Testing... something not to overlook - Part One

Hi everyone! Today I'm going to talk about something I find quite interesting and that people often doesn't know how it's or if it's done at all. Every MMU creator has their own way to do it, I'm just telling you the way I test my products. If any of you has other ideas or a better way to test them I'll be more than glad to hear that!

I find that testing a product is a very important step on its creation. You can't just throw in some micas, a base, mix them and voilá, ready to sell. There is a process, where you first have to mix a color, know which kind of finish you want (I want to do a very extensive post someday explaining the way bases or the lack of them and which kind of bases and quantities affect in a certain way the finish, look and quality of an eyeshadow), put it all together and then you have to actually try that finished product to see if you made it right or if it does work at all the way it should.

Depending on the product I'm testing, I do it differently. I'll write a two part post breaking down in detail how I test each product. In Part One I'll cover eyeshadows and in Part Two I'll talk about blushes and face powders.

Let's start!

Eyeshadow

Eyeshadows are really fun to make. They have so many possibilities it's ridiculous! You can also test them in many different ways.
The first thing I do is swatch the eyeshadow on my forearm with no primer, then I apply a bit of TFSI next to it, let it set for a few seconds then apply it on top of the primer. I'm going to use Purrrple as a sample here. The swatch on the left is on bare skin and the one on the right on top of TFSI.

The next step is rubbing the surface where I applied the eyeshadow gently to see how it holds up to touching and blending.

I also like to test how the eyeshadow behaves when it's wet, so I dip the tip of an angled eyeliner brush on a drop of water, take of the excess of water with a tissue and then I pick a bit of eyeshadow and apply a thin line next to the swatches.


Once I'm happy with that, I go on and apply the eyeshadow on my eyelids. I use a little bit of primer before then I apply it and see how it wears during the day. I also like lining my lower line with that eyeshadow wet. If I'm going out, I also do my liner and apply a bit of mascara.

One thing I find very important and it's primary for me is to check if my eyes get irritated using an eyeshadow. My eyes are sensitive and get irritated easily so I would never sell anything if it irritated them.

Cleaning up is also important, does the eyeshadow stain? Is it hard to remove from my eyes? These things are also taken into consideration.

The next day I'm ready to see how it blends with other eyeshadows so it's time to create a look using the one I've been testing. At this step, I ALWAYS use eyeshadows from Lost in Makeupland that have been already tested or other eyeshadows I have at home, be it loose or pressed it doesn't matter, but I have to be sure that if anything goes wrong, it's because of the one I'm currently testing and I can know exactly what's wrong and how to fix it.

It is the last and most critical step. If the eyeshadow doesn't blend well, if it falls out of your eyes, if it's impossible to build up opacity... then that batch is wrong and the formula will need some more adjusting and to start the test again.

If everything goes fine and I'm happy with the result, the eyeshadow will be ready to be released!! I take pictures of it, write the Etsy listing, and time to move on to another one! :)

Do you find this kind of posts useful? Do you want me to keep on posting things like this? Is there anything you'd like me to cover? As always, I'll be glad to listen.

Stay tuned for Part Two!! ^___^