Mineral mania: Earthy makeup trend here to stay

November 8, 10:53 AMLA Health and Beauty ExaminerSarah Torribio

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Shelly Frances is a mineral makeup vendor on Etsy.

Mineral makeup is a trend that has been building over the last several years, and is currently exploding as a cottage industry. For those of you who have not yet dipped a toe into the world of au naturale makeup, let me explain what it is.

Mineral makeup is made of “natural, finely ground minerals from the earth, without any of the chemicals, dyes and preservatives found in traditional makeup,” according to an article on WebMD.

Its most common form is a loose powder than can be applied to the skin with a wide, soft brush.

Proponents of these earthy mixtures of pigment say that they are blessedly free of some pretty unhealthy chemicals. Due to the hypoallergenic nature of mineral makeup—mineral makeup is inorganic and doesn’t support the growth of bacteria, note the folks at the Mineral Makeup Hints website—it is gentler on skin that has a tendency towards acne or rosacea, or is just all-around sensitive.

In fact, one of the forerunners of the current boom in mineral cosmetics, Bare Escentuals, touts itself as makeup “so pure you can sleep in it.”

Mineral makeup also has built-in sun protection, usually around 15, due to the sun-blocking influence of ingredients like zincoxide and titanium dioxide.

Because many people don’t apply enough to create the recommended SPF, however, many dermatologists recommend that you still use sunscreen, or seek out mineral products specifically designed to ensure sun protection. There is a quick-and-dirty article on eHow on “How to Enhance Mineral Makeup’s SPF” if you want to learn more.

Mineral makeup is also known for making your face feel good. According to advocates like the creators of the Free Beauty Tips site, mineral makeup is much less likely to clog your pores, and is so lightweight as to be invisible—if you don’t fall into a common newbie pitfall: applying too much.

Most of all, however, mineral makeup aficionados say they like how mineral makeup makes them look.

Mineral makeup is said to diffuse light, providing what the Mineral Makeup Hints site calls “a photogenic, soft-focus look.” What’s more, those who like to get artistic with their cosmetics, or have an exacting personality, enjoy the fact that they can mix pigments together to make any hue they wish.

Many brands of mineral makeup are pricey, but a little goes a long way. What’s more, with the explosion of small companies selling hand-concocted mineral potions—often available in small, sample sizes—it’s becoming more and more affordable.

ETSY DOES IT
Earlier this year, I happened on a site called Etsy, which bills itself as “the world’s most vibrant handmade marketplace,” and which hosts an inspiring and mouth-watering array of handmade and vintage goods. There are tons of entrepreneurs on this site offering a rainbow hand-ground, hand-mixed mineral cosmetics.

Earthy does not necessarily mean earth-toned, because the selection of eye shadows alone is dazzling. One such vendor is the Shelly Frances Mineral Beauty Shop, which offers—among other goodies—mineral veils for every skin tone, pots of crayon-bright eyeliner and pigment-rich lipsticks in colors like Vampire Bite, Butt Naked and Cherry Juice.

Currently, Shelly Frances offers two matte eye shadows and 65 shimmer/metal eye shadows in drop-dead gorgeous colors like Shakira (“a vibrant, shimmery unique green yellow with golden highlights!”), Grape, Kumquat, Blood and the eponymous Shelly (“a blue-green-gold with shifting effects”). This vendor warns that she has created 300 hues in her “lab” and plans to add many more colors.

If you love makeup, check out this site. You will feel like a kid in a candy store. To give you an idea of the general price range, a 5 g plastic jar, containing 1 gram of eye shadow, runs $5. Shelly assures us that “it will last for many applications—about 50.”

There are also sets that provide a discount, such as the Strawberry Banana two-pigment set, or an 8-color Rainbow Eyeshadows Mineral Makeup set, which comes with a lip crème base so you can wear the hues on your lips, a foiling serum and three brushes. ($29.00)

Not ready to commit yet? Shelly Frances (and many of the mineral makeup vendors on Etsy) offers samples: 10 eye shadows for $5.50 or 30 samples of gel eyeliner (me likey the glitter kind!) for $15.99.

For all of my enthusiasm for what Shelly Frances has, it is what her makeup—and that offered by others like her—does not have that is the real draw of mineral makeup. Her products are vegan, non-animal-tested, oil-free and short on ingredients. Her eye shadows, for instance, are comprised mainly of mica and oxides. They may also, she notes, contain the following: magnesium myristate, titanium dioxide, kaolin clay and tin dioxide.

The words may sound long and mysterious but you understand how mineral makeup is a less-is-more proposition after you take a gander at the average drugstore brand.

Let’s talk eye shadow, again, for a start. I looked up the ingredients to Covergirl’s Eye Enhancer Quads on OverstockDrugStore.com. The list is pretty impressive: Talc, Mica, Mineral Oil, Boron Nitride, Zinc Stearate, Dimethicone, Calcium Silicate, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Quaternium-15, BHT.

There’s more. Sparkle shades, the site notes, may contain the following hard-to-pronounce stuff: Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite.

But wait, there’s more. The site has an additional “may contain” list: Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Bismuth Oxychloride, Manganese Violet, Ultramarines, Chromium Oxide Greens, Carmine, Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide, Chromium Hydroxide Green, Ferric Ferrocyanide.

What does all this mean? It’s a subject for another blog, one which I’ve already begun, and for which I should get an honorary degree in chemistry when I finish.

The upshot is that, though each of these ingredients is approved by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), there are many who assert that they need a closer look. Some studies, for instance, have linked ingredients like talc, parabens and BHT to cancer and other ailments.

I’d say there is plenty of incentive to try mineral makeup. Are you ready for the candy store?