Healthy Makeup Application

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend exploring all the posts here at our Virtual Spa. I would like to take a moment now to put on my "mineral makeup consultant's hat" and share a few tips about makeup application and brush usage. I'll warn you upfront that this post will include some pretty unusual vidoe clips, but I hope you will learn a lot and enjoy the process. :)

After questions about how to select or apply makeup and proper color selection, the next most frequent set of questions I tend to get are about makeup brushes. I've posted a few articles about brushes in the past and wanted to build on that a bit more today. Most beauty experts recommend natural animal hair brushes for the highest quality application. Due to allergies, I personally will only use synthetic bristles. There are many great brushes available through my Affordable Mineral Makeup™ website as well as other sites. A fairly generic explanation of brush basics can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEx8Y2CIDcY.

For mineral makeup foundation application, I feel that nothing works as well as a Kabuki style brush, though some people are happy with the results they get when applying with a large, fluffy brush such as the one quickly demonstarted in this video clip.

There is an interesting video clip about Kabuki brushes that I have decided to share with you after debating back and forth quite a bit. The reason I hesitate to post it is because I cannot endore either the producer of the video nor the makeup brand he mentions in his clip. Yes, he...

This was honestly quite unsettling for me to watch the first time because I've never seen a man apply makeup (and we are InnerBeautyGIRLZ here afterall) but I'm going to go ahead and stretch myself to share it with you because the information and techniques he shares are some of the most clear and informative I've seen. So I hope you can glean the good from this video and enjoy learning about the two main styles of Kabuki brushes along with application tips and techniques for each. Check out Dome or Flat Top Kabuki? at www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ7BwLgDBek

More information on selecting makeup brushes in general, with some specific attention given to eye makeup application can be found on this clip. You may also enjoy Tips for Eyeshadow Application, again with the understanding that I am not endorsing the makeup brands promoted in the video clip.

You may wonder why I am so passionate about only using pure mineral makeup brands such as Affordable Mineral Makeup™ (AMM). Believe it or not, it is not because I am a representative for this company that I talk about it so much. On the contrary, I decided to become an AMM rep because I already strongly believed in and regularly promoted treating my skin (the largest organ of my body) with care and avoiding as much chemical exposure as possible. I have a poor immune system and a lot of allergies and chemical sensitvities and AMM is one of the purest lines I've found, free of chemical additives and fillers like Bismuth, talc, cornstarch or other ingredients that can harbor bacteria or cause allergic reactions. I am happy to promote it because it is a quality product at a price I can justify affording.

You may not struggle with the same sensitivites I face, but I still challenge you to think about what you are putting on your skin and to look for the healthiest options possible. Even many mineral makeup brands on the market are still chemically-based makeups with some added minerals in hopes of marketing to the natural makeup crowd. Simply be aware that the name "mineral" in a makeup line does not automatically make it a healthy makeup alternative. Be an informed consumer, read the ingredients lists, and be sure you know what you are putting on your face and why. Affordable Mineral Makeup™ fully discloses all of our ingredients and the purpose for each one on our website. Check out the Compact for Safe Cosmetics as a great resource to learn about the health risks of various cosmetic lines.