Forget Me Not - hand crafted mineral makeup in the works

I love makeup!! I especially love mineral makeup, it's so light,silky, looks incredibly natural, and is made of nautral ingredients pure from the earth ( well not all mineral makeup is pure & nautral). What's not to love?? I mean, REALLY?? It's Easy peasy to apply, doesn't take any longer than any other makeup. Did I mention that is's also soothing for dry or acne prone skin and great for any skin types. Anyways...

So here I am, ready to venture down a new road. I love mineral makeup, and thought about crafting my own for a while. Well I took the plunge!! I am DOING IT!!!

My goal is to only use these 7 ingredients:
Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide, Micas, Magnesium Stearate(vegetable based), Kaolin Clay, and Rice Powder. All the listed ingredients serve a purpose to make up each formula, that I create. Their not just fluff or fillers to bulk up the product! I want to keep it very simple, but make a outstanding product. I know this is not going to be an easy task, but I am ready for a challenge, I can do it!! I am highly motivated to get this show on the road. Wish me Luck, and I will post update as to my progress!!

The latest trend in makeup is of course Mineral Makeup. The fact is though, that mineral makeup has been around for a long time. It's just making a splash now, and everyone is curious to see what the fuss is all about. I just wanted to share the information that I know, by no means am I an expert or anything! So if you don't know much about mineral makeup or would like to what I have know, keep on reading!

First of all, what is mineral makeup? Mineral makeup is just as the name suggests, made up of minerals, These mineral all come form the earth and as a result are all natural. However, some of the minerals are treated and their properties change, in the end resulting them to become less than natural. Still better than what the large cosmetic companies are using as ingredients but not as natural as I would like it to be, personally.

The process to getting mineral makeup is by grinding minerals such as, micas, iron oxides, and zinc oxide, (to name a few) into a soft powder. You then, find a powder in a matching colour to your skin tone, dust/buff the powder all over your face, eyes cheeks or body. This is usually with a "buffer brush" or a " kabuki" brush for your face, and other brushed for other areas, like eyeshadow and blush brushes for eyes and cheeks. For your cheeks a cotton ball also works great, since you only need a tiny bit of powder because it's so concentrated.

Some advantages to mineral makeup. To me, the biggest is that it doesn't contain any chemicals. It is all made of finely ground pure minerals from the earth, so there is a natural SPF factor included. It ranges from 10 - 19 SPF, depending on how much zinc oxide and titanium dioxide is added into the formulation. Some other benefits are that mineral makeup won't clog your pores, it does not expire, since it's all dry powder. In order for bacteria to survive it needs moisture, which commercial pressed powders, they contain moisture as the product needs some kind of bonding agent to make it into pressed powder. Because mineral makeup is completely dry it's hard for it to support bacteria and it's ideal for long term use. I personally would not recommend keeping it for years or anything, but definitely for up to a year in my opinion is good. Since it doesn't clog your pores, it look absolutely natural, and it won't settle into fine lines and wrinkles. Another thing is that mineral makeup is great in any climate. It won't "melt" in hot and/or humid climates like your regular makeup, since it's all dry powder. Instead it absorbs excess oil/sweat and stays put without looking cakey and doesn't settle into creases. If you have rosacea, acne prone skin or just sensitive skin, the combinations of zinc oxide, titanium dioxide and iron oxides have anti-inflammatory benefits and help to soothe your skin. I personally just love mineral makeup as you can tell from me writing a novel here. I'm sure there are many more benefits that I missed and as I think of them I will ass to this list.

Another thing too is that the what ladies want their makeup to look like has changed. I find that more women are trying to go for the "natural" or "fresh" look, you know, like they are not wearing makeup. With mineral makeup, you can achieve a full or a light coverage just by layering you foundation powder. It's always good to go with maybe 2 light layers rather than one heavy one. The great thing is that even with two layer of foundations powder, you will still look like your not even wearing any. It is also way easier to match your skin tone, if you can't find the perfect mineral foundations match. All you do is buy the two that closest match your skin tone and mix a little of the lighter or darker shade to get the right colour. This is also why mineral makeup looks so natural. There is nothing worse than looking like our wearing a mask because it's hard and sometimes nearly impossible to find the perfect shade of foundation or pressed powder.Another thing too is that the what ladies want their makeup to look like has changed. I find that more women are trying to go for the "natural" or "fresh" look, you know, like they are not wearing makeup. With mineral makeup, you can achieve a full or a light coverage just by layering you foundation powder. It's always good to go with maybe 2 light layers rather than one heavy one. The great thing is that even with two layer of foundations powder, you will still look like your not even wearing any. It is also way easier to match your skin tone, if you can't find the perfect mineral foundation match. All you do is buy the two that closest match your skin tone and mix a little of the lighter or darker shade to get the right colour. You can buy just a sample of the colour that you want to use to mix in, as you won't need a lot, and you will have your perfect shade. This is another reason why mineral makeup looks so natural. I thing that there is nothing worse than looking like our wearing a mask, because it's hard and sometimes nearly impossible to find the perfect shade of foundation/pressed powder.

The above mentioned advantages apply to all mineral makeup out there on the market. However, there is always a slight difference in ingredients between each company. Some companies use bismuth oxichloride adn talc as an ingredient, which creates a dewy/ shimmery look. The thing about bismuth and talc is that on certain people it causes itching and irritation to their face. Which is certainly something that I imagine we all want to avoid!!
I hope this info has been usefull and maybe helped someone out, I'm not an expert like I said, I'm just passinate about mineral makeup. I just wanted to share what I know.