How to Fix Cracked Eye-Shadows



The other week while getting ready for work, I accidentally upended all of the contents of my eye makeup drawer onto my bathroom floor. Yep, the whole shebang. Suffice it to say, there were some casualties, and one fatality. Three of my eye-shadows were cracked, and though I was a little pissed at having to clean everything up before leaving for work, I wasn't too fazed because luckily I know how to fix them. 



All you need is some rubbing alcohol. The higher the percentage of alcohol the better. If there is just a chip or a crack in the powder then you only need a few drops of alcohol. Apply the drops directly to the powder until the area is damp and smooth the surface with a knife or spoon. 










My Milani Bella Eyes Champagne Shadow split in half due to the domed shape of the powder. To fix it, I dampened the bottom of the piece that came off and the powder still in the pan and pressed the broken piece back into place. I held it down so that the powder would have a little time to re-affix itself and somehow it dried back into place. This was my first time dealing with a domed powder or a horizontal break like this, so it was really just trial and error.

My eye-shadows were only slightly chipped but in more extreme cases where there is a large crack or the pressed powder is broken into lots of little pieces, you need to crush up the entire pan of shadow, not just the broken pieces. You essentially convert the pressed powder into a loose powder. I usually use the butt of a plastic knife to smash it. It's also helpful to cover the pan with plastic wrap while mashing the powder to make sure that you don't get your eye-shadow all over the place. Once the powder is crushed, slowly add drops of alcohol to the surface, saturating the eye-shadow. 

The shadow will start to look and feel mushy, almost like a thick paste. With a spoon or knife, stir through the shadow so that it's all the same consistency and then smooth over the surface. The powder will probably look a bit rough and uneven but try to get it as flat as you can. Once that's done, just set the powder aside (with the lid open) and let it dry overnight. The alcohol will evaporate leaving the eye-shadow intact, with the same texture and color as before. If the edges are a little rough once the powder has dried, you can take an alcohol soaked q-tip and run it along the corners of the pan to clean them up. It definitely won't look as pretty as it did before, but the powder will apply just as it always did. Below is my finished product.


And that's it! So the next time your pressed powder cracks in your purse, don't fret. Alcohol will fix the problem!

Hmmm...that might have sounded a little wrong, but you know what I mean.

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