Side-by-Side Mineral Makeup Comparisons

Each company has many different products, and to compare each would take up too much room, so I just chose one product carried by all mineral makeup lines: loose powder foundation. This is also the most common product purchased, making it the most useful to look at. It is a safe assumption that however a foundation compares, their other products will follow in a relative manner. After reading through many forums, questions asked on blogs, and large search engine advertisers, I've compared what I believe to be the most popular names on the market to the same loose mineral foundation powder offered by PurelyCosmetics.

If an ingredient is in bold, it's not a natural earth mineral, and usually a skin-irritant or something else you don't want on your face. Some of these ingredients need a chemist to understand! Note that many of these products contain several different types of parabens. Parabens are preservatives, and appear to have a link to breast cancer as well as excessive aging of the skin. Some of these non-earth minerals aren't as bad as they sound; just fancy names for Vitamins E, K, C, & B (tocopheryl acetate, retinyl palmitate, ascorbyl palmitate, panthenol). Wax... well, do I need to say more?

Here's how they stack up:

PURELY COSMETICS:

Net weight: 6gm Cost: $22.00 Cost/Gram: $3.67

Ingredients: Mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxides, zinc oxide. May contain ultramarine.

BARE ESCENTUALS:

Net weight: 2gm Cost: $25.00 Cost/Gram: $12.50

Ingredients: Titanium dioxide, bismuth oxychloride, mica, iron oxide, zinc oxide. Products have expiration dates.

JANE IREDALE:

Net weight: 10.5gm Cost: $42.00 Cost/Gram: $40.00

Ingredients: Titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, mica, bismuth oxychloride, zinc stearate, dimethicone, boron nitride,stearic acid, pomegranate extract, may contain iron oxide, carmine, ultramarine.

GLO MINERALS:

Net weight: 10gm Cost: $37.00 Cost/Gram: $3.70