Making pressed powders

If you want to make your own pressed-powder makeup, using just a few ingredients, you can!

Pressed powders are less messy than loose ones, also their colors are more intense and they tend to have a little better staying power on the skin.

To make a pressed powder, you will need:

• Some kind of powder to press (some blend that you have created for eye shadow, foundation or blush)
• A binder of some kind (recipes below)
• Something to press into (you can press into a small jar, or in to a compact or a cosmetic tin)
• Something to press with (you can use your thumbs, a coin, or something more sophisticated which you make up.

Binder recipes can be very simple. Here are three:

• 2 parts dimethicone, 2 parts fractionated coconut oil, 1 part jojoba oil
• 1 part dimethicone, 1 part fractionated coconut oil
• 1 part dimethicone, 1 part jojoba oil, 2 parts alcohol.

Simply shake the binder in a bottle and then either squeeze or spray it onto your loose powders. Then stir or mix together. I like to put everything in a plastic bag and mush it around.

You will use about 10-15% binder to 85-90% color. Said another way, 1/2 teaspoon binder to 1 tablespoon powder. You want the powder to be damp and pressable.

Once the ingredients are mixed together, spoon them into their container and press. I suggest you cover the surface of the powder with some plastic wrap and then press with something firm such as your fingers, or a coin wrapped in plastic. If you really get into it, you can come up with your own devices using c-clamps and other hardware.

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC