[Cosmetics/Fragrance] Project pan progress

[yuuago]

January had a big Project Pan win: I finished a full-size lipgloss. I'm not sure if I've ever actually finished a lipgloss before (balms, yes; travel-size squeeze tubes, yes; regular, no). It was a transparent type, not coloured, and I've mainly been wearing it at home. Anyway, one down... 34577456 to go? (Slight exaggeration.)

The Urban Decay palette I've been working on doesn't show much use, but I have been using it. More importantly, I decided what I'll do with the colours that I don't want to wear because they have too much glitter: I'll make them into nail polish by depotting the shades and adding the pigment to bottles of Essie dual basecoat/topcoat. I'll definitely be doing this with shade "Uzi", and also "Midnight Cowboy Rides Again", and maybe also "Grifter". Like, I've seen instances where people have hit pan with Uzi and my only thought is - HOW? It's impossible! That shade is impossible!

I tried those shades in a look last night, and I just cannot see myself wearing them. The amount of glitter is absolutely crazy, and it gets everywhere, and I really do not want chunky glitter near my eyes. I tried out "Midnight Cowboy Rides Again" on my cheeks as a highlighter, and it actually looked pretty cool, but it's a look that's only suitable for a Pride Festival afterparty at the club, if you know what I mean.

In nail polish form, though, I can definitely see myself using those shades. I'm unsure if it would have enough pigment to use as an actual polish; it might end up sheer and better as a glittery topper. But like, that's cool too; I love a good topper, and the fact that I will be using my typical basecoat/topcoat as the fluid will (I hope) ensure that I won't need to put any other layers on top of it. I think. We'll see.

It'll be a while before I do that though, because I'm going on vacation this month, and I don't want to get into it before I leave. I also want to buy a vortex mixer for my regular polish; have been thinking about it for a while. You can get some that come with the metal balls for mixing, so I think what I'll do is: Get the mixer, add some balls to a basecoat/topcoat (since they don't come with it as-is), and then mix up the shadow-polish. Using the balls will ensure that the glitter and pigment will be suspended properly, rather than sinking to the bottom and getting stuck there.

I checked my (purchased, favourite) gold flake topper for reference, and it does have mixing balls in it, so yeah, I think this will be a sound plan for the home-made polish. And if I end up not liking the way it looks on my nails, or it doesn't perform properly, well... Hey, at least I tried to find an alternative use for some eyeshadow that I wasn't going to wear anyway.

Aside from all that, I finished one of my few remaining Sarawen fragrances. It was one of her deluxe samples, which at one point I had tons of because they gave great bang for your buck. Now, the only ones I have left are the 7.5ml "Dracula" and "Lament of Trees". I was kind of sad when I found out that not only did she close up shop, she actually sold all of her equipment and (if I'm understanding right) the recipes as well. Sure, her stuff wasn't always amazing, and tended to have an undertone of patchouli no matter what it was actually supposed to smell like, but a lot of her stuff was very to my taste. And also gives me a nostalgic feeling of the time I'm trying to go back to now, when I was actively interested in cosmetics and fragrance and doing a look every day. Sure, there are other Canadian perfumers out there, but not all of them are as affordable as her stuff was, and it just ain't the same. Ah, well. To all things there is an end etc.

Tomorrow is the beginning of February, and I'm really looking forward to opening the "monthly surprise box" that I made for myself out of things I already own. I can't remember what I put in there at all.