Concealers can be Tricky

Getting the right concealer for your skin tone can be tricky. But getting the right concealer for your skin tone that also works with your foundation? Nearly impossible....until now.

Our "Hide It" mineral makeup concealers are designed to work effortlessly WITH your mineral makeup. It's not a cream, that will slide off once your face gets damp or oily, but it's a creamy mineral powder with great adhesion that melds perfectly with your skin and mineral foundation.

We not only have skin toned mineral concealers for porcelain to tanned skin shades, but also corrective concealers to help cover the most difficult skin issues. Our Green Goddess concealer covers redness from acne, rosacea and port wine stains. Our Cinderella Yella concealer is great for covering dark under eye circles with a purpleish cast, and hyper pigmentation (dark spots). And our Just Peachy concealer also covers dark circles with a blueish cast. It's all based on color wheel theory. Opposite colors negate each other!

No need to worry about warm humid weather, or if our concealer is going to last through your busy day or work out! Check out our video demo of our concealers water repellency.

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.

Crumbs of Knowledge...or my 2 cents worth, depends on the topic!

Occasionally I'll pick up some cosmetics that are getting a lot of buzz, just to try them out. Always good to know what the "competition" is offering. Lately I've tried 3 foundations. I won't mention brands here, but it probably won't be hard for you to figure out.

First product was a mousse type foundation. Felt wonderful on my fingers. Looked cool in the nice thick glass jar. On my face, covered so so. Instantly felt like a mask though. Over the course of the day, felt like a thick mask over oil that was trapped beneath. YUCK...couldn't wait to get it off!

Second product was a liquid colorstay long endurance foundation. No fancy bottle, not cool looking, so I'm thinking OK..maybe just a good product. Went on nice, looked matte and covered good. Absorbed oil well. No mask like feel. I wore this for about 3 days in a row. Then I started breaking out, really bad! Couldn't figure out why? I washed my makeup off in the shower every night, then used extra face wash, toner and lotion after my shower. So why the breakout? Hmmmm
Well on day 4 I decided to use an alcohol soaked cotton pad on my face in the morning (keep in mind after all that cleaning the nights before). I was SHOCKED to see foundation coming off onto the cotton pad. Think I found the reason for the breakout! Yeah it was colorstay all right. Stayed so good that it won't come off.

Third foundation was the most popular selling mineral foundation we all have seen on shopping channels. Applied nice, didn't cover all that great, WOW at the shine, and by noon I was scratching my face off! I try not to stand on my "NO BISMUTH" soapbox very often. Bismuth can be fine in small quantities like blush or eyeshadow. But at the percent in their foundation, not tolerated well by many. Even if they don't itch, bismuth tends to clog pores over long term use. Why? Because it's a heavy metal, and a very large particle size mineral. Hence it has to be buffed buffed buffed into the skin/pores. Irritates the skin, and it doesn't all necessarily come off or out of your pores when you wash your face, hence breakouts.

Needless to say I was very happy to be done with the competition, and back to wearing my Hollywood mineral foundation! Lasts all day, feels like air, and actually comes off when I want it to with no break outs!

Stay beautiful ladies:)

~Lorraine

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. 

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.