My Vanity Table preview + Makeup Collection + Video

This vanity table has been 6 months in the making! I didn't know it would take that long that's why I teased you guys as early as June 2018, but indeed, it took longer than expected considering the construction and buying period, canvassing, organizing, and all!

But finally, we're here! Here's a preview of my Vanity table and makeup collection. I'll share with you tips, realizations, costing, and list of where I got everything!

Chair and pillows are from SM Home

Before getting married, I told myself that I will have a small vanity section that's good enough for filming. To tell you the truth guys, if blogging and vlogging ain't one of my sources of income, I wouldn't put up a vanity section this elaborate; I would normally be okay with a medium- sized mirror and sunlight. 

My entire vanity is comprised of the following:

4- layer drawer cabinet

Vanity table
Marquee mirror
Traincase
Basket

4- layer drawer cabinet

This cabinet, I had it customized. I was initially eyeing an Ikea Malm chest, but problem was the length; it was too long for the biggest and quite small for the medium and small sizes for the space that I have. The biggest Malm cabinet is around P12k from resellers; I had this customized for about P10,000.

The cabinet is finished off with a painting technique called Duco; it's a high gloss, automative- grade paint finish that can be quite costly, but makes furniture more durable, less prone to quick wood decay, and overall easier to clean. 

TBJ TIP: For limited spaces, it's best to customize furniture so you will get to utilize all the space because ready- made furniture can sometimes leave odd spaces and weird corners behind, unless you have a big space.

A lot of people are scared by customization thinking that it is expensive, but that's not always the case; the price depends on the paint finish, complexity of the design, and add- ons of the product, but for basic products such as this cabinet that I had made, it can turn out to be much cheaper that ready- made, branded furniture; without the duco finish, my cabinet would probably have been around P8,000 only.

Let's get to the inside of the drawer cabinet.

The layers house products by category:

First layer is the makeup layer; all my makeup products are here; there's a small section at the end for my husband's back- up toiletries.

Second layer us makeup, but majority skin care. I actually thought about all the skin care products I own when I had this cabinet made. I just need some place to put them in.

Third layer is for skin care. Anything and everything skin care is here.

The fourth and final layer is dedicated to hair care, sanitary pads, soaps and body wash, and flatlay items that I use for my social media photos.

That's it for the cabinet! Basically, it's where all the back- up products go; these products are what I use for giveaways and gifting.

Let's now go to my favorite: the vanity table!

I've always wanted a vanity table that you see on Instagram; I envisioned it to be somewhat inspired by department store shelves so I always get this feeling that I'm shopping (sans spending money LOL). Besides, I take joy in ogling at the makeup palettes I own; I've always dreamed of owning them and now I have them; no shame in saying this because I worked hard for them! :)

The cabinet base is customized. It has duco finish, same as my 4- layer drawer cabinet.

The glass tabletop was customized by a glass- making factory.

The marquee mirror, I had it customized by @ vanitystationphilippines on Instagram. I initially wanted the Hollywood Mirror, but I found it a bit too expensive at P7,000+; this glitter marquee mirror with 12 bulbs is P5,000+ only. It sits on top of the vanity table and can be moved anywhere; weight is 6 lbs.

The acrylic brush box is from Miss Bella. The acrylic table top organizer is from @ organizers_r_us.

TBJ TIP: When using glass as an alternative surface for cabinets, make sure that its width is thick enough to withstand the weight of the items that you will put on top. Otherwise, it may break and you may hurt yourself. My glass tabletop can withstand around 15lbs. of weight and is secured on the corners with a special adhesive.

Let's take a look at the sections of the first layer of my vanity table. The middle portion features the makeup palettes that I use on a daily basis and my favorites as well.

 The left portion is reserved for blushes, highlighters, and contouring products.

The right portion is dedicated to powder foundation, pressed powder, loose powder, and finishing powders.

Now let's take a look at the other layers.

The layers have detachable bases so I can fit whatever product in the slots, whether they're tall or short, big or small. As you can see, some bases have silver glitter lining; that's glitter wallpaper that I bought from Shopee to add some protective pizzaz to my dresser.

The left portion is where I store my base products: foundation, powder, highlighter, blush, setting sprays, and makeup cleansing tools at the bottom.

The right side is dedicated to lipsticks and random palettes. The bottom is where I put my back- up makeup tools.

On the right side of the vanity table, I attached a small towel rod where I can hang a chicken wire basket that will serve as case for my hair styling tools. The chicken wire basket is a temporary one from Daiso; I wish to buy the more apt hair styling tools baskets I see in Amazon one day.

The white basket is an actual laundry basket; I purchased it to store PR packages that I have yet to open. I used to mix the unopened with the opened and I always forget which is which and thankfully, this idea helped me organize and address my vlogging/blogging tasks better.

Finally, here's my train case. Before, this used to house my eyeliners, eyebrow products, and eyeshadow palettes, but now, it houses special FX makeup and false eyelashes.

All the baskets used in the cabinets to segregate and organize products are from Daiso.

Here's a rundown of the cost of my entire vanity table and storage:

1. 4- layer cabinet drawer- P10,000 

2. Vanity Table body- P7,000 

3. Glass tabletop- P2,200 

4. Marquee Mirror- P5,000 

5. Miss Bella Brush Box- P1,600 

6. Acrylic tabletop cabinet- P1,600 

7. Daiso basket and acrylic organizers- P5,000+ 

8. Laundry Basket and glitter wall paper- P1,249 

9. Towel Rod- P400 

10. SM Home chair- P2,995 

11. SM Home pillow- P300 

TOTAL: P37,344.00

Quite a hefty sum, you might say and you might ask why I didn't go for those IG shops that customize instagrammable vanity tables. Good question; I did inquire, but they were really expensive; a custom- made vanity table complete with mirror made by specialty online shops like Vanity Station Philippines can be as expensive as P35,000 for the good kind and this excludes your own add ons like baskets, trays, external cabinet, etc.; cost would be about P40-45k when everything is said and done versus my P37k, all in. I saved way more by piecing together my vanity area.

Here's a video 'tour' of my vanity collection; I also showed in detail here all the skin care and makeup products I got. Enjoy!

What do you think of my vanity area and makeup collection? Do share your vanity area tips, tricks, and product recommendations!