If you love wearing mineral eye shadow but hate the creasing and limited wear time, I have a perfect solution. I’ve slowly been replacing makeup mainstays in my kit with their natural or mineral counterparts when I find something that performs as well or better. My requirements? It has to show up well on the skin, blend easily, and wear 12+ hours to make the cut. Unfortunately, even though I wear them quite often, mineral shadows haven’t given me the confidence to be kit worthy until I recently found the perfect solution. It’s all about the Temptu Mixing Medium baby.

Temptu is really known as a professional airbrush line but maybe you’ve tried their wildly popular at-home airbrushing system at Sephora? The heart of their business is still geared toward professionals who use airbrush for their business which is where Mixing Medium is sold although you don’t have to be a professional to buy it (yay!)

Mixing Medium is a silicone-based multi-use lotion that can be used for a ton of different stuff that I’ll get to in a second, but in this case I’m using it to bring intensity and a much longer wear time to a mineral shadow.

Here’s how I use it.

I’m starting with my sample size of Alima Pure Catwalk Eyeliner, one of my favorite mineral makeup lines.

It’s a slightly shimmery, intense shade that I love. Here it is on its own just applied straight on.

Now here’s where the magic happens; see that tinsy little whitish dab on the lid? That’s the Mixing Medium and how little I use. Gather a little powder on your brush to scoop a little into the lid to blend it with the liquid making a thick paste.

Now the swatches side by side, on the right is with the Mixing Medium. You can see more of an intensity (especially in person where you can pick up the detail better than my lens did) but beyond that is how this newly formed cream gives such better wear. Like hours longer. Many hours. This turns any ho-hum mineral shadow into a more intense, long-wearing shadow fit for any Makeup Artist’s kit.

It also shines when you use it with mineral powder concealers turning it into a creamy one that wears well and doesn’t look cakey or powdery. It also gives glittery pigments something to stick to if you pat it on the lid before applying so they stay on without flaking away. If your foundation is a bit too heavy, mix a few drops in to thin it out and keep the color and performance just the same. Basically, it can turn any makeup powder into a longer wearing, more intense cream or thin out a cream so it isn’t so heavy on the skin. It does it all.

I love Mixing Medium, I’ve had it in my kit for years. I did have to get used to thinking to grab for it, but now I use it all the time because it’s so cool. There are some things in my kit that are best suited for pro use, but Mixing Medium just isn’t one of them. Check it out- I think you’ll really love it too.

Temptu Mixing Medium