When I was in college, my makeup budget was limited, to say the least. A couple of times a year the big department stores where I lived would have a big makeup clearance sale where products were marked down to pennies on the dollar. Normally that would mean dealing with broken powder makeup that nobody else wanted.
Once a store manager gifted me a store bag full of powder makeup that she said was so badly broken that she had been told to dump it in the trash. She thought I might be able to use a bit of it and dump what could not be salvaged. Little did she know…
Luckily a friend taught me an awesome hack to repair the broken powder makeup.
How to fix broken powder makeup?
- Crush all of the remaining powder cake into a fine powder.
- Place a folded, fresh makeup wipe over the powder.
- Press the damp wipe down into the powder.
- Once the powder is pressed flat, toss the wipe.
- Leave your compact open and out to dry.
It sometimes takes years of trial and error to find the exact combination eye color, blush, concealer, and bronzer that perfectly flatters your skin tone. To me, it is a pretty big deal when I do.
Once you have gone through the proverbial pain and suffering to find them, if those essential products break, it suddenly becomes a bit of a bigger deal.
Usually, it means trying to do something with whatever else in your collection until you can repurchase your favorites. That is assuming they haven’t been discontinued in the interim. We all know the feeling we get looking in the mirror after doing our makeup using products/colors that we aren’t 100% happy with. My mind talk is usually: “I can’t possibly go out like that. I look hideous!”
Surely it is better to simply fix your broken makeup? If only you knew how. I think so. Read on, and learn how to fix broken eyeshadow and other shattered powder products. If you are in a college dorm, like I was, maybe this can also become your side hustle and earn a few dollars in the process.
Not A Lost Cause
Having broken makeup is far from being a lost cause. No need to shed a tear ever again. I have three options for what you can do with broken powder makeup and even have an option for broken lipstick too.
1. Repress Your compacts
It can happen so easily. You dropped your makeup bag and your favorite blush is in a seemingly million different pieces.
Here is what to must. Crush it up even more. I know this may seem completely illogical and you will likely hesitate, but trust me I’ve done this more than a few times. Take the handle end of a makeup brush or the back of a teaspoon and break up all the damaged bits until all you have left is a fine powder.
If you haven’t done your makeup yet then proceed first to option 2 below before you continue or you will be left without your blush for the day.
Next, get out a normal makeup wipe. You know the kind you usually use to cleanse your face and remove your makeup that is damp as it comes out of the package. Fold the cleansing wipe enough times that still fit nicely over the compact.
Now press down the cleansing wipe onto the broken powder. I usually put the compact down on my dresser or my desk so that I can stand and use my weight to really press down hard. The moisture from the cleansing wipe will slowly press the loose powder back into its original shape.
Once you have the powder all pressed flat, dispose of the wipe and leave the makeup compact open to dry out.
Once it is dry, you should be able to use your compact just the same as you always have, as if nothing has happened.
2. Convert To Loose Shadows
Even though you may be used to your eyeshadow being in its standard form in a palette or compact. However, loose shadows are fabulous too.
Don’t stress, a powder eyeshadow will work just as well once transformed into a loose shadow as it did before it was ever broken.
I suggest you switch the loose powder over to another container. Something like a small travel jar or even a contact lens case can work.
This tip isn’t limited to eyeshadow. Remember how I said a moment ago that if you break your blush before you do your makeup. Just use your blush as a loose powder and recompact it after you are done.
You can turn your pressed face powder into loose setting powder, a pressed illuminator can become a loose highlighting powder, and so on. If you start using travel containers for all of your new loose powder makeup, remember to mark all of the containers clearly.
If you are new to loose eyeshadows, try this little stage makeup hack. Dip a slightly damp brush into the shadow, and then apply it. This will make the color look extra pigmented and amazing.
3. Repurpose Broken Products Into Something Uniquely You
The fixes that I have just explained are great ways to resurrect broken products in a way that allows you to use them in the same way that you always have.
Sometimes there is too little of your product left to make those fixes really feasible. In those instances, you can also breathe new life into them by repurposing the broken bits you’re left with.
This means different things for different products and a chance to be a little creative.
However, here are a couple of ideas to get you started. Mix broken powder eyeshadow with a cream shadow to get a whole new color or finish. Add shimmer from your favorite highlighter to a clear lip gloss. Blend broken face and body bronzer with some lotion to get a brand new tinted body moisturizer.
What About Broken Lipsticks?
Now that we have covered broken blush and eyeshadows that come in compacted powder form, but what about lipstick?
I don’t know about you, but I have lost count of the number of lipsticks that I have broken by dropping them on the hard tile floors in office/gym/restaurant restrooms. Somehow it usually happens during the first few days after getting a new set of acrylic nails done.
Obviously, crushing it up and pressing a makeup wipe into it won’t work. Instead, do what I do and use it to start your own lip palette.
Take whatever remains of your lipstick and press it down into an empty lip palette. You can also use an empty pill case as a crafty palette alternative. In my office desk drawer, I keep a pill case lip palette, a lip brush and a compact mirror from a blush that broke the hinge when it fell.