Anyone can be in that heart-wrenching situation of dropping the makeup palette, causing it to break. You may feel shocked to find your eye shadow palette broken in your makeup box. The distress is intense when this is your favourite brand or colour shade. You don’t buy makeup every day as it lasts for a long time. But when faced with broken makeup, the option that you have in front of you is to trash it and buy a new one.
The good news is that you can refurbish and reuse your broken eye shadow palette. Let us take you through the tried and tested methods to repair your eye shadow kit. Read on to find hacks, tips, and tricks to fix your eyeshadow palette.
1. Use it as Loose powder
Dropped your eye shadow while getting ready for the party? The best option is to use it as a loose powder eye shadow. Here are the steps to convert your broken, pressed powder into a loose formula.
- Separate the colours from the palette.
- Break each into a fine loose powder using the back of your makeup brush.
- Use specific colours for the day’s makeup. Take the broken pieces, one colour at a time, and put them into a plastic bag.
- Press it carefully with the back of a spoon to make it into fine powder.
- Put it into a small container and use it as loose powder eye shadow. Make sure you put the colours into different containers.
2. Press Down With a Makeup Wipe
Retrieve your broken eye shadow palette. Crush it down and press it back into your eyeshadow palette using your wipe. The moisture from the wet wipe will cake it back into shape.
- Separate the different colours of the eye shadow pieces.
- Put the pieces of one colour into a small bowl and crush them up finely.
- Carefully put it back into the palette division and press down using your makeup wipe.
- Leave it open to dry.
3. Fix it Using Alcohol
Mixing the powdered pieces of your broken eye shadow with alcohol can get them back as good as new. Alcohol acts as a rebinding medium to put the powder back together. Alcohol is pure and thus does not change the composition of the powder, and it also evaporates rapidly.
- Pick up the shattered pieces and place them into a bowl.
- Crush it into fine powder.
- Add a few drops of rubbing alcohol and make it into a paste.
- Scrape it and put it back into the palette.
- Do the same with all the different colours.
- Tap the palette to settle down the contents.
- Allow it to dry.
- Once semi-dry, place a paper towel over the product while pressing it to blot up the excess alcohol.
4. Mix And Match
The above hacks will put your broken eye shadow back into its previous form. But you can get creative if the colours got messed up while it dropped.
- Powder and mix with cream eye shadow.
- Add the last bit of highlighter or bronzer for a shimmering eye shadow.
5. Fix it using a hand sanitiser
To fix your eye shadow palette using hand sanitiser, you’ll need a few items which can mostly be found at home, including a bowl, hand sanitiser, mixing tool, coin/spoon/brush, and q-tip/makeup-wipe.
- Start by collecting as much broken powder as possible and placing it in a container. If the product is not scattered all over, transferring it to the bowl will be easier.
- Next, add hand sanitiser drops to the powder and mix to form a paste.
- Apply the paste back into the original pan with your fingers or brush.
- Then, take a coin or spoon, depending on the size of the product, and press the wet powder into the pan, smoothing it out for a like-new appearance.
- Finally, clean the excess powder from the packaging using a q-tip or makeup wipe.
Pro-tip by tira: If you want to avoid using hand sanitiser, you can simply replace hand sanitiser with toner or micellar water.
Know When Not To Restore Your Broken Palette
It can be tempting to try to salvage a broken eye shadow palette, especially if it’s a high-end or limited-edition product. However, there are some situations where it’s best to simply let it go and replace it with a new one. Here are a few scenarios when you might want to skip the restoration process:
- Do not pick up powdered pieces if your product was in a glass casing and the glass had broken in the fall. The glass chards in the powder will cause damage to the delicate skin around your eyes.
- The average life span of eye shadows is two years. Do not repurpose or repair your eye shadow if you notice expiration signs like a bad smell, change in texture, or pigmentation issue.
A broken eye shadow palette can be heartbreaking, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s time to throw it away. With the tips and hacks provided, you can easily fix your broken eye shadow palette and save yourself some money in the process.
From turning it into a loose powder to fixing it with alcohol or hand sanitiser, there are plenty of ways to restore your eye shadow palette. However, it’s important to note that you should not attempt to restore your eye shadow if it’s expired or if it’s shattered in a glass casing.
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