Makeup craft: pressing your own eyeshadow!

I've been interested in pressing my own makeup since the summer, but didn't try it until early November, when I made the first palette. I made the second palette a month later.

One of the things that put me off originally was the high cost - a 15-well palette with tins is about 8 bucks at Coastal Scents, and I wanted to press more than that.

So, I decided to improvise. I bought two 12-shadow palettes at the dollar store, scooped out the product, cleaned them with rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs, and had palettes for cheap! Since I was pressing directly into the palette, they didn't turn out as pretty as they might have had I had the pans out of the palette.

I used Fyrinnae's Powder Modifier and rubbing alcohol for this project. Each tin holds half a 5g jar worth of product - I mixed directly in the jar with a toothpick, or the little plastic scoops from TKB trading. Each jar took about 8 drops of Powder Modifier and 10+ of alcohol. I find it easier to make a soupy mess the consistency of Oobleck than to press crumbles. I pour the eyeshadow Oobleck into the tin, smooth out, come back a couple hours later, press with a piece of cardboard cut to the size of the tin and wrapped in plastic wrap, then press with a cotton pad to absorb some of the extra alcohol and leave the pattern. No pics of the process, my hands were all dirty! You might want to wear gloves.

Note: this works well for shimmer and pearl shadows, not so hot for mattes.
Also note: I pressed some micas from TKB trading into a sample jar (green and blue jar in one of the pics from my collection post), and got a crumbly semi-solid mess. Pressing a Pure Luxe shadow gave me similar results. Pressing a bit and seeing how it acts is a good way to find out if your product is a finished shadow or straight mica.

Here's the palette as purchased from the store - I would never wear this stuff, it was too stinky! (I hate synthetic fragrance in my makeup)


Here's the first palette I did - names of colors written on plastic cover sheet.


Here are the swatches, over ELF mineral primer:


Here's the second palette: Top row - EDM Samba Lessons, mix of TKB trading Libra Blues mica and EDM Aussie, lighter mix of the same, mix of EDM Flannel PJs and TKB trading Libra Blues. Middle row: EDM Volcano Blossom, darker mix of Volcano Blossom and Aussie, lighter mix of Volcano Blossom and Aussie, mix of Aussie and EDM Champagne. Bottom row: Mix of Volcano Blossom and Libra Blues, Mix of Pure Luxe Chocolate Grapes and Chocolate Blueberries (note crumbliness), mix of Flannel PJs, EDM Walkee Talkee, and EDM Movie Night, mix of Walkee Talkee and Movie Night.


Swatches! (over ELF mineral primer, as always)


And for size comparison purposes, a pic of one of the palettes next to a 25 g jar from EDM.

Merry Christmas!

I hope all who celebrate had a lovely Christmas yesterday and that all who don't had a great time at the movies.

In exciting beauty news, I got a gift certificate to Aromaleigh from DBF that I'm plotting how to spend. I think I might get a couple full sizes of the Opulent Lustres collection next time they go on sale, and I also might get a full size of the Gothic Lolita Burnt Roses - it's a fantastic liner color.

In other news, I went to Sephora today and got samples of Urban Decay Primer Potion, Too Faced Shadow Insurance, and Korres Foundation Primer. Sephora will decant you free samples of pretty much anything you'd like to try at home. I'm pretty happy with this knowledge - I get to try expensive stuff and blog about it now! I'll let you know how I like this stuff.

And, I made a (very small) Earthen Glow Minerals order a few days ago that I'm hoping to have waiting for me after I'm back home after the holidays. I'll be getting the mineral mousse foundation in Lora (light warm), the cream eyeliner in the off-white color, and the Light Cover Me foundation sample kit.

Things coming up for Emily's Makeup Box:
1. A summary review of all the foundations I've tried, once I get to try Earthen Glow and some stuff from a UK company I'm getting in a swap.

2. A rubric for testing eye primers - I have four now, including my new samples. Plus reviews.

3. A rubric for testing vegan mascara, plus reviews. What's the best one out there? I'd like to know, and I'm sure you do, too!

4. I swatched all the foundations I've tried on a piece of paper. Photo to come.

5. Photos of some DIY makeup projects - two eyeshadow palettes I did on the cheap and some clear gloss I added minerals to.

I hope you're all having a great holiday season, and if there's anything you'd particularly like to see, drop me a comment!

Review - Everyday Minerals Pressed Powder foundation

I'm using up my Everyday Minerals foundation before I buy full size powders elsewhere. I'm down to less than a sample jar of loose foundation and I've hit a big piece of pan on the pressed stuff. I have the old pressed foundation (made with jojoba oil and not capric/caprylic triglyceride) in Fair Yellow.

Today, I'm wearing the pressed stuff. As you may recall, the loose got a 20/30 - certainly not the best I've ever tried.

How does the pressed version compare?

A. Color matching.
4. Close, but not quite. Right lightness, but a little too yellow. Sadly, this is discontinued in Fair Yellow. The old Golden Fair was way too dark, and I hear the new Golden Fair is darker than the loose foundation as well.

B. Coverage.
4. Significantly reduces contrast between normal skin and blemishes/scar. I've used this as a concealer, but it doesn't completely cover things I'd like it to.

C. Adhesion/durability.
2. Lasts most of the day, but becomes patchy or rubs off easily. I wore this to an evening function a while ago, put it on right before I left. Three hours later, it was separating into clumpy pools of pigment. Today, I ended up with a line of foundation on my nose, despite wearing primer.

D. Combination skin friendliness factor.
3. Does ok until lunch. My forehead has been shiny since not too long ago.

E. Irritancy.
3. No problems at all.

F. Presentation
1. Ugly and/or problematic packaging. When I bought it, this stuff came in a cardboard compact. Now it comes in a nice plastic compact with a tray for a puff, but doesn't come in a color that works for me.

G. Value
2. Costs about what you'd expect. $12 for a big pan of it.

H. Company is nice to work with, good customer service. 1 point. Not - their service has taken a noticeable turn for the worse lately.

Total: 19/30. I like this even less than the loose EDM foundation, but it is useful to spot conceal. I won't be too sad to run out of it, though. Since I can't get this product/color anymore, that's pretty damning.

Review - Almay Pure Blends liquid foundation

So the Wet n Wild gel eyeliner I bought at CVS made my eyes a little burny after using it, so I returned it and used the money plus some extra bucks to buy Almay's Pure Blends foundation in Buff, figuring it was worth a shot - they'd let me return it if I hated it.

How'd it do?

A. Color matching.
5. I can't even tell where the line is! Impressive for liquid.

B. Coverage.
2. Barely covers blemishes. This stuff is pretty sheer.

C. Adhesion/durability.
3. Gets me through an eight-hour day.

D. Combination skin friendliness factor.
2. Does not control oil or makes dry spots prominent. For oilies, it was slightly better than wearing nothing, but it did make some dry spots stand out, which is odd because it's a liquid.

E. Irritancy.
2. Tiny bumps or itching. Kind of burned for a few minutes after application, but then that went away.

F. Presentation
3. Beautiful presentation. Cute bottle, easy to get the last out of.

G. Value
2. Costs about what you'd expect.

H. Company is nice to work with, good customer service. 1 point. Almay? No experience. CVS? They're great, but I'm reviewing Almay, not CVS.

Total: 19/30. If the burning keeps being a problem, I'll return it. If it doesn't, then I'll use it up but not repurchase - and only because it matches really well.

ETA 12/24 3:10 a.m. This stuff sucks. I tried again today without moisturizer underneath to see if that would help with the oiliness. It didn't, and it also made it dry my face out weirdly. I'm glad I kept my receipt.

Cool forum.

I used to lurk and post sometimes on the Everyday Minerals forum. It was a good place to find info and swatches about mineral makeup. Mineral makeup is my favorite, and I don't have a lot of interest in products that aren't mineral, natural-origin, or vegan. I'm probably never going to get super into MAC or any of the expensive brands because I don't feel like spending tons of money on stuff that's likely to break me out. Numerous threads about how awesome MAC is - totally not interested in that.

It makes me sad that at Makeup Alley, some of my favorite brands are listed as "unlisted brand." It makes it difficult to slog through reviews, and there just isn't a lot on the smaller companies whose products I like. Also, their thread structure just plain sucks. I hate having to click on individual posts!

Anyway, just before the EDM boards got yanked from under us, one of the members put together a forum of her own. Thanks to Chanty for setting up Mineral Makeup Forums!

It's focused on mineral makeup, but there's a sub-board for high-end and drugstore brands. I post over there as Emily.

http://www.87px.net/mmf/index.php

My collection

A couple weeks ago, I took pictures of my collection. It's big by "normal woman" standards, but modest by makeup blogger standards.

Here it is! I keep most stuff in the two drawer sets, but I have sample micas in a box next to it, a tiny box of tiny polishes, and another tiny box of foundation samples that didn't work for me. I keep half my brushes in the red jar.


First drawer: random eye stuff like palettes (an old Physician's Formula powder palette with two EDM eye palettes in it - there's the Lavender collection below the visible Spring collection), a Physician's Formula shimmer strip, some mini Fyrinnae liquid inks, a gold Milani liquid liner, undereye concealers, and my mascaras.




Second drawer: neutral eye colors. Mostly EDM, but also some Fyrinnae samples, my new awG colors, and some palettes I made out of EDM stuff.



Third drawer: the bright colors. Some EDM, Fyrinnae, two SN, TKB trading Pops! Micas, and some colors I mixed myself with TKB trading stuff.



Fourth drawer: blushes. Mostly EDM (four full sizes, plus a mixing jar full of a custom mix), a couple SN samples, and some sample baggies from Meow. EDM Angled Blush Brush, EcoTools travel blush brush, and a foptic I need to replace because it's disintegrating. The 10g jars are EDM mixes.



Fifth drawer: face stuff. Sample foundations, some silk dust from TKB trading, EDM NR, Fyrinnae Fluff, and some brushes.



Sixth drawer: lip stuff. This is a miracle, as for a while I owned the Vaseline tubes and the EDM everywhere tins (discontinued, sadly). I also have some ELF mineral lipsticks, a couple Gabriel Color things, some Fyrinnae lip lustres, and some Wet n Wild clear glosses that I added my own color to.

Brush contest at TheShadesofU

http://www.theshadesofu.com/2009/12/mac-brush-set-giveaway-for-subscribers.html

This blog is having a contest with two sets of MAC brushes as prizes. I've never used MAC brushes, because I am poor and use my EDM and EcoTools brushes instead. But I hear they're great!