I’ve never been someone who wears a lot of makeup. I always feel bad when I buy makeup; most of it goes to waste because it expires before I use it all. Also, I hadn’t found a liquid foundation that didn’t irritate my sensitive skin. I tried using Airbrush makeup, which works really well and doesn’t irritate my skin, it just has a high learning curve to use. When I found out I could make my own mineral makeup, it seemed to meet my needs well because it’s cheaper than buying mineral makeup from the store, and if I waste it, I don’t feel so bad. Plus, I could potentially find out what ingredients irritate my skin (so far, Bismuth Oxychloride).

I bought the Mineral Makeup Kit from TKB Trading. First thing I should have done was email them back saying that I got 4 lids for one size of the containers, instead of two lids and two bottoms. I waited too long for their return policy. Oops. I still haven’t contacted them about it. But if I wanted to replace the 2 containers, it’d only be about $4. Meh.

If you do buy the kit, I would recommend reading the instructions that come with the kit first. It lists the things you could potentially make. it comes with two containers that are good for foundation, 2 medium size (probably blush and concealer), and 2 eyeshadow size containers. If you want to make more than that, I would recommend more containers.

The basics of making mineral makeup go like this:

• Sanitize all the things you will be using with alcohol. You should wear a dust mask and gloves. I also put down wax paper over my breakfast table.
• Your ingredients will go into a coffee grinder. You grind the minerals together to get it evenly mixed.
• Once you’ve blended the things you want to make, put them into a container.

Kinda simple.

Here’s the thing about making powdered makeup. It makes a horrible mess. The first coffee grinder I got was the cheapest one I could find on Amazon. The powder started to work it’s way out of the coffee grinder at the seal. I chalked it up to a terrible coffee grinder. A while later, I bought a new coffee grinder from Bed Bath and Beyond. Same problem. The powder started to get down into the inside of the grinder, and it was still coming out at the seal. Not to mention it wasn’t mixing the powder well enough; a lot of it was sticking to the sides, and it wasn’t mixing the powder at the bottom. Maybe I expected it to mix better than it actually does. Maybe I was being too impatient. I did my best to get a foundation, concealer, and mineral veil made and then stopped after that.

I haven’t given up though. I read that some people use a mortar and pestle to grind the minerals together. I bought one, but I haven’t tried it yet. My hope is that the mortar and pestle will give me greater control, even if it will take longer to mix. I will report my findings once I give it a try.