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| Lovely and oh-so-soft makeup brush by Pam of 3 Bears Woodart. Click on the photo to visit her personal blog and/or contact her. |
Lately I’ve been needing more face powder. Every visit to Walmart finds me with arms (or cart) full of needful things and me making my decision to skip my face powder, yet again. My quest to be more self-sufficient found me today wondering whether or not there was a simple way to make my much-needed face powder, rather than waiting until I have an available $10 for it. After browsing a bit on the internet, I found just what I wanted on YouTube (unfortunately, the link is no longer available). I had to adjust the recipe some to fit my taste (I wanted to use it in place of my Maybelline Mineral Power powder foundation). Here’s how I did it.
Homemade Face Powder
1 Tb Corn Starch
1 Tb + 1 tsp Hershey’s Cocoa (not hot cocoa mix, but the unsweetened variety)
Mix well in a bowl until evenly mixed, with no lumps. Store in an old loose powder container and apply as needed.
NOTE: Depending upon whether you intend to use this as a powder for over your existing foundation, or as your foundation, you will want to adjust the amount of cocoa.
Enjoy!
Kristi
WOW!! Who woulda thunk Hershey’s cocoa powder!!??
Ok, so what about someone like me who is very fair?
Gonna go watch that you tube..maybe she answers me already?
Very cool, thanks for sharing!
Yeah–watch the Youtube. The woman on the video is NOT fair at all, but my guess is that she just wanted face powder, not foundation. She used a quarter teaspoon of cocoa powder with the cornstarch. I wanted a foundation to replace my mineral powder foundation, so I used LOTS more cocoa powder.
Let me know what you think about it, Amber!
Ooops that should say ‘work’ for me…
LOL Michelle—I can smell the chocolate when I put it on too!
That’s great! I have some Max Factor foundation that I like to use when I want to be dressed nice, like for church. But it’s more coverage than I want for just going about my day and running errands, etc. This would be perfect!
I love it, Beth! It’s so easy and cheap too, and it does the trick for taking off the shine.
You’ll have to let me know how it works for you. You would use much less cocoa since you have lighter skin.
Hey our site, 3BearsWoodArt.com is up and someone is coming out this weekend to help us with all our pictures. So maybe when they click on the brush, they’ll actually go to the site! Love that make up though. I’m still using what I picked up when I was visiting Petra.
Pam, I fixed the link, so now it does go to your page. Sorry about that! Glad you mentioned it!
heyy this sounds really cool.
i might give it at go but i become a bit oily during the day. will this powder make my face sticky from the cocao powder and will it control shine 
also will it make me brake out or will it help treat my pimples on my face thanx you soo much 
xx
hahah sorry but also could u use it without corn starch, soo just the cocoa powder xx
Hey Zeina! Thanks for visiting my blog!
Nope, the cocoa powder doesn’t have any sugar in it, so no sticky. I can’t comment on whether or not your face will break out or clear up with use—you’d probably have to try it to find that out.
About your oily skin—mine is oily too, and if you apply too much (like continually applying the powder to your face all day long), you may see some splotching on your skin.
If you’d like to use it just as a powder and not a foundation, use less cocoa powder.
You can try that, but I believe the corn starch is good for absorbing excess oil, and with oily skin, you may not want to forego that.
I use quite a bit of cocoa powder in my powder because I don’t use any kind of foundation—just the powder—so it’s kind of dark. If you would like to use it as an apply-more-than-once/twice-per-day, I would adjust the cocoa powder down to maintain *some* color (so you don’t look like a ghost when you apply it), without causing the splotching I talked about above.
thanxs you sooooo much kristi
u helped alot xx
You’re so welcome!
That’s mighty cool. I think I’d have to scale way back on the cocoa – I’m so white that I’m blue, lol.
Yeah, the original recipe that I tweaked actually only called for a tiny bit of cocoa because the woman was just using it as a powder for over her foundation, etc. Since I want to use it for actual makeup (in place of foundation, kind of like Bare Minerals), I used more so I could match my skin color.
Wow-my mind is blown! You could probably use more cocoa powder to make bronzer and even more to make a nice brown eyeshadow. Possibly add some water to make an eyeliner (not at all sure how this would be near the eye which is more sensitive). I’m going to start looking at my beauty regime very differently now!
Thanks for your visit and comment, Heather. Your ideas are definitely worth a try! Make sure to come back and let me know how it worked for you!
Hi! I’m also a born-again Christian and starting a blog on natural skin care. I searched for a DIY face powder and found this article very helpful. I’ll give it a try.
Wow, Kristi, this sounds awesome! I am a frugal person and stopped buying foundation years ago and face powder about a year ago because of the cost, but I can’t wait to go home and try this. The ingredients are in my pantry. This really appeals to me because I love chocolate!
I saw this and was so excited I couldn’t wait to try it! Just two ingredients and color matching it to you is a snap if you add just a little cocoa at a time. I did substitute corn starch BASED baby powder for corn starch though. We just moved and you know how it is; can’t find anything haha. I love the smell of it. The cocoa really softens and warms up the scent of the baby powder.
Since I just mixed up mine I can’t tell if it’ll be a good foundation for me since my skin’s so oily, but the light-medium coverage I got from it is great and it feels so silky and went on so smooth. I can’t believe it!
I saw a similar recipe somewhere (cocoa and cornstarch) for dry shampoo for ladies with darker hair. You just add cocoa til you can use it without it leaving you looking dusty up top!
I know this was an old post of yours, but thanks for sharing! I love it!
Hi there Krystal! I’m so glad you are able to use this! I have been using it since a little before I posted it and I love it.
I think it really depends on how thick we like our foundation, you know? I like mine thin because it’s terribly suffocating if I use the liquid kind (though I do every now and then).
My skin is oily too, and it works nicely since corn starch will absorb the oil. If yours doesn’t work that way, try regular corn starch (in the baking aisle).
I hadn’t heard of the dry shampoo recipe! I usually just use cornstarch for my brown/salt & pepper hair. Perhaps I need to try that!
Thanks for stopping by, Krystal, and for your comment!
You’re right! I had very very little oil today. I did touchup once, but it was more out of habit (I always powder after my eyeshadow) than necessity. It kept me matte all day. It works better than my old powder and was much lighter. I’m with you; I don’t like the feel of liquid.
This will definately save me money (and time shopping!). Thanks again and God bless!
I’m so glad it worked for you, Krystal!
Woooow
Don’t know how to thank you for this. 
) and first day at work my colleagues kept telling me how beaten up I looked. But I am way too greedy to buy new make up for those three days until my bag arrives.
After holidays at my parents’ house I had forgotten my cosmetic bag (Yeah, a woman’s death
Thank you thank you thank you
So glad you found it and can use it! I hear ya—make up is SO expensive! I wouldn’t buy it for three days either. It’s great to have an alternative right in the cupboard!
I’ve found this makes a great dry shampoo for my dark hair too. I just brush it on my roots with a make up brush.
Wow, what an interesting idea, Sherry! I have dark hair as well–I’ll have to try that!
If I added moisturizer, would that make a liquid foundation? I really want a liquid foundation and I don’t know how to make it.
Wow, Samara, that’s a good question. I have never tried it! If you do, let me know how it works. If I were to do this, btw, I’d add just enough to moisten, then a little more (and repeat) until you get the desired consistency. Great question!
Do you still use this? I have never heard of such! I am new to making all of these products I am finding. I love to hear if they are liked well enough to make repeatedly.
Linda, I was using it for quite a while, but then switched to a mineral face powder when my daughter wanted to try using it (the mineral powder–it was cheaper). My thought is to make up another batch and try to match the color with the mineral powder and compare notes on how each one wears. Once I try that, I’ll post about it.
It’s definitely worth a try to see if it works for you, Linda! Let me know how it turns out for you.
Just made some this past weekend for one of my girls who have sensitive skin but wants to wear a little makeup. She loves it!
How cool! The fun thing is that you smell like chocolate all day long when you wear it!
Just became your newest follower!http://www.ourhappyhomestead-freeman.blogspot.com/
Thanks! I’ll check your site out as well!
At first, I think no way. It’d be too dark. But then I can’t help wondering if using bentonite clay as an ingredient, too, might help get the color one looks for as well as being a great oil absorber like the corn starch.
Carol, I’m not familiar with bentonite clay, but you could use more corn starch to lighten it up a bit for sure!
Thanks for visiting and for your comment!
What a great idea! Love the ingredients!
The ingredients sure make it easy!
Great idea! Thanks for sharing on The HomeAcre Hop!
Thanks for hosting, Lisa Lynn!