Beauty Routine - Part 1

As I believe I have mentioned before, I have the world's most sensitive skin.

I have rosacea, dermatitis, and adult acne.

I used to use liquid foundation, because I thought that it would cover my rosacea while also keeping my skin moist, since I have combination skin on my face - part dry and part oily.  The problem with that is that the dry parts of my skin, where my dermatitis is, would just end up looking really flaky and scaly under the liquid foundation, and I could literally peel pieces of skin off my face in the afternoon, even if I scrubbed all the dead skin off that morning.  That's what the dermatitis does. Sounds lovely, right?

So, back in October 2009, my mom came out to Indiana to visit, and I had done some research prior to her arriving on new makeups, and specifically, mineral makeups.  After reading hundreds of reviews of Bare Minerals, and how so many women with rosacea found this to be the perfect solution to hiding their redness, and it actually helped over time to reduce the redness. I thought to myself, "Perfect. This is exactly what I need." Mom and I drove the hour to the Bare Minerals store, sat down, and the beauty consultant gave us each a mini-makeover using the makeup.  I loved the way that it looked, and so my mom bought me the starter kit as a belated birthday gift.

Image via Bare Escentuals / Bare Minerals Starter Kit 

Less than one week into using the product, my eyes started getting really itchy and swollen, and then I began getting little bumps on my cheeks, and those were bright red and also itchy.  I stopped using the makeup immediately, knowing that that was the one variable that changed in the last week.  I immediately hopped on Google, searching for "Bare Minerals itchiness."

And, so guess what I found...

Bare Minerals Original Formula contains metal, in the form of Mica and Bismuth Oxychloride.

Both of these two ingredients are actually ground up metals, which are used to give you the shine and glow from both the foundation and the bronzer that comes in the starter kit.

Now this isn't really a huge surprise, because I'm allergic to many different types of metal, which causes me a lot of problems in the jewelry category, and apparently, the beauty products categories.  So much, that I must wear pure metals, i.e.: .925 Sterling Silver, over 14k White Gold, and Platinum.  Sometimes the metal backs of pants buttons irritate my skin, and need to be painted over with clear nail polish.

Ok, back to the makeup part of this story:

I was allergic to Bare Minerals. So, now what? I found a mineral makeup that worked really well for covering my rosacea, didn't cause flaking from my dermatitis, but make me all blotchy and swollen and itchy.

So, I turned to Google again, and googled different mineral makeups.  Every. Single. One. Has at least one of those two ingredients.  Yep, just my luck.  So, I contacted Bare Minerals to see if they had any suggestions, and they did!

Bare Minerals has a Matte Foundation, which does not include any metals. So, I scooped that up, and I've been using it every single day since then, with absolutely no issues!!!

But, the other problem was the bronzer, which Bare Minerals does not have a Matte version of.  Since I had bought out the rest of Clinque's Soft-Pressed Powder in Rhubarb at my local store(s) the year they discontinued that shade, I just decided to go back to using that everyday as a blush and partial bronzer.

Fast forward to two weeks ago, where my last compact only has pressed powder around the edges, and is completely worn through to the bottom of the casing in the middle...yep, time to buy some more blush.

Almost-gone Blush / Personal Picture

So, I headed over to the mall, hopped into Macy's, went to the Clinique counter, grabbed their blush, looked at the ingredients list, and guess what I saw.  Mica. And guess what else is there.  Bismuth Oxychloride.  Great, allergic to that now too, since they changed their formula after I bought all my compacts.

I'll tell you, I went to every single makeup counter at all of the department stores and all of the specialty makeup stores in that mall. I spent almost 2 hours looking for a new blush, and not a single place carried one without Mica or Bismuth Oxychloride in it.

I ended up going to my best friend Google again, and searching for metal free makeup - 1 result.  A $22 compact only sold at Ulta - Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Seven Blush Matte.  It's cream based, and I have yet to buy it or try it out, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Seven Blush Matte / Image via Ulta

Next, I'll tell you about my trials and tribulations with other beauty products, and how this actually relates to the wedding day.

Have any of you had problems with metals in makeup?  Anyone use the Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Seven Blush Matte?  Opinions?

As I believe I have mentioned before, I have the world's most sensitive skin.

I have rosacea, dermatitis, and adult acne.

I used to use liquid foundation, because I thought that it would cover my rosacea while also keeping my skin moist, since I have combination skin on my face - part dry and part oily.  The problem with that is that the dry parts of my skin, where my dermatitis is, would just end up looking really flaky and scaly under the liquid foundation, and I could literally peel pieces of skin off my face in the afternoon, even if I scrubbed all the dead skin off that morning.  That's what the dermatitis does. Sounds lovely, right?

So, back in October 2009, my mom came out to Indiana to visit, and I had done some research prior to her arriving on new makeups, and specifically, mineral makeups.  After reading hundreds of reviews of Bare Minerals, and how so many women with rosacea found this to be the perfect solution to hiding their redness, and it actually helped over time to reduce the redness. I thought to myself, "Perfect. This is exactly what I need." Mom and I drove the hour to the Bare Minerals store, sat down, and the beauty consultant gave us each a mini-makeover using the makeup.  I loved the way that it looked, and so my mom bought me the starter kit as a belated birthday gift.

Image via Bare Escentuals / Bare Minerals Starter Kit 

Less than one week into using the product, my eyes started getting really itchy and swollen, and then I began getting little bumps on my cheeks, and those were bright red and also itchy.  I stopped using the makeup immediately, knowing that that was the one variable that changed in the last week.  I immediately hopped on Google, searching for "Bare Minerals itchiness."

And, so guess what I found...

Bare Minerals Original Formula contains metal, in the form of Mica and Bismuth Oxychloride.

Both of these two ingredients are actually ground up metals, which are used to give you the shine and glow from both the foundation and the bronzer that comes in the starter kit.

Now this isn't really a huge surprise, because I'm allergic to many different types of metal, which causes me a lot of problems in the jewelry category, and apparently, the beauty products categories.  So much, that I must wear pure metals, i.e.: .925 Sterling Silver, over 14k White Gold, and Platinum.  Sometimes the metal backs of pants buttons irritate my skin, and need to be painted over with clear nail polish.

Ok, back to the makeup part of this story:

I was allergic to Bare Minerals. So, now what? I found a mineral makeup that worked really well for covering my rosacea, didn't cause flaking from my dermatitis, but make me all blotchy and swollen and itchy.

So, I turned to Google again, and googled different mineral makeups.  Every. Single. One. Has at least one of those two ingredients.  Yep, just my luck.  So, I contacted Bare Minerals to see if they had any suggestions, and they did!

Bare Minerals has a Matte Foundation, which does not include any metals. So, I scooped that up, and I've been using it every single day since then, with absolutely no issues!!!

But, the other problem was the bronzer, which Bare Minerals does not have a Matte version of.  Since I had bought out the rest of Clinque's Soft-Pressed Powder in Rhubarb at my local store(s) the year they discontinued that shade, I just decided to go back to using that everyday as a blush and partial bronzer.

Fast forward to two weeks ago, where my last compact only has pressed powder around the edges, and is completely worn through to the bottom of the casing in the middle...yep, time to buy some more blush.

Almost-gone Blush / Personal Picture

So, I headed over to the mall, hopped into Macy's, went to the Clinique counter, grabbed their blush, looked at the ingredients list, and guess what I saw.  Mica. And guess what else is there.  Bismuth Oxychloride.  Great, allergic to that now too, since they changed their formula after I bought all my compacts.

I'll tell you, I went to every single makeup counter at all of the department stores and all of the specialty makeup stores in that mall. I spent almost 2 hours looking for a new blush, and not a single place carried one without Mica or Bismuth Oxychloride in it.

I ended up going to my best friend Google again, and searching for metal free makeup - 1 result.  A $22 compact only sold at Ulta - Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Seven Blush Matte.  It's cream based, and I have yet to buy it or try it out, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Seven Blush Matte / Image via Ulta

Next, I'll tell you about my trials and tribulations with other beauty products, and how this actually relates to the wedding day.

Have any of you had problems with metals in makeup?  Anyone use the Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Seven Blush Matte?  Opinions?