discontinued cosmetics

Foundation makeup is justly named as it is the base by which we apply the rest of our makeup.  If our foundation and concealers aren’t matched well, it could make the rest of our makeup look wrongf.  Anyone with a skin tone darker than dark Caucasian knows how hard it is to find a foundation that doesn’t make you look ‘ashy’. Even people who wear the standard light, medium and dark shades sometimes deal with the dreaded ‘orange mask’. We’ve become so accustomed as consumers to accept what is handed to us, that we forget that we don’t have to accept what we don’t want.

Many of us wonder why makeup makes some us look ashy and others look like they’re wearing an orange mask.  The truth is that few companies develop and manufacture their own products and many companies rely on contract manufacturers to develop and produce their products, this being the case, almost all foundations are developed using the following colors, iron oxide(s), red, yellow, black and titanium dioxide (white).

The problem arises because even though the used colors sort of look like the color of skin, they aren’t.  True skin tones are a combination of opacity/reflectance (white) and red, yellow and blue: Black, if used at all is strictly used to control tone. Since almost all of the foundations on the market use iron oxides and no blue, to get a darker color the black is increased and that is where the ashy-ness comes from.  Since black is not  a color in skin color, it will make skin appear ashy when used. Likewise with lighter colors, since blue is not used in most foundations, if you are not lucky enough to fit into the exact color that you are wearing, you will tend to get a yellow or orange cast to your foundation.

The reason companies use iron oxides and white is because blue is a difficult color to work with in foundations.  The use of this pigment costs more and requires skill on the part of the formulators and manufacturers.  The use of purple or green in foundations also requires skill in formulating/manufacturing and drives up the cost so companies generally use the pigments they are used to using and hope that the consumers will just accept a product that doesn’t really work for them.

Another trick companies use, is to create very sheer makeup formulas and claim that the colors will match up to 90 or 95% of their users. This method shows itself every few years and people will flock to try the new product, only to sadly discover that the color matches their skin color “sort of”, because the makeup is so transparent, most of their skin color shows through as does the color variations they are trying to equalize with the foundation in the first place. The cycle of trying to find the right product can be maddening. But solutions are beginning to become available.

By Jove Cosmetics of Hollywood, California has introduced their TRU2U foundation and especially their Ultra Matrix 3000 custom makeup kits.  These foundation and concealer products use blue, white and iron oxides to create their skin tones and as a result they have the most accurate colors for all colors available. With their custom blending kits any skin tone can be quickly and easily matched. For people looking for true color matches companies like By Jove will ultimately provide for them what so many mass market companies have been unable to.

 When you search for a foundation, never feel rushed in your decision. Try the shade on your hand using a tester at the store and if you can’t find a sample there, request one from the brands website, usually samples are available from manufacturers for a minimal cost (usually shipping & handling).  When you look at the color try to do so in natural light. Store fluorescent lights tend to cast blue tones and will make a makeup look better on your skin than it really does; that’s why so often a color looks great in the store and looks off when you wear it later.

When you find a color that works for you and that product is discontinued try to save a portion of the discontinued makeup you have and research companies that do custom blending.  With a specific shade name or better yet a portion of your foundation, any capable color chemist will be able to match your shade perfectly, a search on the Internet for blend your own discontinued makeup or  custom blend cosmetics yield results for a number of companies. Typical custom blending usually costs between $45.00 to $75.00 per ounce of makeup and the By Jove Cosmetics foundation kits start at $29.95 for enough materials to produce up to 2 ounces of finished makeup.

Technorati Tags: Ashy, custom blend cosmetics, Custom blended makeup, custom makeup, custom makeup kits, Discontinued cosmetics, discontinued makeup, Foundation, Orange, Sheer makeup

The term mineral makeup’ makes us think of words like “pure”, “Natural” and “Chemical Free”. Just entering the search term Mineral Makeup on the Internet brings back pages of hits of companies selling their version of mineral makeup. If you take the time to read through the various claims you’ll see how one company claims their superiority over the others by using various action verbs and catch phrases, “ Pure minerals” is perhaps the most overused.  The truth is that regardless of what companies claim, they are not using pure minerals to color their powders, they are using synthetic iron oxide pigments, synthetic ultramarine pigments, titanium dioxide and other synthetic pigments; just like every other cosmetic company has for decades.

In the United States, the pigments that are allowed for use in cosmetics are regulated by the FDA. Regulated you say?  Yes I know that there are many natural cosmetic websites and political lobby groups that claim how the cosmetic industry is unregulated, this is an untruth, but that lie will be discussed in other blogs.  The FDA offers a great deal of information and guidance to educate consumers and cosmetic companies in the regulations and laws that manufacturers must follow. Following the link “FDA Color Additives” will provide you with information about cosmetic colors and regulations.

Regarding natural mineral pigments the list of acceptable pigments can be found directly in 21CFR part 73 subpart C   and    21CFR part 74 subpart C (D&C and FD&C colors). If you research further you will find that the pigments that are used in mineral foundations are made synthetically. Other than being a marketing untruth through, there is no danger in using these colors. Reading through the different websites would make you think that using synthetic colors is evil, bad and every other mean nasty thing you can imagine; all it really is are companies marketing on fear in order to sell their products. 

To substantiate how one mineral makeup company is better than another, customers write in their testimonials how this makeup line makes me break out or how that foundation makes me break out and each company offers up how and why their product won’t cause this and why other products make this happen.  The various answers will make consumers and anyone with knowledge of ingredients bang their head in frustration.  Notwithstanding other lesser, possible causes, from my experience of ingredients and formulas, one of the biggest reasons for breakouts from mineral makeup and powders in general are micro abrasions.  Many of these products don’t use talc (for no reason other than they make unsubstantiated claims of how bad talc is) and in it’s place use mica. Mica in its most inexpensive form is a flat, jagged edged platelet, which tends to lay flat on the skin when applied, but also because it does have jagged edges, will tend to catch onto the pores of the skin when applied (especially if applied when the pores are open, such as when the skin is warm like right after a shower or a bath) and cause a micro abrasion.  Applying a lot of powder under this condition, repeatedly, can cause a number of abrasions, which over the course of the day and under repeated application could become angry and look as well as feel worse. Provided that the abrasion doesn’t infect, by suspending the use of your mineral makeup or powder for a few days will allow the abrasion to heal. 

I first observed these micro-abrasions many years ago when working on powders and observing how the repeated application of certain powders throughout the day to evaluate color would cause the skin on my arm to become scratched and angry. I realized it was the mica making these micro scratches into my skin that was causing the irritation.

Now this doesn’t mean that mica is bad, however what it does mean is that how mica is used in the formula and what type of mica is used will impact how it reacts on customers. For companies that make mineral makeup, many of them choose to make it with the cheapest ingredients (regardless of the marketing claims) because of this, the mica tends to be less refined, being a larger particle size and having sharper jagged edges. These powders will more than likely, given the right condition scratch the skin.  However, if a company wants to create a finer feeling formula they would use treated mica, which depending on the treatment would smooth out the jagged edge of the mica, making it unable to catch on the pores of the skin and create an abrasion.  Sometimes you can tell if a treated mica has been used by looking at the ingredient list of the product and seeing ingredients like methicone, lecithin or sodium myristoyl sarcosinate, If you’ve ever spent money for a more expensive product you’ve known the feel of the difference between a cheap product and a more expensive product.  The texture would be the difference between sand paper and a million little ball bearings rubbing against your skin.

Of course, aside from the micro abrasions that can occur when using powdered mineral makeup, the performance of the product could also be an issue since the powder is just that. Powder in and of itself tends to have poor skin adhesion and easily wears off, either from perspiring or the buildup of oils on the skin.  One way to increase the wear ability of powder is to increase the binders in it. Binders would usually be in the form of zinc stearate or an oil, this however, could aid in causing the skin to breakout as a result of the pores of the skin becoming blocked by the oils in the powder or by the oils of the skin bonding with the powder.

With so many mineral foundations being available on the market and given that so many companies are going out of business due to the economic downturn of the last few years, the amount of discontinued makeup products in the market have been on the rise. As it may be difficult to find your exact color of discontinued cosmetic again the most cost effective alternative would be to turn to custom makeup.  Custom cosmetics have become increasingly popular with the introduction of products such as By Jove Cosmetics – Ultra Matrix 3000 custom makeup kit.  This makeup kit which retails as low as $29.95 enables people to be able to custom blend any skin tone as well as create any shade of concealer.  The high quality ingredients used to create By Jove’s makeup will allow you to experience the difference between inexpensive formulas and a high-end luxury.  By Jove cosmetics will be expanding their line of custom blend cosmetic products with the addition of a custom blush kit by late summer 2010.

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Using cosmetics has become so intertwined in our daily lives that when our favorite shade is discontinued, we will spend a lot of our hard earned money and time trying to find that shade or an acceptable replacement for it.

When confronted by the challenge of discontinued makeup we try our best to save what little makeup we have left, but ultimately we give up and try to find the next color that works great for us.

When you first discover that your favorite shade of makeup has been discontinued, you should try to find your color through websites such as EBAY and Amazon.com, these two websites will usually continue to offer your favorite color at least for a while. If neither of these websites offer what you are looking for, your next step should be contacting the manufacturer directly.

Call the cosmetic company directly and ask their customer-service department about leftover inventory, or if they changed the colors name or better yet if they have a comparable substitute.

For reference here are a few of the main numbers for some of the larger companies:

Estee Lauder- 1-877-311-3883

Maybelline – 1-800-944-0730 

L’Oreal – 1-800-322-2036 

Lancome – 1-800-526-2663  

Revlon  -  1-800-473-8566

Cover Girl -   1-800-426-8374

When you’ve exhausted searching for your color direct with the manufacturers and if you don’t achieve your desired results, you can turn to custom blended cosmetics.

Custom blending was made popular by companies such as Prescriptives cosmetics which offered to give customers a new level in custom makeup. Prescriptives closed their counter service in January 2010. This has left customers who became accustomed to custom blend cosmetics searching for a new source for their custom blended needs.  A web search for custom blend cosmetics will bring up many companies and websites that offer information and services related to custom blending cosmetics. Beware though, there are some companies that offer custom makeup and advertise custom makeup when all they really offer are pre-blended makeup in a variety of colors. For customers who have a hard time finding the right shade of makeup, this can lead to an ongoing and costly exercise of trial and error. For customers who fall outside of the usual color blends (which is really most of us) we have little option but to find real custom blended makeup. True custom blending can easily cost upwards of $60-$100 per item.

Getting custom blended makeup can be a very expensive alternative to just accepting what the cosmetic companies offer us, but a web search for learn to make your own cosmetics will show that many people are looking for a more cost effective alternative.

The cost effective alternative for custom blending has come in the creation of at-home makeup kits. Companies like By Jove Cosmetics offer affordable makeup kits that let customers blend foundations, highlights, neutralizers and shaders. By Jove will be introducing a custom eye shadow kit at some point in 2010, and completing their initial line with a custom blush kit and custom lipstick kit through 2011-2012. A web search for custom foundation kits or custom makeup kits will list a number of products that are now available to us consumers.

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