This post started out as "Making my own makeup!" but that was actually an epic fail. If makeup was so easy to make, MAC and Sephora would be out of business. It's HARD to get a fine eyeshadow that blends and goes on smoothly! Holy shtuff it's hard.
Some things you gotta leave to the experts.
I tried what I thought would make for good colors on me: cacao powder, cinnamon, saigon cinnamon, cloves, turmeric. Got out my eyeshadow brush. Picked up a little of each, one at a time on the brush, dab dab dabbed... and... got a load of cacao in my eye.
My daughter came home and wanted to help. We added arrowroot powder and coconut oil. We put it into little vials and into the freezer to harden fast. We were SO excited to try it.
This was her expression when it went on her hand, then my eyelid, IN CLUMPS. Nothing but clumps. Oh well, we tried.
Some things you gotta leave to the experts. Eyeshadow is one of those things.
BUUUUT what I do want to share is an experiment that TOTALLY WORKED! BOY BROWS.
I was working on my DIY version of soap brows because I really wanted to achieve this boy brow look. I tried 4 methods and the winner is a combination of 2 of them.
GLYCERIN SOAP, a spoolie, and Wonderbrow, eye shadow or mascara. The soap part is great because it's natural, harmless, can be chemical free if you use homemade glycerin soap. It has incredible holding power. And it dries completely clear.
GLOSSIER BOY BROW POMADE - supposedly a product that sculpts your brow hairs while also adding thickness and tint. NOT SO. I fell for their stupid instagram ad (I've been doing that way too often lately). I have come to believe that ALL PRODUCTS PURPORTING TO BE BROW POMADE do not actually hold stubborn eyebrow hairs in place. At least not mine.
BROWNISH BLACK WATERPROOF MASCARA - Nothing gets the job done better than regular mascara. It has some hold. It has tint. It has thickening agents. You don't need to go out or online to buy anything. It's already in your possession, you just have to repurpose it!
HAIR PASTE - The kind my sons use to sculpt their bangs into that messy wavy side comb style. It actually works on your brows too. But you have to rub it in good or it looks whitish. And it flakes, so you really can't touch it much after it dries.
My current technique (tho it's always evolving) is 1) apply dark brown mascara on brows to darken and thicken. 2) apply glycerin soap to sculpt them into shape. With mascara alone, the brow hairs wouldn't lie down flat. With a little soap on a wet spoolie, I can get the stubbornist of brow hairs to lie down, get into the shape I want, AND still look "fluffy." The shaping steps are:
brush brow hairs up
get them to lie flat against your skin
smooth out the top edge so it doesn't look like a porcupine
lightly brush thru so it doesn't look flattened, but "fluffy"
This is the best boy brow tutorial IMHO on youtube (start watching at 1:55):
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*UPDATE 2/3/21:
When Rodan and Fields came out with their Brow Defining Boost, I caved in to the pressure and had to try it. I've been using that most recently because it's a one-step process and it has some brow boosting qualities. It doesn't get my brows to lay flat, but it's not like anyone is seeing me face to face these days anyways. And on Zoom, it looks great. haha
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