Mineral Makeup

This morning I blended my first ever batch of mineral makeup foundation, from scratch, in about 20 minutes.  Not only was it easy, but looking at the amount of ingredients I used ended up costing a matter of pennies.

The basic ingredients, along with the finished product (jar pictured is 2 oz)

As this is my first attempt and I was just winging it, I didn't really follow a recipe.  I've done a bit of reading on this subject, and knew the basics.  To make most skin tones, you need three or four oxide shades- yellow, red, brown, and black. You can buy a sample pack of each shade HERE for under $10, and this will make a TON of product.  Titanium dioxide (oil soluble) to lighten and make opaque.  Sericite mica (the untreated matte kind) to disperse the pigment and as a base.  Corn starch for a silky feeling and oil absorption.

The full sizes of all except the corn starch (which you can get anywhere) cost me about $17.40 and will make tons and tons of makeup.  The colour base can be added to lotion for a tinted mosturizer or foundation, to a powder base for just a setting powder, or a thicker wax based product for concealer.  I'm going to attempt all of these things.  For under $20 there is enough pigment to make all of these products many times over.

I have a set of tiny measuring spoons- 1/4 tsp, 1/8 tsp, and 1/16 tsp.  I'll call these large, med, and small.  I started with two large scoops of titanium dioxide.  Added 1 med and 1 small yellow oxide, 1 small red, and 1/2 small brown.  Smush smush smush in a little ziplock bag.  Then I added 4 heaping large scoops of sericite, and two heaping scoops of corn starch.

Finished powder, perfect shade and blendable perfect coverage.

I'm happy with the finished product- Looking forward to experimenting more and adding some additional ingredients the next time around.  The finish is quite good, not too matte or shiney.  Very good coverage- FULL coverage if you use a little kabuki brush as I have pictured, but you could get softer coverage using a fluffier less dense brush.  The colour is an incredible match for my skin- with all honesty, this is better than pretty much anything I have purchased.  Goes to show that even with minimal knowledge, you can make department store quality stuff at home- faster, cheaper, and only put what you want in it.  Next time I'm going to make a finishing powder (something silky to set the mineral makeup and provide a matte finish) and a blush.