I recently discovered the joys of making things from paper mache. Recently I made the sword of Oderus Urungus (from GWAR) with a combination of cardboard, wood, some paper clay, and a lot of paper mache.
My pride and joy right now is my leg armor for Metalachi concerts. I adore their trumpet player, El Cucuy, so just for fun I made his armor. Those also were made from cardboard, paper clay, and a lot of paper mache, plus velcro and elastic for the straps. I'm trying to make the rest of it, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do to make parts of it wearable.
I'm a crafting/ DIY sperg.
Jewlery,candles, scrub, skin care, and makeup mostly.
This weekend I made green tea & cherry blossom lotion, lip balm and activated charcoal facial toner (I was trying to dupe some fucktardely expensive charcoal toner). I wouldn't call it crafting, but I mix and formulate my own clay masks. Partially for cost effectiveness, partially because I generally hate those paper masks oh-so in vogue (they're a giant fucking rip off. Seriously, if anyone wants cheap and easy clay formulas let me know).
This dangley bracelet is one of my favorite pieces. You can probably guess that the kitty face was silver plated (or silver colored) but touching it so much wore if off. I decided to just buff the color off and be done with it.
I'd like to do more stuff, but I'd need more space (:sigh), alone time () and more money ()
Keep in mind, even when I actually write down an actual formula with real measurements, I usually end up disregarding them a bit.
- 2 oz. aloe juice (not the gel!)
-1.5-2. oz white willow bark infused water*
-5 drops tea tree oil
-7 drops vitamin E**
-1 tablespoon activated charcoal
-1/2 tablespoon bentonite clay***
-preservative****
-1 or 2 globs Polysorbate 20*****
*My skin is oily and acne-prone. White willow bark has salicin in it which is similar to asprin and salicylic acid. Feel free to skip this if you're skin is better than mine or you don't have the bark. If you do want to try it, just steep a small handful of bark in the water.
**Only if you happen to have it on hand. Non-essential
***You replace this with any clay. Some clays are better for certain skin concerns.
****Anytime you use water in a recipe you need a preservative lest you get bacteria. You can add certain essential oils to slow the process, but you'll need some type of real chemical preservative to keep the toner bacteria-free. If you think you'll use all your toner is a very short amount of time and won't be sticking your hands in the entire batch, you can probably skip this. How much preservative you need depends on the type.
*****This just makes the oils and water mix. You can skip this, just shake the toner before use to blend it all.
I suggest shaking the toner before use anyway since the charcoal tends to settle. Just note- you might get a bit of the charcoal streaking on your face. Just wipe it off or use less charcoal in the master recipe.
Keep in mind, even when I actually write down an actual formula with real measurements, I usually end up disregarding them a bit.
- 2 oz. aloe juice (not the gel!)
-1.5-2. oz white willow bark infused water*
-5 drops tea tree oil
-7 drops vitamin E**
-1 tablespoon activated charcoal
-1/2 tablespoon bentonite clay***
-preservative****
-1 or 2 globs Polysorbate 20*****
*My skin is oily and acne-prone. White willow bark has salicin in it which is similar to asprin and salicylic acid. Feel free to skip this if you're skin is better than mine or you don't have the bark. If you do want to try it, just steep a small handful of bark in the water.
**Only if you happen to have it on hand. Non-essential
***You replace this with any clay. Some clays are better for certain skin concerns.
****Anytime you use water in a recipe you need a preservative lest you get bacteria. You can add certain essential oils to slow the process, but you'll need some type of real chemical preservative to keep the toner bacteria-free. If you think you'll use all your toner is a very short amount of time and won't be sticking your hands in the entire batch, you can probably skip this. How much preservative you need depends on the type.
*****This just makes the oils and water mix. You can skip this, just shake the toner before use to blend it all.
I suggest shaking the toner before use anyway since the charcoal tends to settle. Just note- you might get a bit of the charcoal streaking on your face. Just wipe it off or use less charcoal in the master recipe.
Just made a custom butt-rest for LARP. I play support characters, so I generally carry a lot of gear for resting/healing characters, including mats for them to sit on. But modern waterproof shit doesn't look good on the field, and we get a lot of rain here in Flyover Country (c), so people end up sitting in mud a lot of the time. After experimenting with different types of cloth, straw, etc., I finally decided to cheat like a mofo and stitched a fabric cover around a doubled-up shower curtain.
That's the kind of quality you get from my projects. It works fine, just don't look too close at the internal details.
Keep in mind, even when I actually write down an actual formula with real measurements, I usually end up disregarding them a bit.
- 2 oz. aloe juice (not the gel!)
-1.5-2. oz white willow bark infused water*
-5 drops tea tree oil
-7 drops vitamin E**
-1 tablespoon activated charcoal
-1/2 tablespoon bentonite clay***
-preservative****
-1 or 2 globs Polysorbate 20*****
*My skin is oily and acne-prone. White willow bark has salicin in it which is similar to asprin and salicylic acid. Feel free to skip this if you're skin is better than mine or you don't have the bark. If you do want to try it, just steep a small handful of bark in the water.
**Only if you happen to have it on hand. Non-essential
***You replace this with any clay. Some clays are better for certain skin concerns.
****Anytime you use water in a recipe you need a preservative lest you get bacteria. You can add certain essential oils to slow the process, but you'll need some type of real chemical preservative to keep the toner bacteria-free. If you think you'll use all your toner is a very short amount of time and won't be sticking your hands in the entire batch, you can probably skip this. How much preservative you need depends on the type.
*****This just makes the oils and water mix. You can skip this, just shake the toner before use to blend it all.
I suggest shaking the toner before use anyway since the charcoal tends to settle. Just note- you might get a bit of the charcoal streaking on your face. Just wipe it off or use less charcoal in the master recipe.
Would anyone be interested in a crash-course on DIY cosmetics/makeup? I was thinking of writing one up but I know I can be long-winded so I don't want to sperg on if it's unnecessary.
Would anyone be interested in a crash-course on DIY cosmetics/makeup? I was thinking of writing one up but I know I can be long-winded so I don't want to sperg on if it's unnecessary.
Ho-ly shit. My insanely TL;DR intro to crafting. This covers basic ingredient catagories, hints & tips, where to buy stuff, supplies, explanations of ingredients, preservatives and other goodies.
If you have any questions- feel free to ask
Before you look up any recipes or get to experimenting, gather up a basic aresen. Believe me, it’s a crappy feeling when you find the perfect recipe you want to make ASAP but are missing key ingredients. Some basic categories of ingredients are:
This category list isn’t exhaustive, and neither is the example list. Each ingredient has different properties and consistencies and there can be decent variety in a single category. Some things you can swap for another, some things are unique and required in certain recipes.
Those are just common items you should stock. To start out, I suggest trying to get one or two from each category (at the very least you’ll almost always need a butter, a carrier oil, a wax and essential oils OR fragrance and color).
What you’ll need also depends on what you make. If you only want lip balms, you won’t need flowers/infusion materials or clay. But lotion requires (at the minimum) a butter, carrier oil, lotion base, a preservative, and essential oils and/or fragrances and color.
Now let’s talk about some ingredients:
Essential Oils are derived from plants. There’s different ways to get the oil, but think of each vial as having the properties of the plant (i.e tea tree being used as an antifungal and antibacterial to help treat acne). Some important things to know:
1. Essential oils can be misused. They must be diluted in, at least, a carrier oil before being applied to the skin. A similar principle is usage. Don’t go overboard. These oils are relatively powerful.
2. Some essential oils are not lip safe. Tea tree is not for lip products. There are others, so do a quick google search to make sure what you have is safe (or stick to mint essential oil or synthetic flavors)
3. Citrus essential oils (i.e. lemon, orange) can make your face extra sensitive to sunlight. Try and avoid using these in products that you plan to use before going outside. Nighttime use or under clothes is fine.
4. Essential oils can be used for flavor and/or fragrance. Just note Point 2.
Essential oils are awesome- use them! But have common sense and don’t underestimate the punch they can pack.
Flowers/ infusion materials are things you can either put into product directly or let soak in water (specifically in a mason jar for max homestead/ hipster points). Examples would be lavender bits in bathbombs or making a white willow bark infusion for acne products. For infusion materials, you typically either steep the flowers/bark in hot water (like tea) and use right then or let the flowers/bark sit in water overnight to get a stronger effect.
Colorants, fragrances and flavors do exactly what they say. They’re lab created (so e-vile chemicals again) and add some personality and appeal to your products. A lot of crafting blogs only use essential oils because they’re natural, but there’s nothing wrong with wanting to make a batch of rum and coke flavored lip balm instead of yet another mint batch. Just make sure everything you use is body/ lip safe.
Preservatives are your friends, and yes, you will need them. Anytime you use water in a product (lotion is the big one) you’ll need a chemical, broad spectrum preservative to stave off bacteria growth. And make no mistake, you will get bacteria growth. There’s some things you can do to slow the process (using a pump bottle rather than tub/tin) but you can’t stop this. I’ve tried making lotion without preservative and put it in a pump bottle and within a week or so my lotion went funny. Antioxidants won’t work here. You need a scary, potentially unpronounceable chemical. Remember, rancid product means wasted ingredients since you can’t use the end product.
There’s tons of preservatives out there to choose from. Read the description before buying one. Some are tricky because they only work within a certain pH or can’t be used with certain ingredients. Find one that works for you and follow the directions as far as how much to use (I use http://www.makingcosmetics.com/Gluconolactone-SB_p_978.html ).
Note that if you just plan on making lip balm or bathbombs or similar, you can skip this.
A note on lotion: See that ‘lotion base’ in the misc. & speciality category? You’ll need that as a base for making lotion, as you can probably guess. Using just a butter won’t work. You’ll end up with a thick body butter. Useful, but not lotion. And no, you can’t replace this lotion base with beeswax or any other typical wax. You’ll get this thick, waxy stuff that most likely does not feel nice on the skin.
Something you should pick up is Polysorbate 20. This stuff makes it so oils and water will blend, so no blobs of oil floating in your water. There are some similar things that mix oils and water, but I like Polysorbate 20 since it doesn’t break me out and I haven’t had any adverse reactions.
Note that if you google Polysorbate 20 you’ll find a lot of blogs/ articles about how it’s cancerous or otherwise dangerous. These blogs are not medical and are not scientific articles and seem to be on the incredibly stupid ‘if you can’t pronounce it, it’s bad’ bandwagon. EQG. org and Paula’s Choice ingredient reference (https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/705137/POLYSORBATE-20/ and http://www.paulaschoice.com/cosmetic-ingredient-dictionary/definition/polysorbate-20) back Polysorbate 20. Keep in mind, this stuff and other polysorbates are already in tons of cosmetics, and most likely in things you already use. Of course, if you don’t feel safe, you can find an alternative or go without. Going without just means shaking our final product to temporary mix it (but that’s, to me, an unnecessary pain in the ass).
A good way to buy products is by skin concern. A lot of my essential oils and clays are based around fighting acne and keeping my skin clear. If your skin is naturally dry, you might be interested in a whole different set of things. Do a bit of googling to see which additives are right for you.
Cosmetic v. Culinary. You might have noticed that you can pick up certain items, especially carrier oils like olive oil, at the grocery store. What’s the difference between olive oil there and from a crafting site? Cosmetic grade items (like from crafting websites) are meant to be used in body products while items at the grocery store are of food quality and are meant to be used as food or in cooking. That being said, you can use items from the grocery store in your DIY body products. And just in case it needs to be said- don’t use cosmetic quality items in/as food!!
So can you use the olive oil in your kitchen? Technically, yes. I’ve read some crafting blogs who use store-brand ingredients in their products. My only reservation is if there’s anything that makes the item food-friendly that makes it skin-unfriendly. This, however, is really only a concern for face products. When it comes to hair masks or lotion or body scrub, I don’t think it matters. Go with your gut. If you read the ingredients and trust your favorite brand, go for it. But I don’t suggest buying some expensive organic hippy-dippy item. The point of buying from local stores is cost and convenience. If you’re willing to spend extra at the store for a food grade item, just buy a cheaper (as it may be) cosmetic grade item.
While oils are safe, be wary of butters. I’ve noticed that tubs of shea butter or cocoa butter are often premade lotion and not pure ingredient. The point of DIY is to do it yourself. Why would you want to buy premade lotion and only add a fragrance?
Personally, I would avoid chain craft stores. Hobby Lobby is the one local to me but I imagine that others (Michaels, JoAnn, AC Moore) are of similar stock. They often sell base crafting ingredients but I don’t think they’re of the best quality. Quick anecdote- I bought a block of paraffin wax from Hobby Lobby for candle making and it was the most awful wax I could of used. Maybe their cocoa butter is top notch, but I don’t risk it. But hey, if it’s convenient or you need something in a pinch, it shouldn’t kill you.
Make sure you carefully read all the ingredients in anything you buy from a hobby/craft store. They typically only sell low-quality fragrance oils (not essential oils) and liquid dye colorants. Always make sure any colors and fragrances are body safe.
Check all your colors and fragrances. Make sure anything you’re putting into your body products is body safe. This information should be in the descriptions online and probably on the bottle label. Note that essential oils (body safe) are not the same as fragrance oils (which may be only OK for aromatherapy or not-topical uses).
A note on palm oil. Most commercial cosmetics have palm oil (there’s a ton of other names for it including isopropyl myristate and isopropyl palmitate) because it’s a cheap way to bulk out products and acts as a vegetable oil. It’s also incredibly shitty for the environment and is a major cause of habitat loss for orangutans. Seriously, don’t use palm oil. It’s totally unnecessary. Pick another oil. Please, for the orangutans.
There’s some things you can’t DIY. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of many (and frankly, I think all your regular Kiwis are smart enough to know better) but there are some things you should leave alone:
1. Topical medications/ creams. I mostly mean medicated creams or prescription acne gels. Don’t try and get hippy dippy or replace anything by a doctor. In fact, if you are using something special, I suggest asking your doc if you can use things like essential oils. No need to make any issues worse.
2. Sunblock. There’s a lot of blogs that go on about making ‘green’ sunscreen. Do not fucking do it. Do you want to know how serious sunscreen is? You can sell bathbombs out of your garage with no issue, but if you want to sell a sunscreen, you need it OKed by the FDA because sunscreen (and cosmetics marketed with sun-protectant) are considered drugs. Most blogs mention zinc oxide which does help repel the sun, but is not enough. Put some in your lip balm or your own face cream, but don’t think that replaces commercial sunscreen. Please, just buy a can of Banana Boat SPF 40.
Some other items you want on hand (many of which you probably have):
1. Typical cooking, flat bottom pot
2. Rubber gloves and dust mask (when working with powders)
3. Disposable pipettes/ droppers
4. Small kitchen scale
5. Measuring cups (I use a measuring shot glass from Bed, Bath & Beyond)
6. Glass measuring cup
7. Containers with lids for storing products
8. Whisk or mini-whisk
In a perfect world you’d have a set of crafting supplies separate from your everyday cooking supplies. But I know this isn’t always possible. A good, thorough scrubbing should be enough to make sharing supplies safe, but wherever possible try and get a separate thing (aside from the scale, but wipe it down).
Check out the dollar store and Goodwill for containers. You can find nice glass containers for cheap at the dollar store, Goodwill and even antique shops. And don’t forget about reusing. A favorite of mine is pretty shampoo bottles and an old lotion container. You can always use the plastic containers you get with soup from Chinese takeout if you don’t care about function over form. Check there before chain craft stores like those mentioned above since they tend to be more expensive and no better.
Some things to keep in mind:
1. You can alter recipes. If you find a bitchin’ sugar scrub recipe with a crappy fragrance, go ahead and change that. Following recipes to the tee is the most accurate, but there’s no crafting law that says you can’t adjust to your preference.
2. Go ahead- experiment. Once you get a feel for different ingredients, ratios and your own preferences, literally, DIY. Yes, you might end up making horrible products and “wasting” your raw materials, but crafting is trial and error. Make small batches.
3. Crafting takes time and space.
4. It can be pricey. Where there’s great ingredient prices there’s bad shipping charges, and where there’s pricey ingredients there’s… also bad shipping charges. My biggest issue has always been the added shipping. Factor this into your purchasing.
5. It may not be a major money saver. Unless you’re making huge batches of something you use every day, this isn’t exactly the same as buying toilet paper in bulk at Costco.
6. Make sure you’re buying raw ingredients (especially when it comes to butters). You want the raw ingredient, not a pre-made base or blend (aside from specific lotion base like the one I liked).
Finally, have fun! Seriously, crafting is hella fun and it’s amazing to make your own body products. I love using my homemade acne pads and toner. Body scrub is possibly the easiest thing in the universe to make and it’s one of the simplest as well.
A catalog of cosmetic ingredients. Have a question about something? Punch it in and see if there’s an entry. Yes, Paula’s Choice is a skincare brand so you get links to products, but the information is solid.
https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ Similar to the catalog above. This is one of those orgs that wants to make cosmetics safer and may be slightly on the fearmongering side, depending on where you stand on the issues. You can also look up specific brands and companies.
My go-to retailer for most of my ingredients. They have a huge selection, ship quick and aren’t overly outrageous when it comes to shipping. Seriously, I could blow a week’s pay here.
My second favorite ingredient shop. More chemistry oriented, so I only really stock extracts, preservative and my lotion base. If you can’t find it at Bulk Apothecary, it’s probably at MakingCosmetics. They also have recipes, although they tend to be very involved and contain more ingredients than necessary.
https://www.brambleberry.com/ They mostly sell stuff for soap, but the ingredients often overlap. I’m slightly conflicted about linking this, since they usually take forever to ship and a lot of their soap recipes include palm oil.
Mostly candle supplies, but they have some body ingredients (mainly fragrances). I really like this supplier.
To find recipes, you can just google DIY [product] or homemade [product]. There are plenty of blogs and even books (if you feel like spending real cash).
Finally making headway on the rest of my armor. The base is cardboard with a ton of paper mache, shit's been duct taped on and given more paper mache, and here I'm starting to sculpt in paper clay which I'll cover with more paper mache. I've discovered also that Mod Podge makes for really strong mache. I've been using school glue and tacky glue, but experimented a little and found the Mod Podge nearly gives me the hardness of plastic.
Gonna start my boob armor soon I think, maybe while I'm painting these. I got two half-spheres of floral foam so I'm gonna carve/paper clay them into skulls and construct some kind of bra thing.
Neither, actually. It was more or less a test walk-in event that the library hosting it didn't think a large number of people would show up (they were right). Mostly women dropped in but as far as I could tell, no one was drunk.
) and more money (
I need to touch it up a bit, but I'm tired from all of today's arts and crap.
Gonna start my boob armor soon I think, maybe while I'm painting these. I got two half-spheres of floral foam so I'm gonna carve/paper clay them into skulls and construct some kind of bra thing.
