TECHNIQUE FAQ: Fixing broken pressed-powder products

[chocobon]

Thnx so much, I have used this on a broken blush!!

 

[redambition]

I have a bit of an addition to this...

if you want to use the alcohol method, make sure the alcohol you use is unscented, undyed (self-explanatory, really) and contains no nasty additives.

the scented types can leave a residue in the product (this happened to me

), some additives (like those in commercial grade methylated spirits) are not at all good if they stay in the product and get on your skin. dyed alcohol can, obviously, ruin the colour of the product.

a few details:

- isopropyl alcohol: this is the alcohol usually found in rubbing alcohol. it's also used as a VCR head cleaner and in electronics. it can be quite easy to find, however try to get medical grade (rubbing alcohol) rather than commercial grade (electronics cleaner).

- dye-free medical grade methylated spirits: medical grade metho is ethanol and methanol (the methanol is added to make it undrinkable and thus not subject to alcoholic beverage taxes). be sure that the product is fully dry before use as metho is irritating to the skin, and methanol is dangerous if ingested. *IMPORTANT - do not use commercial grade metho - it often has other chemicals added to it that are dangerous, toxic and very yucky smelling.

note: in the US medical grade methylated spirits may also contain castor oil (i think... if you check the label it should say if it does). metho is also called denatured alcohol in the US.

- surgical spirit is different to methylated spirits. it contains castor oil in addition to the alcohol, and sometimes a few other ingredients. I've never tried using it to repair broken powder products, but it should work quite well. it has been mentioned previously that it's great for pressing pigments as the castor oil acts as a binding agent.

 

[liv]

I've used isopropyl alcohol to repair shattered Stila shadows and blush, and it works great. The only bad thing is they don't look as pretty in the palettes, but they are completely useable.

 

[Kuki]

i am so silly! i used the alcohol method on my wookwinked, and mixed it in its pot. then i tried to bake it! hahahahaah! duh!!!!!!! the plastic melted into a big mess! - btw i still got back 2 mac on it!lol

i just wanted to say, after learning my lesson, i used a hairdryer to help dry it out! i highly recommend it in comparison to the oven baking

 

[KikiB]

Thank you so much for this! I had quite a few eyeshadows that I loved but because they broke, I was essentially unable to use them (Stars/Rockets, Amber Lights, Lancome Personal Style). Let's just say I went on a kick of repairing the shadows-using the number 3 method since I'm lazy. I was able to use some old napkins that I got on clearance somewhere to get really cool textured hatch marks, so that's one thing I did differently. Now it's trying to figure out what to do with my two things of Lancome Slide, which was a Colour Focus colour so they had the kinda dome appearance.

It actually helped when I did it on Stars/Rockets to use the end of my eyeshadow brush to crush the big chunks into smaller ones and then keep pressing-it then ended up at least helping to create a base of sorts before I pressed it.

 

[ms. kendra]

I will try the alcohol method with my broken Satin Taupe e/s. It's literally in crumbles. I hope it works!!

 

[Lizzie]

You can also wrap a quarter in an old tshirt to get the hatch marks if your jeans are too thick to work with or if you don't have jeans you want to use.

 

[amani220]

I've fixed e/s using the tutorial. I used alcohol with an old pair of jeans and a clamp with a quarter to press. Has anyone repressed a blush and if so, what did you use? Obviously a quarter is too small. LOL.

 

[choozen1ne]

Use the cap to a Viatman bottle the top from Magnesium supplements fits , mine fit perfectly in the my blush

 

[Kirsty2703]

Thanks for the tips. I have Mac Bronze and its completely broken. I think I will give this a go tonight. Thanks!!!

 

[Rinstar]

Thanks for all these tips! I dropped my Amber Lights es and it is almost full!

 

[jetgirl]

I have used alcohol and it has worked well. If you want to press a bunch of pigments anyway, you could get the Coastal Scents pigment pressing medium and use an itty bitty drop to repair the chip, etc.

 

[hotpinkanthia]

Wow! Thanks, I have a couple of broken E/S that have been really annoying me and always make a huge mess when I use them. Will try later tonight with the alcohol. I know you can buy 90% Ispo. alcohol at wal-mart. Maybe the higher percentage of alcohol will make it dry faster?

 

[pcsocake]

I'm so glad I stumbled into this thread. I almost threw out my pressed powder. Next i'm going to do fix my broken Orgasm.

 

[tkh777]

I am trying to fix a blush tonight with the alcohol method and will let the thread now if it works

 

[Rinstar]

Has anyone tried the rubbing alcohol on MSFs? I dropped my redhead!!! I think you can see a common theme of me being a klutz....

 

[JillVader]

I tried the standard method with my pressed powder. It seemed to work great, but as it dried it cracked up! Should I try to do it again?

 

[dnelson]

Thank you so much!!

 

[HppyLittleNinja]

Can the alcohol method be used for repairing baked eyeshadow or blush products?
I'm concerned the alcohol will make the product go rock hard and unusable.