs because I love it. I bought it from a local store.

Along the mirror and to the right hand side of the dressing table are all my pretty trinkets.

The heart shaped stand is an earring holder, although it doesn't hold many earrings at the moment because I don't own all that many dangly ones. I'm planning to just fill it gradually as I collect them. The stand came from ASOS the Christmas before last, and I snapped it up on sale for next to nothing.

I love the hearts in the base.

The butterfly tea light holders are my latest additions. I found them in a garden centre for £1.49 each. I bought two. The candle inside this one is a baby-powder scented Yankee. It smells just like talcum powder! The scent is amazing.

My make up brushes are some of my favourite things on display. The handles are coated in glitter, gems, and beads, like those beautiful Middle Eastern trinket pots. I've had the brushes for seven or eight years now, and the glitter has faded some what, but they're still so pretty. I bought them from B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful, Lush's late sister company who sold make up and cosmetics. Unfortunately they went in to administration a few years ago. The brushes are vegan, and like most good-quality make up brushes, they cost a small fortune. Luckily, my little sister worked at Lush at the time so her discount made everything far more affordable. Let's just say her discount got abused a lot.

Hello, reflection me! Oh, the concentration! 

I don't have a large perfume collection, mainly because I get overwhelmed by perfume shopping and like to stick with what I know and love. And that's fruity-scented perfumes like Escada and the DKNY Delicious scents. 

Along the top of the mirrors I've draped white fairy lights which I decided to keep up after Christmas. I love the ambiance of the soft lighting when it's dark and I'm curled up with a good book. I've also displayed my Alice bands along the mirrors, which is a great way to save drawer space.

I also have a masquerade mask in the corner. It reminds me of the Masquerade ball in Phantom of the Opera, which is one of my favourite musicals and films. The mask was actually marketed as a Christmas decoration but I bought it especially for my dressing table. 

The rose is a corsage that I clipped in to the feathers because I loved the contrast of colours.

My Dad finally got around to putting my jewellery hooks on the wall for me last week! I'd only been waiting fifteen months... Our walls are ridiculously difficult to drill in to, so I needed a strong pair of hands to help.

This set of hooks was another Hobby Craft find last year, and I think they cost me just £2.99! I wish I'd picked up a couple more because it looks lovely against the sky blue walls. I would love to get some for my belts, scarves, and bags, but I don't know if they still stock them. This one holds a random selection of my necklaces.

My Dad also hung this jewellery hanger up for me, which sits above the cake stand. I bought it through ASOS in Christmas 2012 when it was on sale for about a fiver. It has hooks for earrings, bracelets, and necklaces although the earring loops are currently very lonely.

I have most of my pendant necklaces hanging from this stand. Unsurprisingly, most of my necklaces are novelty designs. I'm pretty sure you'll have noticed my addiction to novelty accessories by now!

I hung a selection of my prettiest bracelets from the bracelet hooks, although this is only some of my collection. You'll be seeing more of them another day! I have a soft spot for pearls and charm bracelets.

I still have a big gap on the wall above the dressing table, which I'm planning to fill with one of these display cabinets:

I can't decide which design I like best, but they'd both be perfect for displaying some of my nail polish collection. They're far prettier than those cheap acrylic stands. I've been lusting after these two for over a year, and I hope to purchase one in the not too distant future. They're both from Dot Com Gift Shop and you can find the sweetheart display cabinet here, and the dolls house display cabinet here.

And that's my dressing table from the counter up. If you've made it this far, thanks for sticking with me! I got a little carried away.

I'll be back soon with the second part of the tour, where I'll be giving you a peek at my make up storage!

Thanks for reading!

Wednesday Wish List

Spring has finally made its return after the grey-est Winter I've ever known, and I'm so happy to see all the cheerful bright colours that are beginning to emerge in to the shops and collections. As much as I love the jewel tones during Autumn / Winter, I'm always dying for a change by January, and by Spring I can't wait to start wearing my favourite bright colours and lovely delicate pastels.

This week I've been visually over-dosing on a rainbow of colours, but I think this wish list has ended up with the colour palette of a fruit salad mixed with the sugary sweet colours of the Steel Magnolias set at Easter.

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10 // 11 // 12 // 13 // 14 // 15

I've fallen head over heels in love with the safari print skater dress by ASOS Curve (1). It's covered in penguins, cheetahs, elephants, butterflies, and herons, and I'm dying to get my hands on it! There's no doubt about it; it MUST join my wardrobe zoo!

ASOS Curve's polka dot leggings (9) and sunflower print peg trousers (7) equally need to come live with me.

Earlier in the week, I had a browse of Boden's website, and discovered they cater up to a size 22 UK! I'd always presumed that they only stocked small sizes, and I'm not quite sure why. I was pleasantly surprised! I was amazed by all the colour choices- especially the generous helping of sunshine yellow, and I'm now pretty much coveting one of everything. I love the yellow dress and skirts I've featured in this wish list.

Matalan also have some gorgeous pieces at the moment, and my favourite has to be the pink gingham midi skirt (14); isn't it a beauty? I haven't worn gingham since primary school, but I think it's time I changed that!

I won't be making any purchases for a while, as I spent far too much on my trip to see Fall Out Boy, but it doesn't hurt to dream.

What's on your wish list this week?

Polka Spots and Freckle Dots Turns Two!

My little blog, Polka Spots and Freckle Dots is two years old today!

How on earth did that happen?

I can't believe that it's been two years since I created this blog, and sent my first post in to the virtual world. I can still remember how much my heart was racing when I published those introductory words; I was scared of putting myself out there and revealing my true self online. I'd kept Livejournal and Tumblr blogs before, but apart from the odd photo on Twitter, I'd never really posted photos of myself online where strangers could see them. It was a frightening concept.

During the six months leading up to starting this blog, when I first injured my back, I'd discovered the world of body positivity, size acceptance, and plus size fashion blogs through Tumblr. I was so inspired by these women who were unashamed and confident in their own skin, that I began to see myself in a different light. I began to accept myself for who I was a little more each day and this new found body-confidence continued to grow as I continued to read these blogs day after day.

By March 2012, I'd passed the sixth month mark of living with disc injuries, and I was bored. Six months of being house-bound will do that to you. I was constantly coming up with new ways to keep myself busy, and one night I decided I would start a blog where I could share my outfits and personal style. My outfits were playing a big part in raising my spirits, so I simply thought it would be fun to document them, and work towards accepting myself whilst beating boredom. Simple as that.

I didn't start with any expectations or aspirations; I didn't expect to gain a single reader. To be honest, I assumed I'd just end up writing sporadically for myself, as I did with my old Livejournal blogs, before eventually abandoning it.

I could never have imagined the impact that little blog would have on me and my life over those two years. My blog has been a life line for me to cling to while my life has been on hiatus and I've felt dislocated from the person I once was. It's kept me sane during those long hours spent in bed and occupied me through countless waves of insomnia. It's been there for me when I've felt isolated and alone, lost and let down, frustrated and angry, upset and fed up. More than anything, it's been an enormous distraction from the pain and provided me with a purpose day after day.

My blog is never far from my thoughts, and I spent most of my time during the past two years working on it. There is always something to be done; a post to write, photos to edit, comments and emails to reply to, products to research, improvements to be made. Thanks to blogging, I'm always busy. And I like it that way. I like to be busy. I don't want to give myself enough time to reflect on the pain or what I'm missing out on in life.

This blog has also helped to raise both my self-confidence and my body-confidence. I'd spent twenty-six years of my life hating myself, my body and my appearance, but blogging has helped me to start accepting myself. I'm still on that yellow brick road to self-acceptance, but thanks to this learning curve, I'm now further along the road than I ever thought was possible.

I've learnt that life is far too short to waste hating yourself and the skin you're in. It's funny that it took a back injury and the loss of my freedom and independence for me to realise that! I owe my injuries a lot!

While my blog hasn't become famous or gained a large following, I've gained a lovely little readership, some amazing regular readers whose support means so much to me, and I've made some wonderful blog friends. Every comment, tweet, and email of support means the world to me, and I love being part of such a fantastic community of inspiring  women.

I've learnt so much and have been blessed with some amazing opportunities.

I've published 615 posts during the last 730 days, rarely leaving more than a day or two between posts. That's a lot of content!

I've shared a countless selection of my favourite outfits, as weird, wonderful, or dull as they may be. Anybody would think I favoured a certain style...

I shared a glance at a handful of my make up looks. I'm addicted to colourful make up, and only wish I'd managed to share more of the looks I wore. I want to work on bringing you more of them.

I featured a variety of my manicures and wrote nail polish reviews. I wore a rainbow of colours, and tried my hand at a little nail art here and there. This blog has turned me in to a nail polish addict!

I've shared glances in to my wardrobe, dressing table, handbags, and collections. I've talked about my shopping hauls and reviewed clothes, accessories, cosmetics, and books. I've spent hours putting wish lists collages, and Serendipity Sunday favourites together each week. I've shared snippets of my life. I've talked about living with disc injuries, and blogged about a plethora of other topics. It's seems crazy to look back on it all and see where it has taken me!

I think my blogging style has improved a lot over two years, but I still have so much left to learn. I'm not the best writer or photographer in the world, or the best blogger, but I enjoy giving it a shot, and I'm constantly trying to do the best  I can.

Polka Spots and Freckle Dots has become more than just a blog to me; it's become a life line and a life style. And I owe it so much. I owe every one of you who reads, supports, and visits my blog so much! I can't express just how much your support means to me, but I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, you truly fabulous people!

I honestly believe that the last two years of living with disc injuries would have been far more horrendous without this blog to throw myself in to. I don't even want to think about where I would be now; I don't think it would be a pretty picture. Thankfully, it has been there and kept me afloat during the most difficult time of my life so far, and I can't wait to see where it takes me over the next two years!

Here's to another two years of dresses, polka dots, animal motifs, novelty handbags, colourful eye make up, rainbow nail polish, product reviews, shopping hauls, wish lists, Serendipity Sundays, grainy photographs, fan girling, rants, musings, and randomness!

My First Mac Nail Polish

A couple of weeks ago, I treated myself to my very first Mac nail polish.

I don't often spend more than £3 or £4 on a nail polish, but when I spotted this polish on sale at The Cosmetics Company Store outlet shop at Bicester Village, I couldn't resist.

Yes, I'm wearing Care Bear pyjamas!

I was drawn to the unusual colours of this nail polish from ten feet away and went in for a closer look. The polish is called Formidable and turned out to be a very dark purple with a sapphire blue shimmer. To me it looked like petrol, and reminded me of Models Own Beetle polishes. 

It was on sale for £7.75 down from the RRP of £11, and as the price wasn't too outrageous, I had to take it home with me. But was it worth the splurge?

And the answer is... no, it wasn't! Let me tell you why...

I didn't waste any time in painting my nails with my new polish, using it later that same day.

The long brush was easy to handle and the polish painted on smoothly. Each coat dried within a minute, which I was very impressed with. I applied three coats to each nail, and waited until my manicure was bone dry before I let my hands come in to contact with anything. All seemed great... and I thought I was on to a winner, but within a couple of hours, several nails had already chipped! My hands had barely come in to contact with anything, certainly nothing that should've left my nails looking like an eroding week-old manicure. It's not something I would expect from an £11 nail polish; for that price I would expect something a little more hard-wearing than the budget drug store brands. 

As for the colour, it's a little darker than it appears in the bottle, and it's a little bit different to anything I've tried before. The purple is so dark that I often think it looks more like a chocolate brown (which I kinda like), and the pale blue shimmer is pretty but subtle. It's a very unusual colour combination, but it's not the worst shade of polish I've ever worn.

Here are a couple of shots of me wearing it:

Untouched photo. (Above).

Photo which has had basic auto adjustments. The colours are accurate. (Above).

So, sadly, I wasn't impressed with my first Mac nail polish. It started out well, but ended in disaster. I am surprised that a nail polish which would usually retail for £11 chipped so quickly. I've used £1 drug store polishes which have been far superior, and I think I'll be sticking with my old faithful budget brands from now on. 

I am left wondering why Mac is so popular, because I've not been impressed with their powder eyeshadows, either. Sorry, Mac, I'm not sure that we're ever going to get along. It's not me, it's you.

What are your thoughts on Mac?