Makeup Shake Up: Mineral base all the rage

It's pure. It's natural. It's good for your skin.These claims and more have catapulted mineral makeup from a late-night infomercial buzzword to a full-fledged cosmetic phenom."What's happened in the last few years is astonishing," said Fran Fernandez, owner of Artistic Hair & Make-up in South Tampa. "Virtually every cosmetics company has a mineral makeup line."Want proof? Peruse the makeup aisle of your local drugstore or cosmetics counter. Revlon, Neutrogena, L'Oreal, Cover Girl and Physician's Formula have mineral lines. So do New York Color and wet n wild. Maybelline New York jumped on the mineral bandwagon in January. M.A.C. will make its mineral debut this year. And mineral makeup is now Avon's calling, as well.Mineral-based cosmetic launches in the United States increased from 132 in 2005 to 451 in 2007, according to Datamonitor's Productscan Online.So, what's the difference between mineral makeup and the other kinds? Mineral foundation, powder, eye shadow and blush are touted as being better for your skin than traditional makeup because they're made from crushed rocks. The products are chemical and fragrance-free, so they're supposed to be less irritating to the skin. And titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, the base ingredients in many lines, work as a natural sunblock.The application of mineral makeup is also different. A wide fluffy brush, called a kabuki brush, is used to buff the finely ground powders onto the skin. Done right, a little goes a long way, and users swear it feels as though they're not wearing makeup at all.Consumers are definitely buying into the all-natural vogue: They purchased $149 million worth of mineral-based cosmetics last year from mass-market retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target alone. That's more than double the $69 million sold by such retailers in 2006, according to trend-tracker Information Resources.Mineral makeup is no more expensive than traditional makeup. You can pay as little as $10 for a drugstore label such as Maybelline's Mineral Power foundation or as much as $50 for specialty brand Colorscience's Pressed Mineral Pigment.Mineral makeup actually has been around for decades. The term was coined by entrepreneur Diane Ranger, who pioneered the formula for Bare Escentuals and launched the line in the 1970s. She sold the company in 1990 and founded the Colorscience mineral makeup brand, which is sold at high-end resorts and spas, makeup studios and doctors' offices."Mineral makeup is an overnight sensation 30 years in the making," said Ranger, who lives in California. "More women are seeing treatments and precautions as self-preservation rather than self-indulgence. They realize they have healthy options that offer them beauty."Bare Escentuals has long been the trailblazer in the mineral makeup market. If you've ever tuned into the brand's late-night infomercial, most likely you've seen spokesperson and CEO Leslie Blodgett boasting that the line's popular powder is so pure you can sleep in it. The company recently introduced mineral acne fighters and facial cleansers."I knew we had something different. The biggest thing is how long it took people to understand you didn't need to wear heavy, waxy makeup on your face," said Staci Reilly, Bare Escentuals senior vice president of development and awareness "The consumers can feel the difference in the texture and purity. The proven clinical studies and customer testimonials speak for themselves."Lori Misner of Brandon, Fla., decided to give mineral makeup a try about five years ago with the hope of calming her acne. Liquid makeup caused frequent breakouts, she said."It always felt heavy on my face, no matter what brand I used," said Misner, 36, who works in sales. "Because of my acne, it always looked cakey and blotchy."She says using mineral makeup helped control the oiliness, left her skin smoother, and resulted in fewer breakouts. And once she got the hang of applying it, she says, it was actually easier to use than liquid makeup."You can put as little or as much on as you like. It never looks overdone. It never looks like you have a lot of makeup on," said Misner, who is loyal to Bare Escentuals. "I wish I had found this sooner, because my skin has really improved since I started using it."Debbie Perez of South Tampa finally tried mineral makeup last year, after hearing all the hype."I was tired of my foundation melting in the summer, getting oily and making me feel like I had on a mask," said Perez, 36, a nurse.With a few swirls of powder from the brush, the self-professed "beauty junkie" underwent a mineral metamorphosis.The makeup contains natural pigments , so its colors tend to be a bit deeper and longer lasting. Perez said the line she chose, Mineral Mine, conceals redness and spider veins, makes her skin smoother and gives her FDA-approved sun protection that doesn't disappear when she perspires."I feel like my skin actually breathes," she said. "But I still get the coverage I'm looking for."Still, not everyone is buying into mineral mania. Paula Begoun, the author of Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me (Beginning Press, $29.95), said manufacturers' claims that the makeup is made primarily from crushed rock is misleading.For more than two decades, Begoun has researched and written about virtually every cosmetic product on the market, and she published the findings in two best-selling books. She says in her reviews that while the products claim not to contain fragrance, oil, binders, preservatives or other problematic ingredients, "that turns out not to be the case; bismuth oxychloride is a major ingredient in all the powder formulations, and it can cause skin irritation, while the other minerals can be drying."Bismuth oxychloride, a byproduct of lead refinement, isn't a pure mineral. It's used to lend an opalescent luster."No one is getting it out of nature," Begoun writes. "The notion that there's something special or rare about mineral makeup is misleading. Only the cosmetics industry can take something ordinary and make it sound like a miracle."Fernandez agrees with Begoun. "It's marketing, plain and simple," she said. "Women like to hear it's all-natural, easy to apply and it's going to improve their skin." Fernandez said she has experienced the irritation caused by bismuth oxychloride.But Reilly defends Bare Escentuals' use of the ingredient, which she says gives the product its creaminess and sheen. "There's a small percentage in there," Reilly said. "We'd have to be using pounds of it for it to be a problem. We don't have enough proof that it's an irritant to take it out."Robert Norman, a Tampa dermatologist, said that the mineral makeups some of his patients use are "pretty safe, and people seem to like them."The makeup doesn't aggravate acne or cause flare-ups, Norman said. "But there are certain people who are going to be sensitive to it. I wouldn't sleep in it. That's not a good idea."Christy Nolan, an aesthetician in Norman's office, recommends Jane Iredale's mineral cosmetics to patients after laser and surgical procedures. The line is sold exclusively at spas and doctors' offices.Nolan is a big fan of the makeup and wears it daily. "It goes on very well; it blends and covers without damaging the skin," said Nolan, 32. "It doesn't clog the pores like other makeups can."