I had pressed MAC pigments before and it's the easiest to do since all you need besides the pan and something to press with, is the MAC pigment and alcohol. MAC pigments already have a binder in it while most other pigments or micas do not. I first learned to use vegetable glycerin as a binder and it works great. I have since learned that it does tend to get mildew, especially in humid climates. Fractionated Coconut Oil is a much better product to use as a binder. I have been told that it's naturally anti-bacterial, which is a plus.
I bought most of my supplies from TKB Trading.
They have a wide range of supplies and the service is impeccable. I picked up several different pan sizes, including the standard 26 mm round pans (MAC pan size). One thing to be aware of is that there are 2 different types of pans, tin and aluminum. Aluminum pans are not magnet responsive so you will need to place a magnet on the bottom of the pan. Tin pans are magnet responsive but will rust if there is prolonged exposure to water. This is why it's best to use the highest alcohol concentration and to press your pigment as soon as possible. TKB sells only tin pans but there are other companies which sell the aluminum tins if you prefer to use those. You can even buy a pressing tool but can find items around the house to use such as a quarter for the 26 mm pans.
After a bit of a trial and error process (it takes more coconut oil to bind the pigments than glycerin), I pressed a variety of different things.
As I mentioned, MAC pigments are the easy to press, just add alcohol and that's it. Silk Naturals "Hint" is supposed to be a dupe of MAC's now discontinued "Seedy Pearl". I really like it but I find that TKB "Angel Wings" is much closer to "Seedy Pearl". There are several pan variations of TKB Davy's Gray. I mixed it with different percentages of "Satin Pearl" to get light tone and mid tone shades. I really love Giorgio Armani ETK No. 23. This one was definitely the easiest to pan as it is a moist eyeshadow. I just scraped out the shadow into the pan and pressed. The same can be done with L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadows, The blushes are very pigmented. I need to be careful and make sure that I do not end up with clown cheeks. I did find that the blushes did not wear well on me at first. I have found that if I "set" the blush with translucent powder after applying, it wears very well and stays nice all day for me.
I am having so much fun with this and am looking forward to finalizing my travel palette. Have you experimented with pressing eyeshadows?
*Kat*
2 comments:
Yay for pressing pigments! I like using pressed pigments better than loose ones. But I found that the binder tends to crease on my eyes in the summer if I use UDPP. I switched to the Milani primer I bought in Hawaii in February and it seems to work better on my eyes!
@K--I find myself reaching for my pressed pigments more than loose. I'm glad that the Milani primer works well for you. Yay for drugstore products that work better than name products!
*Kat*
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