Natural Eyeliner and Mascara

So this week I ran out of a few makeup essentials.  I truthfully do not wear a ton of makeup but there are a few things that I can't live without.  Mascara being the most important to me.  Other things like my press powder and lip gloss are also very important to me.  Those three items are my everyday items.  When I go out (which lets be honest is about once a month) I wear eye shadow, eyeliner and lipstick for bolder colors. When I'm having a bad zit day I also use concealer.

When I discovered that I am totally out of eyeliner, very low on mascara, and OUT of my pressed powder I started thinking of other ways to "paint my face." I didn't want to go out and buy expensive - wait I NEVER buy expensive makeup as I'm too cheap for that - toxic makeup.  I figured if I'm going to rid my food of the nasties and my house cleaners of toxic chemicals that I might want to think about changing my make up and toiletries too.  Stay tuned for a post coming up about my challenge to go "all natural" with things like shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, and lotion.

On to my make-up dilemma.  I started doing some searches on natural home made makeup and found several interesting techniques.  While a lot of them would work great, I wanted a recipe I could make without having to buy anything as cash is a little tight right now.  This method was the winner.  ***Disclaimer***  I am EXPERIMENTING with this.  I am NOT an expert.  However, I am excited to see how it works out and will blog later with an update on continued use.

A little background on Kohl eye cosmetics.  "Kohl" has been used for centuries as a method to paint eye lids and eyelashes and can be dated back to the Egyptians.  Back then they would have used lead as the main ingredient but of course today we know that lead can poison our bodies and therefore it is no longer made that way.  There are several ways people make it but I like the almond method best as I had them on hand.  

The "Kohl" powder:

Toast almonds (slices or whole ones chopped up - I even blended mine up a bit before I started) in a skillet until black all the way through.  Warning: this will smoke!!!  I ran my fan on the oven hood and also turned on my attic fan so as not to set off our smoke detector.  Once they have blackened, remove from heat and let cool.

Once the almonds have cooled, grind them into a very fine powder using a food processor, Magic Bullet (in my case), or mortal and pestle.  Place in a small clean container for storage.

Now for the fun part!!!  Are you ready to be brave and frugal with me?  I've made a tutorial as I went through the steps so follow along and lets make some inexpenive (free if you already have everything!) eyeliner and mascara.

For Eyeliner:

Mix together 1-2 tsp of Kohl powder with a few drops of olive oil.  Place in a clean and sterilized container.  I used a pill container from Walmart that I had around the house.  To apply, use a makeup brush or paint brush.  Clean brush out with soap and water after each use to keep bacteria out.

****UPDATE:  I have found this method to be a bit smudgy.  And if you do not grind the burnt almonds as much as you possibly can, it can also be clumpy.  Two things you don't really want in an eyeliner.  I am going to try this with coconut oil and see if it helps smooth things out.

For Mascara:

Mix together 1 tsp of Kohl powder and 1 tsp of honey.  I used an old mascara tube that I had, removed the rubber stopper, and filled it with my mixture.  This was after I cleaned it out really well and sterilized it.  If it is too thick or gloppy, you can add a drop or two of water by using the wand to plunge it in.  Be careful though, if you add too much water you have to start over so only use a few drops and then see how it works for you.  Apply like normal mascara.  It does dry on your lashes so don't worry about having sticky honey lashes all day.

Here is my basic tutorial.  Again - I do not claim to be an expert!!  But I do love that this is all natural and free!!!  Enjoy.  Leave a comment if you try it and tell me what you think!