A few months ago Zil wrote asking for a long-wearing clay based blush. Something that would give her long-lasting pinkish colour that didn’t cost an arm and a leg, like the Tarte Cosmetics one she referenced that rings in at a whopping $31 for less than 6 grams of blush. Yikes!
The base of this blush is a combination of my cosmetic powder base and Australian pastel pink clay. The cosmetic powder base is basically just a blend of the standard basic powder ingredients like titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, sericite mica (USA / Canada), and magnesium stearate. All together, the mixture provides opacity and gives a base level of adhesion (aka staying power). Pre-blended, it’s easier to make a reasonable amount of something (which is especially awesome when it comes to blush, which tends to last for ages).
The Australian pastel pink clay adds a nice punch of salmony-pink colour and helps cheeks stay matte all day long by absorbing excess moisture and oil. It’s also gentle on sensitive skin, making it a good all-around choice.
A few oxides help punch up the colour, and a smidgen of shimmer from the warmly toned flash copper mica give the blush a hint of shine. Jojoba oil makes the blush feel smooth and soft on the skin.
Best of all, it comes together in a flash, just like a smoothie. Just measure, blend, and you’re done!
Australian Clay Blush
1 tsp cosmetic powder base
1 tsp Australian pastel pink clay
1 smidgen flash copper mica
5 smidgen red iron oxide
speck yellow iron oxide
5 drops jojoba oil (USA / Canada)To measure out the pigments and mica you’ll want to have a set of these super useful wee measuring spoons—they’re brilliant for all kinds of cosmetic DIYs.
Blend all ingredients together in your DIY coffee grinder. Decant to a sifter jar and use as you would any powder blush. Enjoy!
Be sure to either wear a dust mask, or leave the grinder shut for at least 5–10 minutes after grinding to avoid inhaling any powder, which is not good for you.
What a beautiful color 😀
Thanks, Jen!
Do you ever sell any of your products that you make? I have lots of allergies and have been unable to wear makeup for quite a few years. I don’t know what the sensitivities are so would like to try things – trial and error.
I don’t, sorry—that’s why I provide all the recipes 🙂
No pictures of that pretty blush on your pretty face? Would love to see it on skin 🙂
I posted some shots on Facebook 🙂
This looks fantastic and even GOOD for a person! Thanks again Marie.
Thanks, Mary! And thanks for reading 🙂
Hello Marie, thanks for the recipe! I was wondering: could I use some white kaolin clay and arrowroot instead of the cosmetic powder base since I don’t have it in hand?
Well… you could… but it won’t really do any of the things that the powder base does other than be a powder. The powder base provides opacity and brightness, as well as slip and adhesion. Because kaolin and arrowroot are both translucent, you’ll be missing out on the brightness and opacity. The slip should still be ok, though, since kaolin and arrowroot are both quite smooth. In the end you’ll basically have a semi-translucent pink blush—it’ll work, it just won’t be the same thing 🙂 It probably won’t stay on as long, either. If you try it though, let me know how it goes!
I haven’t got a coffee grinder, how else could i blend it?
You can try repeatedly pressing the mixture through a fine sieve, or using a mortar and pestle. I would keep your eye out for a used coffee grinder, though—they are SO helpful for DIY make-up & soaps 🙂
Just wanted to say that I made this and it turned out AMAZING!!!! Thank you so much!!!
Fantastic! Thanks for the request/suggestion 🙂
Have you tried pressing the loose powder into a solid disk? I’d be interested to see how that would work! As I prefer the less messy, pressed blushes.
Thanks!
Hi Mel! You can tamp the powder down with a broad, flat surface quite successfully. It won’t be as tightly packed as a commercially pressed powder, but I find I do prefer the packed version for things like my fairy dust 🙂
so with all these ingredients is it cheaper than the $31 version? because i make my own body butters and hair dye but i dont have any of these.
Hey Susan! If you’re interested in making your own makeup as cost effectively as possible, I’d really recommend waiting for my book and making the recipes in there 🙂
When I develop recipes for the blog they’re generally one-off things where I have fun using random ingredients I happen to have on hand (like the Aussie pink clay in this recipe), but the recipes in the book are more of a “set”. I wanted to keep the list of required ingredients for the entire book as short as possible, so the recipes in it don’t use things like coloured clays (which do have fairly limited uses), meaning all the ingredients you’ll buy are really versatile. For the blushes I have you make a base and then colour it any way you want for loads of different (and easy to make) variations, and all the ingredients are useful in loads of other recipes. With all that, then yes, you will be saving money pretty quickly. I think the initial outlay is about $150 depending on what you want to make, but you can easily make $3000+ of store bought makeup with those ingredients, and most of the ingredients have indefinite shelf lives so you don’t have to worry about that initial investment in ingredients spoiling 🙂
I just wish my book was coming out sooner!
Do you have a recipe to make the Nars “O” blush? I love the color but the first ingredient in it is TALC! So stopped using it. Thanks so much.
I’m afraid I don’t up here, but the book has something similar + guides to help you invent your own!