Making Up, MakeUp

Making Up, MakeUp

 

Finally tired of gouging my fingertips every time I shove them into my nearly empty makeup container, I decided it was time to buy a new eyeshadow palette. My favorite creamy ‘nude-look’ was proving hard to find. All of my favorite places on the interwebs showed up with nothin’. And stores, not there either. Nada. Zilch. I have been using this one for a while and I did find it on clearance somewhere originally, but I guess it isn’t being manufactured anymore.

Being a creative type and an artist, I decide I will make a big mess in my kitchen and just figure out how to make it myself.

I keep a small bag of powdered eyeshadow that I like, in the cabinet beneath the bathroom sink. I decide to grab it and open up all of the colors so I can start mixing shades. I like the shades that originally came in my little makeup doo-hickey and I want to replicate them. It was eyeshadow but in a puffy cream form. Kind of melty when left in the car during the high summer heat here. So, I decide I will make my cream a little firmer to hold up to the weather. (I leave a small makeup bag in the car because my driveway gets the best light for putting it on.)

Why don’t I just use the powdered stuff I already have? I don’t like powdered eye shadow. It’s time consuming and messy with all of the little wands for each color… that eventually get lost and or fall apart. No thanks. A little dab on my finger, wipe it on my face, done.

Here’s the ingredient list:
(See Amazon list at bottom of the post for pics of these items.)

• Powdered Eyeshadow (loose or in cakes you can mash up)
• Beeswax (granulated)
• Coco Butter (organic if possible)TOOLS
• Mini confection cups (to use as a double boiler)
• Empty Makeup Palette
• Small jar to store/mix in

STEPS

1. Begin by cleaning out the old makeup or just buying a fresh new empty palette. Being this was on a whim and I just reused my old one. It works well for me.
2.  Mash up powdered eyeshadow cakes and mix together desired colors.
   Mine were soft peach, pinkish, dark taupe and highlight ivory.
3.  I mixed all of my colors into separate small empty containers and then got to the fun stuff.
4. Warm your small double boiler and melt a chunk of cocoa butter and about an equal amount of beeswax granules.
   You may need to adjust this amount as you play with the consistency.
   Here’s what I found.
   More beeswax made my mixture a little too soft. More cocoa butter firmed it up. You just have to play with it to get the balance you like. Since my makeup is exposed to high summer heat  when it sits in the car, I went with adding the cocoa butter to a firmer consistency. But not so firm that I couldn’t put the makeup on. That would be dumb.
5. Once your butter and wax mixture is nice and melty, use a small condiment sized spoon and add it to one container of powdered eyeshadow and mix one at a time.
6. Mix quickly before it cools. It should mix easily and feel creamy. Mine began to harden relatively quickly which gave me a chance to see if I wanted to add more or less wax/butter.
7. Place your new cream eyeshadow in the palette with a small condiment knife or palette scraper if you have one.
8. Clean up the messy edges. Store your leftovers in the small containers (with lids) that you mixed them in. (Refrigeration optional.)

 

 

I’ve been using this palette for a couple of months now and there is still plenty left. It is not melting in the high summer heat we have here in the Sacramento Valley. At. All. And we’ve been having heat waves of 108*. The makeup has been in my car in my shaded driveway and the temps are well over the outdoor temps in there. Still… easy to apply without feeling waxy or greasy, stays all day and doesn’t build up in eyelid creases during the day. I am finding that I much prefer it to the original and it lasts a lot longer. And it smells great with the cocoa! Next time I’d like to add a drop of Helichrysum essential oil or Frankincense to it… yum! These two oils are revered for their supportive role in skin healing and anti-aging properties.

I created a list of items through my Amazon Affiliate store links so you have easy access or just so you can see what’s needed.

This is what you’ll need: