Beauty and Fashion Tech

DIY Mineral Makeup Kits From Bramble Berry

Here is fun item for the do it yourselfer, mineral makeup lover, or craft maven: Make Your Own Mineral Makeup Kits from Bramble and Berry. I spent a morning playing with the neutral and metallics kit and had a lot of fun. I also got some decent eye shadow from the process.

Below are some of the items before I got started (I supplied the larger measuring spoons and larger baggie). The entire kit contains: Titanium Dioxide, Dry Flo, Kaolin Clay, Sericite Mica, Super Pearly White, and the following pigments: Gold Sparkle, Bronze, Honeyed Beige, Sparkle Copper, Cappucino, Heavy Metal Gold, Vintage Grey, Patina Sheen, & Luster Black Mica. There are also 2 eyeshadow brushes, 5 mini measuring scoops, and 10 black containers to fill with your creations.

The kit contains all that you need to custom blend mineral foundation in varying levels of coverage and a variety of eye shadow shades. It also includes a booklet with recipes for various shades and well written instructions. I decided to make a light, medium and dark brown.

To get started, I followed the directions for a matte base and then added color from the included pigments according to recommendations in the book. It is fairly easy to increase or decrease shimmer by changing the mix of the base. The kit also contained a light brown sample. I didn’t end up matching that, but I liked what I got. My attempt at light was more of a neutral beige and my medium and dark turned out to be differing shades of taupe. Then I decided to make a darker brown/gray by adding a bunch of the darkest pigment. Mixing is pretty easy. Simply measure into a ziplock baggie, seal it, and shake! However, for mineral foundation, using a food processor or coffee blender to thoroughly mix the makeup is recommended.

Below are my finished eye shadows, the one on the far left is the light brown sample that came with the kit:

Here are skin swatches in the same order:

Oh, and I made a mess. Clutzy people like me probably should be more careful with shimmery loose powders! Fortunately it also was very easy to clean up.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this kit and I liked the results. It would be a great gift or something fun for your inner do it yourselfer. There is also a kit for vivid eye shadow shades.

Bramble and Berry actually specializes in soap making supplies, so if you have an interest in that, also take a look at the rest of their site. In addition, they have a lip balm kit, that I just might have to try for Girl Gloss!

Comparison Shop for Mineral Makeup

By Carleenp Posted in Beauty Tech, Eyeshadow, Holiday Gifts, Mineral Makeup | 15 Comments

Last Minute Beauty Gifts

Are you still shopping? It may be too late to shop online, but it is still easy to pick up some great beauty gifts at local stores. Here are a few ideas:

At Target: Look for Sonia Kashuk brush sets. These make great gifts and they are often packed in attractive kits. Target also has some great cosmetic bags. I was there earlier in the week and saw gift sets consisting of three different sizes of matching bags. Look for those in the cosmetic department.

For stocking stuffers, Target has tons of Hello Kitty, Karma, and Bonne Bell items, plus they have quite a few holiday cosmetics sets.

In the purse section, you can find some really nice, yet affordable handbags. Consider buying one and filling it with random cosmetic items!

At CVS: Look for Essence of Beauty Brushes. These are good value brushes and mixing and matching some would make for a great gift. CVS also exclusively carries Skin Effects and Lumene products. Both are great lines for creating a custom made facial or skin care set.

At Walgreens: Look up front for a great selection of fragrances and bath products. They seem to have more than many of the other stores this year.

By Carleenp Posted in Holiday Gifts, Holiday Items | 1 Comment

Best of Bonne Belle Collection

Here is a great set that would also be a great gift item. The Best of Bonne Bell Collection has an assortment of best selling Bonne Belle products.

It is nearly perfect, but not quite. What would make it perfect? The addition of my fav Bonne Bell Dr. Pepper Lip Smacker!

Shop for Bonne Bell Cosmetics

By Carleenp Posted in Holiday Gifts, Lip Products, Palettes and Collections | 2 Comments

Benefit Cosmetics Holiday Items

Benefit Cosmetics has a number of neat items that would be perfect for gift giving or for yourself. My favorite it the Best of Benefit Iconic Classics, pictured below. That is mainly because I love Benetint so much!

Best of Benefit Iconic Classics Bentint BadGal Mascara

The justine case (below) is pretty neat too and also has a little tube of Benetint in it. I like that it has a tube of California Kissin’ as well, which I have not reviewed yet, but really like. It is quite minty!

For you palette lovers, the10 palettealso offers a nice mix.

Shop for more Benefit Cosmetics

By Carleenp Posted in Holiday Gifts, Holiday Items, Palettes and Collections | 1 Comment

Holiday Stocking Stuffers

The shopping list posts are winding down and next week will return more to standard product reviews as usual. I wanted to get the lists out in time for online shopping! For those like me who wait until the last minute (yeah I am a procrastinator), I might yet run a gift list for last minute drugstore shopping.

Looking for cosmetic and beauty items to use as stocking stuffers or small holiday gifts? Take a look at some of these options:

These Holiday Emory Boards are cute, practical, and affordable.

Consider this festive Peppermint Candy Soap Set. Or take a look at some cute Snowglobe Soaps.

For the spa and bath lover, the Ahava Delights Set provides a nice sampling of some good products. I really like Ahava products and sets like this are a great way to try several items out at once.

I love bath fizzys! This Holiday Bath Fizzy is particularly cute.

This Mitten Manicure Set is another cute holiday themed item with lots of practicality. Pair it up with an Opi Holiday Collection Nail Polish for a complementary stuffer.

Shop for Cosmetic Gifts!