Viva Woman

A few people have emailed me asking where they can obtain mineral makeup in Singapore.  Honestly, I’m not aware of many but of late, I came across a few more and so I thought I’ll list it down here for those interested.  If you know of anymore or you’re a company here selling mineral makeup to serve the local market, feel free to email to me and I’ll add your information to the list.

Mineral makeup that you can purchased over the counters in Singapore:

Alima Mineral Cosmetics 
Skin Story, 03-57 The Central @ Clarke Quay Tel: 6534 7339

Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics
Medspa, 12-03 Camden Medical Centre Tel: 6887 3087

Jane Iredale Mineral Cosmetics
Beauty Resources, #05-03 Midview Building Tel: 6293 5530

Glominerals
Meta Distribution, 3 Ann Siang Hill Tel: 6320 9710

Laura Mercier 
True Colors, B1-13A Ngee Ann City Tel: 6736 2973

NEU Mineral Cosmetics
Chez Moi De Beaute, #04-75 Far East Plaza Tel: 6738 6108 

Mineral makeup you can purchase online in Singapore:

Earth Beauty
Nutshell Organics

Derma Nature Mineral Makeup
Skin Revival

Erth Minerals, Lauress Mineral, Sheer Miracles, Monave, Pure Skin Minerals
Leez Mineral (new setup and only bringing in the brands this year)

In-house mineral makeup?
Whoopeekiddies

Apart from Skin Story, I’ve no experience dealing with any of these at all as I get my mineral makeup online from the source directly because they offer more options.  Hence, please do your own checks about the brands and do note my disclaimer that vivawoman.net is not responsible for the operation of or content located on or through such sites.   

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Last month, I mentioned Ferro Cosmetics Mineral Makeup and I said I’ll be reviewing the products as well as bringing my readers an exclusive promo.  Well, here it is!  Just for the readers of Viva Woman, Ferro Cosmetics is offerring FREE international shipping on orders US$75 or more, plus US$5 off purchases over US$40.  If you’re located in US, you already get free shipping on purchases over $49 but you can still benefit from the $5 discount. Just use promo code VIVA200 during checkout. 

And here are my reviews on Ferro Cosmetics mineral foundation, mineral veil, mineral glow and mineral eyeshadow. 

Mineral foundation that last all day
Ferro Cosmetics offers two types of mineral foundation; the Radiance Foundation and the Ultimate Foundation.  I really love the Radiance Foundation!  While it is said to offer sheer-to-medium coverage, I find that it gives my face good enough coverage for a natural-looking, radiant glow.  In fact, my face, which is combination type, still looks good with just a slight sheen around my cheeks after a full day, despite our warm weather now.  This picture shows how I look with Radiance Foundation in Light Beige R-2 after wearing it for 6 hours.  Please note that I did not apply concealer to my face, except for the undereye area and I did not apply any blusher or veil either.

The best thing I like about Ferro Cosmetics’ Mineral Foundation is that the shades I see on their websites — Pale Honey, Light Biege and Honey Creme which match my fair skin tone — actually work precisely for me.  I don’t need to order a shade up, unlike some of the other brands of mineral foundations like EM, Lumiere and Alima I’ve tried.  I’m not going to dissect the ingredient list but I believe it’s because Ferro Cosmetics mineral foundations have concentrated minerals for the coverage and that’s why their shades can match exactly.

And maybe it’s for this reason that the Ultimate Foundation doesn’t work as well for me as it contains more minerals than the Radiance Foundation with pearl and pure silk powder to give matte, full-coverage.  So when I put this on using the same amount I usually use, I get a darker tone even for the same shade although I concede it does give me better coverage overall.  If I want to stick to this, I have to remember to layer less to get a more desirable effect.

Because of the health concerns surrounding inhaling Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) in nano particle form in powdered mineral makeup, I asked Krissy Ferro, who is the founder of Ferro Cosmetics about their position on this and here is what she said:

“About nano-particles, we don’t use them. Micronized particles are extremely small, however they are absorbed into the body like anything else we put on our skin.  We do use micronized titanium dioxide in our darker shades of Ultimate Foundation because it offers more sun protection and allows the darker pigments to show without being cakey and heavy.”

Matt mineral veil
I tried Sheer Matt, Nude Matt and Rose Matt Mineral Veil and I have to say Sheer works best for me.  Nude somehow gives me a darker tone.  But I’m happy with Radiance Foundation on its own and usually do not to brush on anymore veil afterwards.  The picture you see above also did not include any mineral veil.

3-in-1 mineral glow
Ferro Cosmetics’ Glow are great because they’re 3-in-1!  You can use them as a bronzer, a blush or an eyeshadow.  I like the Glow Baby Glow most because it’s great as as a warm blush for me.  I’ve got Spring Kiss too but since it is darker, I can use it as an eyeshadow base.

Delicious mineral eye candy
I tried Ferro Cosmetics Pearl Eye Candy which offers a beautiful sheen.  I’m in love with Sage, a very fresh dose of subtle green which is great for my skin tone and it works great with Emerald Smoke which I use for crease contouring or as an eyeliner.   Sapphire Smoke is a very deep blue and works well as an eyeliner but I wish they offer a pale blue to match. 

But whichever color you pick, you have to order at least one of their eye candies.  Their packaging is so cute and they come with sifter which means, no mess and no wastage!  I also noticed that their pigments are really concentrated and I just need to use a little each time.  So it’s true what they say, that a little goes a long way!

Summary
If you’re into mineral makeup, you want to try this line to see for yourself the difference with some of the others in the market.  Their foundation formulations are pretty concentrated and yields a good finishing.   And because they are more concentrated, you don’t have to layer too much of it to achieve sufficient coverage.  But you’ll need to find out for yourself if Ultimate works for you, or like me, Radiance is better.  You can always try their mini foundation kit which comes in fully labeled 5 gram jars with a sifter.  I’m using those now and they actually last awhile.

Application techniques
Before I go, I leave you with a link to videos that Krissy Ferro has put up to demonstrate how to put on mineral makeup.  Even though I’ve used mineral makeup for nine months now, I’ve learnt something new, which is to start out by applying foundation on the jawline first and work your way in so as to avoid an overdose of powder on the cheeks.  Additionally, I’ve also discovered on my own that I shouldn’t be using the brush in a circular motion around my face, but rather buff it downwards so as not to push the pigments into my pores and accentuating them in the process.

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I received these eyeshadows from Erth Mineral Makeup sometime ago but didn’t experiment with them until about a month or two ago.  Initially, I found the violet, sea & moss in the same order as the picture above too light for my liking but recently, I’m loving these sparkly shades for a soft and sheer hue. 

I don’t like to use a lot of eyeshadows and I usually just use a dark green to shade the crease so these barely there sheer eyeshadows work well for me as a lid color without looking overdone.  But they’re still obvious because even my 5-year-old noticed them.  I also have the Eye Elements Quad Kit consisting of forest, coal, cocoa & madura which come with minimal sheen and these are great for crease contouring and works well for me as eyeliners too.

Actually, violet, sea & moss are part of Erth Mineral’s 7-piece Erthly Kit which include four other sparkly shades earth, loam, rose, & poppy and are priced at US$18.95.  There is also an Erth Minerals Intense Eye Shadows Collection for those who prefer deeper and brighter eyeshadow pigments.  I think leaf & river look delicious!

I also learnt that Erth Mineral has introduced new summer colors with four new sparkly shades: silt, russet, turquoise, & deep purple under the Eye Ethereal Collection as in the picture and you can get them for US$13.95.

Erth mineral eyeshadows are 100% natural and contain pure crushed minerals namely mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxides with no preservatives, no chemicals, and no dyes.  Some may also contain tin oxide & ferric ferrocyanide.  I am happy with them as they blend well, do not smudge and has good staying power.  

Except for the intense collection, Erth mineral eyeshadow cost US$5.25 each and comes in a 5 gram jar with 2 grams of product.  That’s quite a bit to last a while but I do wish these eyeshadows are put in sifter jars to prevent unnecessary wastage.   

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While writing the earlier entry Do Mineral Makeup Pose Health Risks, I read that there is evidence that uncoated titanium dioxide (TiO2) and zinc oxide (ZnO) can degrade avobenzone so it is best not to layer non-micronized mineral makeup with an avobenzone containing chemical sunscreen.

This is apparently confirmed by this Stability Study of Avobenzone with Inorganic Sunscreens by Uyen Nguyen and David Schlossman.

Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are preferable UVA / UVB sunscreens because of their efficiency and low irritation. In order to increase the protection in the UVA range, in many countries, avobenzone has been used in combination with titanium dioxide and / or zinc oxide. However, in the USA, combinations of avobenzone and physical sunscreens are not permitted. Avobenzone has been reported to be unstable when contained in formulations with uncoated physical sunscreens. Surface coating of the pigment has sometimes been shown to increase its stability.

Based on this, it would mean that for those of us who are using mineral makeup, you need to be aware of the ingredients not only in your mineral makeup, but your sunblock as well.  If you’re using mineral makeup without micronized ingredients (which is considered to be safer for our health), then ensure that you’re using a physical sunblock with titanium dioxide or zinc oxide without avobenzone.  

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