Guide to Pigment Pressing (PIC HEAVY)

[mezzamy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrusyMyEyes What type of material did you use to press down on the pigment with? Could you describe it's texture and were I could find something like it...thanks.

hey!

the material i used was from an organza bag - you know those gift bags you can buy from craft stores and have a draw string at the top?

eg. http://craft.ontheinternet.com.au/in...anza/index.htm

the material is smooth to the touch but has a pretty textured weave on it which means that it leaves nice, detailed hatchmarks

any material that has a decent textured weave to it will work well for pressing. some girls like to use the rough side of denim, others use random fabric swatches. i just used whatever i had lying around and found that the weave in the organza bags meant it gave a great imprint to my pressed pigments.

HTH

 

[sassygirl224]

wow, you did such a clean, beautiful job pressing your pigment! you made it seem so much easier than i thought, thank you so much for the tut!

 

[marianzhou]

wow thanks i didnt knwoyou could even do this

 

[tadzio79]

you make it look so easy, thanks so much for the tut!

 

[ticklemethu]

wow this is genius!

 

[knoxydoll]

Great Tut, but i have one questions that may seem weird but do you have to use isopropanol or would ethanol (the other type of rubbing alcohol) work as well. Or would it change the colour of the pigment. I ask because I'm actually allergic is isopropanol and therefore I wouldn't feel very safe using it to press my pigments even though I understand that it evaporates from the pan and such.

 

[addicted_2color]

I tried this out today and everything came out perfectly! The only problem was at first I didn't line my flat iron with anything and it had been heating up for a while....next thing you know my lily white is boiling and splattering all over the place, lol. lesson learned...line the flat iron.

but thanks again for the wonderful tut!

 

[msmack]

what a fabulous tut! makes it look so easy, i will have to try this. nice detailed pics! thanks a lot!

 

[Showgirl]

I'd no idea piggy pressin' was so easy. Thank you for the wonderful advice. I've got loads of pots of Fyrinnae, Barry M and Stargazer loose shadows that I'd definitely use more if they weren't so messy, and a couple of empty pans from older shadows, so I'll try pressing them and report back.

 

[Beachgrl07]

I did this but I used a sample of Coco Beach and it came out beautifully, only because I used so little it looks like it's almost gone! I don't understand why it did that because before it dried it was so full I couldn't even blow on the thing (it was a generous sample)...LOL Good thing I have a vial coming in the mail!

 

[Rubiez]

does is matter how strong the alcohol volume is?
all i've got is 70%...i'm worried if it'll work just as well.

 

[charismaticlime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by knoxydoll Great Tut, but i have one questions that may seem weird but do you have to use isopropanol or would ethanol (the other type of rubbing alcohol) work as well. Or would it change the colour of the pigment. I ask because I'm actually allergic is isopropanol and therefore I wouldn't feel very safe using it to press my pigments even though I understand that it evaporates from the pan and such.

Well I didn't have any isopropanol alcohol in the house, so I used my Purell hand sanitizer instead (since it had ethanol alcohol in it). It turned out to be a good substitute, although you might want to scratch the surface of your pressed pigment before you use it (I found it difficult to swipe the colour from the top layer... though it could be due to the amount of alcohol). And if you are using ethanol alcohol, skip the heating step - it's flammable.

UPDATE: I tried adding it to a small pigment sample and the whole thing turned hard and difficult to scrape any colour off, so I definitely wouldn't recommend it.

 

[sincola]

Such a great tutorial!! You made it seem very easy with your clear explanations, even for me! The steps seem extremely simple to follow. Thank you for taking the time and patience to do it.

 

[asian_beauty]

is using the alcohol ok for your eyes? i've never pressed pigments and im a little scared to use the alcohol haha. is it absolutely necessary? if not is there an alternative?

 

[aeni]

The alcohol will completely evaporate if you give it time. I honestly can't think of another alternative - don't use water b/c it takes waaaaaaay too long to dry and the pigments won't stay pressed.

 

[swtginbug]

thanks for this tut. i was always wondering how to press my piggies. thanks!!!

 

[pink_candy]

that's clever!

definitly, one of the best tutorials i've seen!!!!!
THANKS

 

[breathless]

amazing! i have a ton of pigment samples and i can definately spend a couple of bucks on ELF palettes to do this. also, do you think you can use this technique for loose shadows too?

 

[mezzamy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by breathless amazing! i have a ton of pigment samples and i can definately spend a couple of bucks on ELF palettes to do this. also, do you think you can use this technique for loose shadows too?

it really depends on the loose shadows. MAC pigments press very well for some reason. Once they're pressed they stay in that shape, like a softer eyeshadow, whereas other powders tend to crumble back to dust as soon as you touch or bump it.

perhaps have a go using loose shadows but make sure once you've pressed it, that you have a play with it over a tissue or somewhere easy to clean because it could completely fall apart on you.

ive tried pressing samples from Pure Luxe and as soon as i touched it, it lost its form and was just the loose dust again :S

on the plus side, if the pressing doesnt work, the loose shadow isnt affected and you can put it back in its normal container again and re-use it

HTH!

 

[joyousdays]

this is helpful, now the problem is to get pans as much as I can=O