I’ve been trying to use any more heavily face creams that I don’t like as body creams (which is easier for me to tolerate), which I wouldn’t call particularly creative, but it is something I’ve been doing lately!
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The question stumped me until I read your answer. I think that’s really all I do too — use (generally, expensive) skincare intended for my face elsewhere (usually my hands before bed, but sometimes my decollatage).
Same as you Christine, and I use meh skincare on my neck and chest also. My ideas or uses are more re-purposing than anything else ( the usual bronzer for crease shade, eyehadow to cover up gray hair at the roots, eyeshadow for brows, lipstick for blush).
Any hair conditioners I don’t like, I use to shave my legs, if that counts. ?
i was very disappointed with the foundation brush in the RT core brush set. it’s very small and flat and couldn’t spread any type of base well.
however, it has found a new life as a mask brush! i use the may lindstrom problem solver mask which comes in a powder form. it has to be mixed with a liquid/oil of choice before being applied. the small footprint of the foundation brush works splendidly for that, as you dont need precision or an even spread for the mask. just slather all over and go! glad to have repurposed this brush 🙂
I hadn’t thought of that – awesome!
Good one! I have done that, too! Brushes can be used for whatever we want.
That’s such a good idea! I never use that brush! Now I can
I have a bunch of flat foundation brushes that I never use, they came in value sets. Never thought to use them for masks, but that sounds like a great idea!
Cannot think of many at all! The most recent one being, wearing CP Rain underneath CP Sticky Sweet for a kick-butt purplish cheek color? Rain has been such an utter loser in my stash. But with Sticky Sweet on top, the combo really pops against my olive skin. That said, if I really hate how a product works, it winds up in the cosmetics valley of death!
I’m not very good at doing that, when a product disappoints I usually just don’t use it. I don’t really like to have to make efforts for something to work!
Same here! Using face creams as body creams, and if they have SPF, as body sunscreens. If a scrub is too harsh for face, I will use on body. If a highlighter is too dark or warm, I will use as a blush.
Oh, and the Looxi shadows fade and crease on my super oily lids, even with primer, so I use them as highlighters on my face. And for any gel eye liners that have dried out, I will use on my waterline, as the dried out formula lasts longer there.
A poorly pigmented brown eye pencil now serves as a brow pencil.
Not that creative, but I’ve used eye shadows as highlighters.
Crushed shimmery eyeshadow mixed with body lotion.
great idea!
You’re welcome! I’m glad it was helpful.
Genius! I have a huge container of really crappy shimmer powder and I was wonder what to do with it. Thanks Amalia!!
You’re welcome! I’m glad it was helpful.
Not really creative, since I know a lot of ppl do it. But, I’ve been using a matte bronzer that has no staying power as a transition shade or just in the crease on lazy days.
I also use lipsticks that tend to sink into my lip lines or dry my lips out by dabbing them on instead, and putting lipbalm/lip gloss over it.
I have pink undertones and am fair. Sometimes, I like the formula of a product that is a touch too neutral or dark for me. I wouldn’t call them ‘disappointing,’ just not optimal. Then, I play chemist (lol). On my trusty cosocube mixing palette, I just mix these less-than-optimal products with The Body Shop Lightening Drops and/or UD neutralizer in pink. Voila!
I meant to say Cosmocube. Sorry, Christine.
Same, Christine! I got three face creams from my mother, all infinitely too heavy for my face, and I’m trying to use them as intensive lotions lol.
ColourPop’s Nevermind was an impulse purchase in my early days of makeup. I ended up trying to use it as a cream blush. It was just as patchy on my cheeks as it was on the lips for me. Ended up tossing it!
Sometimes just trashing it can be very liberating.
If a bronzer is the wrong shade, I grind it up and then mix it with either moisturizer or an oil and use it on my legs. It gives the most beautiful tanned glow. You adjust how dark it is by adding more/less of the bronzer powder.
I have so many bronzers in the wrong shade…and pale legs 🙂 I’m going to try this one!
An impressionist dance to the garbage can? That I have done with some extremely pricey purchases with no return policies. I used to depot lipsticks and melt them, blend with a dab of Vaseline to create a new glossy stain with duds, but I’m too old and lazy these days!
Disappointing face creams on body — all in with that. Why waste it?
Sometimes I use disappointing products for layering. I’m often surprised at the life I breathe back into products this way. One of my recent discoveries — two lipsticks I’m not crazy about on their own, which are Revlon’s Wine with Everything and Coralberry. The coral on top of the Wine, and voila! Lovely color that suits me nicely. I actually reach for it regularly.
PS — Wine with Everything was fantastic on me when I was younger. One’s colors change, but I still have a soft spot for it. 🙂
I learned somewhere to use conditioner that didn’t work for me as a body wash, using my foundation as a concealer by just dabbing it in and setting with mineral powder, using my avene thermal water before a too rich cream to lighten it up and applying the cream sparingly!:)
I’m not great at repurposing stuff, but I did have an eye primer that was WAY too creamy to actually hold pigment so I used it as a lip primer. It worked, but I’m not a fan of lip primers because if the lipsticks don’t work on their own merit then I’m not going to keep them.
That’s pretty funny. Just as I was clicking on the link to answer, I was thinking that is exactly what I do with all the free gift with purchase heavy face creams that don’t suit my combination skin. It seems like Barneys and Space NK always give them, and they are too expensive to toss.
Creams/lotions I don’t like turn into foot creams I like to slather on before bed.
Yes, I use any face cream that has not worked out for me as a body, neck or hand moisturiser so that I can use it up.
Anything truly crappy gets returned, given away, or thrown out. I’m more likely to use tricks or repurpose an item if it was expensive and non-returnable. I’m not sure any of these are really creative:
*Pressed blushes that don’t give much color payout: I break them up, crush them with a mortar & pestle, and put them in a sifter jar. They work great as loose powder blushes. I had to do this with MAC Azalea from the Toledo collection, for example. I glued a mirror into the packaging so I could still use it for something.
*Too dark/warm/shimmery bronzers and contour powders are repurposed as eyeshadows. Conversely, I’ve repurposed a couple grayish-brown matte eyeshadows that don’t blend well on my eyes or turned muddy on me as face contour.
*Too dark pink or peach highlighters are repurposed as blushes/blush toppers and eyeshadows.
*I mix lipstick colors I don’t care for with other lipsticks, lipglosses, or lip pencils to alter them into the perfect shade and finish.
*Shimmery, eye-safe eyeshadows can be crushed and mixed with lipgloss, lipbalm, or coconut oil to make a pretty lip product.
*Hair conditioners I don’t like make great shaving cream. I’ve also used facial skincare that didn’t work for oily skin on my body (which is dry).
Wauw, I love your idea of breaking up pressed blushes! The second blush I ever bought was ‘Over Rose’, one of the more disappointing blush duo’s from Guerlain. I bought it on a whim and In the shop it seemed very pigmented but I think they used a hard kabuki brush to make it work. I have to find some of those sifter jars… Maybe in a professional makeup store! I will definitely give this a go. Too bad for the luxurious packaging of Guerlain, heheheheh.
I save sifter jars from used up products, but you can also get them from craft and beauty supply stores.
A craft store! Good idea. Thanks. I haven’t ever used jars with a sifter lid on it, exept for talk powder, haha! So I’ll check the stores for new ones. I am finally gonna truly enjoy my blush, yay!
I keep a free gift with purchase lipstick that I didn’t like (pale peach) at my desk at work to use as a cream blush when I don’t have time to put blush on before work. I hated the color as a lipstick, but I am actually really liking how easy the tube form makes putting on the ‘blush’ at work.
I was told a particular shade of Becca foundation was perfect for me by the MUA at Sephora. I bought it but it was way too yellow for me in normal light. I had a pinkish shade Eluzabeth Arden mousse foundation and mix them together and it’s great for me.
Shampoos and shower gels I don’t like, become hand soap.
I do much the same as you do, Christine. I use face products on my body if I don’t like them for my face. If a makeup product is disappointing, I try it with primers, if it still doesn’t work, I guess it’s just bye, bye.
I do the same thing, anything I get sample wise that I don’t like of the face goes on the body if it has good ingredients!
Same here! Except that I use the heavy creams first on my neck and then hands. Same with sunscreen that’s too heavy on the face, I use on my neck and arms.
Similar to you, Christine. I had a pricey sleeping mask that didn’t work out on my face, but I’ve been using a dab every few days on my elbows before I go to bed. They’ve never looked better!
Being pale (I run marathons and only get the slightest almost invisible color on my ghostly legs after hours, days and months spent in the beach Lol! There’s no hope!). I have tried every leg tanner there is on the market none have resulted great last I tried was the Jergens glow tried the lightest one nothing! Returned it tried the medium shade nothing! I have given up on those things. But I have a couple of old cream/foundations one from Cover Girl the other from Body Shop and I use them with baby oil or leg cream just let it dry and bingo! Works great and even. Another thing I tried is keeping a couple of spooly from the best mascara rinse really well to separate clumps. I love it cleans out and separates really nice. A lipstick too dark or boring (to me mates don’t do much help) I use the lightest one on top of darker one as in that ombré tip or use a color gloss to soften it if too dark. I’m not much into gloss but they are great as saviors. Applying light coconut to end of dry hair seals them instantly.
Alternate uses:
Dry lipsticks/balms – use as cheek blush
Dried eye pencils – use as scrapbooking/crafts/art pencils
Crappy brushes – for crafts, like sweeping glitter
Eyeshadow – for brow powder
Otherwise, I mix stuff!
Concealers and foundations that don’t color match get mixed with my moisturizer to make it tinted.
Blush and powder products get ground together into new colors.
before there were these shimmery skin primers I used to use a shimmery body lotion from Soap and Glory to give me that radiant glow 😀 then stuff came and i changed. I use under-eye cream as a lip balm for my lips because i have super dry lips works as a charm. I sometimes use eyeshadow as highlighter and highlighter & bronzer as an eyeshadow, love using the lipstick as blush , and sometime i use eyeshadow primer on my cheeks to make my powder blush last all day. I would not call this innovative or creative though, just managing with what you have in a short time (i don’t have more than 30 min in the morning).
I use a foundation brush I don’t use for foundation as a brush to dust out small areas like the bobbin area of my sewing machine, computer keyboard and stuff like that.
I purchased some really horrible pencils for eyes and lips. I can’t remember the brand, but I gave them to my cousins when they were small to use as colored pencils. I printed some things up on my computer and gave them the pencils, and they had a blast! I let them take them home with them so they could use them on their own coloring books. The pencils weren’t wasted, so it worked out well for all of us.
I bought a blush that turned out to be way too shimmery and a bit to orange on me…hello new eyeshadow!
Ha! I do the same thing!!!!