Bullshit Alert Skincare Ingredients – Tourmaline And Amethyst

Tourmaline is a mineral. It’s used in hairdryers to create ionic charge. The reason behind it is that the tourmaline itself generates electrical charge when under pressure and during temperature changes. How that works is a mystery to me, but I own an ionic hairdryer and it possibly dries my hair quicker than a normal dryer. Possibly. It could well be a placebo effect.

Amethyst is also a mineral. Folklore says it’s a good luck stone that dispels bad energy. Allegedly is beneficial for infrared radiation and negative ions.

But in skin creams? Please. None of the above applies to skin creams, but a super expensive face cream Nectar Opulent from By Terry claims it’s a magic ingredient. Magic is the price too. You will want to believe in good luck after spending £240. Sorry By Terry, you have some good make up products, but this cream is a "walk on the wild side". Someone prove me wrong please.  Ingredients below.

water, C12-15 alkyl benzoate, dimethicone, glycerin, methyl methacrylate crosspolymer, boron nitride, glycol palmitate, PEG-20 methyl glucose sesquistearate, butylene glycol, methyl glucose sesquistearate, cetyl palmitate, sodium acrylate/sodium acryloyldimethyl taurate copolymer, hydrogenated coconut oil, dimethicone crosspolymer, cetearyl alcohol, parfum/fragrance, tocopherol, isohexadecane, phenoxyethanol, pearl powder, methylparaben, polymethyl methacrylate, polysorbate 80, mica, laureth-3, CI 77891/titanium dioxide, chlorphenesin, tetrasodium EDTA, hydroxyethylcellulose, butylparaben, ethylparaben, amethyst powder, tourmaline, acetyl dipeptide-1, cetyl ester, isobutylparaben, propylparaben, cyathea medullaris leaf extract, prolinamidoethyl imidazole, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate, simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil, tocopheryl acetate, phalaenopsis amabilis extract, sodium methylparaben, alpha-isomethyl ionone, benzyl salicylate, butylphenyl methylpropional, citronellol, coumarin, eugenol, geraniol, hexyl cinnamal, hydroxycitronellal, hydroxyexyl 3-cyclohexene, carboxaldehyde, limonene, linalool.

The Ingredient Of The Week - MSM (Sulphur)

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I was told to try and make my articles shorter for those of short attention span and busy people who hate sitting and reading with a dictionary… so this is my short attempt to write about a really major mineral that is incredibly important!

MSM (Methylsulfonylmethane) is a naturally occurring nutrient found in normal human diets. MSM is an organic form of sulphur and it forms compounds in body with potassium, selenium, sodium and magnesium. Sulphur compounds are found everywhere in the body where they play an important role in many organs and systems. Many amino acids that build proteins have sulphur in their compounds.

So how can sulphur in topical skincare help?

Well, we already established that sulphur compounds are everywhere, and our body uses MSM to build new cells.

Without proper levels of MSM present, our body is unable to create new healthy cells and this leads to loss of elasticity, wrinkles, dry skin, allergic reactions and scar tissues.  

With ageing the levels decrease… as with everything else by the looks of things.

So it’s only natural to use MSM in our skincare. It’s been proven to help in acne and rosacea, it makes the hair shiny and nails strong. We could also do with a supplement, especially some of us that don’t consume enough eggs, meat and poultry.

Now we come to Oskia skincare that makes MSM one of the key ingredients in their range. It’s quite rare that the entire cosmetics line focuses so much on MSM so of course I got interested.  Usually it will be added in some products, especially ones aimed at acne sufferers or oily hair.

I got across Oskia range when I was googling about sulphur and their website popped up, I got curious and asked to try some products.

As I don’t do reviews I won’t go on how my skin liked it, but as a range I like the no nonsense approach with clearly listed ingredients and no useless fillers or made up actives.

The packaging tells you exactly what the key players are in the product that you’re paying for, which to me goes hand in hand with my philosophy of educating people about the ingredients. Plus I can’t see any parabens in it, so perfect for paraben-phobic and I especially like it as no silicones!

I think the range is definitely worth trying. I could not find anything I would actually omit from my moisturiser if I were to make it (I tried Oskia moisturiser), plus the benefit of MSM, vitamin E and milk peptides make it really good in my eyes.

What do you think?

What makes mineral make up different?

 

After doing some research, apparently not much. 

Both the "mainstream" or regular make up and mineral ranges contain pretty much the same ingredients like titanium oxide, mica, zinc oxide, iron oxides, silica, talc, etc.

But what differs mineral make up from regular one is the lack certain allergens, like parabens, chemical dyes and mineral oil. And those are the reasons which make the mineral make up good for oily and acne prone skin. And sensitive skins. 

Oh and by the way, when I say mineral make up I mean foundation. 

People tend to think that mineral make up is more “natural”? Unfortunately that’s not quite the truth and there's nothing wrong with that. No one actually went to the mine, got your zinc oxide and titanium oxide, milled them and made make up out of them. It just doesn’t work like that. Both of those ingredients are processed in the lab as nothing in nature is that clean that can be used in cosmetics, especially zinc oxide has to be synthesised in the lab.

I wrote about zinc oxide in my previous post and indeed, its calming properties make it suitable for sensitive skins. Together with titanium oxide it also provides some sun protection.

One ingredient you should definitely scan the label for is bismuth oxychloride. While it gives the luminosity to the make up, it's also been reported that women would have acne flare ups and irritation when using make up with this ingredient.  

I’m not denying that mineral make up can look great, in fact some of my favourite products are products from the mineral ranges. But, the whole thing lost a bit of sheen for me when the cosmetics companies decided to jump on the bandwagon and brought up eyeshadows, lipsticks, liquid foundations and other things.

The beauty and the attraction of mineral make up was that the ingredient list was short. But now, once you start making liquid foundations, it became as long as the conventional foundation. Why? 

 

Well microbes love breeding in the water and without a suitable  preservative the product will not keep. Apart from going “off” it can also infect the skin. So in order to prevent the product being spoiled they put back the same ingredients that they got rid of in the beginning…. Confused?

So when picking mineral product read the ingredients. The shorter the list, the better the product for you, especially if you have sensitive skin. Especially look out for added mineral oil and fragrance. 

If you want to buy liquid foundation, eyeshadows, lipstick etc from the mineral range, by all means go for it, but be realistic. Chances are that you’re buying the normal stuff that is no different from your mainstream make up.While there's nothing wrong with those products, as long as you know you are buying into the hype, all is well.