I love Barry M Dazzle Dusts, but to be honest I’m not overly keen on loose powders. I’d much prefer them to be in the form on a pressed powder.
Recently, one of my favourite powders got smashed in my bag. I was gutted, but after watching several videos on YouTube I learned how to fix it using rubbing alcohol. It’s actually pretty easy and it made me think, why can’t I use the same process to make my loose powders pressed instead?
You will need:
- Loose powder of your choice
- A glass or pot to mix in
- Rubbing alcohol (I bought 500ml from Amazon for just £3!)
- A pipette
- A stirring spatula
- An off cut of material
- coins – or other circular object
- Heavy books
Step 1:
Empty the loose powder into a mixing pot. I used an old glass that used to be a candle! If you’re repairing a smashed powder, it’s a good idea to break it up into smaller pieces so that you don’t get any lumps!
Step 2:
Carefully add a few drops of rubbing alcohol to your powder. Sadly I can’t tell you the exact amount of alcohol you’ll need, as it depends on the amount of powder you’re mixing.
Step 3:
Keep adding the alcohol and stirring the mix until you get a very smooth paste. Don’t worry if you accidentally add to much alcohol, it just means it’ll take a little longer to set and for the alcohol to evaporate
Step 4:
Spoon the mix back into the pot
Step 5:
…and gently tap the pot to make sure your mix is level and any air bubbles can escape.
Step 6:
Now to press the powder… Cover your pot with an off cut of material and pop in some coins. I found that 5ps worked well for this sized pot, but the larger your pan, the larger object you will need. You need to make sure it is a flat object as you need to add pressure across the whole are.
Step 7:
Lastly, add some weight! I found that text books worked really well. You’ll need to leave this to set – I usually leave it overnight. Be warned though, if you uncover it too early, the powder will start to crack!
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Trouble shooting:
- If you add too much alcohol to the mix, don’t worry as it will all evaporate anyway. It will just take a little longer, that’s all.
- Make sure you press the powder with lots of weight. If you don’t press the powder and just leave it, the powder will crack and when the alcohol evaporates, you’ll be left with loose powder again. You really need to compact it all together.
