DIY BB CUSHION FOUNDATION COMPACT: BUT THE SAFE WAY

Before we get into this DIY-make-your-own-BB-cushion-compact business, let me admit this: I was so meant for the TV-dinner era. Well, I grew up in that era, at least toward the end of it. We never had them at home, though – my mum would never. But I like when things comes ready to wear, ready to eat (within six microwave minutes if not immediately), or ready to use. I'm unabashedly into the Pre-Assembled and the Pre-Packaged.

I'm the same with beauty. I'm rarely inclined to do things like make my own face cream. But I know lots of women who love nothing better than creating their own formulas. It's just that there are certain ingredients you do not want to mess around with because there are no guarantees with DIY. And you absolutely need guarantees when you're working with something like sunscreen.

Okay, now we can talk about this DIY make-your-own-BB-cushion-foundation thing. 

how to make your own bb cushion foundation

A Beautygeeks visitor recently left a comment about re-filling cushion compacts when you've used up whatever originally came in the case. If you love the L'Oréal Paris True Match Lumi Cushion, when you finish it thoroughly clean the compact and cushion, then refill the case with the L'Oréal Paris True Match Lumi Foundation. Yes! Excellent suggestion! (Some say the foundation in the cushion is basically the bottled True Match Lumi foundation.)

In the same comment, "A Creature" – that's the user's name, I swear – left a link to a fun DIY-BB-Cushion tutorial by Aussie-Korean YouTube-r Jen, aka meejmuse. (I could listen to her for ages.) The concept is great for any DIY-inclined type: make your own BB cushion compact formula to refill any cushion-foundation case you've emptied. You prevent an empty container from heading to a landfill, and because you probably have all the components already, you save some cash, too. There are just a couple of things you need to be aware of before you start.

1. Know that you're really just DIY-ing a bb cream, not a cushion-foundation. The inventors of cushion-compact technology will insist that what you're making at home is not the same as the product they've painstakingly formulated to go with their specially-designed sponge, and you won't get the same kind of beautiful finish on the skin. That's probably true, but if that doesn't bother you, continue on...
2. Start with a full-coverage liquid foundation. Adding serum, colour-corrector, luminizer and moisturizer will dilute the coverage; starting from 100% will leave you at least with some measure of opacity with which to even out your skintone.
3. Leave the sunscreen out. Yes, I just said that. Do not add sunscreen and assume your creation will keep your skin safe. The most obvious reason is pretty basic: the same way that adding serum, color-corrector, luminizer and moisturizer dilutes foundation coverage, those same ingredients will dilute the sunscreen protection. In 10g of liquid foundation + serum + colour corrector + luminizer + moisturizer, 3g of SPF 50 = ??

"It's highly unlikely that you have any sun protection left, or it'll be at such low levels that it isn't meaningful anymore," says Stephen Baldwin, Senior Associate Director of Topical Formulations Development at Bayer (he makes Coppertone sunscreens). In fact, he says it's impossible to predict what SPF you'll get because good sunscreen is about more than its UV filters – how it forms a protective film is just as important.

"You have to think of the skin as a wrinkled surface, with texture, peaks and valleys," Baldwin explains. "Effective sunscreen needs to cover like a good paint, completely evenly, literally like a second skin. It has to protect the peaks without puddling in the valleys, and it has to be flexible and breathable." When you add other substances to a pre-formulated sunscreen, you disrupt the film-forming agents as well as dilute the UV filter concentration.

Go ahead and create your own BB cushion – Jen's "DIY Make Your Own Cushion Foundation" video is below. Just rely on a separate sunscreen for your UV protection, and apply it before your home-formulated BB. Your skin will be much safer that way.

Are you a DIY beauty-type? And have you tried a BB cushion compact yet? Would you try meejmuse's recipe? (If you do, please report back!)