My ingredients list

This is my list of ingredients that I use in my mineral makeup, and each serves it's puprose in the final products.

The following base ingredients are all naturally occuring!
Titanium Dioxide:
Is a natural mineral, and is a great natural sunscreen in combination with Zinc Oxide and also, offers a high coverage in the final product.
Zinc Oxide:
A natural mineral, and when combined with Titanium Dioxide it makes an even greater sunscreen. Zinc is very calming and soothing for irritated or acne prone skin, and helps with rosacea. In addition it give the final product more coverage.
Kaolin Clay:
This is also known as China Clay. Kaolin Clay is a hard worker and as a result it is a great oil absorber, it absorbs 1 and a 1/2 times it's weight. I use it in all my oil control products as well, it really helps to make your eye shadows last and last. I told you it was a hard worker !! :)
Rice Powder(Kosher):
Rice powder (Kosher) also offers oil absorbtion but it is slow and there for it can also be good for dry skin types as it won't de-hydrate your skin. It also offers a silky finish to the final product and gives your skin a porcelin shine free finish.
This is the list of my base ingredients, these below are pigments (colourants).
Iron Oxides:
Iron oxides are pigments that occur naturally in the earth, but for cosmetic purposes naturally mined iron salts are taken in a lab and then oxided since natural iron oxides from the earth have a lot of toxins in them.
Mica:
Mica is a fine rock/mineral that is ground down and somtimes coated with iron oxides to make beautful colours.
Ultramarines:
Ultramarines, also pigments, used to be made from crushed gem stones but now made in the lab synthetically, from natural clays I believe. I use them because , the face is that, there really is no true blue natural pigment in cosmetics (it is really rare and very, very expensive to find natural ultramarine blue).
Manganese Violet and Chromium Green Oxide :
Both of these are pigments as well.

From my understanding, most pigments are lab created/synthetically derived but made from natural ingredients. They are borderline natural, borderline synthetic; depends where you draw the line on what's natural. Most people in the natural industry consider them natural, but critics point out why use iron oxides/ultramarine blue and not D & C colors?
My point of view is that iron oxides and ultramarines do occur in nature, but for safety reasons are made from natural ingredients in the lab, so I consider them natural. Now this is just my own point of view on this, it's quite a debatable topic.

Really Smart Deals

Getting the word out there take time and energy. Yes this statement sounds all too familiar. That's all I hear, promote, promote,promote!!!

I want to and I am dedicated to my minerals, but some days I am just annoyed. I know realistically it doesn't happen over night, but a girl can still hope!! :P

A little while back I stumbled upon this site ReallySmartDeals.com and it's a traffic exchange site. Yes I know, these places spam you and their worthless, useless waste of time. However, I am happy to report I have not been spammed by RSD and yes it does take a little of your time, but it works. I speak from experience. Not only have I had someone buy something but I have also bought something while surfing and clicking. haahahha So if I found something and someone found me, then I must be doing something right. It really does help alot with exposure. Another thing is that it's a manual, there is no auto surf, which in my opinion is a wast of time.

It's soo simple, I like it alot. All you do is sign up which takes like a minute literally, then your set. You just surf the pages of others who have signed up. Well actually, first you would want to set up your sites, to be surfed. Then you want to surf ... the best part is that this is all FREE!!! You can choose to pay for some of their services, but it's not necessary. The lady who runs the site, Deb, is super nice and friendly and very helpful.

I encourage anyone who needs more exposure for their auction or ecommerce site. A little time will give you great results!!

Yahoo 360

Not sure if I am kinda late in jumping on the yahoo 360 bandwagon, but I just got on. Not really sure how I feel about it yet. I'm not really sure if I like it. It almost seems a little boring to me, since it's not very interactive such as like myspace or even facebook.

Anyways I still set up a page, and will give it a try, I'll try anything once.
Check out the page and let me know what you think, and add me:

Forget Me Not on Yahoo 360

So off I go to blog on there and explore that page some more. Like I said before I like to just dive in and not read any sorta instruction, which surprisingly only backfires half the time :)

Mineral Eye Shadow Tips

Mineral eye shadow is a little different than traditional eye shadow, first for the obvious reason, it's made of minerals, and it's a loose powder. The thing about mineral eye shadow is that since it's chemical and toxin free it doesn't contain any binders and waxes to make it stick together. Which also may as a result, help a little more than mineral eye shadow in the adherence factor. It may seem like a benefit, but think about it. Those chemicals and toxins are also seeping into your skin. Now that's not beneficial.

The point I trying to make is that mineral eye shadow, traditional eye shadow alike, need something to adhere to, such as a primer. This primer can be your concealer, foundation, setting powder, oil control powder, or the obvious eye shadow primer. The primer will not only help with the fading factor, but will give you a more vibrant hue. It's almost the effect of wetting down the mineral eye shadow, which in turn creates a more dramatic colour.

Another thing to remember as well, is to gently stipple/push the mineral eye shadow onto your eye lid. This gives you a more true to colour result. The technique makes a huge difference when applying mineral makeup.

If you are using the foiling technique, and if your using your lid to swirl your wet brush with your shadow, allow the lid to completely dry out before putting it back on your container. If your using water to foil you eye shadow, visine also works great, and adds to the staying power of the shadows.

How to apply bronzer

Just a few tips on applying bronzer, to make us all into the bronze goddess, that we are!!

Seeing as we are full swing into summer, and when else is there a better time for bronzing ourselves. I figured I might throw in a few useful tips amongst my endless/useless ramblings.

So here we go:
Bronzers ( if chosen in the right shade) will give your skin a natural sun kissed glow , or even out your tan, or brighten up a pasty/tired complexion. I personally am a HUGE fan of bronzer!!! I use it year round, of course in moderation!

First off ... the most important thing is to apply bronzer with a light hand, and here I speak from experience!! It's easier to go darker then to lighten the bronzer once already applied. I tend to have a heavy hand when applying makeup, so I really watch it with the bronzer.

Choose a bronzer that is a few shades darker than your skin tone, too dark will look unnatural and even make your face look dirty. Now who would want that?? For fair complexion girls, a pinky or peachy toned bronzers are great. If your more of a medium or olive complexion like me, go for the coppers. They will do wonders for you!! :D

Another big thing!! AVOID bronzers with an ORANGE tint to it .. you will end up looking like Jack Lalaine(sp?). hahahaha Anyway the point is you will have an orange tint to your skin and there is nothing bronze goddess like about an orange looking complexion. :S If you are looking for a bronze "glow" look for bronzers with just an hint of shimmer. That will give your complexion a natural looking glow. You don't want it to be too sparkly tho.

Finally ....
When applying bronzer, use either a bronzer buffer, or a big round fluffy powder brush. You can use either brush for mineral bronzer, but I would recommend to use the fluffy brush for traditional bronzers. Always remember whether it's mineral or traditional makeup, to tap your brush to remove any excess product floating on the head of the brush. Now, apply your bronzer dusting the cheeks, forehead, nose, and chin, gently but making sure to blend well. ALWAYS, always blend, blend, blend .. don't leave any harsh lines!!!

Myspace

I am a maniac, and I know it. LOL I just started a myspace page for my mineral makeup.

If you want to take a look here is the link ----> Forget Me Not - myspace page . Take a look and leave me a message, comment, any suggestions or just add me as a friend?! At this point it is still a work in progress, who am I kidding!! hahahah It will always be a work in progress, you and I both know it.



I got motivated because I was on the ecrater forum and saw that all these other sellers had their pages set up all nice. I think it's a great idea, but who knows ... in the end it's another page to keep updated, and that might just turn into a chore. But I do like myspace, I keep my personal page pretty updated, so this might not be that hard. I guess well just have to see ....

New Stuff

I'm not sure what the terminology is for a formulator, however I do not really think of my self as a formulator .. not quite yet, I'm more of a crafter at this point. :D The point is that I am stuck. I am stuck with foundations. My line must have foundations, but I am finding it extremely difficult. :( I'm having a hard time with the colours. Boo on me, I think I need like a mentor, or someone like that!! Where do you get one of those?? How do you get one? So many questions but no answers.

Anyways, I am working things out, I am good with the eye shadow and blush factor ... just not the other thing. My quest is not done yet, I will succeed!! I do have some people on a forum that offer great advice and are super duper helpful. I dunno where I would be without those women!!

I did come up with a few new eye shadows that I do LOVE!!! Naturally you would think that I love them all, but that is not the case. I make shades that I personally would not wear and I do not like, but I'm sure someone else out there dose.


<---- This one is called Rainforest and it's a fantastic vibrant green. The picture just doesn't do it justice. This one is a satin finish, so it's not like a sparkly effect, more of a glow kinda look.






<---- This one is a pure white called Satin and it is a satin finish . It works great as a highlighter or a shadow, it's a nice to even put it on top of your eye shadows, or underneath ... there are many options for this one.







<---- Ahhhh ... Seafoam!! This one you must see in person. It is just a great blend of vibrant and subtle. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but this is an eye catching colour, without being obnoxiously bright. This one is a satin pearl finish so it has a slight bit of a shimmer to it. Nothing super sparkly and shiny, just a hint.





Well just looking at my new beauties makes me feel better, tomorrow is another day and maybe I will have more luck - with the foundation situation.

Squidoo Lens

So this is my lens, and I'm not really sure if this is what it's supposed to be like?? hahahah I didn't really read the instructions .. I'm really bad for that. I seriously need to read instructions, but I get too excited and want to do it now!!!! ok ... back to the point ...I can always use suggestions, and constructive criticism (sp?) so let me know what you think!! Also don't forget to rate it .. much appreciated!!

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