Letting Your Face Breathe Mineral Makeup

Letting Your Face & Earth Breathe with Mineral Makeup
by Kelly Wu

Years after it first became available, mineral makeup is now a commonplace item in the cosmetics market. And yes, I am a user! Advocates for mineral makeup rave about its “light, natural, long-lasting glow” and how it eliminates the use of synthetic dyes, fragrances, and preservatives. Many brands also claim that they are non-comedongenic i.e. they do not clog pores. And, in sunny places like Singapore, the sun protection effect of two minerals typically found – titanium dioxide and zinc oxide certainly helps. Here’s something about three brands of mineral makeup easily available in Singapore amongst others:

1) Loreal Bare Naturale series

The promotional website claims that it allows you to discover the freedom of skin breathing freely, is 100% preservative and fragrance free and recommended by the Skin Cancer Foundation as a superior UV sunscreen. Application wise, the containers and attached brushes are also easy to use. Hey Loreal, how about designing a refill pack though? We don’t need a new brush for every new bottle of foundation. They can be washed!

2) The Body Shop Nature’s Minerals

I use the powder foundation myself and find the coverage good and it also does not make my skin oily. The kabuki brush which Body Shop sells separately for application has a very soft touch. My main gripe is that the container can be better designed to prevent loose powder from flying all over the place. Had a couple of near misses with foundation powder nearly smudging my outfits. Makeup klutzes like me need to pay extra attention there!

3) bareMinerals

This brand is available in Sephora Singapore and has bagged several awards in the US. It is supposed to have started the mineral makeup revolution and is suitable even for sensitive skin. The tagline says that this is “makeup so pure you can sleep in it”. But really, I think it’s better to sleep sans makeup anyway.

For me, mineral makeup is a better substitute for traditional makeup because the fewer the synthetics and petrochemicals used, the better for the environment and my skin! Be forewarned though. Not all mineral makeup is created equal. Other than the minerals as the main ingredient, there can be other synthetic “non-natural” additives inside the product such as colouring and preservatives. So it’s always advisable to check the labels! Compounds like bismuth oxychloride, even though they may be minerals, may also cause skin irritation to some. I set my minimum standard for mineral makeup at no chemical fillers, preservatives or fragrances etc. Why not set your own makeup’s green standards too?

Links:

http://www.lorealparisusa.com/_us/_en/default.aspx#page=top{nav|media:_blank|overlay:_blank|diagnostic|main:brandpage:barenaturale|userdata//d+d//}

http://www.thebodyshop-usa.com/bodyshop/browse/category_page.jsp?categoryId=cat648005

http://www.bareminerals.com/