How To: Make Your Own Cream Shadow from Powder Pigments or Shadows
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I mentioned last week that I’d run you through how to create your own cream/mousse shadow using powder pigments. This should work with all loose shadows, and most pressed ones as well.
Ingredients:
- Solvent/Suspension base: Rubbing alcohol or denatured alcohol. The higher the alcohol content, the better.
- Powder pigment: If you are creating yours from a pressed shadow, crumble it up first.
- Binder: You can use either an oil or a silicone (dimethicone, silicone oil etc). Oils* are easier to find in general, and my recommendation is Jojoba or Mineral oil.
- Small empty containers like the 5gram jar I used here.
*You can use organic oils like argan, Vitamin E, etc for skincare properties in your cream shadow but take care to use these up quickly or they will go rancid.—
Step 1: First scoop the loose pigments into the jar you will be using. If you are using pressed shadow, make sure to crush it as much as possible as you want to minimize any lumps. If you are mixing 2 or more shades, do so while they are DRY.
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Step 2: Using a plastic pipette (optional) or just straight from the bottle, add alcohol into the powder until it is all suspended in liquid. Then use a small spatula to stir gently and mix everything until you get a smooth, liquid paste.
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Step 3: There should be a bit of excess alcohol at the surface of your mixture when you begin to start adding in drops of oil or silicone. The amount to add varies with the amount of pigments you used, and the texture. Finer, smoother pigments will require less oil and grittier feeling ones will need more.
You should stir and add more until you start to notice the smooth liquid/paste starting to separate from the alcohol and look lumpy and curd-like. This means the binder has been incorporated well into the powders.
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Step 4: Leave the mixture to sit for a while, until the lightweight alcohol rises to the surface and all the shadow has sunken to the bottom. You can carefully tip the jar and use some tissue to soak up the excess alcohol.
Leave overnight or for at least 3-4 hours until it’s more or less dry.
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Step 5: The finished product will look rather grainy or lumpy at the top but don’t worry. This is just the surface. If you’ve seen the surface of a jar of untouched Chanel Illusion D’Ombre, this won’t be unfamiliar to you.
If well blended, the surface texture should feel silky and almost mousse-like. Now you can just use it the way you’d use any cream/mousse shadow.
Enjoy!
Pigment used for demonstration: TKB Sparkle Blue. (MAC Cornflower is a smoother, finer-grained and more intensely-shiny alternative.)
I guess I’ll be keeping a spoon in my makeup kit…
this video was an experience.
oh my word
all these years of struggle….
can this actually work because omg
Absinthia: Green Fairy Eye Tutorial
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Meet 2013’s Color of the Year. Emerald.
There was a phase in my life when I wore NOTHING but green eyeshadow. I just thought it was such a sexy and flattering alternative to a neutral for smoky eyes. Some good options include MAC Humid or a discontinued pigment called Green. (I used that for this tutorial because I still have my large 7.5g jar from years ago, but use Humid or Antique Green pigment if you don’t have it.)
I also added a touch of golden lime (MAC Golden Olive pigment) and a deep emerald green glitter called Capricorn. Now, in direct light, this glitter looks like a straight dark emerald green, but when the light shifts or when you’re in the shade, it has a teal-blue shift. That’s probably my favorite glitter out of the Zodiac range from Lime Crime, but a regular green would work anyday.
Dark Violet Wing Tutorial
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Step 1: Apply a base and then pack a matte black shadow thickly along the lash line.
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Step 2: Sweep a dark purple (I used MAC Grape Pigment) above the black, thickly along the crease line.
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Step 3: Run a black kohl along the waterline and tightline, and reapply along the upper lash line as well.
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Step 4: Apply wispy false lashes to complete the look.d
Basic Green/Black Winged Eyes
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There’s nothing quite as dramatic as a solid winged eye, and the good news is that it isn’t actually extremely hard to do as long as you get the basics right.
This look is good for:
- All eye shapes and any skin/hair/eye color.
I used L’oreal Infallible Shadows in Eternal Black and Permanent Kaki. (I believe this is named differently in the States. You can use any deep khaki green you have.)
You will also need black liner, and mascara.
Fall Look: Dramatic Purple and Black Winged Eye
(Worn with Revlon Soft Nude Colorburst Lipstick)
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This is a super-dramatic look inspired by images of Fall’s over-the-top eye liner looks, as well as Swarovski’s Wings of Fantasy campaign visuals. It’s something of a creative look, but if you’re playing a mythical Black Swan for Halloween (not the movie version) this is a simpler and more wearable way to go about it.
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Step 1: Use a pointed pencil brush to apply a line of blackened purple along the socket line. (I used a pigment I mixed up myself, but any black will do. Bring it almost to the inner corners but not quite so there’s a bit of gap if you have a double-lid. If you have a mono-lid, you will probably need to carefully trace the hollow of your socket with a very light pencil first, as you can’t follow your natural crease line as conveniently.
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Step 2: The easier part is applying lines along the upper lash line (thickly) and lower lash line (thinner). IMPORTANT: Don’t let the lower line touch the inner corner as well. We want a “wispy look” with this, so just end off a little under your natural eye line rather than right on it.
At the outer corner, extend the lower line straight up and out at the same angle as your eye line. Then just simply stop when it meets the top line at the crease. If you need to clean up around the lines, do so with a Q-tip dipped in oil-free remover.—-
Step 3: Fill in the space in between the 2 dark lines on your upper lid with a sparkly magenta or pink. Dampen your brush slightly so the pigments will adhere better.
Try MAC Reflects Very Pink if you want this look. (The black below will make the pink look purple.) If not, any other color and finish would work just as well, including mattes. Just make sure the color can be packed on intensely.—-
Step 4: Now the black at your lash line is probably faded and diffused, so go over it again with a smudge brush to reinforce the darkness.
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Step 5: After applying pale yellow or white liner to the water line, add dramatic false lashes if you want. I used Eylure Nicola lashes, which are flared outwards at the outer corners, and add to the whole winged cat eye look.
Go over the lash band with black liquid liner to hide it if you need.—-
Finished Look: Note how the pale liner on the water line helps to keep the eye looking “open”. This is especially important if you don’t have large eyes.
Also, I love how the dark smoky liner along the lower lashes tapers off slightly without touching the inner corner. This adds drama, and is also a trick to look like you’re an expert at applying tapered lower liner.(Makeup artists draw this with a free hand and dip slightly downward at the inner corners, which can be really difficult to get even on both eyes. I’m just doing it the lazy girl’s way.)
DIY Lace Watch Band Tutorial from A Law Student’s Journey here. This is so much easier than it looks because ribbon crimps are used. Also, the one place I have learned not to scimp is on clasps. Buy the best quality you can so you can easily open and close them!
DIY Easy Galaxy Pendant Tutorial from Grinsebacke here. Really easy tutorial using an online image and nail polish. I used Chrome to automatically translate from German to English, but the photos are really good enough. *For more galaxy projects, including a link to copyright free NASA Galaxy Photos go here: truebluemeandyou.tumblr.com/tagged/galaxy
DIY Gold Sharpie Nail Art from The Beauty Department here. Tips and tricks (and what Sharpies not to buy) at the link.
DIY Polymer Clay Holiday Themed Hair Pins Tutorial from Happy Hour Crafts here. Besides finding out there are hair pins with bails on them at the craft store, what am I most happy about? That Adrianne always puts strong warnings about not mixing kitchen utensils and polymer clay… ever. Thank you Adrianne for posting this warning because the (HUGE) blogs that do not, and run photos of rolling pins (really, use a cheap small clay roller) next to polymer clay are doing their readers a huge disservice.
truebluemeandyou: Totally for beginners :)
DIY Easy Coin Cufflinks Tutorial from inspiration & realisation here. This falls into the category I call “beyond easy”. This is going under my “manly gifts” tag.
DIY Easy Leather Boot Strap Tutorial from cotton & curls here. Sew (a button) or non sew option.
DIY Tassel Necklace and Beaded Link Bracelet Tutorials from inspiration & realisation here. Donatella has a link to forming beading links here.
DIY Teacup Candle Tutorial from Cupcakes and Cashmere here. I like this post because it includes a link to a cheap $16.95 candle making kit, but you can do this with any candle wax, wicks and thrifted cups. *If you don’t want to buy a kit I posted a really wonderful tutorial from Hey Gorgeous using pretty pink wax here.
DIY Hardware Store Belt tutorial from Wobisobi here. I love hardware projects and to see what else you can do with hardware store finds go here: truebluemeandyou.tumblr.com/tagged/hardware
