Don’t Waste Your Makeup!

With everyone tightening their belts a little these days, we’re all looking to make our resources stretch just a little bit further. And that includes wanting to get every slick and smudge from our favorite makeup products. Sometimes packaging can make that a bit difficult, but we’ve sussed out some easy and creative ways to make sure your makeup is used to the last drop.

• Eye shadow that comes in little individual containers seems to be prone to droppage, at least in my bathroom. One really sad consequence of having butterfingers is that you can find your favorite shade of Velvet Green in pieces inside its little home. This quick video tutorial by Kandee demonstrates my favorite way of repairing eye shadow with household items so that Velvet Green and I can have a long, happy life together.

• When you start to find yourself running low on your liquid foundation, try combining half the amount you usually use with a light, SPF moisturizer. Mix them together on the top of your hand using your finger. Then take your Foundation Brush and apply in even, circular motions. Using the brush helps you to get even coverage without having to use as much foundation as when you apply with your fingertips, so this method will save you twice as much product.

• Nail polish, unlike so many other makeup products, doesn’t really go bad. It can have a pretty healthy, long life if treated properly. The problem is that it tends to get goopy (to use a technical term) as it ages, rendering it pretty useless. Take a few drops of nail polish remover, add them to the bottle, and shake vigorously. Remember to be very conservative with the remover, adding more slowly until you reach your desired consistency. Adding too much will just make the polish slide off your finger like rain off a windshield!

• If you’re getting to that point in your lip gloss tube where the wand just doesn’t reach down far enough, don’t toss the whole tube! There’s quite a bit of product down there, you just have to get it to loosen up enough to grab it with the wand. Simple solution: hot water. No kidding, check out this video on how to give your lip gloss a hot bath for longer life.

• And while we’re on lip color, your lipstick is not defunct once it gets too low to apply directly to your lips. A simple Lipstick Brush helps you get every last use of color from the tube, not to mention that it makes for a much more precise pout.

• With any kind of pressed makeup, like powder, foundation, or bronzer, you have the very real possibility of tossing it into your bag under your wallet and shoes, and winding up with broken chunks in the compact. If this happens, simply get a circular, shallow container and drop the chunks in. Use the bottom of a makeup brush to crush the chunks into powder, and voila! Instant loose powder or body bronzer. This is also a super easy way to mix together different shades to get a precise, custom shade for your new summer tan.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 21st, 2009 at 9:14 am and is filed under Beauty Tips, Makeup Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.