Weekly Handy Tips Series: Reusing Cosmetics Before Trashing

Cosmetics are expensive. Since we don’t want to take a chance with our skin or hair, we usually end up buying the best quality products that always manage to burn a hole in the pocket. Using them optimally (I did not feel like using the word stingily, though that is what I wanted to say) is one step closer towards reducing your expenses over cosmetics.

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An estimate $18.8 billion was spent on cosmetics and perfumes just in the USA in 2000. Some women confess to spend at least 65% of their money on cosmetics alone, each month. So you see, the numbers are big and being stingy is sensible.

What you could do with your broken Eye Shadow:

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Don’t you hate it when your eye shadow breaks, it makes such a mess in the makeup bag. Worse if you break one in the purse, everything gets covered with the coloured powder. If you ever have a broken pigment, all you need to do is add a few drops of 70% rubbing alcohol and press the pigment back neatly into the container. I always use this shorter, quicker method. The video below shows a better and neater way to fix the broken eye shadow or compact face powder. It’s very easy and reusing is always better than throwing them away.

What else you could do with your broken Compact Powder:

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Another thing you could do with broken compact powder or blush is to make your own homemade lip balm or lip gloss. I prefer nude or light colours for the lip gloss or lip balm, just a little bit of shimmer and lots of moisturising. But if you like yours coloured, you could try using eye shadows also. When making a lip balm it’s advisable to stick to more basic colours and nudes, since for the balm we are going to use petroleum jelly. When you apply it on the lips, it tends to spread a bit and a dark shade will look untidy if it spreads out distorting the shape of your lips. For the lip gloss we are going to use castor oil, its polar in nature and sticks well on the lips. All commercial lip glosses contain castor oil. So your gloss can be as bright coloured as you like.
Using the back of a spoon or a butter knife scrap out the pigment (when I say pigment it means eye shadow, compact face powder or blush) so that you have a fine powder. If the pigment is broken already, put it in a Ziploc bag and crush it to a fine powder by pressing it with a spoon. Add the powder to your petroleum jelly or castor oil, depending on what you are making, balm or gloss. You can add roughly about a pinch of powder to 2 table spoon of balm or oil. Proportions can vary according to choice. Mix very well and transfer the contents to a tight lid container. For the gloss, you can get lip gloss containers from any art supply store.

For more ideas check – Reusing Broken Lipsticks to Make New Ones

What you could do with expired Eyeliner and Mascara:

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Ever heard that you are not suppose to use your eyeliner or mascara for over 3 months after the first use? What do you do with them after 3 months when you still half the product still left? One, you just toss it in the bin, and second, get creative with it. Use the eyeliner to directly paint a temporary washable tattoo. And if you have mascara left, use a paint brush to paint the tattoo. It’s easy, fun and looks like just any other temporary tattoo. You can remove it with some cleansing milk and cotton as you would remove the eyeliner or mascara. Simple, right?

What you could do with Eye Pencils and Lip Pencils:

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We all have some odd coloured lip liners that are not usable either because the shade is weird or because you do not have a lipstick of a similar colour. Sometimes we just buy some eye pencils on the spur of the moment but then never use it even once. What do you do with such extra pencils? You obviously know that an eye pencil and a lip pencil are inter-changeable. You can easily use one in place of the other. What you can also use them for is face painting or making coloured tattoos. If they are good to use on your lips and eyes, they are safe to be used for your child’s face for painting tattoos. They give a neat and professional look and are easier to use than wet paints.

What you could do with Shampoos and Liquid Soap:

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The liquid hand soaps that you get in the market are so thick and rich. One drop is enough for onetime wash. But the dispenser usually pours out more than a few drops of soap onto the hands. What a waste! So is the case with body washes and shampoos. Add about 2-3 caps of water to the hand soap, body wash and shampoo. It won’t in anyway affect the effectiveness of the soap or shampoo but will make them go on a few more washes longer. Remember not to dilute too much, just increase the quantity by 10-15% water.

You anyways wet your hands, body or hair before applying them, so a little dilution will not harm, you are using them economically, that’s all. If you have kids in the house, just this little bit more helps. Kids have a tendency to pump soap out 2-3 times for a single wash. Teach them that more soap does not mean cleaner hands or body, extra soap will just dry out the skin more.

What you could do with Conditioners and Body Lotions:

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All your washing liquids i.e. dish soap, hand soap, clothes detergent and body wash they all have the same basic detergent, it’s just in a different dilution and has different colours and fragrances. Same is the case with your different creams, lotions and conditioners, the basic ingredients remain the same in all. So, a body lotion will moisturise or condition hair just as well as a regular conditioner, but if you do not apply it correctly, your hair might turn out really oily. When your conditioner or body lotion is almost over, (almost over means when the bottle or tube seems like it contains no more product, but it does, the last few drops, which are actually about 1 to 2 spoons of product if you squeeze it out or drain it properly), use the last bit of it to make a nice leave-in conditioner for your hair.

If you have the lotion or conditioner in a bottle, then simply add 2-3 caps full of water and shake the bottle well. Pour out the contents into a spray bottle and you have a leave-in spray conditioner for your hair. If the product, that is the conditioner or the lotion, is in a tube, using the back of a spoon, squeeze out all the contents into a bowl. You could cut the tube and just scrap out the product too. Mix enough water to make it of spray-able consistency and transfer the solution to a spray bottle. After shampooing your hair, spray the leave-in conditioner and you are set. No need to rinse the hair again since the conditioner is already diluted.

What you could do with Dried Nail Paints :

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We all know that a thickened nail paint lacks shine and peels off or starts flaking sooner than normal. So do you keep nail paints in the fridge to extend the life of your nail paints and keep them from drying up? NO! The condensation makes the nail paint hard and it will take ages to dry once you apply them. Then what do you do with nail paints which have already dried or started getting thick? Instead of throwing them away, add a few drops of thinner. Close the bottle and shake well. Check for the consistency and add more thinner if required. How do you know what the right consistency is?

Well, you should be able to apply at least 2 to 3 neat coats of the paint without having to re-dip your brush for more paint. Thinners are good for prolonging the life of your nail paint. Once you have added the thinner, wait for 10-15 paint minutes before applying the nail paint. Lot of people use nail paint remover instead of a thinner, but removers contain water and so do not mix well with the nail paint. Thinners are made for the purpose of thinning the nail paints.

Other articles that might interest you:

Reusing Broken Lipsticks to Make New Ones

Weekly Handy Tips Series: Dandruff Control

Weekly Handy Tips Series: Bye-bye Blackheads

Get Naturally Gorgeous in Eight Days

Home Remedies for Cold Sores