# TECHNIQUE FAQ: Fixing broken pressed-powder products



## martygreene (Aug 15, 2005)

Standard Method:

Soak the broken product in alcohol to make paste 
Smooth out with your finger wrapped in saran wrap, using only the tip, minimize contact. Paste will be dark. 
At this point, you can simply allow to dry undisturbed for 2-3 days by air, or continue by doing the following:

Bake in increments of 3 minutes in oven preheated to 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93 degree centigrade). Be sure to stabilize the pan of product on some foil whilst baking. Do NOT use a heat-conductive platform such as a cookie sheet. 
Watching non-stop, do this until paste just begins to lighten, signaling evaporation of alcohol. Any shortcuts or leaving the product alone for even a few minutes could result in over-heating and alteration in color. 
When lightening begins, remove from oven and let sit undisturbed at room temperature for 2 days. The product will be a little lumpy, but recovered. 

Method #2:

Collect all the broken product onto a piece of paper. 
Create a funnel with the paper and then pour the powder back into the pan. 
Using plastic wrap and your index finger, push all the powder back into the pan with medium force. Keep on pushing until the powder is flat. 

Method #3:

Arrange all of the broken pieces back into the pot, and lay a tissue over the pieces. 
Take the end of a bottle (the old-style MAC hyper real bottle caps worked perfectly for MAC and similarly sized shadows) and press over the tissue with the bottle or bottle cap. 
Remove the tissue, and the product will be perfectly pressed back into the pot and the surface will be as smooth. 

Adding Hatch Marks:
This should be done just as the product is still damp but NOT pasty from repair with alcohol (you should be able to press on it with your fingers).

Get a piece of wax paper over your shadow and firmly press down all over the e/s making sure it is set firmly and the surface is an even as possible. 
If you see cracks, lightly spray with alcohol and press again using your finger or wax paper. 
Take an old pair of coarse jeans and turn them inside out. (Levi's work well, as do any other thick heavily textured material) 
Carefully take one of the inside out legs and put it over the surface and press firmly all over. 
Voila! You have the pretty hatch mark you lost in breakage. If the imprint is not showing as much as you want, spray with alcohol and press again or press harder. 

Making Your Broken Product Into a Loose Powder:
Instead of trying to stuff the broken product into the pan, you can just make it all into loose powder.

Get a small mortar and pestle (available from kitchen stores) and put all of the product into it, scraping out the unbroken remnants if desired. 
Grind product as finely as possible. 
Put the loose powder in a small tin or tub, and apply using a brush.


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## missBOMBcheLLe (Aug 18, 2005)

its sux cuz i after reading this post yesterday i started depotting my blushes...  after i was done with a dual blush, i stuck the sticker in the back, half of the blush cracked into pieces 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





how can i just fix half of it? and what kind of alcohol do i use (rubbing alcohol)?


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## martygreene (Aug 18, 2005)

I would follow the standard method, without baking, and just be sure to allow it to dry thoroughly before using it again.

Yes, rubbing alcohol- preferrably the unscented kind. I would just alcohol the portion which was damaged.


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## missBOMBcheLLe (Aug 18, 2005)

thanx so much i wiLL try it 2nite and let yOo kno how it goes... also, how do i post pictures up?


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## Janice (Aug 18, 2005)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *redbombchelle* 
_also, how do i post pictures up?_

 
The FAQ for that is listed here


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## missBOMBcheLLe (Aug 18, 2005)

thanx janice i saw that thread right after i posted that message! hopefuLLy i can do it!


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## Guccii (Sep 6, 2005)

I tried the #1 method last thursday and its still kinda wet and pastey, is there anything I can do to fix it? I was thinking about putting it in the oven for a few more minutes, but I dont want to ruin it!

I did three at once, and the other two are great!

Thanks for the tutorial!!


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## martygreene (Sep 6, 2005)

Some products can take a while to dry, and it also depends on the percentage of alcohol in the rubbing alchohol that is used. You can probably try baking it as described above for a short bit to help speed it along.


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## Isis (Dec 28, 2005)

Actually, while I was watching Stripped a few nights ago on the Style Network, they showed how manufactures get their hatch marks.
All they do place a small square of silk over the pans before they're pressed 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Throught you'd like to know.


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## cyens (Jan 19, 2006)

I have a question

I've been reading that heating make-up is very bad because it destroys the preservatives inside the product. Which could result in bacterial spred or other deteriorations
I even read that the heat inside your car in summer in the sun is enough to alterate your make-up. I forgot though whats the maximum heat your make-up can stand before it destroys products inside of it, but its not very high.


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## SuzyMartin (Mar 11, 2006)

Thanks!


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## kalice (Dec 5, 2006)

yeaaa! this is perfect for restoring all those dropped eyeshadows!


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## als1626 (Dec 16, 2006)

Do you think this process would work on a broken, pretty much new MSF? Or is there too much product to do this?  Would it be better to crush the MSF with a mortar and pestle and use it as a loose powder, or would that be too messy? Thanks for the great info!


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## kalice (Jan 15, 2007)

I tried fixing a matte finish eyeshadow (either soulsong or endless love I can't remember the name) with the alcohol method. I used 70% isopropanol and let it dry for five days and I ended up with this lumpy, incredibly chalky thing after. I couldn't get any colour pay off (it was so hard!). I've fixed other finishes (lustre, frosts etc) and the texture doesn't change, but is it different with mattes?

Ack, the chalkiness on this repaired matte is ridiculous, it's like a rock! Any suggestions to what i can do with it?


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## Prismique (Jan 17, 2007)

I finally fixed my cranberry, and it came out perfect. Yay!


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## pearl (Apr 23, 2007)

Thank you soo sooo much for this! I have a few broken e/s's. I'll try some of these later. =)


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## crimsonette (Sep 1, 2007)

i, too, am concerned about how this will go with a matte shadow. my carbon committed makeup seppuku when i was depotting it, and it just seems to me that maybe matte shadows won't work the same?


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## girlsaidwhat (Sep 4, 2007)

My last carbon es broke. I did the "put the pieces back in the pan and press real hard without adding anything" method 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  and it worked just fine (saran wrapped finger to preserve product). I wouldn't take it out of the house or anything, but it kept together until I used it up. 

 Quote:

   Originally Posted by *crimsonette* 

 
_i, too, am concerned about how this will go with a matte shadow. my carbon committed makeup seppuku when i was depotting it, and it just seems to me that maybe matte shadows won't work the same?_


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## bexarfeliz (Sep 7, 2007)

Thanks so much for this info!  I didn't have a clue you could even do this.


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## Whitney (Sep 16, 2007)

Thanks! I never knew there was methods to actually putting makeup back together...I've lost so much product before by them breaking up.


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## chocobon (Sep 16, 2007)

Thnx so much, I have used this on a broken blush!!


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## redambition (Dec 6, 2007)

I have a bit of an addition to this...

if you want to use the alcohol method, make sure the alcohol you use is unscented, undyed (self-explanatory, really) and contains no nasty additives.

the scented types can leave a residue in the product (this happened to me 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 ), some additives (like those in commercial grade methylated spirits) are not at all good if they stay in the product and get on your skin. dyed alcohol can, obviously, ruin the colour of the product.

a few details:

- isopropyl alcohol: this is the alcohol usually found in rubbing alcohol. it's also used as a VCR head cleaner and in electronics. it can be quite easy to find, however try to get medical grade (rubbing alcohol) rather than commercial grade (electronics cleaner).

- dye-free medical grade methylated spirits: medical grade metho is ethanol and methanol (the methanol is added to make it undrinkable and thus not subject to alcoholic beverage taxes). be sure that the product is fully dry before use as metho is irritating to the skin, and methanol is dangerous if ingested. *IMPORTANT - do not use commercial grade metho - it often has other chemicals added to it that are dangerous, toxic and very yucky smelling. 

note: in the US medical grade methylated spirits may also contain castor oil (i think... if you check the label it should say if it does). metho is also called denatured alcohol in the US.

- surgical spirit is different to methylated spirits. it contains castor oil in addition to the alcohol, and sometimes a few other ingredients. I've never tried using it to repair broken powder products, but it should work quite well. it has been mentioned previously that it's great for pressing pigments as the castor oil acts as a binding agent.


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## liv (Dec 6, 2007)

I've used isopropyl alcohol to repair shattered Stila shadows and blush, and it works great.  The only bad thing is they don't look as pretty in the palettes, but they are completely useable.


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## Kuki (Feb 4, 2008)

i am so silly! i used the alcohol method on my wookwinked, and mixed it in its pot. then i tried to bake it! hahahahaah! duh!!!!!!! the plastic melted into a big mess! - btw i still got back 2 mac on it!lol

i just wanted to say, after learning my lesson, i used a hairdryer to help dry it out!  i highly recommend it in comparison to the oven baking


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## KikiB (Apr 8, 2008)

Thank you so much for this! I had quite a few eyeshadows that I loved but because they broke, I was essentially unable to use them (Stars/Rockets, Amber Lights, Lancome Personal Style). Let's just say I went on a kick of repairing the shadows-using the number 3 method since I'm lazy. I was able to use some old napkins that I got on clearance somewhere to get really cool textured hatch marks, so that's one thing I did differently. Now it's trying to figure out what to do with my two things of Lancome Slide, which was a Colour Focus colour so they had the kinda dome appearance. 

It actually helped when I did it on Stars/Rockets to use the end of my eyeshadow brush to crush the big chunks into smaller ones and then keep pressing-it then ended up at least helping to create a base of sorts before I pressed it.


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## ms. kendra (May 14, 2008)

I will try the alcohol method with my broken Satin Taupe e/s. It's literally in crumbles. I hope it works!!


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## Lizzie (May 14, 2008)

You can also wrap a quarter in an old tshirt to get the hatch marks if your jeans are too thick to work with or if you don't have jeans you want to use.


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## amani220 (Aug 28, 2008)

I've fixed e/s using the tutorial.  I used alcohol with an old pair of jeans and a clamp with a quarter to press.  Has anyone repressed a blush and if so, what did you use?     Obviously a quarter is too small.  LOL.


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## choozen1ne (Aug 28, 2008)

Use the cap to a Viatman bottle  the top from Magnesium supplements fits , mine fit perfectly in the my blush


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## Kirsty2703 (Nov 14, 2008)

Thanks for the tips. I have Mac Bronze and its completely broken. I think I will give this a go tonight. Thanks!!!


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## Rinstar (Dec 5, 2008)

Thanks for all these tips! I dropped my Amber Lights es and it is almost full!


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## jetgirl (Dec 18, 2008)

I have used alcohol and it has worked well.  If you want to press a bunch of pigments anyway, you could get the Coastal Scents pigment pressing medium and use an itty bitty drop to repair the chip, etc.


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## hotpinkanthia (Jan 12, 2009)

Wow!  Thanks, I have a couple of broken E/S that have been really annoying me and always make a huge mess when I use them.  Will try later tonight with the alcohol.  I know you can buy 90% Ispo. alcohol at wal-mart.  Maybe the higher percentage of alcohol will make it dry faster?


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## pcsocake (Jan 23, 2009)

I'm so glad I stumbled into this thread. I almost threw out my pressed powder. Next i'm going to do fix my broken Orgasm.


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## tkh777 (Mar 2, 2009)

I am trying to fix a blush tonight with the alcohol method and will let the thread now if it works


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## Rinstar (Apr 4, 2009)

Has anyone tried the rubbing alcohol on MSFs? I dropped my redhead!!! I think you can see a common theme of me being a klutz....


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## JillVader (Jun 17, 2009)

I tried the standard method with my pressed powder.  It seemed to work great, but as it dried it cracked up!  Should I try to do it again?


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## dnelson (Jan 29, 2010)

Thank you so much!!


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## HppyLittleNinja (Apr 10, 2012)

Can the alcohol method be used for repairing baked eyeshadow or blush products?
  	I'm concerned the alcohol will make the product go rock hard and unusable.


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