In Ancient Rome and Egypt, a lot of the cosmetics that people used contained poisonous substances, like lead and mercury. Of course, nowadays, we don’t voluntarily smear poisonous substances on our skins just to alter our appearances. …Or do we?

Did you know that some cosmetics contain synthetic –and potentially toxic- ingredients that could irritate the skin? Awareness of this has created a demand for makeup made with more natural ingredients, and mineral makeup, or bare minerals makeup, has filled in to address this issue.

Common mineral makeup brands, like Pur Minerals, have several different makeup types, like mineral foundations and lip gloss, and one of the draws for bare minerals makeup is that they are often touted as performing a dual role; not just to enhance or alter a person’s appearance, but to nourish the skin or relieve skin conditions like adult cystic acne as well.

Makeup is a term used to refer to colored products applied to a person’s skin in order to change their appearance. These changes can be as tiny and insignificant as a touch of mineral foundation to even out your skin tone, or as drastic as an elaborately applied array of cosmetics meant to change your look so thoroughly that you’ll almost look like an entirely different person.

Most people turn to more conventional kinds of makeup to fulfill these functions, but there has been a growing trend of going back to the basics and buying bare minerals makeup. Of course, when I use the term “going back to the basics,” I don’t mean that the nasty toxic stuff, like mercury and lead have made a comeback as cosmetics ingredients. Ancient Romans and Ancient Egyptians may have gotten a few things right, like sewage systems and really cool-looking infrastructure, but identifying the toxicity of their cosmetics was clearly not their forte.

Mineral makeup, on the other hand, uses gentler ingredients; minerals from earth, made without any of the synthetic ingredients, like chemicals and dyes that go into most traditional kinds of makeup. There are a lot of different brands of pure mineral makeup, and they come in a lot of different makeup types; just as there are a lot of different kinds of makeup users.

Some people would swear by pure mineral makeup and wouldn’t change out their mineral foundations for all the freebies in the world, and there are those who would roundly denounce mineral makeup as terrible products; even going so far as to call this kind of makeup a sham. Both parties do have their valid points.

On one hand, mineral makeup has been criticized as nothing more than a clever marketing scheme, since most traditional brands of makeup use pretty much the same ingredients. Some also claim that a lot of mineral makeup brands don’t carry shades or colors that fit some customers’ skin types. Then again, the same can be said about practically all the other makeup brands anyway. Some people also claim that mineral makeup has a tendency to dry out skin and aggravate certain skin conditions, and that it can actually accentuate wrinkles, rather than conceal them; making a person look years older.

There are also those who claim that the colors of most kinds of mineral makeup have a slightly ashy undertone that looks particularly unflattering on certain skin types, such as those with yellow undertones to their skin.

On the other hand, mineral makeup fans say that pure mineral makeup is great for a person’s skin. The purer, synthetics-free formulations of mineral makeup, which don’t contain dyes, fragrances, binders, or preservatives, are said to be great for people who have sensitive skin, allergies, acne, or rosacea.

Many also say that mineral makeup can give a person’s skin a special kind of “glow” that traditional kinds of makeup can’t replicate. On top of that, mineral makeup is said to last a lot longer than other kinds of makeup, and is non-comedogenic –which means that it won’t clog your pores and aggravate acne conditions or cause rosacea flare-ups.

Another point in mineral makeup’s favor is the fact that most pure mineral makeup brands have an SPF rating of at least 15, because most of these kinds of makeup contain a fair amount of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you can march off to the beach without slathering on the sunscreen though; while mineral makeup is certainly better than nothing, using usual cream sun-block is still the best way to protect yourself from the sun’s potentially harmful rays.

An example of a brand of pure mineral makeup that has SPF is Pur Minerals, a popular line of mineral makeup and skin care products that not only use all-natural minerals to make their products, but often add other natural ingredients, like shea butter and aloe vera to help bind the product and nourish the skin.

Mineral foundations, concealers, moisturizers, lip-gloss, and even eyeliner and facial wash are part of this particular brand’s line, and many reviewers claim that Pur Minerals is a pretty good brand of mineral makeup to try out, for first-timers.

Want some free samples of top-notch mineral makeup? Click here!

Tags: Makeup, Natural Beauty by admin
No Comments »

Nothing says beauty-pampering like kicking your heels back with a cold glass of lemonade, a good book, and a nice, skin-enriching face mask. There are a lot of facial mask products available on the market, but if you want to save a little bit of money, creating a homemade facial mask is as easy as finding a facial mask recipe, and setting aside a few minutes to create the mixture.

You could use a lot of different ingredients, and you can find most of them in your kitchen. With an open mind and a few moments of your time, making something like an oatmeal facial mask or even a kitty litter facial mask, can cost you absolutely nothing.

The Infamous Kitty Litter Facial

The thought of smearing your face with the same stuff the cat does its business in might be a little tough to swallow at first, but as it turns out, pure clay varieties of kitty litter are made from bentonite – the same kind of clay used for facial masks in high-priced spas.

Bentonite clay is great for all skin types and is full of nutrients and minerals that both exfoliate, hydrate, and nourish the skin. If you’re going to buy this stuff at beauty stores though, it’s likely to cost a bit of a pretty penny.

When you make your very own kitty litter facial mask though, you’re pretty much guaranteed the same effect, at a tiny fraction of the cost. This homemade facial mask recipe is one of the easiest kinds to make; all you need to do is take a few tablespoons of kitty litter (make sure you buy one that lists pure clay as it’s only ingredient) , mix it with a little water (if you want, you can steep some rose petals or green teabags in the water first, for a little extra nourishing power), and some olive oil (or whatever essential oil you’d prefer to use), apply it to your face, leave it on for ten to fifteen minutes, and then wash it off.

If you’re feeling creative, you can combine this mix with other ingredients as well; aloe vera, for example, gives this particular kind of facial mask the added benefit of soothing the skin from sunburn or windburn.

Of course, I’ll have to assume that the unused stuff would be used rather than the stuff that Puss already went potty in. After all, pee might have cleansing ammonia in it, and poop might have all kinds of nutrients, but let’s be honest, putting that on your face is still really, really gross.

If you want a quick spa experience without having to break the bank or even get out of the house, a kitty litter facial mask may be just the kind of facial mask for you.

For those of you who are still a little squeamish about using cat litter, there are a lot of other kinds of facial mask recipes to try.

Oatmeal Mask Recipe

One of the most common ingredients to use to make a homemade facial mask is oatmeal. Oatmeal is great for any skin type; it exfoliates and cleanses the skin naturally and gently, while the properties in the oatmeal itself restores the skin’s moisture balance and soothes irritations and redness.

One oatmeal facial mask recipe that’s great for any skin type is one that only needs a tablespoon of oatmeal or oatmeal powder, an egg white, and a few drops of lemon oil. All you need to do mix all of these ingredients together, adjusting the proportions to your needs, and then spreading the whole thing on your face.

Keep the mask on until the mixture is completely dry; this usually takes around twenty minutes to an hour. Afterwards, just rinse it all off, and enjoy the softness and smoothness of your skin.

There are a lot of other facial mask recipes you can try, and most of the ingredients can usually be found in the kitchen. In fact, sometimes, if you still have a bit of facial mask mixture left over after having applied it to your face, it could serve as a delicious and healthy snack, like this banana-yogurt-honey mixture.

For this particular facial mask recipe, all you need is half a banana, a couple of tablespoons of yogurt, and one tablespoon of honey. Mash the banana into a paste using a fork (or whatever else you might have on hand) and mix in the honey and the yogurt.

Apply it to your face and leave the mixture on for around fifteen minutes to half an hour. Afterwards, simply wipe it off with a washcloth or rinse it all off with some cool water. This recipe not only rejuvenates, moisturizes, and softens the skin; it’s literally good enough to eat!

There are a lot of facial mask recipes like this, and whether it’s an oatmeal facial mask, a kitty litter facial mask, or even a banana one, rest easy in the fact that they’re really simple to make. Skincare doesn’t always have to make a person break the bank; creating a homemade facial mask can be as simple as looking into the fridge.

Tags: Natural Beauty, Skin by admin
3 Comments »