Kim Basinger once said that she feels there are two people within her: herself and her intuition, and if she goes with the latter, everyone gets along nicely.
I feel similarly. There is the sophisticated, rapid-walking, Manhattan-loving side of me and the simplicity- and nature-loving free spirit who daydreams about living in Portland. Big city Lindsay says I should wear my Jane Iredale Liquid Minerals foundation every day to look "polished." Gentle-hippie Lindsay says, "Your skin is fine. Dab on a little concealer and go fresh-faced!"
Unfortunately for her, concealers by most natural makeup lines come in only two or three shades and none have matched my fair-medium skin tone. So it was with excitement that I discovered Mineral Makeup by Monavé's Potted Cream Concealers—available in 22 hues!
Monavé is a high-quality, yet affordable line made especially for those who most mineral makeup leaves out: African-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans and Middle-Eastern ladies. They offer a spectrum of shades for just about every skin tone, from snow-fair to espresso bean dark.
Pretty factor: I would almost buy this concealer for the number of shades alone, but the ingredients are extraordinary, too. It contains a base of, not water, but soothing aloe vera gel, followed by moisturizing avocado and sunflower seed oils (both non-comedogenic). Chamomile and calendula extracts further calm and repair the skin, and rosewood, lavender and rosemary essential oils lend a lovely, natural scent uncommon to makeup.
Eco factor: No talc, bismuth oxychloride, synthetic filler ingredients or dyes. About 95% of Monave products are vegan and contain many locally sourced ingredients. Paper, glass, and plastics are recycled in its warehouse and the company prints on recycled paper and uses low-watt light bulbs.
To buy: just $8.50 at monave.com
February 17, 2009
Mineral Makeup by Monavé Potted Cream Concealers
January 20, 2009
Natural Treatments for Dark Circles
Happy inauguration day, readers! It's been a goosebumps-giving treat to be able to work from home and watch the historic events in D.C.
But onto today's post: treating under-eye circles! The Obamas aren't the only Americans likely getting less than their recommended eight hours of sleep a night these days. Few of us are. As a result, those stubborn, bluish half moons under our eyes are becoming ubiquitous.
Dark circles are caused by a plethora of factors: allergies, irritation, heredity, thinning skin from collagen loss as we age, and lack of sleep. As a result, they're notoriously difficult to treat. But there are steps you can take to improve them:
1) Get more sleep. Since moving to Chicago and getting better rest than in rat-race NYC, my under-eye circles have noticeably lightened.
2) Invest in a moisturizing, vitamin K-based eye cream. Hydration helps reduce dark circles' appearance, while vitamin K aids blood coagulation—it helps moves the blood pooled in capillaries under the eyes. Here are my must-try products:
Splurge: Naturopathica Vitamin K Brightening Eye Cream. This is the best, most elegant eye product I've tried—and I've tested a lot! It boasts vitamin K and elderberry extract to lighten dark circles plus camellia, grape seed, and sea buckthorn oils to luxuriously moisturize and nourish. Finally, mica and silk powder refract light, making you look more awake. $72 at naturopathica.com.
Save: JASON Vitamin K Crème Plus. This recently reformulated cream (now paraben-free) employs vitamin K, bioflavonoids, horse chestnut, and chamomile to minimize bruises, redness, spider veins and yep, under-eye circles. It can be used on the entire face (it's a favorite of those with rosacea) or as a dark circle-lightening eye cream. $18 for a 2 oz tube at drugstore.com and Whole Foods.
Must-have: Jane Iredale Active Light Concealer. I've gone through three tubes of this wander wand since discovering it two years ago. Read my review here!
January 15, 2009
NEW Jane Iredale Zap&Hide Blemish Concealer
Over the course of this blog, a few readers have asked me to review popular products that I didn't like. I haven't because, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."
However, I recently tried a product so surprisingly disappointing and overpriced—and from one of my favorite brands!—that I had to oblige. After all, I'm here to serve you. It's Jane Iredale's new Zap&Hide Blemish Concealer.
Cons: My first complaint with Zap&Hide is that you get minimal product for a preposterous price, $25. It has two ends: a clear, blemish treatment end and a tinted concealer end—both are barely an inch long. Then, there's performance. The treatment half is very waxy. Jane Iredale claims the product isn't occlusive (aka it won't sit on your skin's surface and clog pores). But I wouldn't be comfortable applying it to breakouts every day. The concealer end was worse. The one I received was hard, dry and un-blendable. I had to rub the stick on my face three times before I noticed any concealing.
Pros: Tea tree and lavender oils kill acne-causing bacteria and lend a soothing scent. I would've liked to have seen actual acne-reducing ingredients like salicylic acid or willow bark.
Eco factor: No talc, parabens, phthalates, bismuth oxychloride, or chemical dyes or fragrance. Last year, Jane Iredale instated a Green Team to help environmentalize the company and it's building a new LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) office building.
To buy: $25 at janeiredaledirect.com
April 23, 2008
Bare Escentuals new RareMinerals Blemish Therapy
Bare Escentuals', in their quest to take over the beauty world, has unveiled an anti-acne product: RareMinerals Blemish Therapy. Let's talk about what it won't do and what it will do.
What it probably won't do: Don't bet money on this powder to zap medium to severe acne—or even minor pimples. For 3 nights after cleansing, I dabbed it around two stress zits near my chin. They didn't decrease in size at all. However, they did become visibly less red.
Blemish Therapy contains willow bark extract—the natural form of salicylic acid—but I doubt its effectiveness in powder form. Also, mineral powders tend to be drying; this one wasn't an exception.
What it will do: I stopped using this powder as a pimple treatment and instead have been employing it as an oil-minimizing veil. And it's awesome. I apply it around 3 p.m. every day, when my T-zone is shinier than a bald man's head. Active ingredients 3% sulfur and kaolin soak up shininess, while tea tree leaf extract and tea tree oil kill bacteria that has accumulated on the face during the day. It's translucent in color, so you can't tell it's on.
Eco factor: No drying talc, petrochemicals, parabens, phthalates, synthetic fragrance or colors, animal ingredients or animal testing.
To buy: $28 at sephora.com
Ingredients
April 3, 2008
Physicians Formula Organic Wear® Tinted Moisturizer and Under-Eye Concealer Review
Thousands of Eco*Pretty readers come to the site via a Google search for Physicians Formula Organic Wear®, which I reviewed here two months ago. Given this, I wanted to devote a little more time to the line. My two picks are the tinted moisturizer (for oily skin) and the concealer in soft yellow.
The tinted moisturizer with SPF 15 comes in 4 shades, from very light to medium-dark. It contains several non-comedogenic, hydrating oils—jojoba, olive and safflower—that give a creamy look without clogging pores. However, perhaps to balance the oils and provide antibacterial action, it also contains a heavy amount lavender alcohol. And, as many customers have found, the alcohol makes the product too drying for normal and dry skin types. However, it's a stellar product for oily and exceptionally oil skin and for normal skin during the summer.
I love the concealer in soft yellow. You can almost use it as an eye cream thanks to moisturizing and fatty-acid-packed olive, soybean, avocado, sunflower and safflower seed oils plus shea butter and aloe! It completely
camouflages and illuminates under-eye circles. I wish it had a hygienic click-pen applicator like Jane Iredale's Active Light concealer. But for $6.95, I won't complain.
Eco factor: The Organic Wear® line contains 100% ECOCERT® ingredients with no parabens, harsh chemicals or synthetic fragrance and dyes. They come in biodegradable packaging and weren't tested on animals. Its Web site features a Green Tip of the Week.
December 17, 2007
Bare Escentuals Well Rested Eye Concealer
This time of year, few of us are getting our recommended eight hours of nightly shut-eye. Throw in booze from holiday parties and you have ragged personified. A quick, simple solution? Bare Escentuals Well Rested concealer.
Pretty factor: This talc-free mineral shadow is yellow-hued, which neutralizes blues, e.g. dark circles and capillaries on lids. Give this a quick sweep on your lids and under-eye circles and you instantly appear bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
Eco factor: No chemical dyes or fragrance. The only ingredients are mica (CI 77019), bismuth oxychloride, titanium dioxide, iron oxides, ultramarines and and kaolin.
To buy: $18—but it comes in a big pot and will likely last you an entire year; Sephora stores and sephora.com
October 11, 2007
Jane Iredale Active Light Under-Eye Concealer
In the early 1990's, Jane Iredale, a former Hollywood producer who worked with makeup artists daily, posed the prescient question: In addition to covering and enhancing, could makeup not also heal and rejuvenate? The result of this question was a line of light-diffusing, micro-fine mineral makeup packed with vitamins and antioxidants. Over a decade later, Jane Iredale remains the finest in mineral makeup and a favorite of celebrities—
One of her must-haves is the Active Light Concealer—a natural, better alternative to Yves Saint Laurent's Touche Éclat!
Pretty factor: Think of Inner Light as a tinted moisturizer for the eyes. Avocado and sunflower seed oils hydrate and plump the delicate area. Buckwheat and cucumber extracts reduce puffiness, vitamin K lightens dark circles, and white tea boosts the skin's immunity—while micronized minerals create a "soft focus" that illuminates dark circles. Available in 5 tints.
To buy: $25 at janeiredaledirect.com and skincarerx.com
Ingredients
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