Saturday, June 18, 2011

What's in my mineral foundation??? Spotlight on Estee Lauder Nutrititous Vita-mineral loose foundation

I don't normally feel the need to review or talk about foundations seeing as I usually make my own mineral foundation, but I recently started using a commercial brand of "Mineral foundation" that I felt the need to talk about.  The foundation in question is Estee Lauder's Nutritious Vita-Mineral loose powder makeup with SPF 15.  First of all let me just say I actually really like this foundation.  It has a nice texture, it's creamy despite being a loose powder, it has excellent coverage, it lasts all day on my face, it spreads and applies well, it conceals spots easily.... In short it has everything you really want from a mineral powder foundation.

Now for just a second close your eyes, and let me say the name Estee Lauder, Nutritious Vita- mineral foundation, what images does that conjure up in your head?  For me I think Quality product, ingredients that are good for your skin (Nutritious, Vita- mineral ) great packaging, high end product.  Am I wrong to think that?  I don't think so.

So I have to say I was seriously disappointed when I took a closer look at the ingredients listing on the back of the box it came in.  Just in case anyone wants to bother reading through the listing, I have included a short brief of what most of the ingredients do in brackets after each one.

Active Ingredient: Titanium Dioxide 2.1%. Other Ingredients: Talc, Polymethylsilsesquioxane( lubricating, smooth, silky feel to the product) , Hydrogenated Polydecene (anti aging- synthetic), Boron Nitride (slip and adhesion of products), Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate (oil control), Methicone( barrier for makeup to stick to, stopping makeup sliding off - synthetic), Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Magnesium Myristate(adhesion, free flow, slip, soft feel, rub resistance, lubricity, surface smoothness, and water repellent) , Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) - (antioxidant) Sterols, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate( vitamin C), Zeolite (Moisture absorber so oil control), Retinyl Palmitate ( vitamin A), Caprylyl Glycol, Calcium Silicate (anti caking), Hydrogenated Styrene/Isoprene Copolymer, Sodium Chloride (salt), Tocopheryl Acetate ( form of vitamin E), Lauryl Methacrylate/Glycol Dimethacrylate Crosspolymer, Hexylene Glycol ( couldn't find much on this one, but it's common in anti-freeze, paints, lacquers, varnishes and paint strippers WTF is it doing in mineral makeup???), Zinc Stearate(water repellent- makes cosmetics water resistant, sweat resistant etc), Silica ( reduces appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, absorbs oil makes product feel soft) , Potassium Sorbate (preservative), Phenoxyethanol (Preservative). May Contain: Bismuth Oxychloride( common cause of allergic reactions commonly itching and tightness of the skin), Titanium Dioxide Iron Oxides, Mica, Yellow 5 Lake, Chromium Oxide Greens, Ferric Ferrocyanide, Blue 1 Lake, Chromium Hydroxide Greens, Carmine. 

OK so that looks like a SH**load of ingredients for a mineral foundation, and it is.  Taking a much closer look at these ingredients we discover that after the active ingredient of Titanium, the next one on the list is TALC.... now this is the bit I'm seriously disappointed about. Nutritious loose powder I believe retails for around $68 AUD here.  Talc is a cheap filler ingredient, not to mention the case studies that have been done that have proven it carcinogenic ( causes cancer ) I get that most on shelf makeup contains Talc, but it is the last thing I expect to see in any mineral product especially topping the list - meaning it has the greatest percentage in the jar than any of the other ingredients.  I really have issues with a high end, expensive product containing talc, ESPECIALLY something being advertised as "  Nutritious - Vita- mineral powder " with the following selling points-

The only mineral makeup perfected by Estée Lauder skincare. The nutrient-rich formula includes:
  • Minerals to help protect and fortify the skin to build up its natural defenses
  • Vitamins A, C and E to help improve skin's overall condition and maintain its healthy radiance
  • Pomegranate extract-known as a super-potent antioxidant-to help protect against daily free-radical assaults "
Description taken from Estee Lauder's Aussie website

Yes it does contain a lot of good ingredients, but I see they neglected to tell consumers it's full of a cheap filler known to cause cancer Hmmmm gotta love the omission, marketing in Estee Lauder must be proud!

Have you ever used something that you thought was great for your skin only to discover that it was loaded with not-so-nice ingredients?

EDIT - This is my personal opinion on the ingredients contained within this product, some may agree with me some people may not.

3 comments:

Blackmagic said...

Talc seems like it's the main ingredient in the product, that's crap! What a waste of money. I'm thinking of buying the clinique powder but I'm unsure now as I may find talc in it too. I expect to find talc in other products but not these high end ones.

RitualEyes said...

Yeah same here, i would almost expect to see talc in BYS or DB's mineral powder, but not in something like EL, having said that it's actually a really nice product, I just don't like the ingredients. there seems to also be a lot of other really uneccesary other ingredients in it.

Maybe try and get hold of the ing listing for the clinique one first... unfortunatly the big companies dont seem to list ingredients on their product info tabs on their websites, so sometimes it be tricky to get hold of the details.

Blackmagic said...

Yeah it's funny that as DB have a new mineral powder and they state on their pack the below...

"Natural Ground Minerals is free of talc, bismuth, fragrance, parabens and oils. Instead, it is infused with pure minerals, natural ingredients and organic materials designed to nurture the skin"

It's strange to think that DB would have better ingredients. I'm sure the estee lauder one works better overall though.