Ingredient Spotlight: Mineral Oil

Mineral Oil (the main ingredient in baby oil) and Petrolatum (the main ingredient in petroleum jelly) come from petroleum sources, derived from the earth.

These two ingredients have stood the test of time and are often used in products to guard against dehydration by creaing a barrier layer on the skin, thereby sealing water in the skin as well as preventing skin irritation from contact with certain substancees. These two ingredients are considered to be of the best protective skin barriers as well as the safest as they do not react with other chemicals that are associated with normal bodily function. They do not require the use of other preservatives because they do not naturally harbor bacteria or any other type of micro-organisms. 

It is a common suggestion to slather mineral oil (baby oil) on damp skin after a shower in the winter months to seal in moisture on the skin. Because of this same moisture sealing action, it is not recommended to use mineral oil or petrolatum on burns or open wounds as the area will not be able to breathe and as a result heal properly.

For many years mineral oil and petrolatum have been said to be comodegenic, meaning they can clog the skin’s pores and cause blackheads. However research has not proven this to be true. Other mildly comedogenic oils include sunflower oil, avocado oil. Jojoba Oil, like water is considered to be non-comedogenic and will not clog pores and cause blackheads.

Still, moisturizers and serums containing Mineral Oil or Petrolatum may not be ideal for oily, combination skin types or acneic skin conditions because it may impart too much oil to the skin.

Do check the ingredient listing on your products if you have these skin types/ conditions as using products that contain these ingredients may result in making your skin more oily than it naturally is, or needs to be.  Instead, products which list “Water/ Agua” as its first ingredient are better suited to these skin types.

 

 

Supernova

 

Upgrade you

It seems like everyday there is another program, website, vehicle, home appliance, phone, music player, you-name-it that gets a makeover. This makeover or ‘update’ can be anywhere from a shiny spanking new exterior to a total overhaul of internal components and/ or programming.

The updates that are now available for smartphones are unbelieveable. From applications to operating systems, there is a daily fix for the gadgetnistas and nistos among us. Sometimes these updates make our lives easier; they may facilitate smoother operation or link similar applications so that each has access to a common database, not requiring the user to input the same damn info ten thousand hundred times. Sometimes, *cough* especially if the upgrade wasn’t sourced at a reputable location, all lights go out, triggering the “break out in a cold sweat now” user function because well, to quote myself ‘THAT PHONE IS MY LIFE!’.

Maybe we ought to do the same with ourselves. With aging comes a lot of things,  yes things shift, slow down, disappear, appear and don’t work as they used to, but it also brings the opportunity for growth, experience and maturity. We understand a lot more about who we are and how the world we live in works. We are in a better position to make educated choices, if not only because of what the school of life has taught us. So why don’t we?

Nature understands that only those things that are able to adapt to constant change survive. Technology understands that only that which can deliver what the masses require will be chosen. Let us as humans not fall behind. Let us strive to keep ourselves current.

The world is there for our taking, so let us take advantage of it by making better choices with respect our health, our  relationships, our nutrition, our families, and our lives. However, much like dealing with smartphones, let us pay special attention to how we go about this ‘updating’ process. Let us be careful where we seek council. Let us be careful with what we ingest, emotionally and physically. Like that bootleg DVD, crash and fad diets only crash and burn our systems. 

Our grand-parents were unto something. Short cuts end up being long cuts. All that glitters is not gold.

Lets upgrade ourselves the healthy way – one determined step at a time.

 

Be the best you.

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Minimalista Makeup: From day to night

This is the advanced class for my makeup minimalistas and/or makeup virgins,  moving a day look into a night look.

If you missed the instructions for a minimal put together day look you can see it in the post Maybe she’s born with it.

To move this simple day look into a simple but effective night one, you can do one or any combination of the following:

1. Apply eyeliner
In dark brown or black to both your lower and upper lash lines, a achieve a classic look that will make your eyes pop.
Do experiment with deep shades such as navy, plum, or dark green for example, if you are feeling to colour outside the box.

2. Apply eyeshadow
Just one shade of eye shadow can do the trick. Choose one in your skin colour or a shade or two lighter or darker than your natural eyelid color, an apply from your lashline to your eyebrow.

Avoid dated glittery formulations with large glittery specs and opt for the updated frosted ones with very fine, multi-dimentional shimmer that seem to just disappear in your skin for a fresh faced look. Here, your eyes are enhanced without being able to pinpoint exactly what it is that causing this effect.

Matte (1.e. non-shimmery) eyeshadows work well at upping the eye-drama ante. Experiment with different eye-shadow finishes in the same colour family and see which effect you prefer on you.

Word of advice for choosing a go-to eyeshadow color  -

For warmer skin tones like medium to darker skin tones, yellow based hues like goldy, bronzy and rusty pigmented shades work excellently. Red and red-orange based eyeshadows tend to make eyes on these skin tones look tired.
Cool pastelle colours like white and taupe generally do not compliment these skin tones, especially if worn as a single colour. 

Cooler skin undertones that can come with a fairer to medium skin tone are better suited to use the cooler shades mentioned above. 

The further away from your natural skin tone your eyeshadow is, the more important it is to blend, blend, blend. The sponges that come with they eyeshadow compacts typically deposit a lot of colour and make blending more difficult. Do consider investing in a larger eyeshadow brush as it makes application easier; A couple passes of the brush on the eyeshadow palette and then it’s just a matter of filling in the space on your eyelid.

(I have often used the brush that comes with the cheek colour as an eyeshadow brush and then bought a proper cheek brush)

If you are going for a colour that is unlike your skin tone, like plum for example, apply only on your eye lid – from your lashline  to the crease that is created when you blink, and not all the way to your eyebrow, unless of course it is halloween.

3. Apply a darker shade of lipgloss.

Then dust some loose, or compact powder on your face to tie it all together and you are ready to boogie.

 

Lets get glammy!

Related GC posts
Maybe she’s born with it
Product spotlight: Blush
Drama Glamour: Liquid Liner
Frump to Fab in 10 steps

Maybe she’s born with it

Looking put together in the face on mornings doesn’t have to take a team. Some of us are willing to get up an extra half an hour to an hour earlier to put a face on and some of us have neither the time or the will to do so. Some days I agree with the latter group. That said, that doesn’t mean that we can’t take five minutes to look like we woke up on the right side.

Regardless of the artistic direction, the key to well applied makeup is of course blending but more so, healthy skin.

Healthy skin does not need much makeup to look like it was born naturally glamourous. For the minimalistas, those who wear little or no makeup but would like to know how to look put together in the face it here is some advice below.

1. Apply moisturizer to cleansed face
Moisturizer helps smoothen out skin’s texture and prepares it for better makeup application. 

2. Even out skin tone. (optional)
Apply foundation or concealer, in your skin tone, to blemished areas only with a foundation/ concealer brush. Skip this step if you have no blemishes that you wish to cover up

3. Dust entire face with loose or compact powder using large powder brush.
A powder brush delivers a loser more natural application of powder. You can opt to use a powder sponge to apply powder if you have oily skin. The powder sponge deposits more powder on the skin’s surface which may help absorb oil during the day. 

4.  Apply blush using a blush brush
Once you find the right colour, you can wear the same color blush for years and years without fears. Unlike eyeshadow where you can really experiment, everyday use of blush is meant to impart a flushed healthy glow to your skin. As your skin stays the same colour there is really no reason to have various colours of blush.

For summer, a bronzer can double as a blush.

5. Apply mascara
In dark brown for fair skin tones or black for darker skin tones. Applying mascara on both sides of your eyelashes (top and underside of the top lash) gives you a more dramatic look than applying it on one side only. Applying mascara to the bottom lashes for the day can make you look spidery-ish.

6. Apply lip-gloss
Choose a shade that is a shade or two from your natural lip colour, or one with a pink or coral undertone. Darker skin tones can also try a translucent glosses with a rich plum undertone.
You can opt to use lipsticks but they require more effort to apply and, as they contain more pigment, it becomes more obvious when they need to be reapplied. However, you can easily apply lipgloss without looking in a mirror, perfect for after smooching touch ups!

 

The more makeup applied in the morning, the more maintenance needs to be done to upkeep the look during the day. So, unless you plan to walk with your entire makeup arsenal to work, it is often a good idea to keep it simple simon.

Ready, Set, Go.

 

Lets get ‘naturally’ beautiful!

 

Related GC posts
Minimalista Makeup: From day to night
Shake it off: Loose Powder
Product spotlight: Blush
Drama Glamour: Liquid Liner
Frump to Fab in 10 steps 
. 

The truth about makeup expiry dates

Saying goodbye to a barely used, safe-looking, I-paid-too-much-for-it eye-shadow may not be in your grand plan but your makeup can harbour bacteria. “Water-based makeup, such as mascara, are the greatest culprits because of the risk of contamination from bacteria which can lead to an infection” says Dr. Jason Rivers, a clinical professor at the University of British Columbia. Symptoms include redness, pain, swelling, pus, pimples or pink eye (ick!). Lynnette DaltonJames of M.A.C. Cosmetics recommends being especially vigilant about eye products.

How you handle your makeup in general can also affect it’s shelf life. If you take care of your products, it may be safe to use them a few extra months beyond the expiry date. 

Health Canada recommends that you keep cosmetics germ-free by:
~ Washing your hands before applying
~ Not sharing makeup
~ Not adding water or saliva to dilute makeup
~ Keeping cosmetics in a dry area, away from direct heat or sunlight.

Some warning signs that tell you that a product has expired include:
~ The product’s smell has changed
~ The product has been exposed to prolonged heat
~ There is an obvious colour or textural change
~ Mould is evident.

In general the following shelf life applies to makeup/ cosmeceuticals 

Mascara - 3 months (some say 6, but 3 months is recommended)

Liquid foundation and concealer - 6 – 12 months. The ones that are dispensed from a tube (with a small opening) rather than a jar or bottle (with a larger opening that facilitates contamination through double dipping of fingers or brushes) are safer to use for the 12 month period. If it contains sunscreen (SPF) in it, definitely do not use for longer than a year.

Cream blush and eyeshadow – 6 – 12 months. 

Powder blush and eyeshadow - 1 year

Eye-liner and lip-pencils – up to 2 years, 6 months for liquid eyeliner which is similar to mascara

Lipstick – 1 year

Moisturizer and skin care - 1 to 2 years. This is usually indicated by either an expiry date or an ‘open tuna’ tin on the packaging that usually shows ’12m’, ’18m’ or ’24m’ on it. This indicates the length of time, in months, the integrity of the ingredient mix is valid for, once opened.

Makeup applicators – 4 weeks max

Makeup brushes – wash with soapy water at least once a week. Lay flat to dry. Do not dry standing up as water can settle at the base where the hairs are attached and compromise the glue, destroying the brush.

This is a shout out to all my product junkies. Cosmetics/ skin care products do not last forever, so you may want to lean back a bit on spending on every new item you stumble across in the department store/ pharmacy. It’s tough I know, trust me! But do try getting through the hundreds that are already piled up under the sink/ in the top cabinet before they all go to waste!

Buy smartly.

Toodles

Supernova