A Qupdate and Other Stuff

Quick Update ("A Qupdate"): Today I weighed in at 168. Total weight loss so far is 4 lbs. Four pounds, four weeks, I can live with that! I completed 14 miles last week, and worked out three days. And here's an awesome thing for you to try: Yogurt, strawberries, smashed up crunchy granola bar. Dat es some tasty sturff. Almost guilt-free, too! I've also made it with bananas.

As some of you may know, I've been on a quest to find wholesome makeup. I take exception to talc, mica, etc., and have been trying to find something a little more health-friendly.

Que "100% Pure."

No, I'm not being paid to advertise their product.

And after I'm done, they might take exception to my feelings about their products.

When I discovered 100% Pure, I was super excited! Their makeup was made up of squished up fruit and the like, and so I was all for it. I mean, hey, 100 % pure...can't get much better than that!

I hemmed and hawed over it, though, because of the price. I bit the bullet, however, and bought the stuff, because having cancer of the face isn't on my to-do list.

At this same time, I decided that I should be all homeopathic and earthy and make some of my own makeup. The internet is rife with all sorts of recipes for homemade cosmetics, and so I gleefully bought powdered hibiscus, charcoal, and other ingredients I would need.

Once I had all the stuff I needed, my kitchen became a mini chem lab, and I think Jeremy passed through the kitchen several times making witch cackles at me as I brewed at the sink. (Not unlike the time I made my own chapstick, but we're not going to talk about the giant disaster that was...)

I made my own blush, eyeliner, eye shadow, and mascara.

A few things I noticed:

1. Homemade blush doesn't stick to your skin, at least, not if you use dried hibiscus, or other ground up flowers. I would apply the stuff (which smelled heavenly since I put in some tangerine essential oils in it), and 20 minutes later I was all pale again (I'm part albino). My guess is that if you wanted the stuff to stay, you would have to apply moisturizer to your face and directly put on the blush. It needs something to stick to, and a foundationed and powdered face wasn't cutting it.

2. I'm not sure if it was the charcoal or the cocoa that made my eyes sting like the dickens. I quickly decided that my homemade eyeliner, mascara and shadow weren't worth the agony I was going through and discarded them as cosmetic options. That, and because I was basically putting watered-down charcoal on my eyes, it would eventually evaporate, leaving coal dust behind, which makes a big ol' nasty mess. I AM a mess, but I don't need to look like one, too.

3. Just because something is 100% natural, doesn't mean it is good for your skin. Which brings me to my review of 100% Pure.

After brewing my own stuff in the kitchen, I had to wait a while for the products to come that I ordered. To their credit, 100% Pure was quick on their shipping, and I didn't have to wait long. But anything longer than about 10 minutes is an eternity for me, which is why I start getting stir-crazy on the treadmill watching those seconds tick by...but, we're not talking about that...

Anyway, I was super excited about trying this whole-food (basically) makeup. I applied some of the foundation to a makeup sponge, and slathered it on my face. It was super thick...like wood glue thick. But, it was all-natural, and I wanted to make it work, and I've had thick makeups in the past, so I just decided that I should water my sponge before I tried it again, and that seemed to fix that problem.

Jeremy complimented me on the makeup, saying that it looked more like my natural skin tone than any other makeup I had tried (Score 1 for 100% Pure!).

I really liked how it looked on my skin, and was pretty content with it.

Until three things happened: 1) the large bottle of foundation ran out after about 10 days (BOO...keep in mind I was using less than a pea-sized amount); 2) the stuff was really hard to wash off (see above glue reference); and 3) my skin began to dry out miserably.

Now, I don't know about you, but I've known my skin for quite a while now (going on 32 years), and I knew if I kept up with this makeup my skin would decided to have an oil rave and I would breakout like I was some pubescent whack-a-doodle. No, thank you very much. I was rather disappointed by this turn of events, especially since all the other products I had found that were close to being all-natural were out of stock on their websites.

What to do....

I discovered THIS website quite a while ago, and decided to search out some makeup that was close to being non-life threatening and less expensive than the other options.

I think I found THE BEST drug store makeup! 100% Pure can just go squeeze fruit somewhere else.

L'Oreal (again, not being paid...would be nice, though) has a great liquid foundation called True Match that I love love love. It isn't glue on my skin, and my skin apparently doesn't object to it, which is huge for me since I have super annoying skin.

Neutrogena has a great pencil eyeliner that has the thumbs up from Skin Deep, and they also have okayed Define-a-Line by Maybelline.

Maybelline also carries One-By-One mascara that is great.

I use Fit Me! pressed powder by Maybelline, and their blush. I figure if I have the foundation on, it will block all the bad stuff in the blush, right? I mentioned I don't like mica or talc, and both of those are frequently the main ingredients in blush and eyeshadow. I've taken the same theory on eyeshadow, and if I get cancer of the eyelids, then at least they will be sparkly and smokey.

So, there ya go. I would try L'Oreal's True Match if you have sensitive skin, and are looking for something non-hazardous.

For my skin cleansing routine I use Burt's Bees Radiance facial cleanser, followed by the Day and Night creams (I LOOOOOOOVE Burt's Bees everything! And I would be super happy if they paid me in chapsticks...). Their shampoo is a little on the mild side, and since I use a lot of product in my hair, it isn't my favorite. I need something that will strip my hair of all the junk I put in it, along the lines of liquid lye. Their body washes and soaps are really nice too, and I love their Baby Bee stuff for my own skin. Hey, if it's good enough for baby, it's good enough for me and my big ol' scaly epidermis.


Comments

The Mrs. said…
My sister is a hair stylist and what she said to do is wash your hair with liquid dish soap (like Dawn) every 3 or 4 months. This strips EVERYTHING off and your regular gentle cleansers will do a good enough job the rest of the time that you won't get a big build up. Have you ever tried California Baby brand? They have a great shampoo that is really mild and all natural and granola whatnot. http://www.californiababy.com/
Anonymous said…
I've never tried California Baby. I'll have to check it out! Thanks for the suggestion!
I found a pin on pinterest about using dawn and hydrogen peroxide to get rid of stains, and I tried it a few days ago, so I totally believe that Dawn would clean up my hair. Ha ha! Seems kinda weird, though...
The Mrs. said…
Maybe Dawn could be used as a body wash too and you'd lose weight, you know, cuz it "cuts through grease"! Haha! California Baby has all sorts of things, face wash and moisturizer, sun screen, shampoo and conditioner. I haven't met a product that I haven't liked! My favorite is the calming shampoo, you can use it for your hair, face, and body and not get dried out.
Tina said…
I can't believe that you made your own makeup. You are awesome. ;) thanks for all the tips. Very helpful indeed and I will refer back to this when my makeup runs out.

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