Organizing and keeping track

[kimb]

Hello!

Does anyone have any special way they organize their MAC( ie...lists) like is there any where anyone know i can get my hands on EVER product MAC has ever put out so i know what i have and dont have?... Sometimes i find myself buying doubles because i dont know what i have and dont have.


Or does anyone keep a spead sheet or have a layout they would liek to share

Thanks!

 

[Just_me]

a spreadsheet works very well. Sort by product type and color. then let the spradsheet do the alpha order for you

you can find different types of templates/spreadsheets here:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/te...s/default.aspx

 

[Beauty4life]

When I began using MAC, I would jot the name of product (ex. paint pot) and the color. This really helps since there is so many products. Creating a spreadsheet would be very helpful. I now have a notebook & write every product i owe from MAC & the use of it (ex. which brush is good to use for blending, powder, etec.; blening of eye colors; etc.)

 

[Skin*Deep]

I use excel, the page is sectioned off into shadows, paints, gloss, etc and whenever I go on a shopping spree, I set the boxes aside until I can add them in. usually when I order I'm ordering something specific, but if I am going just to spend money and play, then I print that puppy out and bring it so I don't double up. I also keep track of colors I bought but didn't love so I know not to buy them again.....

 

[drieyes]

I keep the colors of what I have on my ipod so I have the notes with me all the time in case I happen to go over to the MAC counter

, I'm prepared. This way I don't get doubles....

 

[Sanayhs]

I keep an extensive excel spreadsheet file. There are 17 tabs. The first one lists every MAC product I own, by product type, shade name, finish/format, last known retail price for that type of product (with a total at the bottom of the column) and collection (perm, pro or LE and if it is LE I will put LE/collection name). The other tabs are for bases, blushes, brushes, complexion (concealers, foundation, etc), gloss (of the lip variety, yo), lip colour, lipliner, pigments, powders, palettes (premade), shadows, misc (things like empty palettes, sharpeners, etc go here), expecting (track online purchase!), buy list (where I plan upcoming purchases) and wish list (where I monitor a few long-standing lemmings and check in every now and then to see what I still want and what I've forgotten about).

For coloured products, I add a column on their individual page for colour family, and my shadows page also has a column to track whether it is a pot, depot or propan. Furthermore, each tab is a different colour and the grid lines for that page match.

Yes, it is insanely detailed and slightly neurotic, but it's very well organized. I can sort by colour family, finish, etc to see what I have! It's good when looking for dupes and stuff, too.

There are a few specific products I especially love that I keep listings of all the shades that I happen to know about (including paints, paint pots, shadesticks, fluidlines, MSFs, cremestick liners, lipgelees, etc). Not saying I have lists of all the shades, but I keep track of what I'm aware of. XD

 

[foxyqt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skin*Deep I use excel, the page is sectioned off into shadows, paints, gloss, etc and whenever I go on a shopping spree, I set the boxes aside until I can add them in.

i do the same.. my spreadsheet is sectioned by product type, and then each section has sub-sections by color

it helps very much!

 

[stickles]

I'm updating my Excel spreadsheet as we speak...

I've got six tabs:
Input*, where I type in data for every product I own, sectioned off into 6 areas: Eyes, Lips, Face, Tools, Nails, and Skincare so I know everything I have in that section at a glance

List View, I pull the data from Input into a master view of all six sections combined together in a single list, and I add an Autofilter onto so I can view/sort by brand etc

Upcoming, where I put my Wishlist, List of Upcoming Collections of interest (and launch dates), In Transit (products on the way), and details of upcoming MAC collections

Stats, where I use Excel formulas to draw data from the List View, I track how much I spend every month all the way back to 2006, on which categories (seems like I've been spending on skincare last two months), and how many items I've been buying, and then they all go into area graphs

Pivot, this is a pivot table so I can manipulate my data to break all my purchases down by brand or color into say percentages etc, like pinks form 8% of my shadows, followed by greens with 3%

Retired, anytime I use up or get rid of an item, I "retire" it from my Input sheet, I move the line to this sheet, along with the reason why (used up? swapped?) and the date of "retirement" so I know how long say a tube of sunscreen lasts me

*Data Columns, ie the stuff I type into my Input sheet:

Brand: eg, MAC, Sephora, Benefit
Product Name: eg, CCB, Lipglass, Lustreglass
Category: eg, Shadow, Polish, Liner, Brush, Gloss, Blush, Lipstick, Mascara
Texture: eg, Pressed, Liquid, Cream, Pencil, Gel, Gloss, Mousse, Baked
Shade: the name of the shade eg Vanilla, Trax
Finish: eg Veluxe Pearl, Frost
Color Family: pinks, purples, beiges, blues
Tone: Warm, Cool, Neutral
Collection: Permanent, Pro, Strange Hybrid, Antiquitease, Discontinued
Month/Year of Purchase
Score: 1-5 of how much I like it, plus NA for stuff I haven't used yet, I periodically will get rid of the 1s
Cost to me
Retail cost
Weight in grams
Location Purchased: Counter, Freestanding, Drugstore, Airport duty free, Multi-Brand (ie Sephora or Sasa), Online, Warehouse
Frequency Used: something I added recently to help me weed out stuff I don't use often (daily, weekly, monthly etc)
Area: Which of the six input sheets the data is from (eyes/lips/face/tools/nails/skincare)

Calculated Data Columns (stuff that auto calculates after I add the inputs):
Product Value: the highest of the two columns between what I paid and what it costs retail
Unit Cost: weight in grams/cost so I can tell whether the product is good value

 

[stickles]

Sanahys, I have a feeling that our two spreadsheets are probably both too detailed, but I love having it all organized

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sanayhs my shadows page also has a column to track whether it is a pot, depot or propan.

Great idea, I might add this one to my sheet too....

 

[stickles]

Ok, I've made some screenshots of my Excel list for you too, but note it's not in US dollars, it's in my local currency if you are wondering...

List example gives you an idea of how my input sheet looks like
Stats Graph Example shows you how much I've spent (eek!) since 2006, broken down by area
Upcoming example are the products I'm keeping an eye on, and how much I plan to spend
Pivot example shows you how I break down all this info into pivot tables, the one I have pictured is the number of items by brand by area

I did alll of this organizing in the hope of spending less by freaking myself out over the quantities, but sadly it has not done so!

 

[HustleRose]

wow, ya'll are so organized! i just have it written down in the notepad section of my blackberry. it's organized by like l/s, e/s, l/g, etc etc.

 

[sweeteternity]

Wow, I wish I was as organized (and Excel proficient) as some of you girls! I just have a word doc organized into product types/brands that I update with new purchases.

 

[ambicion6]

Stickles and Sanayhs, are you two accounting/finance people ? they seem to have a thing for excel (like me - though my collection is so itty bitty it doesnt warrant a spreadsheet)

 

[stickles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ambicion6 Stickles and Sanayhs, are you two accounting/finance people ? they seem to have a thing for excel (like me - though my collection is so itty bitty it doesnt warrant a spreadsheet)

I'm in market research, so I do happen to spend a lot of time crunching numbers on Excel and playing with pivot tables. Too bad it's utterly unrelated to makeup though, maybe that would make it more fun. And really, a love for Excel has brought me to this job rather than the other way round.

About 5 years ago before I was into makeup, I used to track everything. Like, where I spent every dollar, what I ate that day (and the calories), how often I went to the gym, all sorts of crazy stuff. The gym part really motivated me to exercise more since I wanted my line graph to keep going up, crazy right? hahah. I gave up when I realized that seeing exactly how much junky food I was eating wasn't enough for me to change my eating habits.

 

[thelove4tequila]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sanayhs I keep an extensive excel spreadsheet file. There are 17 tabs. The first one lists every MAC product I own, by product type, shade name, finish/format, last known retail price for that type of product (with a total at the bottom of the column) and collection (perm, pro or LE and if it is LE I will put LE/collection name). The other tabs are for bases, blushes, brushes, complexion (concealers, foundation, etc), gloss (of the lip variety, yo), lip colour, lipliner, pigments, powders, palettes (premade), shadows, misc (things like empty palettes, sharpeners, etc go here), expecting (track online purchase!), buy list (where I plan upcoming purchases) and wish list (where I monitor a few long-standing lemmings and check in every now and then to see what I still want and what I've forgotten about). For coloured products, I add a column on their individual page for colour family, and my shadows page also has a column to track whether it is a pot, depot or propan. Furthermore, each tab is a different colour and the grid lines for that page match. Yes, it is insanely detailed and slightly neurotic, but it's very well organized. I can sort by colour family, finish, etc to see what I have! It's good when looking for dupes and stuff, too. There are a few specific products I especially love that I keep listings of all the shades that I happen to know about (including paints, paint pots, shadesticks, fluidlines, MSFs, cremestick liners, lipgelees, etc). Not saying I have lists of all the shades, but I keep track of what I'm aware of. XD

 

[thelove4tequila]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stickles I'm updating my Excel spreadsheet as we speak... I've got six tabs: Input*, where I type in data for every product I own, sectioned off into 6 areas: Eyes, Lips, Face, Tools, Nails, and Skincare so I know everything I have in that section at a glance List View, I pull the data from Input into a master view of all six sections combined together in a single list, and I add an Autofilter onto so I can view/sort by brand etc Upcoming, where I put my Wishlist, List of Upcoming Collections of interest (and launch dates), In Transit (products on the way), and details of upcoming MAC collections Stats, where I use Excel formulas to draw data from the List View, I track how much I spend every month all the way back to 2006, on which categories (seems like I've been spending on skincare last two months), and how many items I've been buying, and then they all go into area graphs Pivot, this is a pivot table so I can manipulate my data to break all my purchases down by brand or color into say percentages etc, like pinks form 8% of my shadows, followed by greens with 3% Retired, anytime I use up or get rid of an item, I "retire" it from my Input sheet, I move the line to this sheet, along with the reason why (used up? swapped?) and the date of "retirement" so I know how long say a tube of sunscreen lasts me *Data Columns, ie the stuff I type into my Input sheet: Brand: eg, MAC, Sephora, Benefit Product Name: eg, CCB, Lipglass, Lustreglass Category: eg, Shadow, Polish, Liner, Brush, Gloss, Blush, Lipstick, Mascara Texture: eg, Pressed, Liquid, Cream, Pencil, Gel, Gloss, Mousse, Baked Shade: the name of the shade eg Vanilla, Trax Finish: eg Veluxe Pearl, Frost Color Family: pinks, purples, beiges, blues Tone: Warm, Cool, Neutral Collection: Permanent, Pro, Strange Hybrid, Antiquitease, Discontinued Month/Year of Purchase Score: 1-5 of how much I like it, plus NA for stuff I haven't used yet, I periodically will get rid of the 1s Cost to me Retail cost Weight in grams Location Purchased: Counter, Freestanding, Drugstore, Airport duty free, Multi-Brand (ie Sephora or Sasa), Online, Warehouse Frequency Used: something I added recently to help me weed out stuff I don't use often (daily, weekly, monthly etc) Area: Which of the six input sheets the data is from (eyes/lips/face/tools/nails/skincare) Calculated Data Columns (stuff that auto calculates after I add the inputs): Product Value: the highest of the two columns between what I paid and what it costs retail Unit Cost: weight in grams/cost so I can tell whether the product is good value

 

[JediFarfy]

I'm a total Excel nerd (and I want to be an accountant ). I set up the spreadsheet like the website: Eyes, Lips, Face, Brushes, etc. on each page I have everything categorized in Lists. Eye, for example, I have seperate lists for E/S, Pigments, Eyeliners, and Paints. I have colums for Name, Formula, Availability (LE, D/C, or Yes), and Form (not as important since I now depot).

I also have a tab for Sets, like holiday ones, and a tab for Orders with all items, date, and prices to help me remember what I have coming.

It's still a WIP, as I need to add Use under Brushes, and go through and delete stuff I no longer have.

JF

 

[GlamQueen21]

I keep a notebook of MAC products that I own and I also list eyeshadows and pigments so that I can keep track of what colors that I can check off of what I own. I'm also going to do the same for lipsticks and lipglasses.

 

[abbyquack]

Would any of you lovely ladies mind sharing how you organize your colors in palettes? The color spectrum on mac's site changes all the time and doesn't seem quite right, and I don't know which order to put my shadows in.

TIA!

 

[rocking chick]

I use microsoft excel to key in all my MAC items, by collections.

An Example:

Dame Edna (Limited Edition) Special Packaging Dec 2008
LIPSTICK
GLADIOLA 1
KANGA-ROUGE 1

EYESHADOW TRIOS
WISTERIO 1
ROYAL TOUR 1

And also a description of all the items I had bought or are going to buy. Also I have another seperate excel sheet storing all the amount of money I spent per year on MAC only.