How is sticker eyeshadow made?

Answer 1

They're printed, so I'm going to go into "printer" mode and theorize on how to do this.

They first need to design the sticker, using a computer. After the sticker design is approved, they lay out a group of stickers and make flexography plates for them.

Flexography is a process using rubber plates. I like to think of a flexo press as a rubber stamping machine because the plates look very much like the business end of a rubber stamp. It's good for printing with really thick products like scratch-and-sniff medium and lottery-ticket latex.

Next, they have to make the eyeshadow into something you can print with by adding water to make a paste.

The first thing they have to print on the paper (which is called a "web") is an adhesive, to give the makeup something to stick to. It would be a very mild one, like the glue on a sticky note. The glue is printed "edge to edge" so the slipsheet covering the makeup will have something to stick to. They then print all the makeup.

The press then puts the slipsheet over the web. They run it through a pair of rollers, called "calendering rolls," to bond the slipsheet to the web and to make the makeup stick to the glue.

Finally, they run the web through a diecutter to cut the stickers to shape. And finally they're packaged and shipped.

This would work and it's how I would do it, but it might not be how they do it there.