Hey everyone! I haven't done a tutorial in a while so this is pretty exciting. I like getting really handsy with makeup, which is why I'm not as prolific with reviews compared to other bloggers. Sometimes I feel horrible that i don't have enough reviews but I just don't enjoy making them all that much. In this world, everyone has to have an opinion on something but I find a mediocre product is not really worth my attention. Sometimes, I can make a good story out of it; but oftentimes I dont, so I pass up on reviewing them.
Most of my straight-up reviews are raves, because I advocate spending your money on absolutely good things. I'm not the kind of girl to throw my money on mere options. From the start, I've always wanted to build a trust-worthy and reliable makeup kit containing HG products, signature or drugstore. I don't like accumulating a lot of things; I only see them as potential waste.
That's why I prefer doing offbeat tags like Tellie's Misadventures. To me, it's always the story. I'm curating my beauty life for you guys and a review doesn't show much of who I am or what I do with my makeup.
(Wondering what brought this on? Carina wrote a beautiful piece on the burnout, read here.)
So that was a good story, here's another: my lipstick depotting tutorial!
I first read Liz's tutorial here. I don't have the same need for space as she has, what with her being little miss lipstick queen and all. I told her the tutorial was very informative, but I didn't really like how messy it turned out to be. For the lazy, her method is to simply melt the bullet on a sterling silver spoon over candlelight and to pour / flatten the product on to your container.
Fast forward a few months later, I finally bit the bullet seeing as three of my favorite lipsticks had come loose at the base. You can tell 'cause when I twist them up, they get scraped off the sides.
Apparently, the wax easily chars or boils even with a stainless steel spoon, so I went back to the fundamentals of my old candle-making sessions and came up with my own method!
How to Salvage Your Wonky Lipsticks: Indirect Heat and Pyrex
Here's what I used:
Melting:
For the first two bullets, I tried chopping it up in several small pieces to avoid boiling and charring. Surface area! Physics!....
Are not always successful.
These concepts turned out unnecessary and only resulted in a lot of product wastage from the lipstick that got onto my palette and spatula.
What I did for the last bullet was to simply scoop it directly out onto the beaker. It melted without incident but I still wasn't able to pour the lipstick cleanly out of it. I should have used direct heat. I don't think the wax would've burnt with pyrex.
Cleanup:
Since the lipstick did not liquefy enough, there were a lot of huge airholes in my container from when I tried to pour clay-like lipstick onto the pan. To fix this, I simply pressed the product down with my conveniently-shaped spatula: it's almost a perfect fit over the pillcase opening.
I further smoothed the top by blow-drying it.
Moral Of The Story:
I really dumbed out on that one. I think I'd have been better off dumping the bullet on the case and then microwaving it. But where's the fun in that??? Even the cleanup stage could've been microwaved.
I just didn't want to put it in a magical science box and have the lipstick come out all done. I needa work with my haaaaands!
My giveaway for the May BDJ Box is still up. Check it here.
Most of my straight-up reviews are raves, because I advocate spending your money on absolutely good things. I'm not the kind of girl to throw my money on mere options. From the start, I've always wanted to build a trust-worthy and reliable makeup kit containing HG products, signature or drugstore. I don't like accumulating a lot of things; I only see them as potential waste.
That's why I prefer doing offbeat tags like Tellie's Misadventures. To me, it's always the story. I'm curating my beauty life for you guys and a review doesn't show much of who I am or what I do with my makeup.
(Wondering what brought this on? Carina wrote a beautiful piece on the burnout, read here.)
So that was a good story, here's another: my lipstick depotting tutorial!
I first read Liz's tutorial here. I don't have the same need for space as she has, what with her being little miss lipstick queen and all. I told her the tutorial was very informative, but I didn't really like how messy it turned out to be. For the lazy, her method is to simply melt the bullet on a sterling silver spoon over candlelight and to pour / flatten the product on to your container.
Fast forward a few months later, I finally bit the bullet seeing as three of my favorite lipsticks had come loose at the base. You can tell 'cause when I twist them up, they get scraped off the sides.
Apparently, the wax easily chars or boils even with a stainless steel spoon, so I went back to the fundamentals of my old candle-making sessions and came up with my own method!
How to Salvage Your Wonky Lipsticks: Indirect Heat and Pyrex
Here's what I used:
- Melting Base, from an old wax kit.
- Miniature beaker, because of course.
- Stirring rod
- Palette and Spatula
- New containers - I used this 7-day pillbox from Muji (Php 125) which I think is perfect because each compartment is detachable!!! I definitely took my time hunting down the most space-saving container. I could have gone with some tiny round jars but I find unscrewing them such a hassle.
Melting:
For the first two bullets, I tried chopping it up in several small pieces to avoid boiling and charring. Surface area! Physics!....
Are not always successful.
These concepts turned out unnecessary and only resulted in a lot of product wastage from the lipstick that got onto my palette and spatula.
What I did for the last bullet was to simply scoop it directly out onto the beaker. It melted without incident but I still wasn't able to pour the lipstick cleanly out of it. I should have used direct heat. I don't think the wax would've burnt with pyrex.
Protip: Don't forget to check your lipstick base. There's a pretty deep 'anchor' of product holding the bullet to the case's base.
Cleanup:
Since the lipstick did not liquefy enough, there were a lot of huge airholes in my container from when I tried to pour clay-like lipstick onto the pan. To fix this, I simply pressed the product down with my conveniently-shaped spatula: it's almost a perfect fit over the pillcase opening.
I further smoothed the top by blow-drying it.
Protip: For quick cleanup, use makeup remover to clean your tools. You can use ultra-thin precision cotton buds such as those from Nippon (Php 60 / pack) on the nooks on the lid of the pillcase.
Moral Of The Story:
I really dumbed out on that one. I think I'd have been better off dumping the bullet on the case and then microwaving it. But where's the fun in that??? Even the cleanup stage could've been microwaved.
I just didn't want to put it in a magical science box and have the lipstick come out all done. I needa work with my haaaaands!
My giveaway for the May BDJ Box is still up. Check it here.