I have had some requests to post recipes that I use to make my mineral makeup. I don’t actually use any recipes. As a general rule I use 3 parts mica to one part TKB matte texture base. I just put 1/4 tsp of matte texture base in a little ziplock baggie, and add in 3/4 tsp of various colored micas and smoosh it all together until well blended.

In learning how to make mineral makeup I’ve collected some links that may help you in creating your own formulas:

General

• How to use TKB matte texture base - This link is very informative, it doesn’t just cover how to use their base, but also the qualities of other fillers. If you would like an idea of how much to use, look at the page about the products, there is usually a percentage indicated for concentration.
• The official mmu thread @ makeup talk - This thread contains all sorts of valuable information. And if you have any questions, you can ask away.
• Mix up your makeup eyeshadow kit from TKB trading- Information (with videos) on how to mix micas to get the colors you want

Recipes & Information

• What’s new in the industry - how to make eyeshadow
• Making your own cosmetics @ sweetscents.com
• MakeYourCosmetics.com
• Lip Balm Recipes @ fromnaturewithlove.com
• The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe - recipes and instructions (scroll down to the bottom for mineral makeup.
• Eyeshadow recipes from TKB Trading - Recipes using their matte texture base.

Buy Ingredients

• Coastal Scents - All sorts of ingredient, mica, oxides, fillers, jars.
• Garden of Wisdom - Mostly ingredients for lotions and soaps.
• TKB trading - Almost everything you would ever need to make your own makeup, great resource for information (don’t forget to check out Kaila’s blog). Micas, Fillers, Oxides, additives, jars, etc…. Be sure to look at the pop micas, these are about as close to primaries as you will get with micas, great for mixing custom colours.

You might have difficulty finding actual recipes for mineral makeup.
There are a few reasons for this. Many people who go through the trouble, and time of creating the perfect formulation and colours, are doing so because one day, they would like to sell their mineral makeup and are hesitant to share their “secret” recipe.

Another reason is because creating mineral makeup has a lot to do with personal preference, do you prefer a makeup with lots of colour pay-off, or a more natural look? Are you sensitive to bismuth? Do you have the equipment for matte, or do you want something simple? Most of the fun in making mineral makeup is customising the perfect makeup for you.

You just might have to invent your own recipes (but isn’t that part of the fun? ). I would suggest looking through all of the links that I’ve posted, doing a “Google” search for “Mineral Makeup Recipes” and taking a peek at the ingredients in your favourite brands. Try your hand at inventing your own recipes.

This is just a quick note to let you all know that the Coastal Scents itailian badger brush is available for purchase again. This is hands-down my favourite brush for applying foundation.

When I first started experimenting with mineral eye-shadows I was really excited over all of the colors and finishes available. I loved the natural, subtle look that minerals gave. But lately I’ve been itching to try more daring looks, and was having difficulty getting the most color payout. After discovering eyeshadow bases it was much easier to get brighter more vibrant color out of my eye-shadows. Here is a comparison of the few bases that I’ve tried:

From left to right; Just eyeshadow alone, Wet n’ Wild MegaEyes cream eyeshadow in Cafe au Lait, Urban Decay Primer Potion, and MAC Shadestick in Beiging.

As you can see the eyeshadow alone is very subtle looking, and after rubbing it gently it all but disappeared. The Wet n’ Wild seems to give good color pay-off but after rubbing it a little, the purple mineral eyeshadow rubbed off and all that was left was the Wet n’ Wild base. The UDPP held onto the eyeshadow very well, and brightened the color considerably, it still looks good now, even while writing this (after rubbing it a few times, and doing some light housework). The MAC shade-stick worked well too, it helped achieve good color payoff, although it did darken the colour a bit rather than brighten it, it too looks good while writing this.

Here is my faves, from best to worst:

1. Urban Decay Primer Potion (bright colors, great staying power)
2. MAC Shadestick in Beiging (great staying power, although darken color)
3. Wet n’ Wild MegaEyes (Good initial color payoff, lousy staying power for the minerals, although the base itself has great staying power <just minerals rubbed off>)
4. Eyeshadow alone

I’ve made this post (as requested) so that you can see the sizes of the Lumiere brushes from the 9 pc set. This brush set is a travel set meaning the brushes are not full sized. There are many other full sized brushes available. As requested by Katrinah (thanks for reading!) in a previous post, here are the sizes of the brushes: The larger powder brushes are both 5 inches tall. The larger of the two have bristles that are about 1.5 inches wide, the smaller blush brush has bristles about 1 inch wide. Please see the pic below.

The eye-buki brush is about 4.5 inches tall, and the rest are about 3.5 inched high. I find the fluff brushes to be not so fluffy. Please see the pics below. To get a better idea of scale I included comparable “average sized” brushes. Please note that only the brushes with the smaller black handles are the Lumiere 9pc brushes.

Overall I like this set, I find that the fluff eyeshadow brushes are fluffy enough. But the blush brush and the powder brush are great. I also really like the eye-buki. As of the date of this post, Lumiere is still having their pre-buy brush sale (until October 31). Please see their site for details.