What are some makeup ingredients you wish you knew more about? Share!
All of them! I actually have two heavy tomes filled with definitions/information about ingredients used in beauty specifically. I just wish there was a better consensus on what’s good for you!
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Hmm just more knowledge about ingredients of products and which products contain them, as so many contain irritants such as fragrances and alcohol.
I don’t feel like I need to know more about the compounds themselves, but it would be interesting to experiment personally with how different proportions of them affect the final result!
What are the books that you have? I’d love to read up on the subject of ingredients
Pretty much all of them. I’m actually starting to seriously consider studying for cosmetic chemistry.
The problem with ANYTHING is that your mileage may vary, so what works for one person may not work for another. This is why I try to rely on unbiased, controlled, double-blind studies as far as skincare ingredients go. Thank heavens for Beautypedia!
PROPYLENE GLYCOL! it’s in everything and i want and need to know more about whether or not it’s toxic :/
Beautypedia says it’s good(weird, good is too much for it….it should be average at most). It’s said there that the doses used in cosmetics are small and there’s no concern, blah blah, but they aren’t always small. I even saw some stuff that had it as the second ingredient or even first(some spray). My boyfriend used a cream that had it among the first ingredients(and left it on, obv) a few times but he stopped cause it made him feel like crap. :/ soo…
It’s basically a lubricant, and can be found in things such as household cleaners, anti-freeze, etc…
1. What’s the deal with parabens?
2. What are you supposed to avoid when you have oily, acne-prone skin? I thought one of the things you were supposed to avoid were oils, but then they (the beauty industry) go on about how oils are actually good for people with oily skin. Very confusing!
3. Is talc still bad for you if it’s only in your face powder or eyeshadow?
I have a lot of questions, apparently! Good question, Sylirael and Christine!
1. Some people are sensitive/allergic to them, but most aren’t. They’re preservatives that make sure your products aren’t laden with bacteria and fungi.
2. Some oils are more comedogenic than others, but you have to test them on yourself to see what your skin does and doesn’t like. Some people’s skin break out due to fatty alcohol use and others’ will not like mineral oil. It’s very individual.
3. Talc isn’t bad for you unless you’re inhaling large amounts of it every day. (Don’t snort it.) In makeup, it’s bad if there’s too much of it, because then the product could be powdery and sheer. Again, everyone is different, so if YOU have a sensitivity/allergy to talc, then avoid it. Otherwise, it’s fine.
I am still not aware of so many of them! I would really like to know in details about alcohol, parabens and silicones still a noob!
I agree, all of them.
All of them! I always use Paula’s Choice ingredient encyclopedia to look up ingredients.
ditto
Actually, we keep covering cosmetic ingredients in my Chemistry of Textile Auxiliaries class. Hair and wool are identical – except our sebum smells way better then lanolin – so chemicals developed for one can be easily used on the other. We definitely unintentionally covered the difference between shampooing and co-washing the other day.
I wish I knew that foundation ingredients /formulas are just as good (or the same) as the more expensive brands. My aunt knows a lady who works for a makeup company and she had said that there are only a few companies out there that produce makeup for all these many different brands and that you’re better off buying the cheaper drug store brands because all an expensive brand is, is the cheaper brand with only a few things added to it. This conversation was started when my aunt asked me what foundation I was wearing because it looked nice on me, and it was L’Oréal True Match. And I had mentioned that I had been buying Tarte, Makeup forever, and Mac foundations mostly before. And it really is just as good as the more expensive brands, it may not be the Coverage that you want or it may not cater to. A certain skin type but L’Oréal is just as nice as the high end ones. What’s your take on this, Christine?
Like any skin-based product, how it wears on you will depend on your skin type, what your skin likes (or doesn’t like), shade match, etc. If it works for you, it works! There are a lot of costs that go into producing product (not merely the raw materials cost). Some large conglomerates, like Estee Lauder Companies, L’Oreal, P&G will have prestige and mass brands, and you will see similar products in each. Usually, the prestige brand will have it first, and then it gets watered down as it goes through the chain – sometimes in a noticeable way, sometimes not. It really depends on the product. For example, Giorgio Armani’s Eyes to Kill Intense Eyeshadows are very similar to L’Oreal’s Infallibles, but Giorgio Armani’s shade range has more depth (and on me, Giorgio Armani’s wears longer).
Years ago, I was using Lancome Teinte Idole, but I stumbled upon a BOGO of L’Oréal Visible Lift, and grabbed to bottles, just to tide me over until I could replace the $40+ bottle that was running low (I bought 2 of the L’Oréal in case I wanted to make sure I got the right shade). When I tried it on, I realized it was pretty much *exactly* the same in terms of formula & coverage, although it turned out I was between the 2 shades I bought. Needless to say, I went back and grabbed 2 more bottles. By the time I got through them, my personal coverage needs had changed (for the better), but even had I continued to use use it, 2 bottles of the L’Oréal still would have been 1/2 the price of 1 bottle of the Lancome.
Before being bought by P&G, Smashbox owned Max Factor, so there is some overlap there, too!
I actually know quite a bit, since in Esthetics school you have to learn a lot about whats in face/beauty products. I also have a really great book with a ton of cosmetic ingredients that I reference.
Christine… I don’t think ithere is ever going to be any consensus, since you have in one side the health people, and in the other hand a very lucrative industry. Same with pharmaceuticals and food and FDA… It just doesn’t end. One can research but in the end I think one has to decide. Take for example Hydroquinone. Some studies state how this ingredient weakens your skin making you more prone to get skin cancer, yet you have a whole industry pushing it, since is so effective. In the end is your skin I think, and you decide if you take the chance or not.
I try to keep myself informed and do my homework before purchasing.
I’d love to know more about silicones, irritants or ingredients that people commonly have allergies to, and what it really means when things are hypoallergenic, noncomedogenic, etc.
It’s not makeup so much as skincare, but definitive research on charcoal would be greatly appreciated. Skincare companies say it draws out impurities, but research suggests it doesn’t actually do much.
And in makeup (ie primers) and hair care, silicones. Do they really clog pores? Do they really seal moisture out of curly hair? There are so many conflicting views and studies.
I’d like to learn why some products (makeup and skincare) that when used together, cause the pilling or rolling effect where the product balls up as you blend. Is there a reliable rule of thumb to not mix certain ingredients contained in 2 different products?
I want to know which ingredient in Météorites Crazy 68 Illuminating Compact is the one that irritates my eyes!
What types of ingredients to avoid that might cause acne. Anything to look for that might raise a red flag.
All of them lol. Especially parabens and stuff. There’s so much conflicting information out there. I just want to know what’s truly safe and what’s not
Whatever they use in (most) mascaras and liquid eyeliners that make my eyes burn so badly.
What they sent baby powder scented things with. I’m not allergic to baby powder, but I am to anything baby powder scented. Weird.