liquid foundation is the biggest scam ever, especially if you’re an ambiguous ethnicity mixed race girlie and you go through four skin tones throughout the year.
you waste time, money and product – and end up throwing away more foundation than you use.
This winter I found the answer, once again after a bad experience with an ethical, organic make up brand who I had a couple of good products from, but ultimately was sent faulty products and given such bad service!
I make my own. There are two ways that you can do this – you can mix pigment (either powder foundation that works for you or your own blend) with your favourite serum/lotion/moisturiser, or make your own creams also.
I hate wasting things but storing powders risks less bacterial/fungal contamination and you can simply add or balance with other pigments to create your perfect shade.
All colours can be created through balancing red, green, blue, white and black but if you want to cheat you can buy a mineral powder that suits your skin as well as some colour-correcting pigments in white (titanium dioxide), lavender, olive green and peach. If you get your deepest colour (aka your summer colour) it becomes very easy to take it to a lighter shade. Right now, I simply add white pigment in a small pot and then blend with my preferred cream base.
For winter, for me, the only way to keep my skin feeling luscious and beautiful is a home-made tallow balm. The basic recipe is:
- organic tallow
- Jojoba oil
- castor oil
- Shea butter
- coconut oil
- Vit e
- Olive-m (or vegetal) wax
- Hydrolat/hydrosol (I like rose geranium, orange blossom and lavender)
- Eco preservative
This becomes the base. you can make it more oily, or add more of the water-based ingredients to make it more liquidy. Mine has a creamy balm consistency that acts a barrier on the skin and protects against the cold and dryness from indoor heating.
If you want to get more fancy, I add a bunch more things to make my creams anti-aging as I can see 40 on the horizon and I’m going to invest in my skin!
I like to add:
- algae oil
- Papaya oil
- Papaya glycerol
- Raspberry seed oil
- Liftonin
- Q10
If you don’t like the smell of tallow you can substitute very easily with lanolin, and if you’re a vegan you could use cocoa butter instead but it doesn’t have the same impact as a cream that heals the skin barrier. After experimenting with skincare my whole life, I have never found a vegan alternative that can heal skin better than tallow or lanolin.
While you don’t need to add essential oils, I like to add some ones that are known for their beautifying, astringent or anti/aging properties, such as:
- frankincense
- Rose
- Myrrh
- Lavender
- Juniper
A little goes a long way – remember that you are adding them for their skincare benefit and not their scent, and that too much might burn your skin. A couple of drops is plenty!
With your cream, once made, you simply take a pea-sized amount onto your hand and blend with however much pigment you want.
You’ll get a light coverage that is also skin perfecting- great for everyday.
You could even experiment and make a cheek balm, or use mica to add a shimmer and highlight.
What do you think?
Will you make your own foundation?
individual pigments are often sold through cosmetics companies and wholesalers as iron oxides. Be sure they are cosmetic grade before applying to your skin!
