Mixing it Up: How to Customize Your Makeup Part Two

By Gina “Jet” Ortiz

In the first part of the article, I discussed how to customize your foundation and lip colors by mixing them together to get shades that better fit your needs. Foundation and lip colors are easy to mix and customize but did you know that you can mix eyeshadow and blush too? You might be asking yourself why on Earth anyone would want to mix eyeshadow colors and the answer is simple. Sometimes we buy big eyeshadow palettes with multiple colors and some of the colors aren’t our cup of tea. For instance, you get one of those big palettes with a few blues and greens that you know you’ll never wear but you bought it anyway because it has a bunch of shades you like. Another example would be when you buy an eyeshadow that looked great in the store but when you got it home and on your face, it didn’t look good.

In either case, you can still use these colors if you know how to mix them! For instance, that ugly bright green will be much more “palatable” if you brush it on top of brown. You can create a fabulous smokey eye with dark brown or even black if you brush some of that ugly blue on top of it. It’s easier than you think!

How to Do It: Bright colors that you would never dream of wearing by themselves, such as green, blue, yellow, hot pink, orange, etc., look best when applied on top of darker colors such as brown, gray, and even black. You begin by applying the darker color first with a brush or sponge wand applicator, and blend. Then, with a different brush or sponge wand (or the flip side of the sponge wand), apply the bright color right on top. You’ll notice immediately that the vividness of the color is much more “muted” down and will look much better. You don’t have to be put off by bright colors because you can always “mute them down” with brown or gray to be more acceptable for wearing out in the world. If the color is still too bright or vivid, you simply keep blending with your brush or sponge wand until it calms down.

What About Those Really “Shiny” Eyeshadows That You Don’t Know What to Do With? Those silver or gold shades are great for two situations: alone for a “barely there” look, or on top of a dark or rich color to add some shine. For instance, if you want a clean, no-makeup look, you can brush or “dab” on a small amount of the shimmery color onto the eyelid (after foundation and powder) for a light shimmer that looks natural. Or you can dab it on with your fingertip on top of a nice subtle pink or nude shade for a little fanciness. If you’ve done a great smokey eye with brown, gray, or black (or plum!), a fingertip of that shimmery shade will look fabulous. Simply rub a fingertip lightly into the eyeshadow and dab it onto the “ball” of the eyelid, avoiding the crease area. Did you know that you can dab on a little bit of that shimmery eyeshadow to your lip to add a highlight? Play around with it!

Bottom Line: Eyeshadow can be “layered.” Mixing compact-powder eyeshadows isn’t done in the pan or in the brush, it’s best done on the eyelid itself. Yes, you could actually scrape out a couple of shades of eyeshadow onto a palette and mix them together but you risk damaging them. They’ll crumble and fall apart much easier if you do it that way. Also, applying that loose powder to your eyelid is a very messy endeavor unless you moisten it with mixing liquid. If you’re a beginner, practice mixing your eyeshadow colors on your eyelid first before you venture out into the world of loose pigments and mixing liquid.

Mixing or Cream or Liquid Eyeshadows: This process is very easy to do once you’ve decided which of the colors you want to be the “dominant color.” What I mean by this is that you’re probably not trying to make green out of yellow and blue. More likely would be that you have a color that you don’t like very much and you’d like to adjust it a little bit or use it with another color or type. Let’s say you have a creamy eyeshadow color in a pot that you don’t want to use by itself. You can put it on your lid and then put a powdered color on top of it, or you could put a small “dab” of it on top of a powdered color that you put on the lid first. Do you have a silver or bronze-y color that you wish was a little pinker? Pull some out and put it on a palette and then scrape a tiny bit of blush into it and mix. Voila!

Bottom Line: You can mix two creams or two liquids, but you can also mix liquids with powders, or creams with powders. You can put the cream or liquid on the lid first and then apply the powder color, or you can apply the powder color first and then (carefully) apply the cream or liquid on top. Mixing generally takes place on the lid but can be mixed on a palette first.

Mixing Blush: Anyone who has ever bought blush has experienced The Mismatch. Blush is tricky because you never know how much pigment it contains before you try it. For me, blush is always way too strong, or way too weak. That warm peachy-pink color I love so much looks like day-glo when I put it on my face! What, then, are we supposed to do with all those blushes that don’t look good on us? Well, the good news is that blush can also be “muted” in the same way that eyeshadows can. A hot-pink blush can be brushed on top of a bronzer to make it much more subtle, and a too-purple blush can be applied underneath a too-rosy shade.

Repurposing Blush: What can you do with that “hopeless” blush that just doesn’t look good on your cheeks no matter what you do to it? Use it for something else! Did you know that you can use blush as eyeshadow or lip color? Yup! That crazy-red blush that came in a multi-shade palette you bought can be used as lip color! Simply swish your finger or sponge wand into the pan and dab it onto your lips and follow up with a nice gloss. Not a fan of messy lip gloss? Apply some lip balm like Blistex or Carmex on top for a more natural look. How about that ugly purple blush you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing? Use it as eyeshadow on top of some brown or gray for a snazzy smokey eye! Got some mixing liquid? Turn that ugly blush into a unique eyeliner!

Bottom Line: The whole point of learning these techniques is not to over-complicate your makeup experience, but rather, to experiment and grow as an artist. If that idea doesn’t interest you and you’re the type that wants to just get it done and get out the door, then you can look at it as not wasting money on makeup you paid for but didn’t like. You can adjust and customize it to fit your taste, or you can repurpose it entirely to create a whole new product that you’ll actually use and love!

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Category: Makeup, Transgender How To