Why does some Makeup turn Orange?

Ever feel like you look like this Orange faced Barbie? LoL! We've seen the complaints all over the internet: "My makeup looks fine when I put it on. Then over the course of the day it turns orange! Why? "

Well we thought we'd take a few minutes to explain this phenomena. There are numerous contributing factors, and it's not necessarily your fault!

Orange face morphing most commonly effects those with normal to oily skin tones. The ingredients in the makeup look great when you put it on, then as your skin oil is produced throughout the day, the oils mix with the ingredients in your makeup. Sometimes this is a bad thing for you, and those looking at you!

Makeup ingredients are the perpetrator of this crime against your face! With almost infinite ingredients available to formulators, you'd think they would get it right. Untreated pigments or base ingredients account for the morphing. Take mica for instance. Mica is one of the most common base ingredients for loose mineral makeup. For formulators, it's known as Sericite Mica. It's a white, super soft and finely milled powder and a great substitute for talc. It's commonly used as a base to disperse the other ingredients and pigments into, since you can't just smear pigment around on your face and look like anything other than Rainbow Bright.

However, there are a plethora of Mica choices. There's the basic untreated/plain Sericite Mica, then there are treated Micas. Treated Micas are coated with another ingredients, like jojoba, magnesium myristate, silica, etc... This not only makes the mica feel better on the skin, but it gives it stability. The stability to maintain its pigment/shade even when your skin starts to get oily. You won't suffer from Orange Face Morphing if the formulator has gone to the expense of using treated base ingredients.

Unfortunately, the customer has no way of determining by the label, if the company has used treated or untreated ingredients. Why? Because the FDA does not require that disclosure, and they require the ingredients be listed in order of predominance.

Take our Valley Girl mineral foundation for example. Our base mica is jojoba treated sericite. Mica is the main ingredient. Jojoba, being a coating is less than 1% of the formula, so it gets placed towards the end of the list. So reading the ingredient list for our Valley Girl mineral foundation, there is really no way to tell that we use the more costly, treated sericite mica as our base:
Mica, Zinc Oxide, Boron Nitride, Silica Microspheres, Titanium Dioxide, Kaolin Clay, Magnesium Stearate, Silk Powder, Allantoin, Iron Oxides (colorant), UltraMarines (colorant), Jojoba, and Dimethicone.

So what's a girl to do?

• Give the products you use a test run! Buy a makeup sample, or have your makeup done and wear it for the day. Pay close attention to how it looks at the end of the day compared to how it looked when it was applied.
• Ask the company if they use treated/coated, premium base ingredients. If they don't tell you they do, then I'd guess that means "No" they don't!
  

I get it now

From the beginning, when I started L.A. Minerals, I often wondered why companies use so many chemicals in their products when there are natural alternatives.

Now I get it.

While formulating our new L.A. WET formula, we sought a water dispersible pigment. Our suppliers had a lot of choices. However most of them included chemicals, a lot of chemicals. After talking with our rep, and letting her know we didn't want all those chemicals, she said "well we do have a line that's oxides and silica. We just don't have it on our site because it's SO EXPENSIVE!" My response was send us some samples and a quote!

So yeah, now I get it. Now I know why most of the big companies make so many products overloaded with chemicals.

Oily Skin - Pros, Cons and Solutions

Oily skin can be a blessing and a curse. Your skin produces sebum/oil to keep the sensitive facial skin moist. Your face is the most often exposed to the sun, hence most at risk for drying out.

Pros=
▻The oilier the skin, the longer it will retain its youthful appearance
▻Oily skin wards off wrinkles till later in life
▻Oily skin tans easier


Cons=
▻We may not like the oily look
▻ Many cosmetics slide off of oily skin
▻Oily skin tends to be more acne prone

There are numerous face washes designed for oily skin and/or acneic skin. However, over washing, using harsh cleansers sends a signal to your skin to produce more oil! The secret is to wash your face daily, removing excess oil along with accumulated dirt and airborne crud. Then use a non alcohol toner, like simple witch hazel, and a moisturizer that is not oil based. I prefer the ones water or aloe vera based moisturizers.

It is much better to soak up the excess oil during the day, rather than trying to prevent it's production (which ends up drying out your skin, and making more oil). There are numerous products for this, including blotting papers, and Oil Control Powders. Many oil control powders contain chemicals, but there are natural makeup ingredients that do a fantastic job of soaking up excess oil. Our Oil Control Mattifying Powder contains Kaolin Clay, a centuries old solution for clarifying and mattifying the skin. We also include a special silica that is designed to absorb seven times it's weight in oil! This ingredient acts like a million little sponges at work all day, keeping your skin smooth and matte :)

Additionally, since oily skin can be acneic, we include Allantoin, a natural antiseptic and skin soother. Silk powder is also one of our ingredients, and it functions as a natural moisture balancer (it also feels great against your skin).

The powder can be applied before or after your foundation. We recommend using a mineral makeup foundation combined with our Oil Control Powder.

For only $2 you can try a sample of our Oil Control Mattifying Powder with no obligations, no risk, and no auto-ship commitments.

Stay Beautiful,

Lorraine
CEO & Founder
L.A. Minerals

Pure Pigments as Eye Shadow?

There's a lot of buzz about using pure mineral pigments as eye shadow. Some of the buzz is positive, some negative. Most of it confusing and misinformed.

On one side of camp hoorahs for extreme pigmentation and color. Raves about purity and intensity. On the other side of the camp, boos and thumbs down. Videos of ultra marine blue 'dissolving' in water as if they are paints. Horrified responses, totally buying into the demos.

Both sides of the camp need some education!
1. Ultramarines are approved by the FDA for use in cosmetics, except for lips.
2. Ultras that are approved for cosmetic use are lab created in order to be safe and free from naturally occurring toxins. (ultras for paints are not for use in cosmetics for obvious reasons)
3. Ultras, although bright and intense, do not make the best eye shadow. Why? Because they are draggy, chalky, and lack good adhesion. They are a COLORANT, and when used with other ingredients are a PART of a finished product.
4. The FDA Specifically states "(c) Uses and restrictions. The ultramarine pigments may be safely used for coloring externally applied cosmetics, including cosmetics intended for use in the area of the eye, in amounts consistent with good manufacturing practice."
Note that last part..amounts consistent with GMP.
5. Ultramarines dissolving in water? Well it may look like it, when it's stirred into a beaker or bowl of water, it actually DISPERSES in the water. Let it sit overnight, and you'll find it sitting at the bottom, like sand in the ocean!

Colorants for cosmetics obviously need to disperse or mix with the other ingredients, be it an eye shadow, mineral makeup, soap, lotion or shampoo. If it didn't "disperse" we wouldn't have any colored bath and body products or makeup!

However, dispersing and dissolving are two different things. Recent youtube videos displaying ultras dissolving in water are just fear mongering demos, performed by uneducated or misinformed folks.

Cosmetic Ingredients - How much is in there?

We're all more aware of what we put on our skin, or in our mouths these days. Choosing cosmetics that are safe and full of helpful ingredients can be a daunting task. First of all, some of the words are only pronounceable by a Doctorate in English or science. But even if we can say the words, what are we getting? And how much of it?

Cosmetics, including cleansers and creams, mineral makeup, lotions and potions, are regulated by the FDA in the USA. All ingredient lists must be listed from greater to smaller percents of usage. In other words, the first ingredient will always comprise the largest percent of that product. (colorants and flavors are the exception and can be listed in the "may contain" area, to protect manufacturers formulas.

So, if you are wanting a product with a lot of aloe vera in it, you'd look for that ingredient pretty high up in the list. If water is the first ingredient and aloe is the 6th or 7th, you can be sure the product is mostly water. This info can be really helpful when you are looking for specific ingredients for your skin or health.

This also helps explain why certain products are more costly than others, even though they have the "same" ingredients. You cannot tell how much of an ingredient is in that product, simply by reading the list!

Normally the last ingredient on the list is either a trace quantity (not enough to require measurement) or 1-2% of that product. Now that doesn't always mean there's not enough to be effective, just because it's last.
Most cosmetic formulators (including us) follow the manufacturers recommended usage rates.

Allantoin, a natural antiseptic and skin soother, is in our Valley Girl mineral foundation. It has a recommended usage rate of .5-2% of the formula. Adding more will NOT be more effective, any less will be ineffective. The FDA does not regulate inclusion rates, therefore formulators depend on information and data from their suppliers, chemists, estheticians and manufacturers.

Lately the market has been bombarded with "mineral makeup". Or powders made "with minerals". Often times promoted as "made with pure mineral pigments". The word WITH is the keyword here. With what else? And how much of it is minerals?

Hint here: mineral pigment is generally less than 3% of the total product. So if that fancy new makeup is made with mineral pigments, it will probably be last or close to last on the list, and be some type of iron oxide.

Hypo-allergenic products - THE TRUTH!

Some Industry Honesty

(refreshing isn't it?)

How many of you assume that products labeled "hypo-allergenic" or "natural" are going to be perfect for your skin?

Hate to break it to you, but it's not necessarily so! The FDA does NOT regulate the term "hypo-allergenic" or "natural".

Cosmetic companies can and do use the terms for any product they like, no matter what the ingredients!

We use the term "natural", meaning the bulk of our ingredients are from a natural source, i.e. minerals. But shopper beware, it's not a regulated term.

My best advice is to understand and learn about makeup ingredients and their typical reaction on YOUR skin. By shopping online, you can easily look up ingredients in wikipedia or other reliable sources. I bolded reliable for a reason. There are a lot of sites and blogs trying to use scare tactics to gain traffic and interest and MONEY! Yup...they earn money when you click on their sponsored ads.

Example: Silica- there's scare info going around that it's dangerous. This is totally blown out of proportion. OSHA does have a warning for this ingredient as an inhalant risk if you MINE IT as a career and breathe huge dust clouds day in and day out.

But some like to take that warning and scare consumers. We don't expect you to know all this, but we've done our homework/research;)

We do consider our mineral makeup to be as "natural" as possible, and for the most part hypo allergenic. Because most of the ingredients we use are minerals. Yes, some minerals are "mined from the earth," but they are required to be cleansed to remove naturally occurring trace elements that are not good for you. Most cosmetic pigments are lab created to insure safety and compliance with the FDA. 

Cosmetic Ingredients. Need an Interpreter?

Our skin is our largest organ. It is not impermeable. Stuff you apply to it is absorbed by it. What’s on your skin? Do you really know? I’ve been on a mission for years. A quest of sort, to find healthy and functional cosmetic and beauty products. Granted, the FDA requires ingredient disclosure on full sized products either on the product itself, or on the packaging, or included along with mail order cosmetics. Great! So we have a list of words most of us cannot pronounce much less recognize as safe or unsafe, natural or chemical, organic or inorganic, acne causing or non-comedogenic, etc. Big hint here: if it's hard to pronounce, then it's probably a chemical, not that all chemicals are bad, it's just good to know the difference!

Thankfully we live in the age of lightning fast info at our fingertips, here at our internet connected PC. Research has become a bit easier, as far as individual ingredients are concerned. There are numerous sites that rate ingredients based on the above mentioned criteria. One I love to keep on hand is “Become An Acne Detective” By Barbara Strickland, Certified Para-Medical Esthetician. If acne is a concern of yours, I’d recommend bookmarking this one! You can even print the handy chart and bring it along with you when you’re shopping and dissecting the ingredient label.

Paraben preservatives are a huge concern lately. Traces of parabens have been found in cancerous tumors. There is no conclusive test results stating that the parabens are responsible for the cancer, yet there are no test results saying the are NOT responsible either. If this is a concern of yours, I’d recommend searching out paraben free health and beauty products. This is quite a difficult quest, as most preservative systems include parabens. BUT preservatives are not necessary in products that contain NO water (like mineral makeup). Preservatives are also not needed in products made of oils, butters and waxes. Most store brands throw it in anyway, so you’ll need to shop the net to find un-adultered beauty products.

When you are shopping for mineral makeup or bath and body items on the net, look for the ingredients. Are they hidden? If so, ask yourself why? Usually they are hiding the ingredients for a reason. They really don’t want you to see them! Walking through our local –Mart store the other day I picked up a jar of Revlon and Maybelline “mineral” makeup. First ingredient on the Revlon? Talc. Which, although talc is technically a mineral, it’s cheap and clogs your pores. And the Maybelline? First ingredient was Titanium Dioxide. GREAT! But the rest.. sorry couldn’t pronounce them, much less remember them or how to spell them! But I can assure you most of the ingredients were NOT minerals. Oh and did I mention it was microscopic? Who can read this stuff?

We believe in full product disclosure and prominent display of every products individual ingredients for everything we sell. We’ve even included a page on the site describing every ingredient. When you are creating a quality mineral makeup there is nothing to hide! Now you may be thinking natural means dull and boring. If you do, you are in for a surprise!
Yes, you can have fun with color and still be safe, knowing you are putting something good on your skin. Our mineral makeup is made with premium minerals and pigments. There are various grades, even amongst natural ingredients. You will NOT be able to discern this on any ingredient list. In other words, premium sericite mica and regular untreated mica are both required by the FDA to be listed as “mica” on the ingredient declaration list. Untreated sericite mica often times will result in an ashen look or other color change a few hours after application. Treated sericite mica is much more expensive, but is a more stable product. Many of our products are made with Sericite treated with Magnesium Myristate, which offers numerous benefits. I won’t duplicate our “About Ingredients” page here. You can take a look if you like on our site. But let me assure you that we could be buying our ingredients at much lower prices and you would never see a difference on the label! BUT you would likely feel the difference, or suffer the loss of added benefits.

Numerous mineral makeup sites state the following: “natural minerals mined from the earth”. Well kinda… but not really. Almost all minerals have to be treated and “cleaned” in order to be considered safe for cosmetic use. Trace chemicals of various harmful types are almost always found along with mined minerals. So they are “cleaned” before going on your face.

http://www.laminerals.com/
http://www.zerozits.com/Articles/acnedetect.htm