Everyone who own at least one cream eye shadow or gel liner has experienced this problem. The product always tends to dry up faster than it can be finished, which is a real pain! This is especially true for the MAC Paint Pots and Gel liners, I use these almost every single day and in fact I use them more than the average bear (using black gel to paint shapes on my face for photo shoots etc) and yet they STILL dry up on me!

Rather than throwing them out and buying a new one, I’ve been experimenting with different ways based on my findings online to revive them so I can continue to use them till they are completely finished.

I put together a very short DIY video to explain how I revived my MAC Paint Pots, but the concept can be used for any number of cream / gel based products. Essentially the steps are:

1. Add in MAC Studio Fix+ to your dried up product (I’ve seen articles saying that using very watered down moisturiser too, but as I happen to have Fix+ on me I just use this)

2. Put the product without a lid into the microwave and heat till the product has softened. For me I usually microwave at 10 second intervals. For this paint pot I needed to do it twice.

3. Remove the product and gently either using clean fingers or a cotton bud, press down. For this product I just pressed it down to seal up the sides so no additional air could touch it. Sometimes you will need to mix the product up so that the moisture is evenly distributed.

4. And that’s it! Product revived

Another quick and simple way which I’ve found only works for gel liners is simply scrapping off the top layer to reveal the underneath product which has yet to touch air and is still creamy. It does mean you go through your product faster, but it’s much more hygienic and it’s better than throwing the whole thing out and buying a new one.

Hopefully you found this simple post helpful

If you’re lazy like me, knowing how to spot clean your makeup brushes is pretty essential.

I know, I’ve read it all before, you’re suppose to spot clean your makeup brushes after every use, and deep clean them every week. Yeah, that’s like saying you should visit your dentist every 6 months and get your hair cut every 8 weeks. They aren’t rules I abide by personally. But when I do spot clean my brushes (once a week?), I do my best to get them as clean as possible.

Personally I prefer to use MAC Brush Cleanser because it’s readily available, not too expensive and easy to use (and once I get through 5 bottles, free lipstick!) I transfer the product into a mini spray bottle to make it easier to travel with and for ease of use. I used to pour the cleanser onto the paper towel in the past and realised I was flying through the cleanser within 2-3 months. Now that I use the spray bottle I get probably an extra 1-2 months out of it

The technique I use is by no means ground breaking, but maybe you will find it interesting to watch none of the less Hope you enjoy the video, and have a great weekend!

I’m always looking for ways to make filming my chapters easier, and staring at 25 lipstick bullets doesn’t make it easier, especially when you need to open all of them to check the colour. So it made sense to create this mini palette of my top 25 most used lipsticks. It means I can see them all at a glance, plus it’s extremely travel friendly! And I much prefer my own palette than one you can buy in store because this way I know and trust the quality of each lipstick I’ve melted.

If videos aren’t your thing, then I’ve typed out a step by step guide for you

1. Start by lighting a candle
2. Gently heat your knife just above the flame for around 5-7 seconds, then cut about 1 cm off the tip of your chosen lipstick.
3. Place the lipstick in an empty pan
4. Heat the pan over the flame until the product has completely melted
5. Leave the pan to cool and set for around 4-5 minutes
6. Make sure to create an appropriate label
7. And you’re done!

Easy huh? Hope you enjoy the tutorial!