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Hard time finding makeup - long
I'm almost ready to give up on makeup.
Someone please tell me if I understand the data gap on the cosmetic safety database correctly. I think a 95% data gap, for example, means that there is a huge amount of information that isn't known or is unavailable. So essentially, products with a 1 rating and a 95% data gap aren't necessarily safe. We just don't have enough information to know how safe/unsafe they really are.
So aside from that, it seems like most of the foundations with a 3 or lower rating on the website are mineral foundations. I've tried Everyday Minerals, Rejuva and something they sell at my local co-op (can't think of the brand right now). They made me look like I had on a really bad Halloween mask. Is there anyone else with this problem who found a mineral makeup that actually worked?
I will admit that I haven't looked at every single foundation on the website mainly because of my frustration with the data gap thing. But, it seems like almost all of the liquid foundations are tested on animals or have ingredients that are endocrine disruptors, which I'd really like to avoid.
I'm tempted to skip everyday makeup and use my current badly rated stuff for special occasions and client meetings (and wash it off as soon as I get home).
What do you do?
Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.
Re: Hard time finding makeup - long
I was just looking around this site for the first time and was immediately drawn to your post. For my birthday this past year, I got rid of all my old make-up and beauty supplies and revamped with new stuff. Expensive indeed, but I just wanted to share some of the things I have found.
First, I'm not sure if you've read Gorgeously Green by Sophie Uliano (or something like that), but its a great resource. Its what inspired my original change.
Anyways, I had never liked mineral make-up. I had tried Bare Minerals at least three times and always hated it. But with this most recent change, I felt I needed to give it one more shot because it seemed to be the most readily available option for me to try (I had to balance all of my new choices making sure they were convenient to me as well so that I didn't use that as an excuse to try something else). Anyways, I tried the Bare Minerals Matte. At first, I still did not like it. It felt weird and cakey and looked too dark (I'm unbelievably fair-skinned). But I kept with it. And the next day, my boyfriend made a comment about how smooth my skin looked (he is not naturally inclined to notice these things). So I told myself I would give it another week. Low and behold, it grew on me. I got a lot of compliments. And believe it or not, my skin is in so much better shape now. It almost never breaks out, meaning I use less make-up, meaning I don't break out as much! Its a great cycle. I have combination skin, with lots of oil on my nose and chin. But the Matte version keeps it all under control.
One thing, though...it cannot be used as under-eye concealer. It just looks awful. For that, I tried an eco-friendly concealer from sephora (maybe Tarte?) but it was too expensive. Now I use a drugstore one, but thats the only drugstore item I use.
As for other items I found, I use Sephora natural as a resource. While some of those things are not perfect, they at least do not include many of the worst offenders like phlalates and such. Most are talc-free, too. I got a great eyeshadow palette for only $12 with six different shadows. I also use:
-Almay pure shadows (no talc, but they aren't the best quality either)
-Lash Hugger Tarte mascara (expensive, but tried Physicians Formula Organic mascara and it made my eyes burn terribly)
-Blush from the Sephora pallete.
-Burts Bees tinted lip balm
-L'Oreal mineral eye liner pencil (I couldn't use the loose black power stuff)
The mineral foundation took forever to learn how to do well, but now its super quick and easy. I hope you can find products you like! My skin is a lot better now and I feel a lot better about what I am using
GOOD LUCK!
I've gone through a ton of makeup trying to find products that work well for me. As far as the cosmetics database goes, I also tend to not refer to it much anymore as I found the data gaps to be rather large, and I was driving myself crazy trying to find products with a score of 1-2 that I could purchase locally and that worked well for my skin. I would say most of my products now are probably between 2-5, which is a vast improvement from what I used to use.
As far as products go, I use products from Tarte (tinted moisutrizer), Korres (primer), Physicians Formula Organic Wear (bronzer & mascara), Bare Escentuals (gel eyeliner and eye shadow) and Origins (concealer, which is probably the least green of all my products).
Maybe I should just give the Everyday Minerals I have at home another try. I wonder if I've been applying it wrong. I'll check out the Physicians Formula Organic Wear tinted moisturizer and some of the other brands, too.
I don't wear eye makeup or concealer so it's mainly the foundation and blush that I need to figure out.
Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.
I really never did wear make-up so it's pretty easy for me to go without it. The only time I wear it is if I'm going out at night or dressing up for a date. Otherwise, I skip it. And my skin LOVES me for it!
But for when I do wear make-up I now wear Orglamix exclusively. You can find them on Etsy and they will tell you the full ingredients list and are pretty open about it. I don't find that I look like I'm wearing clown make-up when I wear their stuff but it IS very vibrant so I find I have to "tone down" some of their products (like the eye shadow).
Good news! I found the most awesome store in the whole world today. It's like the locally owned Sephora of safe beauty products! ETA: And everything in the store is cruelty free! If you're in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, I highly recommend checking it out. http://www.natureofbeauty.com/
The owner was super helpful and I ended up getting Zuzu foundation and under eye concealer and a few samples of moisturizer. I actually like this foundation better than the Bobbi Brown and Stila that I've used for years.
It was a total fluke that I found this place, too. I was driving down a road I take almost every day. There was a ton of road construction so I was stopped and happened to look over at this building I've never paid attention to before. There was an interesting looking shoe store so I pulled over to check it out. Two doors down was the makeup place. And if that isn't strange enough, next week they're moving to a new location that's 3 miles from my house and they're going to have spa services! It's fate.
Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.