On paper, my life is perfect. But, in reality, mistakes, mix-ups and an occasional melee seem to be more common. So, when it comes to beauty, I’ve amassed a roster of beauty fixes sure to calm even the craziest cosmetic moments.
Compact S.O.S.
Life inside my purse must be pretty awful because, seemingly without fail, new compacts leap to certain death within days of being stashed in my favorite handbags. And while some miraculously escape their leaps unscathed, others still end up as just fragments of their former selves. After losing a few high-priced powder and blush compacts, I discovered a way to save the makeup within any compact that falls to pieces.
After the fall, open the compact and mash up the remaining pieces of powder, basically turning everything within the compact into a loose powder. Next, add approximately one teaspoon of 70% Isopropyl Alcohol, sold at many local drugstores. Finally, using a stiff makeup sponge or makeup brush, smooth out the top of the product, which has now become pliable thanks to the addition of the alcohol, and let the product dry for two hours after which it will be good as new. Whew, cosmetic crisis averted.
Lipstick Like New
Buy a lipstick in a shade you end up hating and it’s sure to last forever. But, plop down hard-earned cash for a lipstick hue you love and that lipstick is sure to break in half after a few uses. Fixing a broken lipstick is easy breezy with this simple trick. (Be sure to save the part that broke off.)
Throw on a pair of kitchen gloves and using an old fashioned match, gently heat up the underneath of the broken section of lipstick as well as the part of the lipstick that you will be reattaching the tip to. Next, gently reattach the tip and store in the refrigerator for one hour. In 60 minutes, your lipstick will be as good as new. In the future, be a doll and apply the lipstick a little less aggressively, extending the lipstick just a bit out of the tube before applying.
Manicure Maintenance
For every 10 bottles of nail polish that you wore once and never again, there’s that one go-to color that seems to complement your skin tone, suit your wardrobe and, of course, dries up way too quickly. While many a woman has added polish remover to a bottle of dried or almost empty polish — and you may even have seen a nail tech do this at less than reputable salons — polish remover is sure to damage, not save, your favorite bottle of lacquer.
Enter Seche Restore, a nail polish thinner that returns polishes to their former glory without downgrading the quality of the color inside or damaging the polish’s original consistency ($6.29 at drugstore.com). Seche Restore does not dull shine or color and, by adding just a few drops to your favorite polish with the included dropper, Seche Restore can save your favorite lacquer from an early death, nailing one more beauty breakdown without breaking the bank.
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