I was having a very animated mental conversation with myself. One side of me kept asking, why should I bother with organic lipstick? The other was coming up with crazy answers. Though it started out as a serious conversation, somehow it branched out… But I still thinks the results are valuable to the organic community, and therefore I’d like to share them here.
My Ten Reasons for Using Organic Lipstick
1. According to some estimates a woman eats about 4 pounds of lipsticks over her lifetime. I think eating organic lipstick is much safer than consuming parabens, colors, fragrances, lead and other chemical cocktails… don’t you?
2. Supporting organic products supports organic farming, which in turns supports the environment, which we sort of need to exist…
3. Makes a statement and encourages others to emulate you, which in turns supports more organic products, farming, etc… (see 2). Not to mention, makes those others healthier.
4. You won’t have to panic as much if your two-year-old thinks your organic lipstick it’s a candy.
5. It may be easier to remove from the walls if your two-year-old thinks it’s a wall painting crayon.
6. You’ll look young and hip cause all things natural and organic are in.
7. Hunting for that elusive organic lipstick will make you discover tons of weird looking shops you never knew existed (or could exist...).
8. Similar to 4, but in the case where you happen to be the one craving a candy… (Note: I said you won’t panic “as much”… I didn’t say “no panic” ;) )
9. If you happen to smudge it all over your funky organic cotton shirt, the organicness of the shirt will not be compromised (also applies to organic makeup kit, organic purse and other organic items de-jour).
10. While there is an inescapable barrage of celebrities endorsing mainstream lipsticks all over the cable, you get to improve your research skills searching for celebrities who truly walk the walk and smooch organic. And then you get to say to yourself that your pout is every bit as healthy and environmentally responsible as Hilary Duff’s, (who is, apparently, a huge NveyEco fan!)
There are many other reasons, like recyclable packaging, free trade sourcing, no GMOs, no nanotechnology and the like… But I think the list above is enough to get you started ;)
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Mineral Makeup or Organic Lipstick?
Mineral makeup and organic lipstick go hand in hand together. While there are a lot of companies that use plant based ingredients, there are many companies now that chose to focus on the minerals. Thus in order to achieve the colors and other lipstick features, they add the inert minerals.
Technically these products cannot be called organic. Organic makeup or anything organic in general can only refer to plant based products, specifically to those farmed on organic farms. So people thinking that mineral make up and organic makeup are the same are mixing up two different concepts.
However, this is not to say that mineral makeup cannot be natural. Most of the components used in such makeup products are naturally derived minerals abundant in nature. And for the most part they are inert and considered safe. Examples of natural mineral makeup brands are Jane Iredale. They have a mineral based lipstick in the lineup as well.
Another popular online brand of organic skin care and makeup is Miessence. It is a brand sold through representatives and you can find plenty of them online. The point is that their lipstick (or lip cream) contains mineral based pigments.
So should you be looking for organic lipstick or mineral makeup line’s lipstick? My take on it is that you should first make sure that regardless of what the product claims in the promo, check the actual ingredients. There are way too many lipsticks claiming to be natural that contain questionable ingredients. And way to many mineral makeup lines riding the natural publicity wave but having questionable content.
Then, once you are satisfied with ingredients, test for nano particles. Many mineral based makeup products have very tiny particles. However, nano minerals do not act the same as regular sized minerals, and may actually be dangerous to health.
For ingredients, consult cosmeticsdatabase.com
For nanotechnology, unfortunately, you can’t read it off the package. There is no regulation yet for anyone to disclose if they use it or not. As I mentioned a few posts ago, Canada might come up with a legislation for control. But for now you just have to do the research and contact the manufacturer.
If you are really set on mineral makeup, check out Jane Iredale. They state plainly that they are natural and nano free. And that’s a good start. Especially when it comes to something like lipstick. This might not be an organic lipstick, but at least its trying to be natural.
Technically these products cannot be called organic. Organic makeup or anything organic in general can only refer to plant based products, specifically to those farmed on organic farms. So people thinking that mineral make up and organic makeup are the same are mixing up two different concepts.
However, this is not to say that mineral makeup cannot be natural. Most of the components used in such makeup products are naturally derived minerals abundant in nature. And for the most part they are inert and considered safe. Examples of natural mineral makeup brands are Jane Iredale. They have a mineral based lipstick in the lineup as well.
Another popular online brand of organic skin care and makeup is Miessence. It is a brand sold through representatives and you can find plenty of them online. The point is that their lipstick (or lip cream) contains mineral based pigments.
So should you be looking for organic lipstick or mineral makeup line’s lipstick? My take on it is that you should first make sure that regardless of what the product claims in the promo, check the actual ingredients. There are way too many lipsticks claiming to be natural that contain questionable ingredients. And way to many mineral makeup lines riding the natural publicity wave but having questionable content.
Then, once you are satisfied with ingredients, test for nano particles. Many mineral based makeup products have very tiny particles. However, nano minerals do not act the same as regular sized minerals, and may actually be dangerous to health.
For ingredients, consult cosmeticsdatabase.com
For nanotechnology, unfortunately, you can’t read it off the package. There is no regulation yet for anyone to disclose if they use it or not. As I mentioned a few posts ago, Canada might come up with a legislation for control. But for now you just have to do the research and contact the manufacturer.
If you are really set on mineral makeup, check out Jane Iredale. They state plainly that they are natural and nano free. And that’s a good start. Especially when it comes to something like lipstick. This might not be an organic lipstick, but at least its trying to be natural.
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