Spin-off: Makeup that is "healthy" and also good for middle-aged skin

[Harriet Vane]

Spinning off of Dawn's thread, where folks were offering helpful suggestions. My questions fall under two categories:

--What is "healthy" makeup?

--What's a good idea for skin care in middle age and beyond?

 

I have been using the same makeup for decades because I hate dealing with makeup. Most days I don't bother with anything at all.

BUT

I am fifty now. My skin is different. Plus I've grown into some granola-all-natural-environmental sensitivities. Plus I just worry. How can it possibly be good for skin to smear stuff on it all the time? And am I smearing on something cancerous? Yet I'm aging, and doesn't it help to soothe and preserve skin with lovely vitamins and potions?

You see how it goes, spinning round and round inside my own head, obsessing over Making The Right Decision For My Skin Care.

I managed for my dd's wedding, but now I've got another wedding coming up in December and I feel I should get a hold of myself and figure this out. For cryin' out loud.😆

 

So my questions:

Is there any such thing as "healthy" makeup?

What's a good idea for skin care in general? My skin is normal-to-dry. Is it really necessary to do all the stuff they do when you go to a Clinique makeover? (Cleanse, toner, moisturizer...)

 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

I try to stick to "healthy" makeup myself. For me, healthy makeup means I try to avoid parabens, petroleum products, phthalates (DBP, DEHP, DEP, etc.), ethanol amines (MEA, DEA, TEA), sulfates, triclosan, and synthetic fragrances.

Look at brands like: Kosas, Milk, Ilia, Bite, W3LL, Tarte, and some of the others.  Ilia makes a multistick that I love because you can use it for both cheeks and lips. W3LL makes a decent mascara. Foundation is where it gets rough for me. IT cc+ cream has a lot of silicones in it. I have mixed feelings about that, but I do use that foundation. Bare Minerals Original is pretty clean, but it uses Trisodium EDTA as a preservative. Again, any time you have a liquid foundation you need a preservative....but bare minerals powder foundation can really settle into fine lines. Tarte amazonian clay has silicones also.  I feel ok using any of those, and I am pretty crunchy granola, but I know some people that only wash with Dr. Bronner's, only use apricot oil as a moisturizer, and only stick to organic powdered makeup because they are beyond me in crunchiness.  They are also only organic vegan people, iykwim. I tend to find a middle ground.

[Harriet Vane]

1 minute ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I try to stick to "healthy" makeup myself. For me, healthy makeup means I try to avoid parabens, petroleum products, phthalates (DBP, DEHP, DEP, etc.), ethanol amines (MEA, DEA, TEA), sulfates, triclosan, and synthetic fragrances.

Look at brands like: Kosas, Milk, Ilia, Bite, W3LL, Tarte, and some of the others.  Ilia makes a multistick that I love because you can use it for both cheeks and lips. W3LL makes a decent mascara. Foundation is where it gets rough for me. IT cc+ cream has a lot of silicones in it. I have mixed feelings about that, but I do use that foundation. Bare Minerals Original is pretty clean, but it uses Trisodium EDTA as a preservative. Again, any time you have a liquid foundation you need a preservative....but bare minerals powder foundation can really settle into fine lines. Tarte amazonian clay has silicones also.  I feel ok using any of those, and I am pretty crunchy granola, but I know some people that only wash with Dr. Bronner's, only use apricot oil as a moisturizer, and only stick to organic powdered makeup because they are beyond me in crunchiness.  They are also only organic vegan people, iykwim. I tend to find a middle ground.

Such a wonderfully thorough response! TYVM!!

Do you use lotion or moisturizer?

[Catwoman]

When you're shopping for foundation, if you buy one with SPF, don't forget to check whether it has chemical or mineral ingredients. Some companies, like It Cosmetics, have changed their ingredients in some of their products, so you have to be careful (even with products you have used in the past.)

[Toocrazy!!]

It’s a great thought! 
 

I see this website recommended a lot. I’m just starting to read about it though. 
 

https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

[Indigo Blue]

Here’s my two cents😁 First:

 I CAN’T wear makeup because it gets into my dry eyes (especially mascara) and affects my vision. Lotions and creams need to stay away from my eyes, too. Exception is castor oil, petrolatum, and mineral oil. 

I don’t like the way makeup it feels.

I also worry about what we smear on our face. Some of that absorbs in or else nicotine patches and icy hot wouldn’t be effective. 
 

There is truth that fear mongering over ingredients is just that….fear mongering.  On the other hand, I believe there is SOME truth to some of the concerns. 

After all my own research and reading, I’m not afraid of petrolatum and mineral oil. Absolutely nothing prevents transepidermal water loss (TEWL) as effectively as petrolatum. Others will disagree about using petrolatum, which is fine. Over 50 skin needs this as long as you don’t have oily skin. It needs to be very thinly layered on because it’s heavy. Aquaphor is also great and has a safe ingredient list. When Olay used to be Oil of Olay, petrolatum used to be the superstar ingredient. It’s what made vintage Oil of Olay so fantastic. 

The absolute best thing you can do for your skin is to use sunscreen every day.

Here’s what I do (and you are asking about makeup but I don’t use it, so what I do will be minus that):

Wash face with oil based cleanser with warm cloth. Rinse cloth and gently wipe off cleanser. 

Apply Ceramedx Facial Moisturizer (just purchased this. Has ceramides and is non greasy so works well under sunscreen. I like this so far). This also has an ingredient list that I’m comfortable with.

Let Ceramedx absorb in and put on Badger mineral sport sunscreen in the tin. The tube is super greasy. The tin is just right for my dry skin. It isn’t too heavy, but oily types wouldn’t like it. Again…the tube…yuck.

Then I do eyebrows, lips, and a bit of blush, which is just a tube of lipstick designated for that. If I’m going out, I might line my lips. Or not. Eyebrows is Burt’s Bees pencil. Lips is Mineral Fusion lip gloss. 

Some of what I use isn’t cruelty free, and I don’t like that. Maybe I’ll discover a good substitute for these. If it matters, Ceramedx is cruelty free and is marketed as a Cerave dupe. 

Night time is just oil cleansing and moisturizer.

The petrolatum comes in for dry winter skin and usually just around eyes for extra moisture and because I won’t use anything else near my eyes. I do moisturize my eye lids with castor oil after washing my eyes and brows with a bit of Aquaphor. It’s the only thing that works. 

My skin is very happy with this simple, safe, effective, and easy routine. 
 

 

 

 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

19 minutes ago, Harriet Vane said:

Such a wonderfully thorough response! TYVM!!

Do you use lotion or moisturizer?

Yes, I do.  I have eczema, and so I am not always able to follow my preferred list of ingredients, because my first priority is maintaining a healthy skin barrier. I have allergies to both coconut and aloe, and I can't use very much beeswax, so a lot of products are knocked out for me.

For me, I wash my face with micellar water and in the morning then add a sunscreen. In the evening, I clean with micellar water and then do a few different The Ordinary Products. Niacinamide, Buffet, and a moisturizer. https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/products/968484-The_Ordinary_Natural_Moisturizing_Factors__HA/ Occasionally, I use Inkey List retinol cream. 

I'm about to trial Clinique's rosacea product line to try to deal with a flare.  It uses prebiotics, which I think is good, but it doesn't wholly line up with my ingredient list preferences. 

[Indigo Blue]

I like to avoid many of the ingredients prairiewindmomma does. I like to avoid preservatives and things with a long list of ingredients. I finally had to make peace with dimethicone. It seems to be lower on the list of concerns and it helps my skin.

 

[Brittany1116]

For skincare, you might want to look into Acure. I have been using it for atleast 8 years, primarily the cream cleanser and argan oil. I have 3 younger sisters within 2-8 years of my age and my skin looks as good as or better than theirs.

[Indigo Blue]

Oh, and my opinion about toner is it’s not necessary, especially if it’s astringent. Not good for older and wiser  dry skin. 
 

And….just one more thing…and this is just my personal “thing”…since you are asking about this…

Phenoxyethanol is in everything now. Even in “clean” formulas. It’s a preservative. It replaced tocopherol, which is vitamin e. I honestly don’t know wether I should be concerned or not, so I just avoid it if I can. Personally, I think if you use too many products with any one ingredient such as phenoxyethanol, it could potentially not be good. All the things I listed above don’t contain this. But you can read and decide for yourself. 

Edited July 25, 2022 by Indigo Blue

[AbcdeDooDah]

I no longer wear foundation. Instead I use Mad Hippie sheer tinted sunscreen. 

https://www.ulta.com/p/sheer-tint-sun-serum-pimprod2030864

[Indigo Blue]

1 hour ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I know some people that only wash with Dr. Bronner's, only use apricot oil as a moisturizer, and only stick to organic powdered makeup because they are beyond me in crunchiness.  They are also only organic vegan people, iykwim. I tend to find a middle ground.

I’d love to be more crunchy! It just doesn’t work anymore with my over 50 dry skin!! Lol. It’s awful to have a tight, dry face! I don’t even want to think about putting Dr. B on my face!🙂

[history-fan]

 

https://shop.annmariegianni.com/

Edited July 25, 2022 by history-fan

[Selkie]

My skin is pretty easy and low maintenance these days (unlike when I used to have rosacea). I wash with water and use moisturizer from Andalou Naturals.

I use this moisturizer in the morning:

https://andalou.com/collections/moisturizers/products/brightening-probiotic-c-renewal-cream

and this one at night (it smells heavenly):

https://andalou.com/collections/moisturizers/products/age-defying-resveratrol-q10-night-repair-cream

and I love their BB cream with sunscreen:

https://andalou.com/collections/facial-spf/products/brightening-vitamin-c-bb-beauty-balm-sheer-tint-spf-30

More important than products, I find that eating lots of plants is crucial for healthy skin. As the saying goes, the skin is a window to your health.

 

[crazyforlatin]

2 hours ago, AbcdeDooDah said:

I no longer wear foundation. Instead I use Mad Hippie sheer tinted sunscreen. 

https://www.ulta.com/p/sheer-tint-sun-serum-pimprod2030864

I was never comfortable wearing foundation, mainly concealing blemishes, but now all I use is tinted mineral sunscreens. I’ve tried a lot of brands to test them out. Mad Hippie was one that I liked. I believe the YouTuber at Fifty and Flashy liked it. 

[KungFuPanda]

I say find a tinted moisturizer with sunscreen that doesn’t break you out and call it good. 

[Clarita]

17 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

I say find a tinted moisturizer with sunscreen that doesn’t break you out and call it good. 

I second this and a good cleanser. 

I know several beautiful women in their 60+. Some apply the full regimen on their face (all makeup, all the 20 step plan), some apply very few (no makeup, wash face with water, just use sunscreen), so know there is some genetics involved, some personality involved. 

Getting a full face of makeup on once or twice a year probably isn't going to be the determiner of whether you'll get cancer or not. The stuff you use to get yourself dolled up a few times a year doesn't have to be the stuff you use on your face the rest of the year.   

[Harriet Vane]

Re tinted moisturizer--

That sounds great for most things.

I have a sprinkle of spider veins on only one cheek. When I get all dolled up, that's what I want to hide. Is there something heavier that covers that?

 

I cannot tell you all how much I appreciate what you are sharing. I was genuinely overwhelmed about researching this.

[Clarita]

What you want for the dolled up occasion is probably a full coverage foundation with a makeup primer underneath. Then, after you do that you have to go ahead and put the color back on your face. 

As to a brand or suggestion of the best. I would suggest to go to one of those make up stores like Sephora and ask for help to find one. A favorite brand usually has a lot to do with the skin tone and color one has and which brand offers the best match. consistency, skin sensitivities, 

[Indigo Blue]

Harriet, I think you should try one of the creams Selkie posted. Andalou Naturals has really good products. I used to use them all the time. Since you are concerned a bit about ingredients, these are safe ingredients and very high quality without being too expensive. They have good hand lotions and creams, too.

[iamonlyone]

What about under eye cover up? I use a Mineral Fusion concealer, but cream and tiny wrinkles aren't a good combination. (I inherited darkish under-eye circles from the Polish side of my family; we all have them.) I have also used Pacifica correcting concealer, and experienced the same problem. Recommendations?

And I second the Acure products for face creams/serums. They work well for me.

[prairiewindmomma]

I have some broken capillaries in my face from an old injury. I use Bare Naturals cream stick concealer and get full coverage from that. 
 

IT cosmetics cc+ cream (which does include sunscreen) is pretty full coverage. It hides my rosacea when it flares in hot weather. 

[Catwoman]

30 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I have some broken capillaries in my face from an old injury. I use Bare Naturals cream stick concealer and get full coverage from that. 
 

IT cosmetics cc+ cream (which does include sunscreen) is pretty full coverage. It hides my rosacea when it flares in hot weather. 

Keep an eye on the ingredients in your IT Cosmetics when you re-buy, because they are changing the ingredients in quite a few of their products and there are now chemical sunscreens in some of them. QVC just had a TSV with the Nude Glow SPF 40 CC Cream in it, and I didn't order it, but I found out later that people were livid when their packages arrived and they saw that it has chemical sunscreen now and not mineral sunscreen.

[BusyMom5]

I like Tarte foundation for a full coverage day, but you need a good moisturizer.   I currently use one called Vanicream.  Most days I only use moisturizer, nothing else.  I've found that I keep becoming "allergic" to a lot of brands- I cannot use stuff like Clinique or I just feel itchy all over my face.  

[Clarita]

3 hours ago, iamonlyone said:

What about under eye cover up? I use a Mineral Fusion concealer, but cream and tiny wrinkles aren't a good combination. (I inherited darkish under-eye circles from the Polish side of my family; we all have them.) I have also used Pacifica correcting concealer, and experienced the same problem. Recommendations?

Benefit used to have a thing called Erase Paste I guess it may have changed to being their Boi-ing Concealer. This is more of a paste texture (tacky and thick) for me at the time it would smooth out the divots on my face from acne. Older people did like it for smoothing out small wrinkles as well as concealing. Not vouching for healthiness or even something that should be used everyday. To me it would be very suffocating to use everyday definitely not what I would call light. 

I also cannot believe Benefit Cosmetic is the only one out there making a paste consistency concealer. 

[Ellie]

12 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

• Is there any such thing as "healthy" makeup?
• What's a good idea for skin care in general? My skin is normal-to-dry. Is it really necessary to do all the stuff they do when you go to a Clinique makeover? (Cleanse, toner, moisturizer...)

I don't know if any one brand of make-up is healthier than another. I think it's more important to clean your face daily, removing all make-up.

Yes, I think cleaner-toner-moisturizer is important, but then it's something I've been doing for close to 50 years, and I'm just used to it. 🙂 I do notice a difference in my skin, though, if I don't do all three steps. Well, mostly, lol.

I shower at night and wash my face with a coloidal silver soap, which seems to help my rosacea a little bit. I also like having just a little bit of exfoliation that happens with the washcloth, you know? I don't follow up with toner/moisturizer, because I apply a prescription gel (because rosacea). In the morning, I wash my hair and then my face, and *then* it's always the three steps. I use a light moisturizer because I cannot bear to feel *oily*.  Currently, I'm using Amway products, but Clinique and Neutrogena have also done well. I apply a "dry" sun screen just on my neck (I wear hats when I go out, but the sun will still get my neck).

I don't wear any make-up unless I'm leaving the house 🙂 and usually it's just eyes--eyebrows, because otherwise it looks like I don't have any, and mascara. I might apply a little rosy blush. I only use powder when I'm feeling a little dressier, and then I use Bare Minerals powders. Yes, I went into the store and had someone help me.

[regentrude]

15 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

What's a good idea for skin care in general? My skin is normal-to-dry. Is it really necessary to do all the stuff they do when you go to a Clinique makeover? (Cleanse, toner, moisturizer...)

No, not necessary.
I clean my skin with water (in the morning while I shower, at night at the sink) and use high SPF sunscreen when I am out hiking/kayaking/gardening.  I have never found cleansers and other face stuff to improve my skin.

Edited July 26, 2022 by regentrude

[Ann.without.an.e]

I have rosacea and a lot of contact allergies (to chemicals, waxes, and resins) and I don’t want to use chemicals anyway. At night I use a thin layer of organic argan or rosehip oil and then I top it with Evan Healy whipped shea butter with olive leaf. It feels kind of glossy but it soaks in while I sleep and looks great in the morning. The only other thing that touches my face is Elta MD UV Clear spf 46 sunscreen. I used tinted because it helps eliminate the white residue of mineral sunscreen. Since I don’t wear make up I just wash my face with plain water. I know a lot of people use anti aging stuff at 44. All I’ll say is that 3 people asked me a at the hospital with DS (21) if I was his sister or girlfriend or wife. No one asked if I was his mom 😂
 

 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2022 by Ann.without.an.e

[Indigo Blue]

8 minutes ago, Ann.without.an.e said:

Evan Healy whipped shea butter

I tried this once! It’s great stuff. Such a nice texture. 

[Catwoman]

@Ellie —Can you tell me what brand of sunscreen you use on your neck? I’m looking for something with a drier consistency.  🙂