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Organize Your Beauty Products To Look Beautiful

Tribune photo by JAY NOLAN

A little reorganization not only will make your bathroom more attractive, but make your morning routine much easier.

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By CLOE CABRERA

ccabrera@tampatrib.com

Published: December 30, 2008

Does your bathroom vanity resemble a kindergarten classroom on finger-painting day?

Are your drawers overflowing with tubes and jars? Do powders, brushes, lipsticks and lotions clutter your counter, not to mention the hot rollers, curling iron and hair dryer?

Well, it's time to clean up your act.

The key to an attractive vanity is to make good use of the limited space and to turn your beauty products into products that are beautiful, says Nancy Trent, a health, beauty and spa guru who owns her own public relations firm, Trent & Company.

"I think your beauty products should be the major design element in your bathroom," says Trent, who has authored several beauty books. "People have worked very hard to create packaging that screams 'use me' in a very attractive way."

Trent recommends keeping the items you use most - moisturizer, sunscreen, eye cream - within reach on your vanity.

If the products are in containers you don't like, transfer them into pretty glass ones. You can find a variety of inexpensive glass jars and bottles at arts and crafts stores and restaurant supply stores.

"I've got large and small glass jars on my vanity, and they add a cool design element," she says. "I see the beauty products, so I use them."

Bear in mind, however, that some manufacturers package their products in a tinted or dark container to protect the contents and maximize shelf life. Keep those items in their original containers, Trent says.

Organize products you use less frequently by their use - face, nails, hair and body - and store them in small bins or boxes in the cabinet under your sink. (If your sink doesn't sit in a cabinet, you can get the same effect by adding a skirt to the sink, or, you can keep the items in the linen closet. Putting shelves near the vanity is also a good idea.)

If you haven't used a product in a while, toss it. You probably won't use it again. And if you do finally reach for it, it may have spoiled. Most make-up and skin care products have preservatives in them, but those preservatives eventually break down - and the moisture and humidity in a bathroom can cause them to spoil even faster.

Natural or organic products will degrade even more quickly because they have fewer preservatives.

"You really should be finishing the product before it gets to that point," Trent says. "The reason you buy these things is to use them; if these are products you're not using, get rid of them, or give them to someone else."

Whether you use them frequently or not, always make sure to keep jars and bottles tightly closed.

"Organizing your vanity doesn't just free up space," Trent says. "It gives you an opportunity to re-evaluate what you're doing with your beauty regimen."

Reporter Cloe Cabrera can be reached at (813) 259-7656.

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