The Staples Rotating Desk Organizer: my new storage solution for brushes, pencils, etc.

Before I even get into this post, I want to tell you that I bought this yesterday at my local Staples AND IT IS ON SALE for just $5 (regular price: $9.99). Since the price online is still $9.99, this is obviously in in-store only sale, but I don't know if this is a week-long sale, month-long or just a clearance type of thing. So if you're interested, I would get over to your local Staples ASAP to see if your location has them for this price.

I have been on the hunt for a good "lazy susan" for a LONG time. There's a cute one at Michael's that's white and has pull-out drawers, etc. but it retails for around $50, which is way beyond my budget even with a coupon. So when I saw this black plastic version at Staples and THEN saw that it was on sale for $5, I bought the last two on the shelf!

Staples Rotating Desk Organizer

(retail: $9.99; currently on sale for $5)

There is one large and very deep pencil holder in the middle, with three smaller (more shallow) pencil holders on the sides. Then there are three "pockets" on both the upper and lower levels, so all together that's 10 places to store you makeup and tools. I'm telling you, just one of these organizers holds everything I need for my day-to-day makeup application with the exception of eyeshadow.

So let's take a tour around this revolving organizer:

In the first of the three "outside" pencil holders, I am storing my face brushes (excuse the dirtiness of my brushes--some of these were scheduled for a good cleaning but I grabbed them just to show you how much you can hold in each cup):

I have two EcoTools brushes, an e.l.f. Studio brush and a Real Techniques brush in this cup, with a little room to spare.

Moving on to the first set of "pockets", I have stored the two concealers I'm currently testing, along with my tweezers, in the top pocket, and two Milani Baked Blushes in the bottom pocket:

As you can see, some products hang out a tiny bit, but not far enough to actually fall out when you spin the organizer.

Moving on to the second outer pencil holder, I'm storing a TON of eyeshadow brushes from a variety of manufacturers (again, some of these were scheduled for cleaning but I pulled them just for the purposes of this post):

There is a total of 14 eyeshadow brushes in this cup, both big and small. Some of the brands include EcoTools, e.l.f., Urban Decay and Real Techniques.

Moving on to the second set of "pockets", my Physicians Formula Healthy Wear compact fits beautifully in one of the pockets, while the two mascaras I'm currently using fit nicely in the bottom pocket:

In the third outer "cup", I have my automatic eyeliners (from Physicians Formula, Jordana, etc.), my Jordana FabuLiner (liquid liner pen) and my Maybelline Define-A-Brow pencil. There 15 automatic liners in this cup (it looks like less in my pics because some are hidden behind taller ones) plus the liquid liner pen and brow pencil with A LOT of room to spare:

Moving on to the third set of "pockets", I have my mini Urban Decay primer and my pencil sharpener in the top pocket:

And in the pocket underneath that, I have my (old style) UD primer in Eden:

And finally, in the center cup, which is MUCH more deep than the outer cups, I have my Wet n Wild Coloricon pencils (which of course are very tall pencils) and a Bobbi Brown eyeliner (which is also very tall). There are 10 pencils in this cup and I could easily fit DOUBLE that and more:

I hope this helps those of you who are looking for a storage solution for brushes, pencils, etc. I LOVE the convenience of a lazy susan because you can just spin it to get what you need quickly. Plus, since it's plastic I can just periodically throw it in the sink to clean it and then put it upside down to dry. I also love that it's black so that nay makeup that does get on it between cleaning won't show. For me, this is PERFECT and I'm so glad I got two of them (I plan to use my other one for lip products).

How do YOU store your pencils and brushes? Are you thinking about stopping by Staples to find this organizer? Do you already have an awesome system that works for you? I'd love to hear from you!