I mentioned in my last article that Nikki, our latest addition to the talented mineral makeup blog writers here, has a penchant for MIY ( make-it-yourself ), and her latest project? Pressing her loose minerals! She’s quite outdone herself for the pictures of her pressed minerals are beautiful!
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One thing that turns off some people with trying (or sticking with) mineral makeup is its form. Most are in loose powder form which makes application a bit messy especially for beginners. There is also difficulty in traveling with it or bringing it along for touch ups because it is bulky, requiring more tools and pots inside your makeup bag. Because of this, some mineral makeup companies are now coming up with their own lines of pressed minerals.
A week ago I started playing around with pressing my mineral pigments. I bought a binder (with only 3 ingredients, mostly jojoba oil) and a metal press from La Belle Femme Cosmetics, a mineral makeup company found online. All you have to do is spray the binder on the loose minerals until damp, mix it well with a spatula or bobby pin then press into your desired compact or case. That’s it! It took me the whole afternoon to press 6 eye shadows and 4 blushes. It was a bit tiring but so worth it.
The pictures show my finished products. The 4 blushes in compacts and 20 gram jars are, clockwise from upper left: Babydoll Strawberry Smoothie, Ocean Mist Vanora, Lure Apple Taffy and Lumiere Spiced Apple Bronzer.
The eye shadows (which I put in a sterilized pillbox) are, clockwise from upper left: Lumiere Silkies Blush, MAD Frolic, Babydoll Raspberry Tart, Monave Gold Salmon, MAD mix of Creamy Butter and Cocoa Shimmer, and MAD Sweet Midori.
They do look a bit darker pressed but once applied have the same color as it was loose. It’s so much easier to put them on now when I am in a hurry (which is most of the time). Oh, and one more thing. Maybe it’s just me, but they somehow seem to stay put longer on the cheeks and eyes than they were loose. Definitely another plus to having them pressed.
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18 Responses to 'Mineral Makeup Experiment : Pressing Minerals'
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where did she get the binder from?
are there any cheaper alternatives or items you already have on hand that can be used as the binder and press for the minerals?
does anyone know of any other alternative to pressing their minerals that is either from easier to find items or cheaper than buying the $9 binder and $17 presser?
I so love it!!!!! Now I want to press my minerals now! What’s in the binder? Did you have to order the ingredients for the binder individually?
Oh! An even better idea, maybe you could do a tutorial on pressing mineral makeup! (Just a suggestion.)
Thanks for the post! =)
The binder is in a spray bottle. You can press your minerals with plain rubbing alcohol and a coin. I saw tutorials on it on YouTube. I haven’t tried the alcohol method, though but I have a lot of binder left so I’ll use that up first. I’ve used my finger wrapped in a textured fabric or a coin also wrapped in fabric to press the minerals since the metal press wouldn’t fit into the pillbox. HTH.
[...] From the Mineral Makeup Blog: Mineral Makeup Experiment : Pressing Minerals [...]
can the binder be used to press your mineral blush and foundation also or is it only for eyeshadow? Can the alcohol method be used for pressing the foundations/blushes also or would that be a bad idea?
I have tried searching for the tutorials on You Tube and could not find any on pressing minerals. Can you share how to find these tutorials?
TIA =0)
if you search for enkore makeup on youtube you should find the tutorials on pressing pigments.
i use alcohol (isopropyl alchohol) when i press my pigments
Alcohol will dry out your skin,so I would not use it if you have dry skin.Can’t wait to try to press my minerals.I bought mine from DIY Cosmetics,it’s cheaper than La Belle Femme.HTH!
can you do this to all mineral majeup including foundation and mineral veils?
Hello!
I have a question about this. As another commenter mentioned, I too have watched EnKore’s pressing pigments video and he uses that alcohol to press pigments. However, they are only eyeshadow pigments.
Is it safe to press mineral makeup FOUNDATION with alcohol? I know I’m not able to get that La belle binder because I am a student whose mother doesn’t allow her to buy things online (it rarely happens that I am able to).
I have Silk Naturals, as you have done a review on another post, and since that seems “jet-milled” as described by EnKore, he says it’s harder to press. Do you think that the alcohol will change the “silky-yet-great-coverage-results” that Silk naturals gives?
I really want to press Silk Naturals so I’m able to use it conveniently during vacations, and for future use of touch-ups during the day without the messy hassle. I hope you can answer my question (through the email that was provided when submitting this comment).
Thank you, and I look forward from hearing your answer & help
where can i purchase babydoll minerals?
Wow the pressed minerals look gorgeous!
I haven’t tried pressing foundations or finishing powders because I don’t want to mess with them. I have no problems with them being in loose form. Blushes and shadows on the other hand, I prefer pressed because they are easier to use and travel with when pressed.
Those that have tried using alcohol for pressing say that the pigments tend to crumble easily and make the pigment lighter than the original. I think using jojoba oil alone could work but I haven’t tried that either.
dolores: unfortuantely Babydoll is not available anymore
Nikki, you really are the expert on MIY projects!
i haven’t attempted pressing minerals again after my first try with alcohol. they DID crumble! oh well, i guess binders really are the better alternative.
Two points- the alcohol all evaporates, so none ever touches your skin. You have to let it dry- that’s the alchohol evaporating! If you need binder and alcohol doesn’t do it, harass people for recipes. Oils are probably it- but which ones?
Enkore doesn’t press minerals that I’ve ever seen. He does MAC pigments, which already have a bit of binder there. Or grinds broken shadows and repairs them. Alcohol reactivates the binders. The pressing is the same but materials are different. And everybody uses a quarter in MAC standard pans so you can put them in palettes. Go to Coastal Scents.com. And they sell a binder too. You probably have to pop for the ten bucks; but once you see the badger hair brushes for almost nothing you’ll be ordering anyway.
Second- One small jar of powder in a big pocketbook is no big deal. If you put powder mineral base on correctly it doesn’t need touch ups. Actually- if you prime your eyes correctly nothing needs touching up.
So why not live dangerously and do a test with a small amount of foundation powder if you want to cook. But I just throw mine in my small make up bag and go until tomorrow. I wear L’Oreal from the drugstore and it doesn’t move until I tell it to. Strangers tell me I’m beautiful, too. I like that stuff!