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!
  

EOTD Contest

Get this look
Julisa is using the following shades:
1st Boyfriend on lid
Naughty on outer V
Espresso as eyeliner


SEE TUTORIAL BELOW

Its a new year, so Happy New Year!

We thought we'd start this new year out with a bang. First we launched L.A. Minerals WET. Our newest foundation combining minerals with organics in a creamy/mousse type formula.

Now, we'd like to introduce you to a really FUN FUN FUN contest.
Winner gets a $75 Gift Certificate. All participants submitting qualifying photos will get one full size eye shadow of their choice :)

Eye Of The DAY (EOTD) Look Contest.

Here's how it goes:

• REQUIRED: Submit 2 photos (one eye shut, one eye open) using at least 2 L.A. Minerals eye shadows to customerservice (at)laminerals.com. Use jpg format please. This will earn you 1 entry.

FOR ADDITIONAL ENTRIES, DO THE FOLLOWING:

• Post your EOTD look on our facebook fan page (you can host your photos free using photobucket) =1 entry
  
• Tweet about this contest with @laminerals and a link to this blog =1 entry
• Comment about this contest here on our blog =1 entry
• Comment under "Discussions" tab on L.A. Minerals Facebook Fan Page =1 entry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Small Print (aka rules)

1. Must submit 2 photos using 2 L.A. Minerals eye shadow shades. One with eye open, one with eye shut.
2. Include the name of the 2 ES shades you used in the photos.
3. Must be 18 years or older to participate without signing a waiver. (contact us for a waiver if you are under age)
4. By submitting your photos you agree that L.A. Minerals can use your photos on our website, blog, facebook page or other promotional venue without monetary compensation.
5. Last day of contest is January 31st.
   
6. Drawing will be held February 3rd, using Random.org. Winner will be posted on our Facebook Fan Page, here on this blog, and possibly in a future newsletter. Winner will be notified by e-mail.
   
7. 1st Prize is $75 gift certificate for L.A. Minerals products. All participants will receive one eye shadow of their choice.
   

Custom Formula or Repacked Mica?

There's a baffling mystery in the mineral makeup world. How to tell if an eye shadow is a custom formula, or if it's just repackaged mica? For the customer, it's really hard to tell. A color can look exactly the same from one company to another. However, the ingredients may vary tremendously. For re-packagers, it can mean easy profits with little knowledge. For formulators, this mystery can cause doubt and loss of profit.

We're hoping to clear up this mystery and help you determine what companies may be just re-packaging micas, and what companies are actually formulating cosmetics.

Mica is a mineral. Mica is used in the production of pearlescent pigments. Many metallic looking pigments are composed of a substrate of mica coated with another mineral,to give it shine and or color. By itself, it is not generally suitable for cosmetic purposes, but is intended to be used as a PART of a formula. Pure micas will appear beautiful on the skin, and when applied as an eye shadow. However, most will not have much longevity and will creep into creases or just disappear.

So how can you tell the difference? Here's some clues:

1. Price: if the company is selling jarred "eye shadows" for $2-3 each, chances are it's a re-packaged mica. They don't have much invested in it, hence lower price point.
2. Does the company also sell matte eye shadows? Matte eye shadows have to be formulated from base ingredients, with pigment added to the base. We have yet to see a wholesaler offer bulk, matte eye shadow.
3. Does the company also sell foundation, concealer and other makeup products? The formulating requirements of a skin toned foundation and other skin toned products are also a great indicator. If the company has no formulating skills, chances are they won't be offering foundation.
   
4. How long has the company been in business? Re-packers come and go by droves. Most don't bother to go to the expense or trouble to have their own website or brick and mortar store.
   
5. Ingredients: Look for ingredients like Magnesium Stearate, Magnesium Myristate (increases adhesion), Boron Nitride (increases slip and shine), Silica or Silk Powder. These are ingredients that increase the adhesion and feel of the product. Not necessary for EVERY eye shadow, but look for it in SOME of their eye shadows.
   NOTE: ingredient lists are the LEAST reliable way to determine a re-packer from a formulator, especially if you are just looking at one product. A mica may consist of: mica, titanium dioxide and iron oxide, straight from the supplier. A formulator may add additional iron oxides, but that would not change the ingredient list! At times this is all that's needed to make the mica suitable for a beauty product. So be sure to check for the other signs above ;)
6. Try samples: even if it's re-packed mica, you may love it and want to buy it! But why be stuck with a slew of shadows that look pretty, cost hardly anything, and don't stay on your eyes?

At L.A. Minerals, we offer our customers unique, custom formulated cosmetics. All of our items we offer for sale have been crafted from base ingredients, designed for function and beauty.
We have years of experience formulating and selling our products, around the globe. We care about the reputation of reputable companies in the mineral makeup world. And we care about our customers.

Is Cover Girl friends with Maybelline?

This may be a very unusual topic for many of you. In today's back stabbing, pension robbing, eat or be eaten business world, believe it or not were not all like that!
In the picture to the left is Valerie Reed of Valana Minerals, and me, Lorraine Pierce of L.A. Minerals. Yep, we're both in the same line of work. And nope, we're not enemies. Were the opposite. We're friends who have cheerfully helped each other out for the past 3 years, and continue to do so.
We both started our business' online presence in 2007 and met virtually via a suppliers forum, where we met other women makeup business owners. We are also both Indie Business members, an organization that brings together small business owners, with a slew of services like webinars, insurance, and forums. Within these forums I've met women in various stages of business development and formulation, the conversations and help topics range from "where to get labels" to "how to emulsify this with that", and everything in between. What I really learned was that we all have knowledge, skills and strengths that can help each other. Valerie seems to always have perfect, logical, detailed answers to complicated issues. I tend to pitch in with links and a one line addendum to Valerie's in depth answers!
Besides sharing knowledge, I learned that we could relax and share our ideas and resources, wins and losses, good times and bad, personal and business. We became friends.
Several years ago Valerie helped out another lady in our group, who's products were featured at an Oscar event in Los Angeles. Valerie manned the table, representing a product line that was her competition!
This past month, it was my pleasure to help Valerie out at her Whole Foods in store makeover and spa event. I sat through Val's training class, and proudly donned the Valana Minerals T-shirt the next day, doing makeovers with her products, all whilst supporting a worthy cause, Vitamin Angels. The Vitamin Angels program provides vitamins to children around the world who do not have access to a well balanced diet.
I had a blast doing makeovers. It was great to finally meet Valerie in person. Valerie was gracious and grateful for the help. I am grateful for the experience, as I learned a lot. So perhaps by alleviating some of her nervousness, I have alleviated some of my own if I ever have an in store demo! That's what its all about. Being human. Helping each other. Supporting each other.
After the event, Valerie told the manager and her videographer about me, and how I owned a mineral makeup business. They exclaimed "she's your competition?!" to which Valerie replied "No, she's my friend, and we celebrate each others successes."

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

How Many People have Used your New Makeup?

First a definition of cosmetic:Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and gels.

This is kind of a gross topic, but one I thought worthy of writing about. I was in a large retail store about a month ago, strolling through the cosmetic department. Noticed some gross looking containers of body butter on the shelf. Picked it up. Opened it. Discovered it was half empty with crusty stuff around the lid threading. Abhorred that it was NOT a sample display, but sitting there waiting for someone to pay full price for a USED cosmetic!

I brought this to the attention of the FDA representative during a 3 hour conference call a few weeks ago. Their reasoning for no safety seals is: A)would be too costly for manufacturers, and B)the buyer wouldn't be able to sniff the shampoos and lotions and potions.

I can kind of see his point. I mean, I do open and sniff body wash and lotions. There are some smells that are just plain nasty! And who wants to go back to the store to return things like that?
But...do they really need unsealed bottles of liquid foundation just begging to be tested out on every passerby's arm?

My solution for you all.....buy online!  We sell our mineral makeup online only right now, but we have a seal covering the holes, and an external seal to keep the lid snug during shipment. Our products have never sat on a shelf being tested by whoever comes along. And they are made in small, fresh batches;)

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.

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. 

The 5 minute makeover

We all get busy. With kids, jobs, school, husbands and the constant demands of a house that just won't stay clean, sometimes we just don't feel like we have time to take care of ourselves.

So, I decided to share my 5 minute makeover trick with you. (P.S. That is NOT me in the photo. I only wish it were me!)Here's my process:

1. Apply mineral concealer - 1 minute

2. Apply mineral foundation - 1 minute (really once you get good at it that's all it takes)

3. Apply our Lit Up bronzer to cheeks, sides of forehead and little on the eyelids - 1 minute

4. Apply LA Minerals Veil with our dual length veil brush - 30 seconds

5. Apply eyeliner, mascara, lip balm. - 1.5 minutes

And TADA you are DONE!

You'll end up with a nice all over sunkissed, natural look that will carry you through your busy day.

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