# What pigments can't be pressed...



## melliquor (Sep 3, 2007)

Does anybody have a list of the pigments that can't be pressed?  I did some pigment pressing yesterday and had trouble with Entremauve.  I was so pissed because I wasted alot of my Entremauve trying to press it.  It was hard on the top and wasn't set underneath the hard bit.  

Post any that you had trouble with here.  I couldn't find a list in any of the posts.


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## purplkaret (Sep 3, 2007)

i think as a general rule, mattes can't really be pressed.


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## bruinshorty (Sep 3, 2007)

I think the really fine textured ones can't be pressed (mainly the metallic ones like rose gold etc and mattes)


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## msmack (Sep 3, 2007)

well for me, i have pressed 4 pigments. sunnydaze, apricot pink, goldenaire and pinked mauve. pinked mauve turned out kinda wierd. had a darker 'crust' on the top and was slightly crumby in texture after i did that. the others turned out very well. so i don't know what to think, but i won't be pressing pinked mauve again! HTH


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## MACATTAK (Sep 3, 2007)

I bought a few pressed pigments before & pastorale & aire-de-blu came completely crumbled/broken.  Those textures may not do well being pressed.


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## melliquor (Sep 3, 2007)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *msmack* 

 
_well for me, i have pressed 4 pigments. sunnydaze, apricot pink, goldenaire and pinked mauve. pinked mauve turned out kinda wierd. had a darker 'crust' on the top and was slightly crumby in texture after i did that. the others turned out very well. so i don't know what to think, but i won't be pressing pinked mauve again! HTH_

 
I had the same thing happen for me with Quietly and Mauvement.  There was a different colour on the top crust of the pigment and underneath matched the pigment from the jar.  It wasn't crumbly though and when swiped, it was the colour that it should be.  I pressed Pinked Mauve and came out perfectly.  The two that were messed up, I am think that I used too much heat.


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## Lexx13 (Sep 3, 2007)

yikes I ruined my Acid Orange pigment by trying to press it. It went completely HARD, like I had burnt it. oops. I soaked it in water to soften it and then once dry I chopped it so that it is somewhat usable. I haven't had a problem with any others except the matte ones.


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## Love Always Ivy (Sep 3, 2007)

usually if you press a pigment and the texture turns rock hard and gives no pay off, you can take a pin and crumble it up and save your pigment. ive done this when i screwed up a bunch of BE eyeshadows.


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## elizs (Sep 3, 2007)

I had problems with Acid orange too.  It turned rock hard and I couldn't get it to set niceley.  I've pressed a bunch of other though that turned out well 
(golders green, kelly, emerald, chartruse, azreal blue, entremauve, rose, rr blue, goldenaire, lovley lilly, frost, white gold)  I use 91% rubbing alcohol & add 4 drops of homeade mixing medium to everything that I do.


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## Gisselle (Sep 3, 2007)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *Lexx13* 

 
_yikes I ruined my Acid Orange pigment by trying to press it. It went completely HARD, like I had burnt it. oops. I soaked it in water to soften it and then once dry I chopped it so that it is somewhat usable. I haven't had a problem with any others except the matte ones._

 
same here


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## lindsaykinzie (Sep 3, 2007)

The only pigment ive pressed is my vanilla pigment, and it came out great. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 I agree with some of the others, I have heard that mattes don't press well.


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## panda0410 (Sep 3, 2007)

I was once told that the key is "there is no 'M' in pressing" - dont do 'M'etals or 'M'attes!! There does seem to be an exception to the rule though and that is there are some frost pigments which dont press well either - namely the ones that are more like mattes such as grape, entremauve and provence - while some might have success with them these colours dont usually press very well and often results in wasted time and wasted pigment.


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## calbear (Sep 4, 2007)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *bruinshorty* 

 
_I think the really fine textured ones can't be pressed (mainly the metallic ones like rose gold etc and mattes)_

 


Where were you with this little nugget when I needed you, oh say about four days ago before I tried to press Rose Gold.


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## jenii (Sep 4, 2007)

I thought I read somewhere that the best ones to press were the ones that sort of "ball up" in the jar. You know what I mean?


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## BunnyBunnyBunny (Sep 4, 2007)

I agree with the very fine ones. I have pressed several mixed pigments that worked well. I cannot remember the names though.

However, I have a TWINKS eyeshadow that broken, and when I tried to set it, it was still loose powder. It didn't work at all! I think because once it broke it turned very fine.


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## ShuGirl (Nov 27, 2007)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *jenii* 

 
_I thought I read somewhere that the best ones to press were the ones that sort of "ball up" in the jar. You know what I mean?_

 
Heck yes--I just pressed my Your Ladyship pigment and it definetly is the kind that balls up.


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## user79 (Nov 28, 2007)

The "chunky" pigments don't press well, they crumble after a while. Steel Blue seemed fine at first but after amount a month or so, the pigment lifted up and crumbled, seemingly all by itself. Very weird.


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## me_jelly (Dec 1, 2007)

I believe the fine and smooth textured frost/pearl pigments press the best (i.e. the fine, almost creamy textured ones, but not the chunky, matte, or powdery ones)


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## Sonya Adams (Dec 5, 2007)

I've never had problems pressing my pigments (even some of the mattes and matte-like frosts - like entremauve) and have sold/swapped/and shipped a bunch and have heard nothing but good things.

I use 91% or 94% (depending on what I can find) alcohol and press with a c-clamp though, rather than books or hand-pressing.  It REALLY makes all the difference in the world.

I also don't make the pigment "soupy" when I'm getting ready to press - I make it "gummy" or "goupy" like.... um... frosting?  thick pea soup?  Anytime I accidentally overdo the alcohol and make it WET, I have problems (I use an eye dropper now though, so I don't generally have that problem).


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## evie42 (Dec 6, 2007)

I have to agree that pressing with a c-clamp makes all the difference.  I've successfully pressed orange matte, entremauve, pinked mauve, mauvement (wow lots of mauves?).  The matte ones can be a bit tricky, I thought I messed it up at first because you can't get it into a goopy consistency, it was either too wet or too chunky.  So what I did was let it sit in the wet stage for ~5 min until it evaporated a little, then pressed it.  When it first came out, the color was definitely not right, it was way dark and ugly looking.  But after all the alcohol dried up (took about 3 days), it returned to its normal color and texture.  It also takes a lot more pigment to make a decently sized pan, I think it took 25% more pigment than what I was using for the other pans.


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## Lndsy (Dec 26, 2007)

I had trouble with Silver Fog, it pressed ok and then fell apart right away.  I also had trouble with the 3rd darkest, bronzy color that I cant remember the name of from the warm eyes set.  I used 99% rubbing alcohol, left overnight and then a c clamp the next day.  So I guess the metal rule is somewhat true.

  All of the other pigments from both Warm and Cool eyes, Your Ladyship, Sweet Sienna, as well as Pink Bronze all worked awesome when pressed.


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## gigglegirl (Dec 26, 2007)

I found my Deep Blue Green pigment started to really crumble after the first use after mixing it with alcohol and letting it dry--I wonder if I had added too much alcohol which when it evaporated left a lot of "space" so it became crumbly....need to press harder perhaps?

Also (I'm sure this goes without saying but dummy me did this) DO NOT drop a palette that contains pressed pigments. I nearly had my heart jump into my throat as I was moving my desk and two MAC palettes dropped. The e/s purchased from MAC seemed alright but the pigments *ewww* mess--Blue Brown, Forest Green *yikes* and Deep Blue Green pretty much all left the pan. SO sad, wasted pigment....esp. a d/c one like Forest Green. Man have I learned my lesson!!


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## igswonderworld (Feb 5, 2008)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *MACATTAK* 

 
_I bought a few pressed pigments before & pastorale & aire-de-blu came completely crumbled/broken. Those textures may not do well being pressed._

 
I pressed pastorale and it turned out to be perfect - it is so much easier to use this way..


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## JessieLovesMac (Apr 30, 2008)

Hey gals, 
Yesterday I had some pans arrive from the states and I went mad pressing pigments!! Some worked fantastically and others well... Here is what I pressed  what went right and what went wrong!

Accent Red    - Pressed really pretty , looks fantastic in my palette, But has no color pay off what so ever 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





. Not recommended

Basic Red       - Pressed ok, looks a little bit wrinkly like an old woman bum, slight color pay off. Wouldn't really recommend.

Bright Fuchsia - Pressed really well! Huge color pay off. Recommended!

Helium           - Pressed well. Slight color pay off. Wouldn't recommend.

Steel blue      - Looks wicked! Huge color pay off. A little weary and will be interested to see how it looks in a week or so. As MissChievous Said

 Quote:

   Originally Posted by *MissChievous* 

 
_The "chunky" pigments don't press well, they crumble after a while. Steel Blue seemed fine at first but after amount a month or so, the pigment lifted up and crumbled, seemingly all by itself. Very weird._

 
So hopefully this isn't going to end up the same.

True chartuse  - Perfect. Pressed well. Huge color pay off. would recommend 

Rush metal       - Looks so pretty. No color pay off 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 wouldn't recommend 

Orange            - Pressed well. Huge color pay off. Would recommend.

Primary yellow  - Pressed well. Huge color pay off. Would recommend.

Burnt Burgandy - Old lady's bum look again. No color pay off. Wouldn't recommend.

Violet              - I think I might have added to much alcohol with this one or pressed to hard I thought it would defiantly work 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 No color pay off again. I wouldn't recommend.

So in the end most of them were a bit of a disaster. And I now wish I had found this thread before I started this little journey. So much wasted pigment 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




I used mac - Mixing medium ~ Alcohol, as my base.

Hope this helps everyone else!!
xx
Jessie


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## magi (Apr 30, 2008)

Oh, that´s very interesting. Someone asked in our German forum, because her matte Pigments didn´t stay inthe pan - but mine look great and I was confused. I pressed POLISHED IVORY and COOL PINK in small pans and they are great. PI is already hitting the pan and CP was flying around without any case in a box and didn´t even crubled. Great...

I also have a 3g-Pan pressen with one half COOL PINK and another HELIUM (I love this combo as a blush and so I can mix them how I like). Also in this large panCP is great - HELIUM ist crumbling a bit. There comes lot of product off with using it with a brush, but it´s OK. 

I also purchased here a pressed STEEL BLUE. I survived the shipping overseas, but after a while it plopped and my palette was alway full of BS, so I take the pigment off the pan and put it back to a jar...


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## JessieLovesMac (May 16, 2008)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *JessieLovesMac* 

 
_Hey gals, 
Yesterday I had some pans arrive from the states and I went mad pressing pigments!! Some worked fantastically and others well... Here is what I pressed  what went right and what went wrong!

Accent Red    - Pressed really pretty , looks fantastic in my palette, But has no color pay off what so ever 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




. Not recommended

Basic Red       - Pressed ok, looks a little bit wrinkly like an old woman bum, slight color pay off. Wouldn't really recommend.

Bright Fuchsia - Pressed really well! Huge color pay off. Recommended!

Helium           - Pressed well. Slight color pay off. Wouldn't recommend.

Steel blue      - Looks wicked! Huge color pay off. A little weary and will be interested to see how it looks in a week or so. As MissChievous Said



So hopefully this isn't going to end up the same.

True chartuse  - Perfect. Pressed well. Huge color pay off. would recommend 

Rush metal       - Looks so pretty. No color pay off 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 wouldn't recommend 

Orange            - Pressed well. Huge color pay off. Would recommend.

Primary yellow  - Pressed well. Huge color pay off. Would recommend.

Burnt Burgandy - Old lady's bum look again. No color pay off. Wouldn't recommend.

Violet              - I think I might have added to much alcohol with this one or pressed to hard I thought it would defiantly work 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 No color pay off again. I wouldn't recommend.

So in the end most of them were a bit of a disaster. And I now wish I had found this thread before I started this little journey. So much wasted pigment 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




I used mac - Mixing medium ~ Alcohol, as my base.

Hope this helps everyone else!!
xx
Jessie_

 
Hey Gals! Just wanted to give you all an update on the pigments that I pressed I ignored them for a couple of weeks because I did not like them and they made me upset 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 But now I am stoked with most of them!!

 Accent Red    - Pressed really pretty , looks fantastic in my palette, _Great Color Pay off!_

 Basic Red       - _To start with this pressed well and looked great! When I went back to it, it looked a little smaller as though it had shrunk! So I flipped it up side down and it fell straight out! Which was great! The bottom of it was slightly bigger than the top so I pushed it back in the pan but the opposite way around! It squeezed in nice and tight and now has a great color pay off! And looks better than ever the top is so smooth except for a brush mark!
_ 
 Bright Fuchsia - Pressed really well! Huge color pay off. Recommended!
Still Great!​ 
 Helium           - Pressed well. Slight color pay off. Wouldn't recommend.
_Now has a great color pay off!
_ 
_I would Recommend

_​ Steel blue - Looks wicked! Huge color pay off. A little weary and will be interested to see how it looks in a week or so. As MissChievous Said

Steel Blue is still going great! Has not crumbled yet!

True chartreuse  - Perfect. Pressed well. Huge color pay off. would recommend.
_Still Great!_

 Rush metal       - Looks so pretty. No color pay off 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 wouldn't recommend.
Now has a huge color pay off! So I would recommend

 Orange            - Pressed well. Huge color pay off. Would recommend.
_Still Great!

_ Primary yellow  - Pressed well. Huge color pay off. Would recommend.
_Still Great!

_ Burnt Burgandy - Old lady's bum look again. No color pay off. Wouldn't recommend.
_Now has a slight color pay off but only when I stroke my press my finger over it to grab some color.. Was the same as basic red how it lifted and i placed it back in the pan th opposite way. I would suggest If you have to press it to used the smallest amount of alcohol possible._

 Violet              - I think I might have added to much alcohol with this one or pressed to hard I thought it would defiantly work  No color pay off again. I wouldn't recommend.
_This one set with a really hard top and I accidentally put alot of mixing medium with it so it went really runny. So I have scraped the top layer off and now it had a fantastic color pay off!

So now I'm a bit happier with my pressed pigments and would recommend most of those!
_


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## jdmac (Jul 21, 2008)

I've never had any problems pressing pigments until I pressed Mauvement & Sweet Sienna.  I think my alcohol was 70 or 80 something %.  

These two pigments are silvery/mauvey in color, but they both ended up with a green layer on top! =(  (under this layer, things are normal).  

I looked like it had oxidized?!  It wasn't chunky or strange in texture, but when I made contact with the skin to try wiping off the layer, it definitely had green mixed into the color and the pigment stained my skin!!  If  remember correctly, it was a day or so and a lot of scrubbing before the color came off my skin.  

Anyone else have this problem?  It seems like others have been able to press these particular pigments successfully-I wonder if it's the lower content alcohol that I'm using??

Any advice?


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## MrsMay (Sep 24, 2008)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *jdmac* 

 
_I've never had any problems pressing pigments until I pressed Mauvement & Sweet Sienna. I think my alcohol was 70 or 80 something %. 

These two pigments are silvery/mauvey in color, but they both ended up with a green layer on top! =( (under this layer, things are normal). 
_

 
I've just pressed (among others) sweet sienna, and it worked perfectly.

I did notice that there was a little bit of bright blue residue on my finger afterwards from the liquid that seeped out whilst pressing, but apart from that it's worked really well.

I also got this residue when I pressed mutiny, but the finished product with that was also fine.

Perhaps it depends on the alcohol to pigment ratio as to whether there is the blue/green layer on top?  I usually mix mine so that they are like cake batter and dont have any liquid sitting on top...

Hope that helps!


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## pinkkvintage (Oct 31, 2008)

has anyone pressed electric coral?
i pressed mine and its hard... i thought it was maybe because i didnt put enough alcohol in it or something? 


so electric coral?
howd it work for you all


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## veralicious (Nov 4, 2008)

i just swapped for entremauve & smoke signal pigment so i can press them but after reading this thread, i guess those 2 aren't pressable? 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 or is it possible?


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## angiehorror (Jan 2, 2009)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *pinkkvintage* 

 
_has anyone pressed electric coral?
i pressed mine and its hard... i thought it was maybe because i didnt put enough alcohol in it or something? 


so electric coral?
howd it work for you all_

 

Came here to ask the same question.

I recently pressed my electric coral sample and it came out great. 
I decided I love it so much, that I wanted to make a full pan. 
I bought a full jar off someone (who claims it is authentic, and it seems to match my sample residue perfectly) but when I pressed the new pigment, it dried ROCK HARD. It's not even swipable. Chopping it back up is not even an option it's so hard. 

Did I use too much alcohol? 

My first thought was maybe this was a knock off...but it looks authentic to me. (jar, cap, color, and all)

The other pan I pressed came out AWESOME...so I'm confused now 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Any help would be much appreciated!!!


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## lil_kismet (Jan 10, 2009)

I've pressed a number of pigments over the past couple of years and they remain in tact -- none of them have shattered or crumbled to date.

I think MrsMay is right about the pigment to alcohol ratio.  If the consistency is too runny, there isn't going to be enough pigment packed into the pan once it is dried, coz all the alcohol has evaporated.  Try to make sure the consistency is on the thick side (as MrsMay described, a cake batter-like consistency).  I always add very generous amounts of pigment ensuring that there is enough pigment (rather than alcohol because that is just filler to liquify the pigment) to fill the entire pan.  I keep adding until the thick consistency is almost overflowing. Allow it to dry thoroughly before pressing.  I use 99% Isopropyl Alcohol.


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## lil_kismet (Jan 10, 2009)

I've pressed a number of pigments over the past couple of years and they remain in tact -- none of them have shattered or crumbled to date.

I think MrsMay is right about the pigment to alcohol ratio.  If the consistency is too runny, there isn't going to be enough pigment packed into the pan once it is dried, coz all the alcohol has evaporated.  Try to make sure the consistency is on the thick side (as MrsMay described, a cake batter-like consistency).  I always add very generous amounts of pigment ensuring that there is enough pigment (rather than alcohol because that is just filler to liquify the pigment) to fill the entire pan.  I keep adding until the thick consistency is almost overflowing. Allow it to dry thoroughly before pressing.  I use 99% Isopropyl Alcohol.

Oops, double post! SORRY!!


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