There’s nothing more heartbreaking than dropping your trusty eyeshadow palette, bronzer or highlighter, and watching it shatter into smithereens before your very eyes.

OK, there is, but broken make-up comes pretty close.

A quick Google search will serve up hundreds of beauty bloggers and influencers showing you how to patch up your broken palette. Nine times out of ten, the ‘magic’ binding ingredient will be rubbing alcohol, which works a treat to restore powder make-up back to its former glory.

However, because it’s more or less straight alcohol, it can actually be quite drying and irritating on the skin – and no-one wants flaky cheeks after a winter of just that. So when make-up artist Dominic Skinner took to Instagram to let us in on the super-quick and skin-safe way he fixes powder make-up without using a drop of neat alcohol, we sat up and listened. 

Rather than rubbing alcohol, Skinner uses Mac’s Water Base Mixing Medium, £16.50. Those partial to slathering on pre-festival glitter may already be acquainted with this product, which harnesses glycerin and water for a skin-friendly, totally non-sticky formula that mixes with power or liquid for a “decorative effect on skin”. 

It’s also a mainstay backstage at Fashion Month, where it’s often used by make-up artists to gently adhere sequins, gems and crystals to the skin or to mix up custom shades of lipstick and foundation.

To use Water Base Mixing Medium to fix your broken palette, simply apply a few drops of liquid to the powder, adding more or less depending on the size of the palette. Smooth out with a flat foundation or eyeshadow brush and allow to dry.

The end result is make-up that looks almost as good as new, sans any harmful chemicals or irritating agents – and we can officially confirm that it works.

The best part? The mixing agent makes formulas feel less powdery and more like a dry cream, which means your make-up glides on much easier and stays put for longer.

If we weren’t sold already…

Main image: Unsplash