Homemade/DIY black eyeliner

I searched online for recipes on eyeliner. What I found:

• Recipes using activated charcoal and oils (from Simple Life mom);
• Recipes using activated charcoal and water (from A Blossoming Life);
• Recipes using activated charcoal, water and cornstach (from Health Starts In The Kitchen);
• Recipes using powdered eyeshadows, glycerine and water (from Desejos de Beleza);
• Recipes uring powdered eyeshadows and glycerine (from Tudo sobre Maquiagem).

So basically, something for color and something to make it glide on skin and make it stay. The cornstach used on the third link is for staying power, bacause it absorbs the oil from the skin.

Since I can't wear make up, using eyeshadow was not an option. So, for my recipe, I used activated charcoal purchased from a local drugstore, and cocoa powder. 

For the other ingredient, I considered using only water, since the weather where I live doesn't allow any oil to solidify.

My recipe is:

• Pigment: activated charcoal, cocoa powder;
• Binding ingredient: just water;
• And cornstach, for its oil absorbing qualities.

I applied cornstach to my lids, like I would with eyeshadow, dipped my eyeliner brush on a drop of water, removed the excess, dipped it on the mixture of charcoal and cocoa powder, and applied to my lids.

It doesn't look like a gel eyeliner or a liquid eyeliner, it's softer, as soft as it would be with eyeshadow only. I thought it was great, because I'm blonde and harsh eyeliner doesn't look good on me. I draw a simple wing on the outer corners. It lasts all day and doesn't smudge.

Homemade/DIY natural eyebrow gel/filler

I found a recipe from this blog.

The ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tsp almond oil or castor oil
• 2 1/2 tsp cocoa powder 
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• activated charcoal (optional)

I live in Brazil, so any oil wouldn't work, because it would melt in 10min. I tried cocoa powder on its own on my eyebrows but it didn't work. I had to find something else to make it stick to my brows.

I tried Vaseline. First, I applied it with a spoolie on my brows, and then the cocoa powder with a brush. It worked. I tried to melt the vaseline and mix it with the cocoa so it would become a brown gel, and it also worked. Vaseline doesn't easily melts. I wore it today on my eyebrows and it did fade a little, but very little.

I tried using it as a eyeliner, but it didn't work. The Vaseline doesn't have the right consistency. So now I'm searching for a eyeliner recipe.

Meaning and importance of make up

At first when I decided to stop wearing make up I was kinda bummed. I love make up, I wear it as an accessory, like necklaces and earrings. But now that I can't, I started worring about things I didn't, like, what about when I have huge dark undereye circles, or when I have a party? I can wear just mascara and a lipstick, but for a night out, I can't make an elaborate eye make up anymore.

I thought about make up a lot in these days. Why does it matter so much? Why do people spend so much money and energy on it? In most cases, I believe, make up is a healthy thing, it's about self care, self love, enhancing natural features. There are cases, of course, where make up is more than just an accessory, like for people with serious skin problems and scars, who want to feel better about themselves. And on other cases people just get used to their faces with make up and start to think that without it, they are ugly.

I also can't ignore the fact that there is a huge multi-billionaire industry behind make up and beauty products. There are a lot of old white men profiting off women's insecutirites. We are sold since the early years that beauty means something very specific, something we don't naturally have, but something we can buy. And without it, we are ugly, which we don't want to be, otherwise we will have no value. But that is another subject.

The fact is, men don't wear make up. They don't even take proper care of their skin. They don't use sunscreen. Men are ugly as shit, have undereye circles, blackheads, whiteheads, small lips, big noses, bad skin, and we still find them handsome. So I won't wear make up either. As soon as I got used to my face without make up, I stopped thinking I need it.

That thought help me a lot.

My make up allergy story and meaning of this blog

I first started having face skin reactions about a year ago, in february 2014. I have always been prone to skin problems, like dermatitis, little red itchy bumps, but they've always been related to stress and anxiety. I treat them topically, and they vanish quickly.

However, i started having them on my face, in the chin area, which was unusual. I treated them as usual, but they kept coming back. My doctor told me to stop using everything and start using one product a time to find out what it could be.

I didn't. Because it didn't bother me that much, because I didn't want to face that maybe I was allergic to make up (I quite like make up) and because I thought it would just stop one day. It didn't.

I did however tested new products, tested not wearing certain products to see how my skin reacted, etc. I realized that a few things i used was in fact causing me reactions: foundation, concealer, face powder, blush, eyeshadow and eyeliner. What didn't cause me any reaction: mascara, lipstick, lipbalm.

After a year, I finally decided that I would stop wearing make up. Because using topical medicine almost daily for a year kind of messed with the skin on my chin. My skin is normal and I rarely ever have spots or pimples, but now my chin is reddish, slightly oily and has a few bumps. I'm guessing it is because the medicine wouldn't let my skin breathe, or something like that.

Also because even though my skin reaction is pretty mild and pretty tolerable, having it daily, forever, is really annoying and I'm tired. So, I'm giving up on make up.

I've been testing things I could use on my face instead of make up, like vaseline and cocoa powder on my brows, and cornstach for face powder. I showed it to my friend and she suggested I make a blog to document everything, and so here it is.

I will be posting things I make, what works and what doesn't, and other people with the same problem can find it and maybe help themselves. I don't know. I googled about it and found nothing. I made this blog and in less than a minute it already has views. I think it's a good idea. Let's see.