Pinterest Files: DIY make up recovery

By MIRANDA YOUNG

Have you ever splurged to purchase brand-new, really expensive powder or blush? Have you ever felt your heartbeat speed up as you bend down to the floor to pick it up and reveal that it’s been smashed to million pieces after dropping it? Well, on this week’s Pinterest Files, I am going to stop you from wasting your money on a new one, or spending your mornings trying to stop yourself from spilling the loose pieces all over the place.

Believe it or not, there is a way to resuscitate your beloved make up, and it only takes a few items that you can find lying around your dorm room or home.

What you need:

• Rubbing alcohol
• Plastic wrapping
• A brush (eyeshadow or eyeliner)
• A dull edge or makeup brush end
• Baby Wipes
• Q-tips

Instructions:

1. Wrap it up: Completely cover the compact with the plastic wrap and make sure it adheres tightly to contain everything. (I found this step to be optional).
2. Mash it up: With the dull end of your brush, crush up the entire pan of shadow, not just the broken pieces. You are essentially turning the pressed powder back into loose powder.
3. Add alcohol: Remove the wrap and add at least 10 droppers full of alcohol. You can add just a bit at a time to see how much you need as you.
4. Smooth it over: Now you will feel the powder has become sponge-like and very pliable, giving you the perfect opportunity to even it out smoothly with your makeshift spatula.
5. Perfect the edges: Use your eyeliner brush to smooth it out even further. Give it a few hours to completely dry, and the makeup is repaired. To make it extra pretty, clean up the perimeter with a Q-tip.

For this DIY, I was pleasantly surprised with the end result. It did not come out perfect, but my make up is now much more usable than the crushed pellets that end up spilling out while applying make up in the morning. I used an e.l.f. product, so I was not risking much, but I was scared that I would end up with a distorted palette of blush and bronzer.

The reason that I put the plastic wrapping as optional above is due to the fact that my blush and bronzer was not terribly messy, so I did not find the need to wrap it. I just used the end of the brush and did not have any trouble, but I‘m sure the plastic wrapping would not hurt the process.

After making sure that the bronzer and blush was completely separated, I dropped the alcohol into the cap of the bottle and carefully distributed it throughout the product.

The most challenging portion of this process was smoothing out the powder. It may be due to the fact that I used a two-in-one product, but I had to keep rinsing off the brush in order to prevent the pink and brown from mixing. After attempting to smooth it all over, I used a Q-tip and a baby wipe to clear the edges and the middle division area.

After letting the bronzer and blush dry for an hour or two, the product did not look as good as new, but it definitely looked usable. This project was much more practical than driving to the store and spending money on a new product.