Silk Naturals

Dear Anne,
I'm glad you enjoyed my blog and I'm sorry that you cannot get the Biosilk in France. I did use my finished palette this morning and it did work out fine.
The only thing that I wish that I had done differently was use a palette with bigger pans. Since the wells in the paintbox were only about 1/2inchx1/2inch it dindn't really give me enough room to sweep my e/s brush around in it. It would have been easier if it had been at least 1x1. My thought at the time was to be able to put as many eyeshadows as possible into one palette, and to make it as small as possible, to make it as portable as possible for traveling.
Next time I will know better, and do it a little differently.
All in all, though, for my first time; I am pretty happy with it!
Laurie

Thank you very much for sharing your experience, Laurie!
Almost sounds like something I might be able to do...
I'm eyeing the Coastal Scents palettes, not as portable as yours, but they would be mainly used in my bathroom, so that's OK!

I definitely have to give pressing a try.

Laurie- did you try pressing any mattes? I like the pressing medium that I made, but nothing I've tried works decently for mattes- they just kind of turn yucky. Sparkles turn-out fantastic though.

Hi Karen, the only one I did that that was semi-matte was Lurid, and it didn't turn out quite as well as the others. But as I told Anne, If the pans had been larger, I think they would have turned out a whole lot better; I would have had a whole lot more room for the brush to pick up the color(if that makes sense).

HTH,
Laurie

i just found out this past weekend that mattes need very little pressing medium & rubbing alcohol. the ones that turned out well were Bone, Mocha, and Truffle. i only used about 3 sprays of 90%+ rubbing alcohol and 3 drops of the pressing medium from CS. they looked drier when i mixed them together, not like the "wet sand consistency" i get with pearls and shimmers, but it turned out really well once it dried. the ones that i messed up were Eu-Taupe-Ia and Lurid. i think i used about 4-5 sprays of rubbing alcohol and drops of the pressing medium. it clumped up more and when it dried, it was sooo stuck together, i had to rub it to get any color on my finger and that's never good. i also noticed that my successful presses are when i swipe my finger across the e/s VERY lightly and there's a good amount of color on my finger. hope that helps.

another tip, i don't know what pressing medium you're using but i usually bake my shadows a bit in a toaster oven at a low temp.

Bluejava...
thanks for the tip, but I don't own a toaster oven
The pressing medium I used was Biosilk, and I think it was fine, but if I press any more mattes, I will certainly heed your advice and use less of it.
Laurie

I use my hair iron to 'bake' the pans. Set it to high, secure it, so it lays flat and put a piece of strong paper towel on the iron. It depends on the size, but they do dry pretty fast, so make sure to keep an eye on them or they dry out. And yeah, careful when you're handling the little pans, those suckers are hotttt

pinkpomelo wrote:I'm also a little IFFY with pressing. I wouldn't do it myself because of how time-consuming it is, not to mention trying to get all the materials here in Singapore.

On the non-pressing side, I like that my make up is always fresh. I just tap a little onto my mixing tray and use from that, rather than straight out of the jar. I know it makes me sound obsessive-compulsive, but I feel its a lot more hygienic. Esp when I'm experimenting on my friends' faces, I like that I'm not double-dipping into the whole pot.

However, if there ever came a time when we could select our own colors to be pressed, now THAT would be awesome. Then I'd pick my everyday colors (eye, cheeks, finishing powders, etc) and fit them all into one palette. Just so that when I'm traveling, I have something fuss-free to work with. One palette fits all.

Maybe one day, when I'm not so busy, I'll do that by myself. One day... sigh...

I'm particular about dipping brushes into the pots too. I prefer to tap some into a ramekin (souffle cups) and use it from there. I also wash the ramekin thoroughly before each use.

I agree that pressed eyeshadows are more convenient to pack for travel, for touch ups, but I'm not sure if they last as long as loose ones as oils and binding agents do have expiry dates don't they? Plus it is easier to mix loose powders. Also I have the tendency to drop compacts on the floor and end up having loose powder anyway.

Oh boy, I feel so dirty now, hehe. I don't give a rats about stuff like that, and I really should. I won't confess how long has it been since I last cleaned my brushes I have so many shadows, that I wouldn't be using 90% of them if they weren't pressed. I do use a swirly bowl for face powders, and clean it when it looks messy. Eeek. I'm just messy in general, but pressed shadows seem to channel some order in my life

Andrea, don't EVEN feel bad....I'm right there with you! I figure since I'm the only one using my stuff, and I put it on a clean face.....
I think one of the reasons why people get sick so easily is that almost everything we use nowadays is so super-sterilized that we kill all the good bacteria that is supposed to kill the bad bacteria. I have also read reports that a lot of the chemicals in a lot of the cleansers and stuff we use on a daily basis(like antibacterials like Triclosan) have stuff in them that is causing young girls to start puberty early.
.........on a total side note......this may be way TMI, but my poor 9 year old daughter just started her period for the first time last week. Can you believe that? You shoulda seen me at CVS in the feminine hygiene aisle, trying to figure out what the heck to buy for her. I had a hysterectomy last year, and before that I hadn't worn pads in at least 25 years. Man, things have changed. Wings, what the hell are wings doing on pads for god's sake?
Laurie