What to do with the colorful eyeshadows just sitting in your vanity
Words by Ceres Helga Barrios
This pandemic deemed many of our cosmetic products useless, like colorful eyeshadow palettes or loose pigments that we may have bought on a whim or for that one party we needed to attend. Not everyone has the energy or time to play with makeup and post on social media, or wants to donate the palettes because it’s a limited-edition item. It’s an even bigger problem when they’re about to expire.
Allow me to share some ideas on how you can utilize those rainbow palettes so they won’t entirely go to waste!
Create a swatch catalogue
If you’re the type who likes to organize things or just want to access things efficiently, creating a swatch catalogue would be a fun way to utilize those eyeshadow palettes.
You can categorize the swatches by color, by finish, then by name/brand. This will be very helpful if you have shadows that are similar in shades. You can also indicate the expiry date - that way, if you suddenly need to use that specific shade that’s expired, you can choose from the other similar shades in the list.
If you like doing arts and crafts like this the old school way, you can use any notebook or journal with smooth pages. It’s easier to swatch powder and even metallics and glitters to smooth surfaces using your finger. (You can try wet brushes but I prefer the fingers because it doesn’t wrinkle the paper.)
If you’re feeling extra or just want to make your catalogue cute, you can use stencils for swatching.
Be reminded that some shades and finish are more difficult to transfer to paper. But this is also a way to see how good the pigments are. The chalkier the eyeshadow is, the more difficult they transfer on paper.
Another way to categorize the eyeshadows (and other makeup products for that matter) without using paper is doing them digitally.
You can use something like Good Notes as your notebook/journal where you can attach pictures of the swatches or your actual eye makeup looks. That way, you can see the pigment and finish on your face easily. This method is also neater and won’t fade over time.
Use it on your hair as a colorful accent
I know, bright colors on black hair? What? But it actually looks fantastic. You can use powder eyeshadow but this technique is especially useful for liquid shadows, especially the metallic ones. Apply them as streaks on hair. If you have chunky glitter shadows, that might work, too! Just make sure to press the color in with your fingers and then set with hair spray so the eyeshadow stays put.
Mix them with Vaseline or lip balms or lipsticks to create a new shade
Before anything else, make sure that the ingredients in the eyeshadow you’re gonna use is non-toxic when ingested (therefore it’s best that you use products where ingredients are indicated in the packaging). It requires a bit of research, but if you’re feeling really crafty, it’s a must. Better safe than sorry, right?
The easiest and neatest way to DIY a new lipstick shade would be melting the lipstick, mixing eyeshadow with it, and transferring the product into a clean container. If you have a lipstick mold and lipstick casing a la Safiya Nygaard, even better.
Glitter shadows especially look good mixed with dark lipsticks. You don’t even have to mix them into a new lipstick. You can use the shadows to top the lip product on your lips. This can also create a different kind of texture for more bold or avant-garde looks.
Use them on printed face charts for future looks.
Just like cataloguing with paper, you can download face charts online and print them on smooth paper. It might not blend as normal, but at least you get an idea which shadows you may want to use.
You can also use these for planning your makeup looks or creating bold and avant-garde designs before doing the actual makeup. That way, you already have an idea which colors look best together and won’t have to repeat the process when you’re already doing your makeup.
For expired palettes, use them on coloring books
Doing this would make them REALLY expensive “crayons”, but hey, at least you still get to utilize them before they become useless, right? And these suggestions could also work on lipsticks collections.
The look of the eyeshadow colors on coloring books is similar to water color where they are less opaque and there are line demarcations when used with water, but it’s a good effect all the same. Using the shadows dry could be better since you can blend the colors, just like doing your makeup. You can also opt not to and leave them as is.
This is just something fun to do when you’re bored or feeling crafty. The best way to apply the colors is with your fingers and then blend with an old eyeshadow brush you’re no longer using. The brush removes the excess powder as well so you can store them right away (if you’re not mixing the media like using lipsticks). Heads up, though - it’s kind of difficult to stay within the lines using eyeshadow as colors.
If you’re using other makeup products as well, just make sure you let them dry completely before storage or else the products may transfer on the pages.
Can you think of other ways to utilize old/unused eyeshadows? Leave them in the comments below!