Post by yumehime on Jul 22, 2017 18:37:10 GMT -5
Dear moderators, I wasn't sure if this belonged with clothing, recipes, or science, so please move the post as you see fit.
I have long been fascinated by the art of makeup, but historical data, most especially documented recipes and how they preform in real life, seems to be limited. Fortunately, a most wonderful teacher has stepped forward to run a class where we are able to get our fingers in recipes and blend our own cosmetics, minus the toxic ingredients of course.
Though specializing in chemistry, I found it interesting that she openly admits limited experience with modern makeup, so her ability to compare products is likewise limited. That said, her understanding of how and why her historic formulas work is most excellent, so should anyone in Northshield find her class on the schedule, it's well worth the $15 dollars for containers and ingredients to learn first hand.
But...how do these mixed preform? How much head ache are you in for at the next camp event should you use them? And what about skin preparation?
As an artist, I learned the key to good makeup starts with preparing the canvas correctly. A wee bit of time on wiki suggest that roman women considered skin care just as important, and used a great number of fascinating, but hard to find ingredients. Given my dry skin test of the white, my instincts told me I'd need some kind of moisturizer before a wet application of the white tin formula since it feels a bit drying. I have opted for a blend of water, frankincense resin, and olive oil to serve as a moisture base. To keep it conceivably period, I used an egg white mask as a cleanser. Since women of Asia would have almond or sesame oil, but all ingredients could be obtained by women of means, there is a pretty good chance SOMEONE in history used the same basic method.
Having blended all the colors in the heat of dub dub, I found application in air conditioning to be a bit more stiff and argumentative than my first skin tests lead me to expect, but hardly impossible. For the white base, I needed to repeatedly dampen a cloth to smooth the finish, and it will take a bit of practice to get the water balance just right, but a nice translucent finish was achieved in the end. The best comparison in texture I can give it is like faking foundation with a low grade concealer cream, functional, but maybe not my first choice of medium.
Once the white was dealt with, I applied the graphite/mica black to brows, inner rims and outer edge of my eyes in a sublet wing that I use on mundane days. Again, there was a bit of sass until the graphite mix warmed a bit on my skin, but it allowed for the lines I would expect from a good cram liner with a bit of patience. I skipped blush since i thought enough skin showed through, but gave my lips a bit of the glossier lip color from the class.
Then I mowed the lawn in high heat, and high humidity.
The white actually looked better for me having poured sweat all over it. Right around my crease there was a bit of color shift that easily dabbed out, but everything else held strong, and even looked bolder for the gloss of perspiration. Neither brow not liner ran, dripped, or dribbled for all the heat. For all the white pigments I have played with over the years, I have never had one preform quite as well as this one, especially in heat. And for all the liners I've gotten my fingers in, one that puts up with an abuse test like this is rare. I can easily see the graphite mica in my daily wear, and feel pretty confident using the white cream at any camp event, especially in the worst heat of summer.
Given a high performance eye liner/brow color can easily run $15 or more, this class kinda pays for itself.
I have long been fascinated by the art of makeup, but historical data, most especially documented recipes and how they preform in real life, seems to be limited. Fortunately, a most wonderful teacher has stepped forward to run a class where we are able to get our fingers in recipes and blend our own cosmetics, minus the toxic ingredients of course.
Though specializing in chemistry, I found it interesting that she openly admits limited experience with modern makeup, so her ability to compare products is likewise limited. That said, her understanding of how and why her historic formulas work is most excellent, so should anyone in Northshield find her class on the schedule, it's well worth the $15 dollars for containers and ingredients to learn first hand.
But...how do these mixed preform? How much head ache are you in for at the next camp event should you use them? And what about skin preparation?
As an artist, I learned the key to good makeup starts with preparing the canvas correctly. A wee bit of time on wiki suggest that roman women considered skin care just as important, and used a great number of fascinating, but hard to find ingredients. Given my dry skin test of the white, my instincts told me I'd need some kind of moisturizer before a wet application of the white tin formula since it feels a bit drying. I have opted for a blend of water, frankincense resin, and olive oil to serve as a moisture base. To keep it conceivably period, I used an egg white mask as a cleanser. Since women of Asia would have almond or sesame oil, but all ingredients could be obtained by women of means, there is a pretty good chance SOMEONE in history used the same basic method.
Having blended all the colors in the heat of dub dub, I found application in air conditioning to be a bit more stiff and argumentative than my first skin tests lead me to expect, but hardly impossible. For the white base, I needed to repeatedly dampen a cloth to smooth the finish, and it will take a bit of practice to get the water balance just right, but a nice translucent finish was achieved in the end. The best comparison in texture I can give it is like faking foundation with a low grade concealer cream, functional, but maybe not my first choice of medium.
Once the white was dealt with, I applied the graphite/mica black to brows, inner rims and outer edge of my eyes in a sublet wing that I use on mundane days. Again, there was a bit of sass until the graphite mix warmed a bit on my skin, but it allowed for the lines I would expect from a good cram liner with a bit of patience. I skipped blush since i thought enough skin showed through, but gave my lips a bit of the glossier lip color from the class.
Then I mowed the lawn in high heat, and high humidity.
The white actually looked better for me having poured sweat all over it. Right around my crease there was a bit of color shift that easily dabbed out, but everything else held strong, and even looked bolder for the gloss of perspiration. Neither brow not liner ran, dripped, or dribbled for all the heat. For all the white pigments I have played with over the years, I have never had one preform quite as well as this one, especially in heat. And for all the liners I've gotten my fingers in, one that puts up with an abuse test like this is rare. I can easily see the graphite mica in my daily wear, and feel pretty confident using the white cream at any camp event, especially in the worst heat of summer.
Given a high performance eye liner/brow color can easily run $15 or more, this class kinda pays for itself.