Side-by-Side Mineral Makeup Comparisons
How Do the Popular Brands of Mineral Makeup Stack Up Against Each Other?
If an ingredient is in bold, it's not a natural earth mineral, and usually a skin-irritant or something else you don't want on your face. Some of these ingredients need a chemist to understand! Note that many of these products contain several different types of parabens. Parabens are preservatives, and appear to have a link to breast cancer as well as excessive aging of the skin. Some of these non-earth minerals aren't as bad as they sound; just fancy names for Vitamins E, K, C, & B (tocopheryl acetate, retinyl palmitate, ascorbyl palmitate, panthenol). Wax... well, do I need to say more?
Here's how they stack up:
PURELY COSMETICS:
Net weight: 6gm Cost: $22.00 Cost/Gram: $3.67
Ingredients: Mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxides, zinc oxide. May contain ultramarine.
BARE ESCENTUALS:
Net weight: 2gm Cost: $25.00 Cost/Gram: $12.50
Ingredients: Titanium dioxide, bismuth oxychloride, mica, iron oxide, zinc oxide. Products have expiration dates.
JANE IREDALE:
Net weight: 10.5gm Cost: $42.00 Cost/Gram: $40.00
Ingredients: Titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, mica, bismuth oxychloride, zinc stearate, dimethicone, boron nitride,stearic acid, pomegranate extract, may contain iron oxide, carmine, ultramarine.
GLO MINERALS:
Net weight: 10gm Cost: $37.00 Cost/Gram: $3.70
Ingredients:Phytonadione, green tea extract, tocopherol acetate, retinyl palmitate,ascorbyl palmitate, ethylparaben, propylparaben, methylparaben, mica, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, bismuth oxychloride. May contain iron oxides.
SHEER COVER:
Net weight: 1.5gm & 4gm Cost: $13.00-$20.00** Cost/Gram: $8.67-$5.00
Ingredients: Zinc oxide, boron nitride, bisabolol, aspalathus linearis leaf extract, bismuth oxycholoride. May contain titanium dioxide, mica iron oxides.
** Only sold in kits; priced based upon going Ebay bids. Products have expiration dates.
LAURA MERCIER:
Net weight: 9.6gm Cost: $35.00 Cost/Gram: $3.65
Ingredients: Zinc oxide, pearl powder, mica, bismuth oxychloride, titanium dioxide, iron oxides.
YOUNGBLOOD:
Net weight: 10gm Cost: $34.95 Cost/Gram: $3.50Ingredients: Titanium dioxide, bismuth oxychloride, mica, iron oxides.
L'OREAL BARE NATURALE:
Net weight: 10gm Cost: $14.99 Cost/Gram: $1.50
Ingredients: Titanium dioxide, talc, boron nitrate, dimethicone, carnaba wax, cetyl dimethicone, trimethyloxysilicate, trisocetyl citrate, alde baradensis leaf juice, tocopheryroyl, panthenol.
BELEEVE:
Net weight: 10gm Cost: $25.00 Cost/Gram: $2.50
Ingredients: Titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, iron oxide, bismuth oxychloride,boron nitride, cyclomethicone, green tea extract, mica superoxide dismutase, catalase, apple extract, horseradish, phospholipids, retinyl palmitate,tocopheryl acetate, lavender, sandalwood, geranium, ylang ylang, patchouli, rosemary, sage.
NEUTROGENA MINERAL SHEERS:
Net weight: 5gm Cost: $13.00 Cost/Gram: $2.60
Ingredients: Mica, bismuth oxychloride, iron oxides, titanium dioxide, polymethylate, retinyl palmitate, tocopheryl acetate, ascorbic acid, pantothenic acid, soybean flour, silk powder, zinc stearate, sodium dehydrocetate, methylparaben, propylparaben.
Published by Robyn
A longtime business woman, I've worked many years in the health & beauty industry - ranging anywhere from prescription medications to cosmetics. I currently own www.PurelyCosmetics.com - a mineral makeup com... View profile
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10 Comments
Post a CommentEllen,
You're correct on the price per gram; this was taken from their popular kits, which do not include the full sized foundations. Unfortunately, the article cannot be edited without being removed.
Please use the Cosmetic Safety Database with a grain of salt. When they redid their database, many harmless ingredients suddenly were listed with 4's and 5's. These figures were based frequently on "inhalation risks", which applies to manufacturing environments where workers are surrounded by flying powder all day long, not the everyday user who is briefly applying a small amount of makeup. Pay close attention to the data gaps on their ratings - most have gaps of 80% or greater, meaning that they are basing their ratings on very little information.
...(continuation of previous comment that got cut off)...
I recommend www.cosmeticsdatabase.com, run by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, to learn about dangerous ingredients in makeup, skincare products, hair care products, etc. You can look up the products you are already using or do searches for safe brands and products.
The grams and cost/gram for Bare Escentuals is incorrect. The foundation has 0.3 ounces which equals 8.5 grams, making the cost/gram $2.94.
That's about the same as Purely Cosmetics, which is actually $18 for 6 grams, making it cost $3.00 per gram.
I've been using Bare Escentuals for a few years, but I'm going to try Purely Cosmetics as soon as I'm running low just to compare it. I have acne and switching to Bare Escentuals a few years ago (after using all different liquid foundation for years) made a huge difference. My acne was moderate-to-severe before and within a month of switching it became mild.
I suspect it wasn't because Bare Escentuals is *good* for my skin so much as because mainstream liquid foundations were bad for it. They have some pretty terrible ingredients, and definitely blocked my pores. I won't be trying any of the mineral makeup imitators that have bad ingredients.
I recommend www.cosmeticsdatabase.com, run by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, t
I have tried both Bare Minerals and Sheer Cover. The Bare minerals made my face burn and itch, like an allergic reaction. I was hesitant to try Sheer Cover for this reason, but went ahead and bought it. It has been great so far with no reactions.
I have uber sensitive skin and finally found a mineral makeup that actually makes my skin look great. Bismuth Oxychloride is so irritating to me that when I tried Bare Escentuals, I felt like I had an allergic reaction. Larenim is the first I tried that gives you beautiful coverage and is gentle.
I don't want to reap any bad benefits from mineral make up - but it sure has cleared up my face. I do think if it's bad it's bad though. I'm also a diet coke addict :( not good at all. Thanks so much for sharing. Kelly Woodcox
I think it's more appropriate to say it's not harmful to your skin rather than "good" for you skin. I'm not a physician, so I cannot make any claims about health benefits. I can tell you that the zinc oxide has been found to be soothing and beneficial for those who suffer from roseacea and acne. If the ingredients in the mineral makeup are completely natural, and use no silicone derivitaves (usually an ingredient ending in ___cone (silicone, dimethicone, etc), and has no bismuth among other things, it will be non-comedogenic. Keep in mind, what's good for one's skin may not be for another. For example, those with oily skin would look for ingredients with kaolin clay or bentonite clay, as these are very oil absorbing ingredients. Conversly, someone with dry skin would definately NOT want those ingredients!
is mineral makeup good for ur skin AND the enviroment or is it just a joke? find out on www.yahoo.com/schmidtashley and email me.
I have been wonder ing about mineral make-up for some time. My challenge was with all of the informericals, I did not know which were my best options. This article was helpful in deciding which was the best brand to try.
Pricing corrections:
www.PurelyCosmetics.com has reduced the cost of their mineral foundations from $22 to $18. That brings the cost per gram down to $3.00. There is a typo for Jane Iredale, which should read "$4.00 per gram", not $40.