Makeup Recipes

Ditch the cosmetics counter and make your own!

What do we want in makeup?

Adhesion? Slip? Opacity? A quick overview on the traits we want in our makeup and why.

DIY Cosmetic Ingredients You'll Need

The ingredients list for homemade cosmetics is a bit different than for most other homemade body products—here’s my overview and shopping list.

Help, I made a mess!

My best tips for cleaning up your DIY messes 🙂

Makeup Eraser Sticks

Makeup Eraser Sticks

This idea was born out of perusing one of those in-flight catalogues whilst I was undoubtedly quite bored. You know the type—you can order Arwen Evenstar’s pendant, a mini-putt for the corner of your office, and a brand of makeup you’ve never heard of that is...

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Champagne Glow Highlighting Powder

Champagne Glow Highlighting Powder

With spring and sunshine finally here, I want to get my glow on. I've been loving looks featuring glowy highlights that get their punch from catching the light with a touch of glimmer, but not outright sparkle. A sort of optical effervescence, you could say—like...

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Snowy Dawn Cream Luminizer

Snowy Dawn Cream Luminizer

Over Christmas we had a positively frigid cold snap here in Calgary; waking up to temperatures below -40°C with windchill was not uncommon, and most days had "highs" no higher than -25°C. This lasted for about ten days, and while my preference would've been to sleep...

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Snowflake Moon Drops

Snowflake Moon Drops

I’m having a bit of a love affair with fancy white powders. Mostly micas and glitters—irredescent ones that colour shift are my favourite right now. When I visited New York in October I placed a pre-emptive TKB Trading order and scooped up sample sized baggies of all...

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Fireworks Lip Gloss

Fireworks Lip Gloss

I sometimes wonder if I'll ever outgrow glitter. I don't particularly want to, but I also didn't want to realize the special effects in some of my favourite childhood movies are painfully bad. Sometimes these things just happen. One of my strongest glitter memories is...

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Gentle Eye Makeup Remover

Gentle Eye Makeup Remover

Today's project is a simple one that I've been meaning to whip up for ages—a good makeup remover. It's wonderfully easy with just three ingredients, one of which is very flexible and another is optional. It's also wonderfully effective—I tested it with some seriously...

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Rose Gold Lip Gloss

Rose Gold Lip Gloss

Ok, so I may be a touch late to the party on this one, but isn't rose gold the prettiest?! In the past I've shied away from pink. Not for me, I thought—too... pink 😜 This stance has softened over the last few years and I now find that rose gold has nestled...

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Airbrushing Primer Stick

Airbrushing Primer Stick

This silky Airbrushing Primer Stick is basically a fantastic hybrid of primer, stick foundation, and my airbrushing powder. It helps control oil, blur imperfections, even out your skin tone, mattify your complexion, and keep your makeup on longer—all awesome things,...

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Highlighting Moon Drops

Highlighting Moon Drops

I had so much fun developing these Highlighting Moon Drops, and I think you're going to have a blast making them! They come together really quickly and easily, allowing you to create a rainbow of different colours in no time. I've kept the batch size small so you can...

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Tinted Coal Lip Balm

Tinted Coal Lip Balm

I thought I'd mix things up a bit with this seasonal lip balm and bring my Lumps of Coal holiday theme to the realm of lip balms. And I love it. It definitely seemed a bit odd when I jotted down the idea a few weeks ago, with aims of avoiding creating something dark...

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Winter Wonderland Lip Gloss

Winter Wonderland Lip Gloss

This soft, sparkly Winter Wonderland lip gloss has a lovely champagne hue in the tube, but goes on sheer with a hit of shimmer and a hint of sparkle. It's also a bit thicker than some of my previous lip glosses, as per some reader requests, meaning it sticks around...

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Pumpkin Shimmer Lip Gloss

Pumpkin Shimmer Lip Gloss

It's still two days until it's "technically" autumn, but Calgary clearly missed that memo—our trees have been turning since late August. Along with coarsely knit knee socks, my scarf collection, and this awesome jacket that I bought on sale in May and haven't had a...

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Hydrating Rose Water Everything Spray

Hydrating Rose Water Everything Spray

The idea for this Hydrating Rose Water Everything Spray came from watching a makeup tutorial on YouTube. Wayne Goss was chatting about how using a rose water/glycerin mist in combination with powdered mineral makeup let him wear loads of it and still have it look...

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How to Turn Loose Powders into Pressed Powders

How to Turn Loose Powders into Pressed Powders

Whenever I publish a post on a powdered cosmetic (like mineral makeup, blush, or eye shadow), questions about how to transform it into a pressed powder quickly follow. In the past I've tried mixing powdered cosmetics with high proof alcohol to turn them into a paste...

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Black Plum Lipstick

Black Plum Lipstick

A recent (and rare) trip to the mall informed me that berry toned lips are in (as are some pretty poppin' eyes, if Sephora is to be trusted). I'd been thinking it was high time to blend up some new lipstick shades for a while, and said mall visit proved to be just the...

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Red Velvet Lip Balm

Red Velvet Lip Balm

Red Velvet cake is one of those things people can get quite particular about, and with its striking red colour and bright white frosting, it’s hard to blame them. This red velvet lip balm is inspired by this decadent dessert. This indulgent, glossy lip balm uses a...

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Royal Hibiscus Lip Tint

Royal Hibiscus Lip Tint

This pretty, ruddy russet-toned lip tint glides on with a pop of mint and a hint of golden shimmer. Everything comes together quickly and easily, leaving you with a fistful of little gifts for friends and family in no time. The colour comes from an infusion of...

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Red-be-Gone Airbrushing Powder

Red-be-Gone Airbrushing Powder

This update to my awesome airbrushing powder is designed to disguise excess redness in the skin while combating shine and giving your skin the appearance of perfection without heavy coverage. So, long story short, it's pretty awesome.   The majority of the powder...

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Ruby Lip Tint

Ruby Lip Tint

This pretty ruby lip tint gets its ruby colour pop from an infusion of alkanet root—Batschia canescens. Native to the Mediterranean, it produces bright blue flowers and dark red roots that have been used as a dye for hundreds of years. Alkanet powder itself is pretty...

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Winterlight Argan Serum

Winterlight Argan Serum

This milky facial oil is pretty much the opposite of my Argan bronzer. While the bronzer is designed to impart a summery glow, this serum lightens and brightens the complexion, smoothing out imperfections and giving you that Downton Abbey complexion I'm so in love...

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Coral Lip Stain

Coral Lip Stain

I'm really excited to finally have a not-deep-pink option for those of you who aren't suited to pure carmine and my Snow White Lip Stain. This coral hued lip stain delivers a potent punch of orange-tinted red that sticks around for hours, and makes a good cheek stain...

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Sun Kissed Lip Balm

Sun Kissed Lip Balm

This fun bronze-tinted shimmery sun kissed lip balm is perfect for summer. With a fantastic cocoa peppermint scent, great glide, and some shimmer and shine, I'm loving having this in my purse this summer. A base of beeswax, , coconut oil, and...

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Argan Oil Bronzer

Argan Oil Bronzer

The first I ever tried was Josie Maran's—a friend had got some, and as a gift she gave me the bottle with the last few remaining drops to try out. As I'm sure you can surmise, it was instant love. Anyhow, since then, Josie has really beefed up...

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Translucent Anti-Shine Powder

Translucent Anti-Shine Powder

Shine can be a wonderful thing—we love it in jewellery and bathroom faucets, lip gloss and silver. But faces? Less so. Kamila got in touch a few months ago asking for solution for oily skin. She told me she was having to re-apply her make-up halfway through the day...

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