Laureny's Blog: How to: Pressing Pigments

So after my last post showing the pigment's I pressed, a few of you asked to see how I do it - so this it!

First of all, you need to gather everything you'll need, which is:

Pigment
Empty pan
Rubbing alcohol
Scoop and hair grip (something to dispense your rubbing alcohol and something to stir it all with)
10p
Hairdryer
Material - up to you what you'd like to use, I go for a spare pillowcase as I prefer the pattern this gives
You also probably want to cover the surface you're working on as things can get messy.. and with me? They almost always do!

Once you've got everything ready - you then need to disinfect everything. You don't want any germs going into your lovely new shadow!

You then want to take the pigment you're going to be using and this is where I use the hair grip to transfer the pigment into the pan. You want to properly fill it, because when the rubbing alcohol is added the amount you have in the pan does shrink. But not to worry - you can always add more as you go along!

Now that you have your pigment ready in the pan, it's time to start adding the rubbing alcohol. I just use this white scoop, but if you have a medicinal pipet or something - that would be a lot easier! Add it little by little as you don't want it to be TOO runny. If you feel like there isn't enough pigment in the pan once you've added the rubbing alcohol - just add more pigment! Carry on this process until you have the right amount and consistency!

Now what you want to do is take your hair grip or whichever stirring tool you chose, and stir your mixture together. This is just to make sure everything is evenly mixed and there's no big clumps of pigment stuck together. It wants to look creamy more than anything! When you're happy you've stirred it enough - spread it evenly in the pan, ready for when you need to press.

Now you need to let it dry - you can either wait until the mixture has dried naturally, or if you're impatient like me, you'll take a hairdryer to it! You don't want it to be completely dry, nor do you want it too wet.. It really is like goldie locks when you're pressing pigments! So I just take my dryer and heat it up for about a minute or so, until you can see the mixture looking firmer.

Now you want to take your 10p (this is probably the best fit for us brits!) and put it in the material you're using and twist it up inside, tightly. You don't want any ruffles or creases - otherwise this will go into your pigment when you press! Then take a bit of the rubbing alcohol and put that on covered 10p - this will just help it not to stick to the pigment and allow for an overall better press.

All you need to do is place it into the pan and press! Don't worry if you see the material getting wet - this just means it's working and it's absorbing all the rubbing alcohol in the pigment. Carry on pressing, until you're happy with your outcome..