We've all been there: You drop your makeup compact and what's left is a crumbly, unusable mess. A little rubbing alcohol and plastic wrap could bring it back to life.
Try It: Add a few drops of 70% rubbing alcohol to pieces of broken makeup in the compact and let them soak in. Wrap a piece of plastic wrap tightly around the makeup so that it covers the entire opening, then use your fingers or the back of a spoon to smooth the mixture into its original shape through the plastic wrap. (If it's too dry, add more alcohol as necessary.) Once it is nice and smooth, just let it dry and you're good to go!
Why It Works: The oils in makeup help to bind it together, but alcohol allows them to remix with the solid materials, says Randy Schueller, cosmetic chemist and cofounder of
The Beauty Brains. The plastic wrap helps you to smooth and press the makeup back into its original shape. Keep in mind, though, that this will work better on cream-based makeups than pressed powders, which are compressed in manufacturing and need that kind of pressure to hold up to shock and vibration.
