Pigment Solidifying/Pressing?

[MissMarley]

Ok, I just made my own quad of pigments, using the alcohol mixing/drying method (used steel blue, white gold, rose, and goldenaire)

It's in a MAC 4-pan, and it's now completely dry- I used it today, and it was fairly flaky when I brushed over the top, but not too much more than a normal eyeshadow.

My question is- will pressing it with the c-clamp method or something similiar make the quad more durable? is it really worth the extra effort? how fragile are these solidified pigments? i prefer pigments to e/s, and would like to take some solidified quads on vacation this summer...I just want them to hold up decently in travel- should i look into the intensive pressing?

 

[xiahe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissMarley Ok, I just made my own quad of pigments, using the alcohol mixing/drying method (used steel blue, white gold, rose, and goldenaire) It's in a MAC 4-pan, and it's now completely dry- I used it today, and it was fairly flaky when I brushed over the top, but not too much more than a normal eyeshadow. My question is- will pressing it with the c-clamp method or something similiar make the quad more durable? is it really worth the extra effort? how fragile are these solidified pigments? i prefer pigments to e/s, and would like to take some solidified quads on vacation this summer...I just want them to hold up decently in travel- should i look into the intensive pressing?

solidifying pigments without pressing them makes them more fragile and can easily crumble compared to when you press them. i would highly suggest pressing them if you have the time to do so.

as for pressing them, a day or two would be ideal...but it also depends on the shadow's formla. mattes solidify quite nicely and don't take as long to press...for lustres or frost formulas, it takes longer. you could use a flower press, c-clamps, or just stack a bunch of books on top of the e/s. my swish e/s shattered and broke when i dropped it on the ground (thankfully the pot was closed so i didn't really lose any product), so i kinda grinded it to make it into a "swish pigment" and then later decided that i would press it back into a pan e/s. i basically followed the instructions from this pigment pressing tutorial but instead of using the flower press i placed the shadow underneath like 89798748974987419687611 books and kept it there for about a day and a half, and it's completely dry:

it's a little uneven and the "hetch marks" are rather ridiculously large and "chunky"...but i didn't have a swatch of denim fabric that i could have used so instead i used the fabric of a clean white sock

- but it's still not bad for a first try!