Silly question... How do you travel with loose shadows?

[fluttershy]

I'm still kind of new to makeup--I'm having such a fun time collecting colors and trying new things! I'm really loving SN's eyeshadows, and having jumped right in with loose powders instead of going from pressed to loose, I like to THINK that I've kind of jumped ahead (yay?)

Anyhoo, how do you efficiently travel with loose eye shadows? I've seen "travel" palettes by brands like Stila and whatnot, but I'm not sure how something like that would work with eyeshadows. I'm pretty skittish as it is (I am regularly dropping things all the time), so even with the sifter lids on, I still manage to get messy often.

Also, do people regularly post different 'looks' here on the forum and get critique? (Not related but I might as well ask if I'm making a post). I've kind of gotten down the basic "use a light color towards the inner corner of your eye and a darker color on the outer corner" idea down, but with SOOO many colors I really want to tap into their full potential!

[Xarata]

There are a lot of ways to travel with loose powders. I just let the jars get a little messy inside (and ALWAYS tap them on the counter before i open them), but Jen puts half a cottonball inside the lid when she travels to minimize the mess.

Some like to press their minerals. I have a pressed palette of my favorite colors (3 shadows and a blush) and I think it's andrea that presses ALL of her shadows and keeps them in big palettes. I've never tried the loose palettes though.

There are several look threads. Mine is in the swatch folder (Xarata swatches) and Jen has one too. Oxana posts her looks frequently. The swatch folder is the best place to look for ideas.

[fluttershy]

Your answers are always so helpful, thank you!

The cottonball idea sounds like it could work. I'd be afraid to press my powders because I wouldn't want them to lose some of their lovely color quality (I've read Propinquity for example isn't quite as charming when pressed, for example).

I will have to check out the swatch thread! I want to see and learn as much as I can!

[karen]

I've also heard of some people not removing the stickers but just poking a pin through one or two of the sifter holes. OR putting a reinforcement sticker (those round stickers for 3 ring binders) over a few of the holes.

I just toss them in a bag and go, and I always have a little piece of microfiber cloth (you can buy them at dollar stores) to clean anything up- including my brushes when I'm done with them. Most of my collection is all of the samples that I bring home to photograph for the site- so they don't have sifters in them. Every once in a while I lose one, but it works for me.

There are a ton of great swatches on the site, and I've been pinning stuff here and there:
http://pinterest.com/silknaturals/
There are also quite a few on Makeupbee (this link may or may not work)
https://www.makeupbee.com/browseproduct ... s_review=0

[JenW]

One really quick solution to keeping the product that gets above the sifter to a minimum....just stick a cotton ball up there while you are away.

[egerandi]

I used to press all my shadows then ran out of steam... heh. What I do now, with most of them, is dumping them into a 2"x2" plastic baggie, put a sticker on the bag with the name of the shadow, and use a mixing medium to draw a stripe of the color on that sticker, so I know what it looks like when applied. These baggies are flatter and I can fit more in my makeup bag. They get slightly messy, and you wanna avoid dipping your brush into them, but it's fairly easy to tap out a bit when you need to apply. I keep a clean eye shadow container lid with them for that purpose. You can also use the tiny scoops to get the amount of powder you need.

Once I'm back from the trip, they go into my binder with coin sheets, into which the baggies fit perfectly. I keep them separated by color families, so it's like my big coloring book

[fluttershy]

I used to press all my shadows then ran out of steam... heh. What I do now, with most of them, is dumping them into a 2"x2" plastic baggie, put a sticker on the bag with the name of the shadow, and use a mixing medium to draw a stripe of the color on that sticker, so I know what it looks like when applied. These baggies are flatter and I can fit more in my makeup bag. They get slightly messy, and you wanna avoid dipping your brush into them, but it's fairly easy to tap out a bit when you need to apply. I keep a clean eye shadow container lid with them for that purpose. You can also use the tiny scoops to get the amount of powder you need.

Once I'm back from the trip, they go into my binder with coin sheets, into which the baggies fit perfectly. I keep them separated by color families, so it's like my big coloring book

Wow, that sounds really neat! Do you have any pictures of this scientific system? It sounds involved!

[Xarata]

Oh, I knew someone else who used to do that. It's a like one of those collectors' card binders (the binders people keep full of baseball cards or magic cards, etc). I think she had a whole binder just for the she space.

[Colleen]

I use cotton balls in the lid for travel as well.

I would love to see pictures of the binder full of shadows. That sounds neat.

[Springfairy]

I use one of those nail and screw organisers that handymen have. The colours are grouped according to colour families and I'm in the process of cataloging them into a file writing down combinations I like with a given colour etc. It made my life so much easier and I definitely use more shadows than before. I only wish there would be an app that lets you take a picture of the shadow and your face and then you can virtually do various makeup plans.