Six years ago I knew this would happen. Yes, I have good intuition, but in this case it was logic that told me the vast majority of cosmetic companies would come on board with their version of mineral makeup, some of them muddying up the original pure gene pool with inferior, chemically-filled formulas. I knew that poor ingredients would be hidden behind crafty wording, and that a zany range of mineral products from the excellent to the ridiculous would spring forth.

It seems obvious that some companies jumped on the bandwagon a little too quickly, taking a bypass on the road to good sensible formulation. It’s sad that women are buying the inferior versions, expecting to get the glowing results they see advertised by established leaders in the field who uphold the minimal-ingredient essence of mineral foundation that gives you serious sun protection and allows your skin to breathe and heal.

Using mineral makeup has become commonplace—a phenomenon arriving faster than logic predicted—so much so that many women have already amassed their share of rejects. I know because my clients tell me about their mineral makeup mishaps, the purchases they have added to their Bad Makeup Stockpile—the one we all have in a plastic shoe box or a bathroom drawer, waiting for the day when it might magically become Good because we spent too much to throw it away.

Many of my clients have tried mineral cosmetics from infomercials, department stores, drug stores and natural food stores. Their common complaints are: too dry, wrong color, skin irritation, or clogged pores. Usually they are referring to powdered mineral foundation, aka loose mineral foundation, which, in the best formulations, contains no real powder at all. It LOOKS like powder but is actually finely-crushed minerals and it goes on the skin with a silky, creamy look and feel. The typical ingredients in quality loose mineral brands are: zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, mica, iron oxides, boron nitride and bismuth oxychloride. (We’ll examine the merits and demerits of each one of these ingredients in future blog posts.)

In some lesser-quality or, shall we say, less skin-friendly brands, talc (think talcum powder) might be in the loose mineral foundation, potentially causing a number of problems. It seems that talc is used as an inexpensive filler. (Go ahead, check your mineral foundation ingredient label now.)

The first caveat is, talc is a possible carcinogen, so if you haven’t gotten rid of the baby or adult talcum powders in your household, replace them now with safer cornstarch powder. However, there is another reason not to use talc—it clogs pores—so why apply this comedogenic ingredient to our faces?

More wild, wild mineral info to come! Be sure to read About to see where we’re going with this blog.  See you at the next post–we would be honored to be one of your bookmarks.