DIY Layered Contour-Blush-Highlight

As part of my series in making DIY makeup for Christmas gifts, this is a layered contour-blush-highlighter I made that lets you contour in one swipe!

The tutorial is available in video version here:

But this is the pictorial version for those of you who prefer reading!

First of all, you'll need: 

• A contour shade, a blush shade & a highlighting shade (I just used Emina Cosmetics' eyeshadow trio in Neapolitan) 
• A spatula/anything that can break up the eyeshadow 
• A pan (or you can even use a regular jar) 
• Disinfecting alcohol

Crush up the eyeshadow and place them in the pan in layers.

Pour the alcohol in:

Make sure there's no dry spots!

To check if it's ready for pressing, gently place tissue over it, and then carefully peel back the tissue. If there's still stuff stuck on the tissue like in the picture below, it's not ready.

This is ready:

You can press by just layering tissue/cloth over it and then pressing down with your palms.

Or you can get fancy and press patterns into it with a stamp!

And that's it! You can contour your face in just one swipe!

DIY Cosmetics - How To Make Matte Eyeshadows

Christmas is coming and I thought an awesome gift idea would be handmade makeup! So this is going to be part of my series of DIY Makeup Tutorials!

In this tutorial, I'll show you how to make matte eyeshadows, and the same formula can be used for blushes & contour shades too. I created a video of the process, but I know some people prefer reading to watching, so this blog post will be the written version.

So, pigments on their own can't be used as makeup straight away. You'll find that they're gritty, streaky, and won't stick to your face. Even if you're using a loose powder formula, you'll need some sort of base to make the pigment usable as makeup.

Out of all the bases I've experimented with, I found that one of the best formulas for matte products is TKB Trading's Matte Texture Base. If you're starting out with making cosmetics, I suggest getting this. TKB Trading is my favourite place to get my raw ingredients for making cosmetics, just because they offer sample sizes so I can try out a LOT of colours. TKB Trading's sample sizes are generally about $1.50 for 6g, and 6g will get you about 4-8 average eyeshadow pans, depending on how much base you use. That's more than enough for me, since I'm making these for my personal use.

Tools & Ingredients

• Ziplock bags (1 for each colour you'll make)
• Small measuring spoons/coffee stirring spoons (as many as you need)
• Alcohol for disinfecting
• TKB Trading's Matte Texture Base
• Matte Pigments

The basic steps for creating matte products are:

1. Wear gloves & a mask, keep your hair out of your face & sterilize everything. If you look like you're about to murder someone, you're on the right track.
2. Mix the pigments & base in the ratio recommended below in a ziplock bag
3. Keep squishing the ziplock bag until the pigment is thoroughly mixed with the base. You may need to grind hard with matte pigments.

Matte pigments come in dyes, oxides, ultramarines, ferric ferrocyanide, manganese violet & carmine. The recommended ratio for the mix depends on what kind of matte pigment you're working with, and these are the ratios that I find works best for me through years of experimenting. Of course, you may prefer a different ratio, so feel free to experiment!

I'm skipping over carmine because I haven't worked with it yet, just because it's so expensive.

Ferric Ferrocyanide, Ultramarines & Manganese Violet

These ingredients are pretty difficult to work with, since they can be gritty and streaky. Make sure you grind them well. They're also more fickle when you're pressing them into pressed products, and that's a reason why a lot of purple eyeshadows just suck.

Mixing Ratio:

• 1 part pigment
• 2 parts base

Oxides

These are all the ingredients that have "Oxide" in them...so Chromium Oxide, Titanium Dioxide & Iron Oxide.


Mixing Ratio:

• 1 part pigment
• 1 part base

These are the easiest to work with, and they're so easy, you can even get a good result with just grinding it with sericite mica alone in a 4:1 sericite mica to oxide ratio. I personally prefer the result I get from the TKB Trading base since I find it more blendable, but if you're in the mood for experimenting, you can try out using sericite mica alone and see how you like the formula.

Dyes

These are ingredients that usually go [Colour][#Number], like Blue #1, Red #33, etc. They're very vibrant & have the tendency to stain. Not all dyes are safe to use on every part of your face, so make sure you read TKB Trading's ingredient info carefully to see where you can use them.

Mixing Ratio:

• 1 part pigment
• 2 parts base

FAQs:

Why does some ingredients say that it's safe for eye use in the EU, but not in the US?

Some ingredients have been tested and deemed safe for use around the eyes in the EU, but they haven't gotten tested for FDA approval in the US. So it's not that they're dangerous and will melt your eyes out of your head, they just have not been submitted for testing yet. That's why Urban Decay's Electric palette is officially called a "Pressed Pigment Palette" instead of an eyeshadow palette, even though they're marketed as eyeshadows. It's because some of their pigments are not FDA approved to be used around the eyes yet.

How do you use loose powder pigments?

I got you:

I hate using loose powder pigments. How do I press these?

Not only am I going to show you how it's done, I'll teach you how to make *~fancy~* lace eyeshadows:

Review: Shittiest Product Ever - Berrisom Peel Off Lip Tints

So I remember reading about Berrisom peel off lip tints a year ago, and one of my friends told me they were the best selling K-Beauty product in Malaysia. I ended up buying them on impulse when they were on sale.

Either my friend was sorely mistaken, or there's one sadistic psycho who derives pleasure in torturing people buying them in bulk.

Let me take you through the bullshit application process first....

First, it's like applying Elmer's glue on your lips. It's hard to get an even layer and the edges get patchy as they dry as you apply. At the same time, the middle bit? They never dry fully, even after 5 minutes, because your saliva keeps it wet. And I have Sjögren's, a disease that keeps my mouth bone dry, so I have no idea what it'll be like for normal people.

So it takes 5 minutes for most of it to dry. WHO THE HELL HAS 5 MINUTES TO WAIT FOR THEIR LIPSTICK TO DRY???


Oh, and the scent. You know how those "fruit-scented" plastic toys we had as kids always had that cloyingly artificial scent? Now imagine setting them on fire and mixing the scent of melting plastic in. That's how these smell like. Various shades of melted plastic.

If you get them on your teeth, you're going to have to rebrush your teeth because just wiping them off with a tissue won't work.

Certain colours also sting as you wait for them to dry. I legit started tearing while doing a swatch video:

Oh, and they leave this gross, sour, acrid taste on your lips. You know how dentists put acid on your cavities to really clean them before putting in the filling? THAT taste.

After all that shit, you would at least expect it to be long lasting. Nope. It faded in patches in less than 4h, before I even ate anything or drank anything other than water. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS BULLSHIT??? After everything I've been through, I expect this shit to be not just bulletproof, but nuclear bomb proof. As in, when the nuclear holocaust comes along and I have to eat my husband for survival, my lips are still a lovely shade of pink as I gnaw on his remains.

Did I mention that since it's hard to get an even layer on, the stain left behind ends up looking patchy? It looks like I just bit my lips and they're lovingly stained with blood. In fact, I think I'd have a more pleasant experience if I just bit my lips and used my own blood as a lip stain.

FUCK YOU BERRISOM.