The last time I was in Sephora I noticed funny little pots of distinctly non-face coloured goop. That you were supposed to put on your face. It came in a selection of pastels, including minty pink, lavenderish purple, and some sickly looking yellows and oranges. As a designer I figured these were either a) very boring face paints or b) some sort of opposite-colour correcting device type thingy.
It turns out it was b. I didn’t really think much of it until I saw the greeny one that looks like choc-mint ice cream (without the chips, obviously) used in the first bit of this video. Up until this I would have guessed that you would be left looking like Elphaba or the Grinch who stole Christmas. Guess not.
Starting to blend the oxides in with the cosmetic powder base.
So I thought I would take the idea home and do it myself. Now, I’ve tried foundation before. I made it as a lotion, and it was sort of ok at first… actually, I’m lying, it was pretty crap from day one. This was before I had any titanium dioxide or anything proper for making cosmetic-y type things, but all the same, it was crap. Anyhow, this time, after making my own Eye Bright and Brow Fixative, I thought I’d go entirely oil-based.
For my oils, I selected tamanu for its healing powers, sea buckthorn for its supposedly legendary anti-acne wonders, and jojoba for its general awesomeness. I figured the mixture might counteract any general unhappiness from the skin at being covered up for being a little more red than deemed appropriate. I thickened the whole mixture with some beeswax.
This is the final colour of the dry powder, green and all—doesn’t look green at all, eh?
For the colorants, I used a mixture of oxides blitzed in with my Cosmetic Powder Base to get something close to a skin tone, and then added the teensiest amount of green chromium oxide to get that green tint I wanted. In the end, I didn’t get anything close to a green tint—I got a slightly unhealthy looking skin tone. But I tested it on my skin as I added the green, and by the time I got to where I stopped, it was doing the trick (cancelling out the red without making me look like the Wicked Witch of the West) without looking like mint ice-cream. So I stopped.
I don’t have an overly red complexion, so I’m using my rosy cheeks as my demonstration ground. The cheek on the right has the concealer on—see? Red be gone! It just looks a little funny when you know I should have pink cheeks 😛
DIY Concealing Colour Corrector
2 tsp cosmetic powder base
7/32 tsp yellow iron oxide
Teensy pinch brown iron oxide
Teensy pinch red iron oxide
Very, very little green chromium oxide3g | 0.1oz beeswax (USA / Canada)
2g | 0.07oz tamanu oil
2g | 0.07oz sea buckthorn seed oil
3g | 0.1oz jojoba oil (USA / Canada)
1g | 0.03z Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)As with my mineral make-up, this is all about blending in oxides to get the right colour for your skin tone. The measurements I’ve provided for the oxides are for my skin tone, and may be a good starting point if you’re on the paler side, like I am.
Anyhow, basically just put the cosmetic powder base in a coffee grinder and slowly start adding oxides, blending between additions and testing on your skin, until you more or less match your skin tone.
Once you’ve matched your skin tone, start adding minuscule bits of green chromium oxide, testing the resultant powder out on a redder-than-usual patch of skin. It won’t take much green to come up with something that will cancel out redness, so work slowly!
While you’re blitzing and blending, melt the oils in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once you’ve got the powders to the right colour, mix 1 tsp of the melted oils with ½ tsp of the powders. Mash everything together with your finger, re-heating in the microwave as needed to keep the oils melted. When combined, pack into a shallow tin.
To apply, pat across red parts of the skin and blend in with your fingers. Apply sparingly to avoid looking dead!
Notes as of November 2018:
- Make sure you wear a dust mask so you don’t inhale the powders after whipping them up—that can be dangerous to your health over the long term.
- Check out my book, Make it Up, for a better formula that uses fewer ingredients and is much more flexible. My book also has lots of colour blending tips and a different process so you can make a colour matched concealer much more easily.
A closer shot of the cover up on the skin. It’s pretty subtle, and not at all cakey.
With my skin color, I use a yellow concealer. But I don’t use a cream make-up. I use the mineral make-up. It doesn’t take long at all to get it on. =) I make my own lip tint though. And make lip gloss for my grand daughters.
Interesting! I’ve made myself mineral make-up before, and I really like how easily it goes on, and how it doesn’t look at all cakey or gross. I’ll have to try making a powdered version of this as well!
What is your lip tint like? Solid or gooey?
I’m trying to load a header for my wordpress blog and it’s not working! Any suggestions? I searched the forum for advice and am loathe to post on there. They are pretty condescending/meanie pants 😛
I know you said you’ve given up on WordPress, but with my background in webdesign & coding I’m sure I can give you a hand if you decide to go back to it—feel free to send me an e-mail at me[at]humblebeeandme.com and I’ll see what I can do!
Thanks! For now I’ll stick to Blogger, got too many other things to worry about. Thanks for the offer though
No problem 😉
My ideas for upcoming posts are how to get rid of dry cracked heels (that will be first). Then the next one will be how to get rid of lady cramps Naturally 😛
How funny, I just scheduled an entry on a lady cramp serum that works quite nicely 😛 Have you ever tried a foot mask? I tend to make mine quite acidic as I always have thick callouses on my feet from all my barefoot shenanigans. The acid (usually citric acid and vinegar/lemon juice) really helps soften up my feet so I can scrub away at them! Then, lots of thick shea butter and a pair of fluffy socks overnight! Works like a charm.
Do we think alike or what?? That is so funny we’ve got the same things on our mind for posts. I make my own little lady cramp concoction. Eventually I might put it in one of those little tubes with a roller and sell it on Etsy. I haven’t tried a foot mask, but I will send you a link when I post about “foot care”. You can see what works for me! I find that the foot butter that Rocky Mountain Soap company makes really does nothing….doesn’t absorb. I love making my own lotions because they actually absorb!! I gave some to a friend to try when she was over the other day and she said, “Wow, it really does absorb…” I find so many of the lotions I have bought just sit on top of my skin. I’m sure they’re better than nothing but I know the ones I make work so much better for me. I’m going to make a special lotion just for tootsies and sell it in my Etsy shop eventually. I think one of the things that sets me apart from some of the other sellers is I don’t use a lotion base (That whole idea doesn’t appeal at all, but for people who basically make soap for a living, and sell a lot of lotion, I guess it makes sense.) And I love knowing what goes into my stuff, and that it’s not tested on animals.
Ooh, good idea to put it in one of those perfume rollers! I’m also thinking of trying a solid version that could be put in a deodorant tube.
I’ve read that mineral oil and other petroleum based oils used in body products won’t absorb into the skin—I guess that’s why I was told to use mineral oil to help prevent swimmer’s itch as a kid as it helped the water slide right off me when I got out of the lake. So, yeah, I guess any lotion made with mineral oil (i.e. most of them) wouldn’t do much good!
I’m definitely with you on using lotion bases—and melt and pour soap bases as well. That’s not DIY! That’s like frosting Pillsbury cookies and saying you made them. You didn’t—you baked them and decorated them. It’s not the same thing! Melt & Pour/lotion bases are also really overpriced and the ingredients are really suspicious. I once did the math on a lotion base and it was being sold for about 10x what the ingredients were worth, and they were pretty crap ingredients.
I went on this forum called the Soap Dish Forum. They are such snots! (Mostly). They acted SO superior and tried to put me down and acted like I was unprofessional and didn’t have what it took to make it “big time” because I said I made my lotions from scratch in small batches. I’ve found a lot of sellers that make soap use lotion bases. It may be a generalization, but if they are trying to make a living at it, well, you can make a big batch of soap and it will last a while right? Making up lotion in small batches is more labor intensive in a way. So if they’re wanting a lot of it to sell, I guess they figure buying the lotion base is better. I’ve actually used a melt and pour base though and really liked it. My attitude towards the meanies on that forum was, I don’t want to “make it big time” and if I sell less because I insist on making lotion from scratch in small batches, so be it. I did meet a fellow Canadian Etsy seller through that forum though, and she’s been great and given me lots of advice. So it wasn’t an entirely bad experience. The craftser.org forum is WAY better and more fun.
Hmm, sounds like those people on the forum need to change their titles from “makers” to “decorators”! It’s like calling yourself a pastry chef when all you do is pipe icing onto pre-made cakes. They’re both fine, but they aren’t the same thing! And I’m with you—who cares if the batches are small and we don’t become millionaires? This is about the integrity of the product, and I’m willing to bet there’s a market out there willing to pay more for something that’s 100% hand made in small batches. It’s already doing really well in the food market!
That’s a very innovative and creative way to look at it! Plus it supports my basic premise: What a bunch of insignificant meannies!
I just had a bit of a funky idea. If you ever want to try selling your stuff, we could combine forces and have a shared Etsy shop. It would be complicated…but I think it’s a bit brill at the same time. The only reason I know this is possible is that when I list an item it gives the option of who made this? Then I can choose “I did”, or “A member of my shop”. You seem to be having a lot of fun just sharing things though maybe you don’t want to delve into this. I’m coming to Calgary in the summer. We should meet up regardless! And chat bath and body.
What a nice idea 🙂 I don’t think I’ll be foraying into online retail anytime soon, though—I get more than enough of it with my day job! Thanks for thinking of me, though 😉 And we should definitely grab a tea when you’re in Calgary this summer!
Hello.Thank you for this recipe! I am Looking for some clarification. What is the objective definition of ” a teensy pinch” and “very very little” ? I want to be sure to get my color balance correct. Thank you again!!
There is no objective definition, and even if there was, unless your skin is exactly the same colour as mine it wouldn’t matter—”correct” is what matches your skin, not what I did 🙂 I highly recommend checking out my book; it’s called Make it Up: The Essential Guide to DIY Makeup and Skin Care and it’s all about how to create your own makeup at home. I’ve compiled a big list of places to buy it here: https://www.humblebeeandme.com/make-it-up-order/. I’m very proud of it, and if you’re interested in making your own colourful cosmetics it is definitely a great place to start! I include a TON of information on colour blending to match your complexion + far more precise measurements. Happy making!
I would love to make this for my daughter she has even more rosier cheeks then you do 🙂 where can I buy the ingredients such as the oxidants, as you can tell I’m totaly new at this 🙂
thank you
Alie from the Netherlands
I get all my oxides from New Directions Aromatics. I use the Canadian one, but they also have a UK online shop. You can also look for a local soap/candle making supply shop, they often have oxides.
Where can you get the more unusual items to make this? Such as the oils and the oxides? Thanks 🙂
I buy most of my ingredients from New Directions Aromatics.
Have you ever tries anything other than the beeswax? I’m allergic to anything pertaining to bees.
Your two plant based wax options will be carnauba and candelilla. I haven’t had a chance to experiment with either of them in lip balms or lip sticks, but I do know it is not a simple 1:1 substitution as they are both harder than beeswax and have different melting points. I’m sure you’ll get it with some experimentation, though 🙂 Maybe start with lip balm, so you don’t have to fuss with colour as well.
I’m adding this to my (long) list of your recipes I’m going to try making! Do you have any suggestions for an undereye concealer? I have very dark shadows under my eyes and was looking for one that has the same consistency as this one.
I’ve been getting lots of requests for under-eye stuff, so it’s definitely on my list and on my mind. In the meantime, you might want to look at my mineral make-up—it has amazingly good coverage!
as I woz reading…i thot…WTF!!! WHO WRITES THIS!!!
and then, I saw the face!!!!
ROLFMAO
Um… thanks?
Hi there,
So if Green counters red. Than what does brown and yellow counter? Does blue or red counter any color?
Thanks ,
Kathryn
Hi Kathryn! Green will counter red, and red will counter green—they’re opposites on the colour wheel 🙂 Brown/orange/yellow tend to counter blues, which is why you can buy yellow things to pop on your eyelids to try and cancel out the blue veins that can be visible there. Blue would counter orange/yellow… perhaps useful if you are an oompa loompa? 😛
Thx!
Why would you want to put chromium on your skin? Really? Naturally occurring doesn’t mean safe.
I’d want to put chromium on my skin about as much as I’d want to put chlorine on my food. Fortunately, I put Cr2O3 on my skin and NaCl on my food. You cannot determine the safety of something by taking a cursory glance at the component elements any more than you can by determining if it is “natural” or not.
Cosmetic grade chromium oxide is synthesized for safety, purity, and consistency, and held to rigorous safety standards by the FDA.