Supplies!

I recently reorganized all my unused makeup/ samples, and realized that I had about 10 loose eyeshadow samples that I wasn’t using, mostly from Shiro cosmetics.  They are all excellent quality eyeshadows, but frankly, I find it too much of a pain to use loose eyeshadow most of the time.  So, I decided to press them into pans so that they would get more use.

I followed this tutorial – basically, you mix the mineral eyeshadow with a few drops of a binder (I used 100% glycerin, from the drugstore), and 91% rubbing alcohol, also from the drugstore. Then, you press it down with a coin, and let it dry.  You can buy pans from tkbtrading.com, ebay, or coastalscents.com, but I just scraped out the eyeshadow from some terrible quality eyeshadows I got as part of a 50-eyeshadow set for $5 or something like that.

cleaned eyeshadow pans

First, take your loose eyeshadow and pile it in the pan; you can also do it in a separate container, but I think it’s easiest to just mix everything up in the pan.

This is Shiro Cosmetics  Master Sword here.

Add a blob of glycerin – about three drops

Mix it up with a toothpick. Add a little bit of 91% rubbing alcohol; this makes it easier to mix

Mix it up more

Yay, it’s nice and smooth! Now you’re done mixing.

Take a scrap of paper towel, and a coin sized to fit into your pan. Place the paper towel over the pan, and then place the coin over the paper towel, and press down. This will press out some of the moisture and make a nice, flat surface for your shadow.

Your pressed eyeshadow should look like this.

Now, let it dry for at least 24 hours, or until it is dry to the touch.

I did five eyeshadows this time!

One thing to be aware of is that pressing loose eyeshadow will change the look of the eyeshadow slightly.  I’ve swatched Shiro Shaymin, a really lovely peachy color for you below; on the left is the pressed version and on the right is the loose version. Please ignore the bits of blue on the pressed version – it got a little bit of one of the other eyeshadows on top of it when I was pressing it.  As you can see, the presssed version is a little more intense, while the loose version really needs a base.   The change in color doesn’t bother me at all, but it’s something to be aware of when pressing loose eyeshadow.

Shiro Shaymin

I’m currently storing my home-pressed eyeshadow in an ELF compact (only $1!), using stick-on magnets on the bottom of the pans.  There are six shadows because I have one shadow I pressed a couple months ago.

Have you ever pressed your own eyeshadow? Would you?