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Making Mineral Makeup

Module 2

Making Mineral & Coloured Makeup

A Distance Learning Course

Module 2

The products you make and the ingredients you use during this course are for personal use only
and must not be sold commercially. If you intend to make and sell cosmetic products, your product
formulation must be certified by a cosmetic chemist and conform to the cosmetic regulations laid
out in the DTI guide. See our EU Cosmetic Legislation workshop or distance learning course for
more details.
Plush Folly cannot be held responsible for any adverse reactions caused by handling and/or using
the ingredients. As with all new products, please do a patch test if you are unsure of suitability for
your skin.

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Making Mineral Makeup

Module 2

Module Two
1
2
3
4
5

Working with oxides

CI Numbers
Base powder ingredients and benefits
Colour blending for eyes
Recipes making eye shadows

Working with oxides

Pigments are either organic or inorganic, each identified by certain characteristics. Organic
pigments tend to be transparent (although this isnt always the case) and inorganic
pigments are opaque allowing them to reflect light extremely well. Oxides are inorganic
pigments and have been around for years the earliest record of them being used to create
prehistoric cave paintings.
Inorganic pigments are resistant to water helping to keep our mineral makeup dry and
fresh. Inorganic pigments will not dissolve in water or oil, but remain suspended in the
liquid.
Iron oxides
Iron oxides have been used in cosmetics since the early 1900s and
are probably the most commonly used colouring ingredient in
cosmetics.
Oxides can go straight onto the skin but as they are slightly chalky
they will drag the skin and not glide beautifully across it.
The colours are very intense and a few specks of oxide will cover
Yellow Oxide
quite an area of skin which would make it very difficult to apply to
eyelids (as an example) without the possibility of the colour being overpowering.
Iron oxides offer matte, earthy, muted hues and have three main colour groups yellow,
red and black. Many other variations of these can be created as they can be blended
together or darkened (using the black oxide) or lightened (using titanium dioxide). These
three colour groups, in conjunction with the titanium dioxide, can be blended to create
most shades of skin colour. Iron oxides therefore play an important role in mineral makeup
products.
Iron oxides are safe for use in colouring cosmetics and can be used
in all types of makeup. Oxides are insoluble and will not dissolve.
They remain suspended in the liquid to which they are added.
They are unlikely to bleed into other colours or fade.
Red Oxide

Iron oxides are naturally occurring inorganic mineral deposits

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found in rocks, cliffs and caves and are mined from the earths crust. In their natural and
raw state they may contain traces of metals and are therefore heavily regulated to ensure
that the rigorous cleaning and filtering renders them safe for cosmetic purposes.
Iron oxides can also be created synthetically. Heating natural iron oxides to high
temperatures can bring about a colour change.
Chromium green oxide
Chromium green oxide is mined from the earths crust and comes from
the mineral eskolaite. It is a muted olive green and used extensively in
camouflage products. This colouring is not permitted in lip products in
the USA.
Another green colour, but this time a more
turquoise-blue-green, is hydrated chromium green
Chromium Green
oxide. The chromium green oxide (above) has been
hydrated with water and the result is a much brighter green.
Hydrated Chromium
Green

Brown oxide
You cannot mine brown oxide from the earths crust but you can make brown oxide by
blending the other oxide colours together.
Typically, brown oxide will be a blend of red, yellow and black oxides. Titanium dioxide may
also be used to create a lighter brown.
Titanium dioxide
Titanium dioxide is an important ingredient in many cosmetics, not just makeup, since it has
sun protection properties. It reflects light extremely well and has the second highest
refractive index known the highest belonging to another mineral, the diamond!
Titanium dioxide will give a white colour to cosmetics and it can be used to lighten the
shades of colour. It also helps make cosmetic products opaque and can be used to remove
yellow or golden tints brought about by using waxes and oils in cosmetic products.
Micronised titanium dioxide is titanium dioxide that has been crushed and ground to a very
fine almost fluffy. The fine particles reduce the titanium dioxide forming a white pasty layer
on your skin making it ideal for sun screen products. Using micronized titanium dioxide at
5% will give you an SPF of 10-15.

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Zinc oxide
Like titanium dioxide, zinc oxide is a natural UV blocker and is used in sun protection
products. It is very resistant to water.
Zinc oxide is used in skin care products as it is soothing and healing and an anti-irritant. It is
often found in after-sun treatments and rash treatments.
As an ingredient in mineral makeup, it is used as a white colouring, to add opacity and
lighten products.
Pigment size
Pigments are larger and more intense in colour than micas. If you take a little oxide and run
it onto the back of your hand, you will find that the oxide colour does not glide across your
skin easily and drags a little.
The oxide colour is very strong and rubbing the oxide on the back of your hand will result in
a large smudge of colour. Oxides are always blended with other ingredients to make them
feel better on the skin. Oxides must be ground down and crushed before they can be used
in cosmetics without causing the makeup to streak when applied to the skin.
Oxides are used to coat micas as well as being used as cosmetic colours in their own right.
They are matte although can be added to pearl mica to make a green sheen mica.
Crushing and grinding oxides
Oxides will need to be broken down in to a fine powder before use
in mineral makeup products. This can be done with the use of an
electric grinder or by hand.
A coffee bean grinder will grind the oxides to fine powder but will
need to be washed thoroughly in between colours so that there is
no transference of colour. Models similar to the one shown here
(from Amazon and other suppliers) are absolutely ideal for
relatively small quantities of oxides.
If you are grinding smaller quantities, or several different colours, it is possible to grind by
hand. Whilst a pestle and mortar will help, do make sure that the lining of the mortar isnt
porous as it may absorb the colours beyond the point that you can wash them off.
When creating smaller quantities of mineral makeup products, we grind our colours using
the back of a teaspoon and a small bowl such as a ramekin. To do this, add the colours to
your powder base filler ingredients (see recipes at the end of this module) and stir to
distribute thoroughly. Now start grinding or squashing the beetle as we call it! This
involves crushing the powders between the back of the teaspoon and the bowl and dragging

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Making Mineral Makeup

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your teaspoon over colours thus crushing and grinding the colours between the teaspoon
and the bowl.
Even if you think you have stirred, squashed and blended the oxides, if you dig to the
bottom of the bowl it is highly likely you will find some particles of colour lurking there
which will need to be blended more.
Streak test
If in doubt, try the streak test. Take a little of your blended colour and powder base on the
tip of a clean finger and wipe across the back of your hand. Check for any streaking. If there
is none, you have done a great job of blending your colours if there is some streaking, go
back to the grindstone (literally!) and keep grinding away at those pigments.

CI numbers

All colours safe for use in cosmetics are referenced by a CI number. The CI number is the
international Colour Index reference number and recognised worldwide regardless of
language.
The colour index number is referred to on the
label of the makeup product and as a reference
on cosmetic colour websites and will usually
appear as the last item/s in the ingredients list.
FD&C Colours
In America, cosmetic colours that are
considered safe for use in cosmetics are
referred to as FD&C colours (Food, Drink &
Cosmetics). These are listed on labels as follows:

FD&C suitable for food, drugs and cosmetics

D&C suitable for cosmetics and for coating drugs/pills, but not acceptable for
colouring food

Ext. D&C colours suitable for externally applied drugs and for cosmetics that do
not come into contact with mucous membranes (ie. lip products).

These naming conventions are explained further in Module Three.

For a cosmetic product that may be sold in Europe and America the label would refer to
both colour naming conventions ie. CI16035 (FD&C Red 40 Lake).
Many of natures own products can be used to successfully colour some cosmetics, often by
gently and temporarily staining the skin. These are used in lip and cheek cosmetics such as

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lip gloss and blusher. Amongst the list are clays, available in shades of black, blue, red, pink,
yellow and green - these do not stain the skin at all. Also used are caramel (beige brown),
beetroot powder (purplish pink), carrot (orange), grape skin (purple), spinach (green),
spirulina (turquoise) and cocoa powder (brown). These are listed as their botanical name on
the ingredients section of a cosmetic label and not as CI numbers.
As mentioned earlier, titanium dioxide is an ingredient that is used to colour or lighten a
product or to give the product a sun protection factor. If titanium is used as a functional
ingredient rather than a colouring, it should be listed as titanium dioxide rather than its CI
equivalent CI77891.

Colour

Red oxide

CI Number
or label
name (EU)
CI77491

USA
label name

Colour

Notes

Iron oxide

Yellow oxide

CI77492

Iron oxide

Black oxide

CI77499

Iron oxide

Chromium green
oxide

CI77288

Chromium
Oxide Green

FDA - Not permitted in lip colours

Hydrated chromium
green oxide

CI77289

FDA - Not permitted in lip colours

Zinc oxide

CI 77947

Chromium
Hydroxide
Green
Zinc oxide

Titanium dioxide

CI77891

Titanium
dioxide

Mica

Mica

Mica

Bordeaux mica

Mica,
CI77491

Mica, Iron
Oxide

Zinc oxide is a functional

ingredient and therefore usually
listed as its INCI name on the
label unless it has been added
just for colour
Titanium dioxide may be listed by
its INCI name on the label
Mica is listed as an ingredient
rather than a CI number but when
coated with colours, the colour CI
number is also listed
A combination of mica and red
oxide

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Colour

Green mica

CI Number
or label
name (EU)
Mica,
CI77891,
77288

Blue mica

Mica,
CI77891,
77510

Gold mica

Mica,
CI77492

USA
label name

Making Mineral Makeup

Module 2

Colour

Mica,
Titanium
dioxide,
Chromium
Oxide Green
Mica,
Titanium
dioxide,
ferric
ferrocyanide
Mica, Yellow
Oxide

Notes

A combination of mica, black

oxide and chromium green oxide

A combination of mica, titanium

dioxide and ferric ferrocyanide

A combination of mica and yellow

oxide

Base powder ingredients and benefits

Oxides and other pigments will need to be blended with other powdered ingredients before
being applied to the skin so that they behave well and arent too intense.
While micas can go directly onto the skin, these will benefit from being blended with base
powder ingredients as well.
The base powder ingredients have been selected for their ability to help the minerals glide
across your skin, remain on your skin and to dilute the stronger colours.
Common ingredients used as the base powders in mineral makeup include magnesium
silicate, magnesium stearate, cornflour, potato and rice flours and clay.
Magnesium silicate
Magnesium silicate is also known as talc.
Before I tell you the benefits of talc, I shall hopefully allay any concerns you have regarding
the use of talc. In the not so distant past talc received bad press as a possible carcinogenic
ingredient. As of today there is no medical evidence that it is unsafe when used and applied
normally the only risk is if you were to breathe it in in enormous quantities or apply it
liberally to your genital area. Breathing in any powder (including icing sugar) can cause
coughing and temporary breathing difficulties.
Applying talc to your genital areas will give it a chance clog and to enter your body. No
matter what the beliefs are in whether talc is safe or not, this cannot be considered healthy
or hygienic.

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Cosmetic grade talc has been milled, filtered, cleaned and processed to ensure that it is safe
for use in cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. Cosmetic grade talc is milled to a fairly
large particle size (>5 m) that is unlikely to be inhaled.
As with any cosmetic ingredient, please do your own research to find out more about it if
you are in anyway concerned. Remember that there are scaremongers out there but more
importantly, remember that the EU Cosmetic Legislation authorities and the FDA would not
consider allowing it in products if there was any evidence of an ingredient being unsafe.
There are companies that sell their products based on the premise that it doesnt contain
certain ingredients. You may have seen SLS-free, soap-free, fragrance-free and oil-free
products for sale. This may make some consumers feel that oil or fragrance or SLS is bad for
you. This isnt necessarily the case and as with all things, moderation and careful use should
be exercised. Butter isnt dangerous in moderation, but butter liberally spread on every
meal will not be healthy at all.
The reason behind promoting products as being particular-ingredient-free is so that you
then believe that the product on sale is in fact the perfect, ideal product containing only
good ingredients. Hmmmm, dont be taken in by this style of marketing without having some
hard, proven facts.
If you would like to find out more about using talc in cosmetics, this page is a good place to
start http://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/HBI/26
Talc is a mineral and is used in mineral makeup to give a silky feel and help it glide across the
skin. It gives a silky, translucent finish and imparts a smoothness to the skin.
It has the ability to absorb oil without caking.
Magnesium stearate
Magnesium stearate is a magnesium salt containing stearic acid, a fatty acid found in
vegetable oils.
It is a very fine waxy powder and is used in mineral makeup to give adhesion. Without
adhesion, the coloured powders may not easily stick to the skin and will not stay on for long.
Magnesium stearate will give mineral makeup staying power and gives a matte finish to the
product.
Magnesium stearate needs to be used in conjunction with an
ingredient that allows the makeup to glide easily across the skin
this is known as slip. Magnesium stearate used on its own
would not glide nicely and may pull the skin as it is applied.
Magnesium stearate is a key ingredient in mineral makeup, used
not only for its ability to adhere to the skin, but also because
it will give good coverage and opacity to the makeup

Pink Kaolin Clay

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product.
Clays
Clays are used in many cosmetic products. In mineral makeup they play a multi-functional
role they absorb excess oil and therefore reduce shine, help the makeup product to adhere
to the skin, give a creamy texture and give a medium coverage.
Clays come in a variety of colours, most of which are suitable for use in makeup. Clays are
known as kaolin, bentonite, montmorillonite, argiletz etc depending on the area that they
are collected from.
Bismuth oxychloride
Bismuth oxychloride is a byproduct of copper and lead refining and is a metal. Bismuth
oxychloride is used in mineral makeup to give an iridescent, shiny, glowing appearance.
Bismuth oxychloride is processed and refined to make it suitable as a cosmetic ingredient. It
takes on a soft, slippery, silky feel and gives the skin a soft sheen. It will refract light to draw
attention away from fine lines and wrinkles.
Some people find bismuth oxychloride irritating on their skin and hence some mineral
makeup companies promote their products as being bismuth oxychloride free.
Cornflour (aka cornstarch)
Cornflour is not a mineral but a vegetable starch milled from corn. When used in mineral
makeup products it gives a very silky feel and enables the makeup to glide easily across
the skin.
Cornflour has good oil absorbency and helps lessen shine. As it is a vegetable matter
rather than a mineral, cornflour will reduce the shelf life of your mineral makeup
products to 18 months (rather than 2 years plus if the makeup is made from only
minerals).
Potato flour and rice flour
Potato flour is a finely milled potato starch which will also limit the shelf life of your makeup
product to 18 months or so.
Rice flour is milled from brown and white rice.
Both flours add a colourless translucent matte finish to cosmetic products and impart a silky
feel on the skin.

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Ingredient Name

INCI label name

Making Mineral Makeup

Module 2

Function / benefit

Magnesium silicate (talc)

Magnesium silicate

Magnesium stearate

Magnesium stearate

Bismuth oxychloride

Bismuth oxychloride

Silky feel. Good glide. Smooth finish.

Absorbs oil
Good coverage and opacity. Excellent
adhesion
Shiny, glowing appearance

Cornflour

Zea mays

Silky glide across skin

Potato flour

Solanum Tuberosum
(Potato) Starch

Colourless matte finish

Rice flour

Oryza Sativa

Colourless matte finish

Clay

Kaolin, Bentonite,
Montmorillonite, Argiletz
depending on the area
producing the clay

Good absorbency, creamy texture, good

coverage, good adhesion

Waxes, butters and oils

See Module 1 for information on waxes, butters and oils used in lip
products. The same ingredients can be used in cream eye shadows
although the ingredients and type of oil will be adjusted to make it
less oily

iBinder

Iso Propyl Myristate (and)

Caprylic/Capric
Triglyceride (and)
Cyclomethicone

A silky ingredients used for binding

powdered makeup. Pressing (with
force) will help to press the powdered
makeup into a solid

When blending the raw ingredients to create a base powder, you need to create a base that
has good slip on the skin, will provide excellent coverage and will adhere to the skin.
There is no right or wrong when it comes to formulating and half the fun of creating your
own makeup is having the flexibility and freedom to change the recipe to suit your skin.
The proportions of the base powder ingredients that we suggest in our recipes can be
changed as required.

Colour blending for eyes

There is no hard and fast set of rules when it comes to creating colours for eyes. You can
blend colours that will enhance the natural colour of your eyes, your skin tone, match your
outfit or simply because you like the colour.
You can wear one colour of eye shadow on your eye lids or wear several colours at once.
You can wear dark colours offset by light colours or have similar hues throughout.

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Whilst this course doesnt cover how to create different looks using different colours and
shades, nor different shading techniques, there are plenty of websites out there keen to
share their tips with you and I list a few of these below.
Useful sites for techniques on applying eye shadow
http://www.beauty-and-makeup-tips.com/how-to-apply-eyeshadow.html
http://howtoapplymakeup.net/how-to-apply-eyeshadow/
http://www.smokeyeyetutorial.net/how-to-apply-eye-shadow/
http://www.wildaboutmakeup.com/apply-eye-shadow.html

Blending colours
Blend blue and gold to get shades of green

Blend blue and red to get shades of purple

Blend red and gold to get shades of orange

Blend red, yellow and blue to get shades

of brown

Blend white with black to get shades of grey

Add black to your blended colour to darken it

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Add white to your blended colour to lighten it

Recipes eye shadows (powders and creams)

For the practical session you will need colours suitable for eyes. We have
suggested colours to use, but of course you can substitute the colours to suit
your eyes, clothes, colouring or mood!
Eye colours
Gold mica
Blue mica
Blush spark mica
Red oxide
Black oxide
Yellow oxide
Titanium Dioxide
Gold mica
Bordeaux mica
Purple mica
Green mica
Blue mica
Pearl mica
Golden olive
Mix 1 part gold mica with 1 part blue mica
Add more pearl mica to make it even lighter
Berry mix
Mix 2 parts bordeaux mica with 1 part blue mica
Sunset glow
Mix 1 part red oxide with 5 parts gold mica and 2 parts pearl mica
Sunkissed
Mix 1 part red oxide with 5 parts gold mica, 2 parts pearl mica and 1 part blue mica

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Charcoal
Mix 2 parts pearl mica mica with 1 part black oxide and 2 parts titanium dioxide
Burberry Plum
Mix 2 parts bordeaux mica with 1 part purple mica and 1 part titanium dioxide
Electric Ice
Mix 2 parts blue mica with 1 part pearl mica and 1 part glitter
Ditch water
Mix 1 part red oxide with 2 parts yellow oxide and 1 part green oxide
The recipes below will show you how to make a variety of different styles of eye shadows to
set you off. Experimenting and mixing colours is half the fun so please do feel free to make
up your own colours too.

Powdered Mineral Makeup Base / Eye Shadow

The method for making the base for eye shadow, blusher, powder foundation and
shimmering body powder is the same it is the quantities and colour combination that
determines what you are likely to use the product for.
Ingredients
For the eye shadow base, use the following quantities
0.5g magnesium stearate
1g cornflour
1.5g talc (or white clay - or a combination of both talc and clay)
5 drops jojoba oil
If you do not have scales that can weigh in such small quantities then you can measure the
quantities using the 0.5ml small blue measuring spoon.
To measure in spoonfuls you will need:
1 level small blue spoonful magnesium stearate
2 level small blue spoonfuls cornflour
3 level small blue spoonfuls talc (or white clay - or a combination of both talc and clay)
3 drops jojoba oil
Note that the measurement does not need to be absolutely precise a good guess will be
fine!

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Method
Place the magnesium stearate, cornflour and talc (or clay or talc/clay combination) in a
small bowl such as a ramekin. Stir with a teaspoon and ensure that the powdered
ingredients are thoroughly mixed together.
Add the drops of jojoba oil and mix again. The function of the jojoba oil is to help the eye
shadow adhere to the skin and to make it slightly less powdery. You can add a few more
drops or omit it altogether if you wish. You can also substitute it for another oil if you dont
have jojoba to hand.
Rather than use a regular stirring motion, try squashing the droplets of jojoba oil so that
they are mixed into the powder as if you were squashing a bug on the back of the
teaspoon.
Spoon half of this powder base mixture into another bowl or put it into a small ziplock bag
to use later.
The powdered mixture that you have made forms the base of many other mineral makeup
products. You may want to consider making up a larger amount of the powder base and
storing it in a suitable container or ziplock bag. You can then draw off the amount you need
when making your blusher, eye shadows, foundation etc.
Adding mica colours
For the first recipe you will need the following micas:
Gold mica
Blue mica
Blush spark mica
Carefully add a little of the gold mica into the powdered base in the ramekin dish or bowl. It
is entirely up to you how pale/intense you want your eye shadow to be but the rule is START
WITH A LITTLE COLOUR AND GRADUALLY ADD MORE. We suggest that you use the tiniest
white spoon and start with one scoop of gold mica.
Gradually add a little of the gold mica until you have the desired colour (test on the back of
your hand).
Please note that the colours may initially appear lighter than they will appear on your skin
this is because the white powders become semi-transparent when on your skin, allowing
the coloured powders to show through. The more you stir and work the colours into the
powder base, the move the colour will be absorbed by the powder and the final colour of
the eye shadow will be revealed.
It isnt uncommon to have the same quantity of (or even more) mica as you have powdered
base it all depends on the colour you are trying to achieve.

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When you are happy with the gold colour you have blended, place up to half of it into the
bottom container of the stacking pot.
You will still have some gold coloured eye shadow left in the bowl. Add a little blue mica to
this and stir well. Since you have added blue to gold, you should get a shade of green.
Scoop some of the green colour into the next section up in the stacking jars.
You will still have some green coloured eye shadow left in the bowl. Add a little blush spark
mica to this and stir well. Since you have added pink to green, you should get a shade of
brown but this is very much dependant on the amount of blue you added earlier and the
amount of blush spark you have added now.
Stir well and adjust the colour if you wish. Place in the third section of the stacking jar and
put on the lid.
Container: stacking pots (3 sections)
Application: apply with suitable eye shadow brush, sponge applicator or clean finger
Shelf life: 18 24 months

Matt Powdered Eye Shadow

This method is similar to the above recipe but uses oxides instead of micas. Be prepared for
more effort when grinding the colours. The end result will be matte rather than shimmery.
For the eye shadow base, you can use the ready made mixture you have stored in the
ziplock bags in which case skip straight to the adding oxide colours section. Alternatively
you can make up a new powdered base using the following quantities
Ingredients
0.5g magnesium stearate
1g cornflour
1.5g talc (or white clay - or a combination of both talc and clay)
5 drops jojoba oil
Or if you are measuring in spoonfuls as per previous recipe you will need:
1 level small blue spoonful magnesium stearate
2 level small blue spoonfuls cornflour
3 level small blue spoonfuls talc (or white clay - or a combination of both talc and clay)
3 drops jojoba oil

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Method
Place the magnesium stearate, cornflour and talc (or clay or talc/clay combination) in a
small bowl such as a ramekin or pestle and mortar. Stir with a teaspoon and ensure that the
powdered ingredients are thoroughly mixed together.
Add the drops of jojoba oil and mix again. Rather than use a regular stirring motion, try
squashing the droplets of jojoba oil so that they are mixed into the powder as if you were
squashing a bug on the back of the teaspoon.
Spoon half of this powder base mixture into another bowl or put it into a small ziplock bag
to use later.
Adding oxide colours
For this recipe you will need the following oxides:
Red oxide
Black oxide
Yellow oxide
I suggest you use the small white spoonful for measuring out the oxides. They are far more
concentrated than the mica colours and will go further than the mica.
Carefully add a very small quantity of the black oxide into the powdered base in the ramekin
dish or bowl. When working with oxides definitely stick to the rule that you must START
WITH A LITTLE COLOUR AND GRADUALLY ADD MORE. We suggest that you use the tiniest
white spoon and start with half a scoop of black oxide.
This is where the fun begins as you need to grind your oxides before they can go on your
skin. Using the back of the teaspoon, press down on the black oxide and drag your
teaspoon over the oxide so that you are squashing it. Simply moving it around in the bowl
will not be good enough, it must be ground into finer particles before you can wear your
makeup otherwise you WILL get streaking and you WONT be happy with what youve
made.
So crush away, grind down the black oxide, stir, adjust the colour a tiny bit at a time and just
when you think youve finished, crush and stir a bit more. To test how well you have done,
check the powdered base thoroughly spoon the mixture around so that you can get a
good look in right down at the bottom to see if any larger particles are lurking there. If
youre happy with what you see, do a finger test.
Dip a clean finger into the product right down to the bottom of the bowl and then wipe
the eye shadow that has transferred onto your finger on the back of your hand. Is there any
streaking? If there is go back and crush, grind and stir some more. If not, then do another
finger test to make sure and if the results are still streak-free then congratulations, your

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hard work has paid off and you may now place half your charcoal grey (or a shade of
depending on how much black you have added) mixture into one of the stacking jar
containers.
Since you still have some grey mixture in the bowl, you can do some more experimenting.
Add a little red oxide and repeat the exercise above to make a non-streaking dark russet
coloured eye shadow half of which can be put in the second stacking container.
You will still have a little eye shadow left in the bowl, add a little yellow oxide to change the
colour to a lighter amber. Crush and stir as before and when you are happy that the eye
shadow will not streak, add the final mixture to the third stacking pot container.
Container: stacking pots (3 sections)
Application: apply with suitable eye shadow brush, sponge applicator or clean finger
Shelf life: 18 24 months
Even though it is harder work to grind the oxides (although this is made much easier with a
grinder), you will have seen that the oxides go a lot further in terms of colour shade than
the micas and they are usually cheaper too.
To make your oxides shimmer like mica, simply add pearl mica or bismuth oxychloride to the
powdered mixture.

Creamy Highlighter

This style of eye shadow requires a wax base, rather like the lip products, to which to
coloured powder base is added.
Ingredients
Wax Base
5ml fractionated coconut oil
10ml rice bran oil
2g beeswax
3g jojoba wax
Powder Base (you need half this amount_
1 level small blue spoonful magnesium stearate
2 level small blue spoonfuls cornflour
3 level small blue spoonfuls talc (or white clay - or a combination of both talc and clay)

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Colours
3 tiny white spoonfuls gold mica colour
1 tiny white spoonful bordeaux mica colour
Method
Mix the powder base ingredients together in a small bowl. You will have plenty of powder
base and wont need it all for this recipe so I suggest you remove half and place in a ziplock
bag.
Add the mica colours to the remaining powder base and stir well.
Place the wax base ingredients in small heat proof container and place over a double boiler
as per the lip recipes. Heat gently until the wax has melted.
Add the coloured powder base to the melted wax base and stir well to ensure that the
mixture is thoroughly combined. If the mixture starts to set, remelt it by placing it back over
the double boiler.
When fully blended together, pour the mixture into your container. If necessary reserve a
little to top it up as the contents may settle when cooling. You can pour half the mixture
and then add more mica colour to change the shade of the remaining mixture.
Once the eye shadow has set, put the lid onto the container. Leave to harden for at least 2
3 hours.
Note: You can adjust the texture and hardness of the product if it is not perfectly suitable
for you. Add a little more rice bran oil to give a softer consistency; add a little more wax to
give a firmer consistency.
Container: screw top pots
Application: apply with suitable eye shadow brush, sponge applicator or clean finger
Shelf life: 18 24 months

Sunlit Sea Pressed Powder

Pressed powders are powders that have been compressed into one piece rather than left as
loose powder.
The amount of pressure / weight that is needed to press the powder into a solid requires
special machinery. Although not as robust and compact as mechanically compressed eye
shadows, you can attempt to create pressed powder yourself using some iBinder solution, a
bit of cling film (saran wrap) and a coin yes truly!

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Ingredients
1 level small blue spoonful magnesium stearate
2 level small blue spoonfuls cornflour
3 level small blue spoonfuls talc (or white clay - or a combination of both talc and clay)
5 drops jojoba oil (optional)
1 tiny white spoon blue mica
1 tiny white spoon green mica
tiny white spoon black oxide
1-2ml iBinder solution (use 1ml blue measuring spoon)
Mix your non-coloured powders together as per the Powdered Mineral Makeup Base / Eye
Shadow recipe earlier in this module. Add the mica colours and stir until thoroughly
blended.
When you are certain that the colours have been thoroughly blended, add the iBinder
solution and mix well. The iBinder solution will be absorbed by the powders keep stirring
so that most of the powder has absorbed the solution and when you push the mixture up
against the sides of the bowl, it tries to stick to it. Note that the colour will appear a little
darker once the iBinder solution has been added.
Place your eye shadow mixture into the bottom compartment of the stacking jars. Fill it as
full as you can. Take a piece of cling film (saran wrap) or polythene and lay it over the top of
the jar dont cut it to size, it needs to be much bigger than the diameter of the container.
Now you need to press the mixture down using a small disc or coin that is just slightly
smaller in diameter to the container a 1 coin or a 1 Euro coin will do very nicely.
Place the coin on top of the cling film (saran wrap) or polythene and push down with as
much strength as you can muster. Keep pushing so that you are compacting the mixture as
much as possible.
You will have pushed your mixture down into the pot and have made room for more.
Remove the coin and the polythene and top the pot up with more mixture from the bowl.
Repeat the pressing/squashing exercise until the small pot is full or you have run out of
mixture.
Carefully remove the coin and the polythene and put the lid on the pot.
Container: bottom compartment of stacking pot plus lid
Application: apply with suitable eye shadow brush or sponge applicator
Shelf life: 18 24 months

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Making Mineral Makeup

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If your mixture doesnt hold well and is a little crumbly, try adding a little more
iBinder solution and/or press even harder and for longer when compacting the
mixture into the container.
Instead of using shrink wrap try using a textured ribbon or piece of material to give a
patterned surface to your pressed eye shadow.
Instead of using a coin, you can use anything with a flat base
that will fit snugly into the container
Using an embossed disc to press onto your powder will leave a
mark on the surface on your pressed eye shadow. We
successfully used a brass seal like the one pictured here. It is
designed as a seal to press into hot wax, but it worked well on
our eye shadows!

Glitterarti Eye Dazzle

Adding glitter to your powdered, cream and solid eye shadows is easy, but there are a few
rules that you need to follow:

Always make sure that the glitter is cosmetic grade and is safe for eyes. If in doubt,
ask your supplier
Never put too much glitter into the product your eyelids and area up to your
eyebrows is not a vast expanse and as such, only requires a small amount of glitter
to twinkle and sparkle.
Always add the glitter once the other colours have been blended in and never grind
glitter in case you break it into small particles with sharp edges

This recipe is for a pressed eye shadow, but you could just as easily add the glitter to the
powdered eye shadow or to the cream eye shadow. If adding it to the cream eye shadow,
make sure you give the eye shadow a very good stir and dont pour it until it is almost
setting. This will help suspend the glitter in the mixture rather than letting it sink to the
bottom.
Ingredients
1 level small blue spoonful magnesium stearate
2 level small blue spoonfuls cornflour
3 level small blue spoonfuls talc (or white clay - or a combination of both talc and clay)
5 tiny white spoons purple mica
tiny white spoon black oxide
1 tiny white spoon cosmetic grade glitter
1-2ml iBinder solution (use 1ml blue measuring spoon)

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Method
Place the magnesium stearate, cornflour and talc (or clay or talc/clay combination) in a
small bowl such as a ramekin or pestle and mortar. Stir with a teaspoon and ensure that the
powdered ingredients are thoroughly mixed together.
Spoon half of this powder base mixture into another bowl or put it into a small ziplock bag
to use later.
Add the colours and mix well. Add the iBinder solution and mix again. Finally add the glitter
and stir it into the mixture.
Place the mixture into the eye shadow pot and press down using the polythene/coin (or
your preferred similar method) as before.
Container: bottom compartment of stacking pot plus lid (or a middle compartment from
the stacking pots and attach it to the pressed eye shadow made in the previous recipe).
Application: apply with suitable eye shadow brush or sponge applicator
Shelf life: 18 24 months

Illuminating Radiance Blusher

Ingredients
Wax Base
5ml fractionated coconut oil
8ml rice bran oil
3g jojoba wax
Powder Base
1 level small blue spoonful magnesium stearate
2 level small blue spoonfuls cornflour
3 level small blue spoonfuls talc (or white clay - or a combination of both talc and clay)
Colours
2 tiny white measuring spoonfuls pearl mica
1 tiny white measuring spoonful bordeaux mica colour
tiny white measuring spoonful gold mica colour

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Method
Mix the powder base ingredients together in a small bowl. Remove half and place in a
ziplock bag. Alternatively use excess stored powder from previous recipes.
Add the mica colours to the powder base and stir well.
Place the oils and wax base ingredients in small heat proof container and place over a
double boiler as per the lip recipes. Heat gently until the wax has melted.
Add the coloured powder base to the melted wax base and stir well to ensure that the
mixture is thoroughly combined. If the mixture starts to set, remelt it by placing it back over
the double boiler.
When fully blended together, pour the mixture into your container. If necessary reserve a
little to top it up as the contents may settle when cooling.
Leave to harden for at least 2 3 hours.
Container: screw top pot
Application: apply sparingly to cheek bones with sponge applicator or clean finger
Shelf life: 18 24 months

Highlighter gel

Ingredients
50ml floral water
1g xanthan gum or gum Arabic
10 drops preservative
2 tiny white measuring spoonfuls pearl mica
1 tiny white measuring spoonful gold mica
Method
Put the floral water in a heatproof jug or bowl and heat until warm.
Sprinkle the gum over the water and stir briskly. Add the preservative and then continue to
stir until the mixture has thickened and the gum has dissolved. Allow to cool and adjust the
mixture by adding more gum/water as necessary.
Add the mica colours and stir well.

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Place into a container and label.

Container: screw top pot
Application: apply to upper cheek bones with sponge applicator or clean finger
Shelf life: 9 months
Note: You can add glitter as 1 teaspoon glitter well as or instead of the mica to create a
glittery gel.

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