Here's a fun quarantine project: Custom makeup palettes out of pill boxes
Disclaimer: I actually finished this project before the coronavirus quarantine. I wanted a more compact and complete makeup kit for my workout bag; I was swimming and playing tennis at the club as often as I can, and I shower there then go to the office or to a meeting after. I needed a comprehensive face! So I thought long and hard about what went in here and how everything is arranged.
If you’re just home out of things to do, this is a good project that will challenge you to use products you perhaps don’t normally reach for, or maybe give your favorites a final breath of life before you throw out the packaging. At the very least it can take your mind off this pandemic shit show, amirite? Erm. Anyway.
Let’s get to it! Here’s what you need:
An empty pill box. I got mine from Miniso for P69 only. They were originally for my glass micro mosaic pieces, but since I got like six of these I had a couple more extras! Love how minimalist and neat this 6-pan box is. You can use anything you have at home right now though.
A makeup spatula or a clean knife.
Alcohol in a spray bottle for sanitizing everything. At least a 70% solution.
Cream products you want to put in the palette. Could be lipsticks, foundations, concealer, blush, eyebrow gel - anything that won’t dry out in a pan. Eyebrow gels or eyeliners that dry fast when exposed to air are a no go here. You want something that stays emollient.
Optional: paper, pen, and clear tape for labeling your palette.
How to make a custom palette:
Make sure to sanitize EVERYTHING with at least a 70% alcohol solution. Not only will this kill the coronavirus assuming you have it upon your person for whatever unfortunate reason, you will also extend the shelf life of the product in its new storage location. You want to kill bacteria, fungi, and viruses on both the product and the surfaces that will touch them, so nasty things won’t grow on it.
Cut or scrape the product with your spatula or knife. Really get in there. Lipsticks always have an extra one gram of product (that’s A LOT) in the very bottom of the tube, so you want to get all of that extra stuff out! Place it in the pan of the pill box then squish it down. You don’t have to do this and it can get messy BUT it’s easier to get the product with a brush this way, as opposed to keeping the molded tip pristine.
We’re already at the final step, can you believe it? This is something that you don’t have to do, but I recommend you do because we all have all this extra time and nervous energy and anxiety anyway. Seriously though, this will make your life easier. As someone who keeps way too many paint palettes to be considered sane, I know that it’s super easy to lose track of what’s actually inside the palette. So I always try to swatch and label things. On a piece of paper, write the name of the product and put a neat swatch of it on top. Then cover it with clear tape to “laminate” the surface and stick it to the lid of the palette.
Done and done! I made two palettes here. One is just for lipsticks I want to use more often, and the other is a fairly comprehensive face palette. It has foundation/concealer (Ellana cream foundation), contour (Tom Ford Shade & Illuminate cream), eyeshadow/highlighter (Pat McGrath Skin Fetish), blush (Happy Skin stick blush), and lipstick (Clinique Rose Pop, because it’s also a fantastic stain)! I’m proud of this one is particular because I really rummaged through my makeup collection to find a winning combination.
And that is that. ^_^ I would love to see your palettes, should you make them! Tag me at @lizlanuzo and @projectvanitycom on Instagram!
