Mineral Makeup Brand Spotlight : Colorescience

Perhaps everyone who breathes mineral makeup has the same curious question as I do, “Who invented mineral makeup?” Chances are, you’d get the long-winded answers, such as the tale on how the ancient Egyptians figured out on their own how to make cosmetics from mother nature, and so forth.

But if you want to know who invented the modern mineral makeup that we use today, then we have a clear answer – she’s Diane Ranger, of Colorescience.

The Woman Behind The Brand

Diane Ranger has got some impressive credentials, alright. This includes being a specialist in cosmetic chemistry research and development, coining the term “mineral makeup” in 1977 , having Bare Escentuals as her brainchild which she first founded, and catapulted to the notoriety that it has today. With some turn of events, she unexpectedly left in 1990 to pursue her original loose mineral concept, thus, the brand Colorescience. Now, what was she thinking when she invented mineral makeup? I know, alot of our readers are curious about it, so we asked her, “What is exactly on yor mind when you first coined the term mineral makeup in 1977?”

We are graced with the answer of the inventor,
“Geeezeee…It’s kind of hard to remember “exactly” what was on my mind 30 years ago!:)
But the evolution came from using iron oxide instead of dyes. I imported Egyptian Kohl and loved how it colored the skin. But Kohl was notapproved by the FDA so I began using iron oxides to substitute for Kohl.Then I added bismuth oxychloride to add a velvety feel to the “gritty” iron oxides. Next, I added titanium dioxide to get the product to stay on the skin instead of flying out of the container. It also gave opacity so I could make the iron oxides (that were originally only color for the eyes) turn into foundations that gave full coverage. I did not know at that time that it also protected the skin from the sun. Then I added mica to give the formula an even application.
I avoided all traditional ingredients of the day(because they caused skin care problems): mineral oil, talc, alcohol, dyes, perfumes, preservatives.
So there I was at the end of the day with ALL mineral ingredients and ONLY mineral ingredients. Voila…mineral makeup.”

Wow, so it’s a treat for everyone who reads this, we’ve just entered the mind of the inventor of mineral makeup. How cool is that?

Colorscience – “The Gold Standard”

After leaving Bare Escentuals, Diane Ranger pursued her original loose mineral concept, and founded Colorescience. Colorescience is a mineral makeup brand with an array of “cutting edge mineral and crystal-based formulas that are rated up to SPF 30.” They pride themselves to be the most researched and tested mineral makeup brand, that only use the best ingredients.

Great mineral makeup, according to mineral makeup, is described by Colorscience as,

“The best cooks use the highest quality ingredients, and to execute a recipe correctly they add ingredients in the right amounts,” explains Diane Ranger, owner of Colorescience. “Quality mineral makeup is no different. Ingredients must maintain their integrity via the right manufacturing procedures – and you can’t change anything that would take your product out of the mineral makeup category. You can’t use lesser quality ingredients to save money.”

Colorescience prides itself by making products with every single ingredient being beneficial for your skin, thus, staying true to the original meaning of mineral makeup. Thus, Colorescience products are regarded as the gold standard by which other mineral makeup brands are “judged.”

One thing that I found very interesting and unique about Colorescience, checking out their website, is that their packaging is very different from other brands – their mineral foundations come in a self-dispensing brush, promising consistent application, saving us from all the “mess” we get from trying to get minerals in our brushes.

Just how good is Colorescience, well, see for yourself. Below is a photo of a Colorescience user suffering from Hypopigmentation :

Amazing, isn’t it? I’m sure this should be included in the list for the mineral makeup brands to try to hit your Holy Grail. This might be it!

Colorscience is available at fine day spas, resorts, dematologist and plastic surgeon offices, makeup studios, and several online stores such as Amazon (click this link to shop for Colorescience) . For more information, visit Colorescience’s website.