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Can I refill a vintage lipstick tube with a new lipstick bullet?

Miss 1929

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,397
Location
Oakland, California
Or pressed powder recycled...

KittyT said:
Yes, I've done it. It is messy, a pain in the butt, and the results are poor.

I dunno, all of this sounds like a hell of a lot of trouble for the vanity of using a vintage lipstick case.

I have taken modern pressed powder, put t though a seive, then pressed it into a vintage compact, with good success. Loose powder doesn't stick as well.

I don't think it's silly at all, half the money we spend on cosmetics is for the packaging, we may as well get the packaging we want!
 

KittyT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,463
Location
Boston, MA
Miss 1929 said:
I have taken modern pressed powder, put t though a seive, then pressed it into a vintage compact, with good success. Loose powder doesn't stick as well.

There was a thread here about pressing loose powder into a compact. You mix it with alcohol to form a thick paste, then press it into the compact. It was messy, time-consuming, the powder ended up hard and didn't come off onto the puff easy, and it broke very quickly. I wanted to use my loose powder brand that I like (Coty) rather than having a pressed powder. Your method sounds good, but starting it with pressed powder defeats the purpose for me. Loose powder compacts are a different story, of course, because there's no major effort involved in filling them. I just won't carry them, though, because they're too messy :-/

I don't think it's silly at all, half the money we spend on cosmetics is for the packaging, we may as well get the packaging we want!

I care about product quality. I don't care about fancy packaging. That's just where my priorities lie. I can appreciate that it's not the same for everyone, but I just don't feel like it's a valuable use of my time to care about or spend the time to transfer a product to fancier packaging. It's going to live in my purse all night anyway, and the only person who's going to see it is myself... when I duck discretely to the ladies to touch up.
 

Real Swell Gal

One of the Regulars
Messages
277
Location
Ohio
My compact has a little screen for loose powder in it.
The mirror gets a little dusty but other than that it's fine.
 

KittyT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,463
Location
Boston, MA
Real Swell Gal said:
My compact has a little screen for loose powder in it.
The mirror gets a little dusty but other than that it's fine.

I've had loose powder compacts before. I find that the mirror gets very dusty and the powder ends up aaaall over the puff. It may depend on the compact itself, and I know that some have solid pieces that flip to cover the powder and keep the puff clean.
 

MissMissy

One of the Regulars
Messages
101
Location
The sticks
Another way to press loose powder is to add 2-3 drops of Jojoba oil to 1 tsp of loose powder. Put both in small plastic bag and squish it all around until the jojoba coats the powder evenly, pour contents into pan and press as hard as you can (some will use a coin for pressing in a small round tin, be creative you should likely have something lying around to do the trick). I let mine set up for 24 hours. This method produces a nicely pressed powder that won't crack or break as easily as the alcohol method. I have also found that the alcohol method can make the powder difficult to pick up with my brush.

Don't be scared of the jojoba oil, it's technically a wax but it's also very much like the skins natural sebum.

I've done this method several times with a successful outcome each time. Unfortunately I have a broken wrist, otherwise I would post a picture tutorial. I love playing with make-up :p

Missy
 

Real Swell Gal

One of the Regulars
Messages
277
Location
Ohio
KittyT said:
I've had loose powder compacts before. I find that the mirror gets very dusty and the powder ends up aaaall over the puff. It may depend on the compact itself, and I know that some have solid pieces that flip to cover the powder and keep the puff clean.
Well mine's not 40's vintage anyway. My grandma got it for me when I started wearing makeup as a "young ladies gift". So it's circa 1984ish?
It's cute. It's gold and has white butterflies on the lid. A little scratched up.
Nice and heavy. I can't tell you how many times I've dropped it and thought I broke it or at least the mirror only to find it was just fine.

I think it's the only thing I have EVER had this long that I still use.

Oh and the screen reminds me of nylon pantyhose material. So I think that helps with the dust.
 

Blondie

Practically Family
Messages
724
Location
Nashville
MissMissy ~ Wow this is such a cool idea and makes sense,
the alcohol version of this just left me with cracked crumbly powder,
so am keen to try your "recipe".
You have a wealth of knowledge about cosmetics , am glad you are on the F.L :eusa_clap
 

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