As a master’s student at the Royal College of Art, Lauren Davies — a self-described designer, maker, and alchemist — created a beautiful contraption to DIYify make-up. With a few basic ingredients (water, scented plants like roses or lavender, and bases like beeswax or almond oil), her invention concocts eyeliner, scented balms, and other beautifying products.
“It’s a bit like a grown up chemistry set for the aesthetically aware, where distilling your own essential oils and burning your own kohl eyeliner could be part of your daily routine,” says Modern Farmer.
Watch it in action:
Fun, right? Here’s Davies giving the nitty gritty of how, as an example, the eyeliner function works:
The kohl plate is for the preparation of black kohl eyeliner. Carbon collects on the underside of the copper plate from the almond oil burning in the oil burner below for a period of time. This black carbon deposit can then be mixed with almond oil for a smudged finish or aloe vera and witch hazel to allow a brush drawn line and used as eyeliner.
We love her other work, too. But right now we’re most into the idea that we could sit at a dressing table and pretend to be Isaac Newton, but prettier.
