How Do I Organize My Nail Polish?
I started painting my own nails when my husband and I temporarily relocated to London in 2011. I had gotten spoiled with no-frills but effective $20 mani/pedis in SF and was in the habit of getting them once every 2-3 weeks. Imagine my surprise when I went looking for a similar no-frills place in my London neighborhood and discovered I'd have to pay £35 or more - then the equivalent of about $50. Yikes!
So, I bought a couple of bottles of nail polish and resolved to go it alone. At first, my results were pretty rough. And there was a hilarious incident in which my darling husband painted my nails for me, and was totally confused as to why his multiple-short-stroke painting technique from building model airplanes in his youth didn’t translate to nail polish!
Nail polish storage in our old condo, where we lived 2010-2015.
But the truth is that I need to keep my nails painted in order to prevent my nasty habit of destroying my own cuticles, so I kept at it. I'm now very comfortable with painting my own nails regularly and in pre-pandemic times I would just go in for a pedicure every couple of months for maintenance.
This ability to do my own nails has, as you might imagine, come in really handy during the pandemic. On the few occasions that I’ve seen other people in person - safely, distanced, and masked thankyouverymuch - I’ve been able to give myself a mani/pedi that helps make me feel put together and just a little bit more normal.
After 9 years now of mostly doing my own nails, I’ve acquired quite a nail polish collection! And I quickly discovered that once your nail polish stash sails past about 5 bottles, you can no longer just lump it in a drawer with the rest of your makeup and expect everything to stay organized.
Spot the very same glass canister full of nail polish in our current bathroom!
I considered a few different organizing solutions, but ultimately came up with a strategy that has served me well for quite awhile now: I store my nail polish in a large glass canister. And in keeping with the principle of storing together the things you use together, I keep Q-tips and cotton pads accessible in smaller canisters. This may not be the absolute best way to organize nail polish, but it works for me for several reasons:
I do my nails often enough that I want the polish accessible, but not so often that digging through the canister for the color I want becomes infuriating.
If something breaks or oozes, it won’t damage anything else and will be relatively easy to clean up.
I have a built in boundary for my collection, which helps me avoid making impulse purchases that will just end up in the trash.
My nail polish doesn’t take up my limited medicine cabinet storage space.
I like the look of the bright colors on the shelf in my otherwise neutral bathroom.
Updated canisters for cotton pads and swabs in our current bathroom.
Every so often I will go in and declutter nail polish, editing out the colors I no longer wear. Just like with anything else cosmetic, nail colors are trends that wax and wane, and a color that was once your favorite may no longer work for your personal style. I used to be obsessed with dark, glitter packed colors. Now? You won’t catch me dead with sparkle on my nails!
When decluttering your nail polish collection, keep in mind that polish does expire. It can’t hurt you, but it’ll definitely start to look funny and perform differently. Also, be aware that nail polish is considered hazardous waste, and should be disposed of according to your local waste management company’s guidelines. So when you’re decluttering nail polish, a great solution may to be offer colors you no longer love to friends or family.
Here’s an extra sneak peek, just for you as my thanks for reading this far. One of the next installments in my 10 Step Organizing Guide series will be all about bathrooms! Click the button to get on my mailing list so you get first dibs and insider pricing as soon as my bathroom organizing guide is ready.
I’m curious: how do you organize nail polish?
LMW
When it comes to makeup, it’s easier to create waste than you might think.