There's minerals in that make-up!
Wednesday, June 7th, 2006 08:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tsaikoI read an article today (somewhere... I think it may have been on the Chicago Tribune website, which requires a login) that had me in absolute stitches. It was an article talking about how cosmetic companies are being innovative by adding minerals to their cosmetics. It was a new and exciting trend!
The reason I was laughing is because cosmetics have been mostly made of minerals for years. Blush? That red color is hematite (also called iron oxide). Got some foundation that claims to keep off the sun's rays? It's got rutile (titanium dioxide), which acts as natural sunblock. Your lipstick have that special sparkle? That would be mica, a sheet silicate that also is the source of those shiny flecks in some tooth pastes. Found something in green? Look for copper or copper ore in the ingredient list. White more your color? That would be zinc oxide, also known as zincite. I once found some make-up that had no less than eight different minerals it. You'd be harder pressed finding commercial make-up that doesn't have a mineral component.
Hell, hematite is one of the oldest cosmetics known. It was used in ancient Egypt to redden lips, ancient Greece for blush, by the Mayans to color skin for ceremonial purposes, and by the Aborigines for the same purpose. Some new innovation. No one ever thought of using minerals in make-up before.
Give me a break.
The reason I was laughing is because cosmetics have been mostly made of minerals for years. Blush? That red color is hematite (also called iron oxide). Got some foundation that claims to keep off the sun's rays? It's got rutile (titanium dioxide), which acts as natural sunblock. Your lipstick have that special sparkle? That would be mica, a sheet silicate that also is the source of those shiny flecks in some tooth pastes. Found something in green? Look for copper or copper ore in the ingredient list. White more your color? That would be zinc oxide, also known as zincite. I once found some make-up that had no less than eight different minerals it. You'd be harder pressed finding commercial make-up that doesn't have a mineral component.
Hell, hematite is one of the oldest cosmetics known. It was used in ancient Egypt to redden lips, ancient Greece for blush, by the Mayans to color skin for ceremonial purposes, and by the Aborigines for the same purpose. Some new innovation. No one ever thought of using minerals in make-up before.
Give me a break.
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Date: 6/8/06 01:44 am (UTC)