Because my formulas are made from fermented raw cacao along with your choice of the highest quality, unrefined plant oils, it is important to learn how to ‘warm up’ the product so that you are getting the absolute fullest coverage where needed. If you do not warm up the product, you will not be able to pick up the product with a brush in the same way you can pick it up with your warm fingertip.
It’s like holding a pure, unrefined piece of chocolate in your hands. The longer you hold it, the more it softens and melts in your hands. So before dipping your brush into your brightener, concealing cream, cream tint, or cream shade-changer (my solid cream formulas), you want to trace a few circles on the surface of the product with your fingertip. You will be able to feel when it starts to soften and warm up under your skin. It’s really my favourite part of doing my makeup because I am so into the feel of buttery textures. The more time you spend tracing circles on the surface of the product, the more you allow the formula to melt, and the greater the coverage. It’s so fun. But if you are in a hurry and want to shave off a few seconds of warmng up the product, you can also add a very tiny amount of your favourite facial oil to the surface of the product, like my raspberry elixir. Then trace a few circles with your brush or fingertip until you have picked up the desired amount of product. I usually warm up the product with my fingertip and then I do a swipe of the product I have picked up with my fingertip on the back of my other hand to make sure I have the coverage I want. And you can use that small amount of product to conceal other areas later on so zero product is wasted. Below is the texture I begin with, and I do not heat my formulas at really high, pourable, temperatures to preserve the potent antioxidants. Instead I gently warm them over a longer period of time in a commercial dehydrator at a much lower ‘dehydrating’ temperature so that the butter retains its’ ‘raw’ state.
Upon request, I can make any shade or texture under the sun and I am eager to please so I love creating custom handcrafted formulations. However, when I am creating a custom formula to match one from another line with a lot of ingredients one cannot pronounce, my texture will absolutely be different. Even if the other makeup line is touted as being ‘natural’, most lines use ingredients which are not derived from natural sources. It’s like baking a cake that my grandma used to make but I do not use any of the same ingredients. It’s going to be different! After customizing formulas for clients for over 20 years that have been discontinued from other lines or contain titanium dioxide, mica/dyes, chemicals and alcohols, I have witnessed how my clients end up loving the natural clone I make even better. It takes time to get used to the application though. Because I do not use emulsifiers, what works as far as the application can be different. So if you would rather have a brightener, concealing cream, cream tint, or shade-changer shade in my serums, dewy cream, or mango balm formula for example, because you love the texture, I am happy to do that for you! The reason I have carefully handcrafted these more solid cream textures (which are my cream brighteners, cream tints, cream shade-changers, and concealing creams) is because they are the easiest textures for creating buildable coverage and the least likely to move around on the skin after you have applied them. When pinpoint concealing or even adding freckles to areas, that part is important. This formula is also the best for lining the lips and filling in brows. It lays very smoothly but with full coverage, without spreading out on the skin as you can visually see in the photo below of swatches. The longevity throughout the day and into the evening is incredible. But when you are applying the product you MUST warm it up unless you would like a translucent application of colour and coverage.
If you are applying my makeup with formulas from other lines underneath, you may want to try applying just my formulas on their own to see if you achieve better results. I avoid certain ingredients for a long list of reasons. Also, unique to my line is that you want to keep your makeup away from hot cars, a humid bathroom, and away from direct sunlight as the formulas may melt like chocolate. If this happens, do not worry, they will firm back up to their original texture when placed for a few minutes in the fridge, just like a chocolate bar. If you are a makeup artist who works outdoors, I would recommend storing my makeup in a small travel cooler.
