DIY

Hey everyone! I’m sorry for not blogging in such a long time…school is really keeping me busy! Anyway I have a ton of different stuff lined up for you guys so make sure to keep an eye out for that! Today I wanted to share how I depot my eyeshadows into palettes.  In order to keep everything neat and organized, I like to take my eyeshadows out of their containers or “pots” and put them into palettes.  Now, there are many different palettes out there, and I’ll link a few of them at the bottom, but I like to use the MAC palette that holds 15 eyeshadows.  I like this palette because it has an individual spot for each eyeshadow and it’s easy to move things around.  Now here’s what you’ll need!

• Eyeshadow palette
• Eyeshadow
• Flat iron
• Small paring knife or tweezers
• Small pliers
• Hand towel or wax paper
• Magnets

The first thing you’re going to want to do is separate the casing of the eyeshadow from the actual plastic that’s holding on to it.  For example, if you’re trying to depot a MAC eyeshadow, there will be a small ridge that you can wedge the paring knife or tweezers between to take the top portion that contains the shadow off.

Now you’re going to want to make sure that your flat iron is nice and hot.  Place your eyeshadow on top of one of the hot plates of the flat iron, making sure that you use the hand towel or wax paper as a barrier.  Let it sit for a little while until the plastic becomes pliable.  Now I like to use the pliers to cut off a small piece of the plastic so it is easier to take the eyeshadow out.

With the pan now exposed, I use the small paring knife once again to separate the eyeshadow pan from it’s holder.  The heat from the flat iron has melted the glue that holds the eyeshadow to it’s casing together, so it should be pretty easy to remove.

I also like to take the label with name of the eyeshadow off of the container and I do that by running the container over the flat iron for just a few seconds so it makes it easy to peel the sticker off.  Then I place the sticker on the bottom of the pan.  You can also place a small piece of magnet onto the bottom of the pan to make sure it stays secure in your palette.

Recommended palettes:

Stars Makeup Heaven 28 Palette
Z Palette
MAC Palette

This is by far the easiest way I’ve been able to depot my eyeshadows, I hope I helped you guys out!

With it being so hot lately, I’ve really been trying to keep myself hydrated–skin included.  Once a week, I’ve been using this facial mask made from just plain yogurt and oatmeal, and it’s been working wonders!  Whenever I use it, my skin always feels refreshed and hydrated afterwards.  I haven’t broken out from it at all, and along with washing my face with the oatmeal cleanser I posted about a couple of weeks ago, my skin has never looked better!  I wanted to share this facial mask with you guys, it’s a really effective and budget friendly way to keep your skin nice and refreshed.

Oatmeal Yogurt Mask
Equal parts of oatmeal and plain yogurt (I use about a 1.5 tablespoons each)
*remember to use plain yogurt and plain oatmeal!

I pretty much take the mask and apply a fairly heavy layer onto my face and leave it on for about 20 minutes.  It’ll dry up a little bit but don’t worry, it washes off away easily with some warm water.  After you wash your face off you should see and feel results immediately.  I noticed that my skin looked a lot brighter and it felt so so so hydrated.  I’ve always been skeptical about using homemade remedies for my skin, but after seeing how well this mask and oatmeal cleanser has treated me, I don’t think I’m ever going to go back to store bought facial products!  I’ve already talked about how oatmeal is good for the skin in my post about the facial cleanser, but plain yogurt can brighten skin, reduce redness, shrink your pores, and it definitely hydrates your skin.   I hope this helps you guys out, and let me know how it works if any of you try it!

We all know that oatmeal is good for your diet but did you know that it does amazing things for your skin as well?  During and after finals week, I was breaking out along my temples and thought it was just some stress.  So I washed my face like I normally did and waited….and waited…and waited.  Even a few weeks after finals my skin still hadn’t gotten better, in fact, it looked like it was getting worse.  That’s when I really started to take notice that the facial cleanser I used at night was really harsh on my skin.  I would wash my face and it would make my skin really red and irritated and I kept using it thinking that it would make my pimples go away.  Finally, after about two weeks of having to deal with bad skin, I finally decided to go the natural route for my facial cleaner.  I used to make yogurt masks (which I have to do a DIY one because it did amazing things for my skin) and remembered reading how oatmeal is good for the skin as well.  I didn’t even realize it, but the lotion I use is derived from oats as well!  After using my homemade oatmeal, I noticed a huge difference in how my skin looked and felt, even after using it just once!  I swear, two days after I started washing my face with oatmeal, my pimples were pretty much gone.  Have you ever noticed that your skin can feel really dry after using a face wash that you buy from the store?  When I wash my face with this oatmeal cleanser, my face feels so smooth, bright, and hydrated.  I didn’t even know your skin is supposed to feel like that after you wash your face!

So why does oatmeal make such a good cleanser?  It removes the dirt from your skin while exfoliating your skin naturally which is great because you know exactly what you’re putting on your skin (unlike buying face washes at the store where I can’t even pronounce half of the products they use in it).  It’s really helped with the dry, red patches that I used to get on my skin when I was using store bought cleansers and I really love how hydrated my skin feels after I wash my face.  Even though my break out has finally gone away, I still wash my face with this oatmeal cleanser twice a day, once in the morning and once at night, because I just love how great my skin is looking.

(This is about how much I use every time I wash my face–roughly about a tablespoon.)

The great thing about this cleanser is that it’s easy to make and it’s super cheap! All you’ll need is oatmeal and water.  I like to use steel cut oats but just use any kind of plain oatmeal you have.  I’ll stress the plain oatmeal part though–don’t try to use any kind of flavored ones! I’m pretty sure if you do that, it’ll just irritate your skin even more.  I take a small amount, about enough to fit in my palm and run it under warm water until the oatmeal gets nice and soft.  When you apply it to your face it should should feel soft.  If it feels scratchy, run it under the water for a couple more seconds.  I massage the oats onto my face for about a minute and wash it away with warm water.  Again, I do this twice a day and I really don’t think I’ll be buying a facial cleanser any time soon which is great because that saves me some money!

I hope this was helpful for you guys and if you decide to try this out, let me know how things go!

In my opinion, washing your makeup brushes is as important as washing your face.  Think about it, you use makeup brushes every time you apply makeup and it is crucial to have them clean not only for hygienic purposes but also to make sure the color you apply onto your face isn’t mixed in with an old color that was on your brush.  I try to clean my brushes after every use but to be honest that’s pretty unreasonable.  If anything, I deep clean my brushes every week to every other week at most.  However, I do clean my brush that I use with liquid foundation after every use because using liquid and cream products with brushes makes it easy for bacteria to build up on them.  And when you think about it, you definitely don’t want to use a brush that’s dirty because it increases the chances of you breaking out.  Keeping your brushes clean helps keep them in good condition as well.  Some of my brushes are four years old and they still work like they did when I first bought them.

So how do I clean my makeup brushes?  I actually use a mixture of dishwashing soap and olive oil, which is a trick I picked up working with another makeup artist when I was first starting out.  The soap cleans and disinfects the brush while the oil conditions the brush.  I’m sure some of you are skeptical about this method being safe for your brushes but I haven’t had any problems with this method, and I’ve been cleaning my brushes this way since I’ve been working as a makeup artist.  If you’re still not sure, you can always use baby shampoo, a gentle face wash, or buy makeup brush cleansers however, these tend to get pretty expensive.

So here’s a step by step process on how I clean brushes!

When you combine the soap and oil, make sure to use the oil sparingly.  Too much oil can make it difficult to wash your brushes and if there’s still oil on your brush after they’re done drying, they can have a greasy feel to them which is kind of icky.

Getting ready to wash!

Gross..my  brush is the same color as my counter.

I rinse my brush a little bit in lukewarm water (you don’t want to use hot water) before I start to clean it just to loosen the bristles a little bit.  Make sure not get anything past the ferrule (the metal part) wet, this can cause the wooden handle to swell which can make the ferrule pop off the handle.

Swirl your brush in your brush cleaner!

Ew look at all that foundation, but at least you know it won’t be on your face!

Woohoo, all clean! I forgot to put a picture of me rinsing the brush but clean your brush until the water runs clear.  When I’m washing the brush clean I like to wipe it across my hand to get all the soap and makeup off.  And just let your brush dry on a towel and they’ll be good to use for next time.

I hope this helped you guys a little bit, and hopefully this way will be an easier, cheaper alternative to washing your brushes!