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I thought I would share with you all my experiment with pressing my mineral eyeshadow samples. I started reading about pressing MMU about a month ago, and thought I would give it a try. I did some right away, but I just finished pressing ALL of my e/s samples this morning and I figured you'd all like to hear how it went and how they perform.
Here they all are:
You'll notice that I used LA Colors lip palettes to press in - I got them from the dollar store, cleaned them out with a nail brush and some degreaser, then wiped them really well and cleaned them with alcohol. The well sizes in these compacts are PERFECT for the baggie samples sent from most companies. I also got my pressing medium from the dollar store - hand sanitizer. And a box of toothpicks for mixing, scooping, and tamping. I used an old bandana for my pressing cloth, and just pressed with my thumb rather than trying to find something flat to press with.
Once pressed, the colors are ready to use in just one day if they've been put in a dry, well-ventillated area.
One thing I noticed about pressing the colors into pallettes - I'm WAY more likely to use them! The colors look far more true-to-shade when pressed than they do as loose powders in pots or baggies, so I have a much better idea of how it's going to look on my skin now.
The colors still apply the same as the loose shadows do, both wet and dry (I use the spray-the-brush method for wet application). However, you end up using a lot less shadow per application, because there's no possibility of overloading the brush or tapping out too much powder.
I've only had trouble with a couple colors crumbling on me in the pallette - one SheSpace color and one Signature metallic. It seems like the metallic-looking ones are the most likely to crumble.
I also discovered a way to get really dramatic color payoff with my mineral colors. I had bought some Cory Eye FixSation eyebrow wax a while back, and decided to try using it to prime my eyelids before putting the shadow on. AMAZING!! I don't have to foil my colors anymore - I just apply them dry over the brow wax, and they stick tight and SHINE!! It does take a bit more shadow to get really good color saturation, but the payoff is amazing. I did a really cool peacock eye look a couple nights ago as an experiment, and used mostly SheSpace colors. They usually crease on me like crazy after an hour or so when foiled....but with the wax, the colors stayed in place for hours, and lost no intensity at all. After about 5 or 6 hours, I noticed some vague creasing, but that was it.
So, overall, I've been really pleased with my color-pressing experiment, and will continue to press all eye shadow samples I get so that I will be more likely to use them and I'll be able to take them with me when I travel.
Here they all are:
You'll notice that I used LA Colors lip palettes to press in - I got them from the dollar store, cleaned them out with a nail brush and some degreaser, then wiped them really well and cleaned them with alcohol. The well sizes in these compacts are PERFECT for the baggie samples sent from most companies. I also got my pressing medium from the dollar store - hand sanitizer. And a box of toothpicks for mixing, scooping, and tamping. I used an old bandana for my pressing cloth, and just pressed with my thumb rather than trying to find something flat to press with.
Once pressed, the colors are ready to use in just one day if they've been put in a dry, well-ventillated area.
One thing I noticed about pressing the colors into pallettes - I'm WAY more likely to use them! The colors look far more true-to-shade when pressed than they do as loose powders in pots or baggies, so I have a much better idea of how it's going to look on my skin now.
The colors still apply the same as the loose shadows do, both wet and dry (I use the spray-the-brush method for wet application). However, you end up using a lot less shadow per application, because there's no possibility of overloading the brush or tapping out too much powder.
I've only had trouble with a couple colors crumbling on me in the pallette - one SheSpace color and one Signature metallic. It seems like the metallic-looking ones are the most likely to crumble.
I also discovered a way to get really dramatic color payoff with my mineral colors. I had bought some Cory Eye FixSation eyebrow wax a while back, and decided to try using it to prime my eyelids before putting the shadow on. AMAZING!! I don't have to foil my colors anymore - I just apply them dry over the brow wax, and they stick tight and SHINE!! It does take a bit more shadow to get really good color saturation, but the payoff is amazing. I did a really cool peacock eye look a couple nights ago as an experiment, and used mostly SheSpace colors. They usually crease on me like crazy after an hour or so when foiled....but with the wax, the colors stayed in place for hours, and lost no intensity at all. After about 5 or 6 hours, I noticed some vague creasing, but that was it.
So, overall, I've been really pleased with my color-pressing experiment, and will continue to press all eye shadow samples I get so that I will be more likely to use them and I'll be able to take them with me when I travel.