TBK Trading 'Absolutely Everything' kit

Lady Cavanagh was super excited today with the arrival of a purchase she has been mulling over for almost a year: The TKB Trading 'Absolutely Everything Kit for Making Colour Cosmetics'.

Before delving into the world of micas and pigments let me explain a little - TKB Trading is an American company that specialises in selling ingredients for 'make-it- yourself' makeup.  They have absolutely everything there for making your own cosmetics and they cater for individuals just dabbling right up to companies that buy in bulk and then sell the finished product under their own brand.

Being that it's an American company and shipping is quite pricey Lady Cavanagh decided to dive right in an get the 'Absolutely Everything' kit so if i I really love mixing my own makeup then I won't need to pay for shipping to get more supplies!  The kit includes everything you need for making blushes/bronzers/foundations and also comes with the book 'The Complete Idiot's Guide to Making Natural Beauty Products'.  The great part is that the authors of the book get all their supplies from TKB so when writing up their recipes they refer to the TKB products by name.  Even better is that TKB responded by creating the 'Absolutely Everything' kit based on the book so the kit comes with all the ingredients and tools you need to make the recipes in chapters 8 (Making Mineral Makeup) and 9 (Blushes and Bronzers) - nice!  The book has instructions on virtually any cosmetics product you can think of as well as a whole chapter entitled 'For the eyes' which also uses products from TKB in the recipes.

So...what does the kit have in it? For a full listing head to the TKB website but in a nutshell it includes micas, pigments, powders to mix bases, dyes, jars, mixing/storage bags and tools. Micas and pigments are what (often) give mineral eyeshadows, blushes etc their colour.  As Lady Cavanagh is also interested in creating her own eyeshadows she ordered a sample pack of micas.  You can buy them individually or in differently sizes packs; Lady Cavanagh opted for 50.

How much was the kit? With the book it's US$155 ($149 without) and the 50 sample micas were US$62.50 ($1.30 each; they're $1.50 each if you buy them individually).  Shipping in the US is free if you spend over $100 but for international shoppers you have to place and order and then request a shipping quote.  The staff at TKB were very helpful and prompt and give you a few shipping options (with/without insurance etc) so you can work out what will work best for your budget.

Based on appearances alone Lady Cavanagh is very impressed so far.  When I've started making a few products I'll write more about how easy/hard it was and how to create them.

The door to a world of customised mineral cosmetics has just been opened and Lady Cavanagh's eyes are gleaming at the prospect...!