Silk Naturals

I love playing the role of mad cosmetic chemist in my bathroom! Because I travel so much I really like pressed powders and came across a term I'm lost in: pressing medium. Do you really need one to press SN powders? I don't like adding extra "stuff" to the pure mix.

Any guidance/advice?

In my experience you need some type of binder to press, otherwise the result will be really soft and break easily. Especially for shimmery e/s you need it. I pressed my SN shadows with EZ Prez and had good results. But you can also use jojoba and/or glycerine.
I have also used just alcohol to press concealer, although it is not really pressing, since I just mix and wait for it to dry. I did this because I didn't want to add any extra ingredients to the concealer since my skin is breakout prone. It did turn out real soft, but it works, and I don't mind that its soft, when it gets broken up completely I can just re-press. I did it in a jar, so I can still put the lid on to travel with it.

We sound similar. Between melanoma and rosacea, its tricky to find something that works. So if I just put in some drops of jojoba, mix well but to what consistency? Jojoba woul dbe great for my dry skin.

maverickldr wrote:We sound similar. Between melanoma and rosacea, its tricky to find something that works. So if I just put in some drops of jojoba, mix well but to what consistency? Jojoba woul dbe great for my dry skin.

You need both jojoba and alcohol(the higher the % the better, because it will dry quicker).
I would find some things to experiment on, so you don't ruin your favorite product. For about the size of an e/s jar, you can start with maybe 4-5 drops of jojoba(more if it is something that has shimmer) and then add alcohol, drop by drop, and mix. You want it to be like wet sand, where it all kind of sticks together in one big lump. Then you put that lump into a pan or whatever you are pressing into, put a paper towel over it, and use something the same size/shape to press(so like a quarter for example). You may have to keep moving the paper towel and pressing as the liquid gets soaked into it until the paper towel barely gets wet. Then you just have to wait for it to dry. You can use more jojoba to get a more moisturizing product with a creamier consistency, but then it may be hard to get onto a brush and you may have to use something like a cosmetic sponge to apply. But it all depends on what your preferences are. So experiment with something you don't like as much first to figure out the best way for you.

Is it a foundation that you are trying to press?
I find for eyeshadows I can use EZ Prez no problem, my eyes don't mind at all. For concealer though I use only the alcohol because jojoba breaks me out unfortunatley and I don't know if the EZ Prez would break me out or not but I don't want to test it in case it does.

I'm not sure if I'd try pressing the Perfecting Powders. Eye shadows are relatively forgiving because they don't really have to be color accurate and most of ours already have at least some magnesium stearate which acts as a dry binder. Foundations are the same case, but the color will be a little deeper because of the oils.

With the Perfecting Powders there isn't much to really hold them together, and the silica absorbs oil and when it does it loses its airbrush effect. Maybe the EZ-Press would work, but I kinda doubt it.

ITs the foundation and blushes as I use more of these than the shadows. I have my recipe down (1 Olive: 10 Ivory) but I'm still trying the original and medium coverage to determine which one I like best. I'll try drops of alcohol first and then add a drop or two of jojoba. How long do you think it will take to dry?

I feel better with using as natural ingredients as possible. Thanks everyone! I'll post as I experiment.

maverickldr wrote:ITs the foundation and blushes as I use more of these than the shadows. I have my recipe down (1 Olive: 10 Ivory) but I'm still trying the original and medium coverage to determine which one I like best. I'll try drops of alcohol first and then add a drop or two of jojoba. How long do you think it will take to dry?

I feel better with using as natural ingredients as possible. Thanks everyone! I'll post as I experiment.

It depends on the alcohol % how long it dries, because if it is say 60% alcohol then it is 40% water so it will take longer. But for a higher %, maybe like overnight would be enough. You could always test it and see if it is dry enough. If you are pressing with a paper towel that takes a lot of the excess liquid out anyways, so it shouldn't be too wet after you press, I mean you could touch it and it wouldn't mess it up or anything.
I think the toughest thing with pressing foundation and blushes is finding something to press into and press with. For e/s it is easy cauz they have those little pans that fit a quarter, but for foundation and blush you need something bigger, and then also have to find some kind of thing to press down with like a bottle or jar.

Instead of jojoba oil, can I use baby oil? I picked up pressing tins and pressor at TKB Trading - very reasonable and good size tins. The 52mm will be perfect for foundation.

Hmm...I'm not sure, I know Jojoba acts as a binder, but I do not know if baby oil does, I know its not all oils that do. You can find jojoba at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, it is pretty easy to come by.