One Hot Interview : Mineral Makeup Mania’s Momma!

Mineral makeup afficionados like me need a community where you can just talk about your favorite subject any time of the day or night, with nice members sharing each other’s tips, tricks, and personal reviews about any and all brands of MMU (the acronym for mineral makeup). No “wo”-man is an island . . . all addicts need a support group! Being addicted to mineral makeup is certainly no different.

Mineral Makeup Mania - A Discerning Mineral Makeup Consumer’s Paradise
Mineral Makeup Mania opened May 2, 2004. If you think that a forum with a membership approaching 11,000 is enough for your daily mineral makeup fix, then this forum is for you! Every day, around 500 visitors post and interact with each other.

Mineral Makeup Mania is a mineral makeup maven’s absolute paradise. It has really helpful tips and tricks on applying mineral makeup straight from the members themselves. It also has really honest reviews of mineral makeup brands, as well as many mineral makeup experts (through experience) dissecting brands and analysing ingredients as to whether they’re pure mineral makeup . . . or not. One thing that I find really impressive about this forum is that some members totally acknowledge that mineral makeup preference is a personal thing, and even that natural may not always be better for everyone. Everyone is different, and some people can even be allergic to certain ingredients. At Mineral Makeup Mania, you get nothing but honest-to-goodness opinions, whether good or bad, and lots of reference information. Love it!

Perks? Many. Aside from the good reviews you’ll get, they also hold product testing sessions, group buys for discounts on products and accessories, a swap-n-sell corner, and an “Owners Chat Series”- where you get to meet and chat directly with the owners of some brands! It’s a great way to interact between consumers and brand owners. Cons? Your credit card will hate you! And chores will pile up as you spend hours enjoying yourself!

The Mother of Mineral Makeup Mania!

Okay, so she claims her picture looks like a mugshot. I call it a product of a beautiful, happy life and mineral makeup! Who wouldn’t want a gorgeous mom like that? I know I sure do! Haha!

Toni, more popularly known as Silverwitch5 (her handle @ the forums), is the hostess of Mineral Makeup Mania. Aside from taking care of close to 11,000 “kids” at the forum, she is also, in “real life” as she jokingly tells us, the mother of “two furkids”, a loving wife, and an accountant by profession. Did I miss out something? Oh, yes, she is a self-professed mineral makeup addict!

I asked her some questions to get to know her better, and I must say, I love her aura. Very light. Warm. Funny. Friendly. Two words: Open Arms. She is the perfect leader of all of us who love mineral makeup!

When did your skin first touch mineral makeup?

I’ve been a makeup addict my entire life. However, I stopped wearing (conventional) foundation and blush after high school due to terrible acne and breakouts. It just wasn’t worth the hassle, and I’m ashamed to say I never even gave sun protection a second thought. I’d do full eyeshadow, liner, mascara, and lips, thinking I was a-okay. Wrong!

With my past denseness in mind, the first mineral makeup products I ever used were Bare Escentual’s liner shadows, back in 2001. I was at home, recuperating from surgery, bored as hell, when a girlfriend called to ask if I was watching QVC. I wasn’t, so she ordered me to change the channel so she could show me the “powdered” eyeliners she’d been telling me about. I watched intently, placing an order for one of the liner shadow duos (Coffee Bean, Bark, and the brush) when the segment was over. When it arrived a few days later, I tried to apply them and thought they were ridiculous! Way too much work! LOL! However, I kept at it, and soon had the technique mastered. Once I got used to the brush and powder set up, I knew I could never return to pencils or liquids! That fostered a curiosity about the rest of BE’s line, so I ordered a starter kit and began exploring their foundation, blush, eyeshadows, etc. I ran around in the wrong foundation color for six months, but who cared, when I was just so happy I could wear foundation again! And not muck up my skin in the process.

After a time, I could see that BE’s foundation formula wasn’t my ideal, and I began to wonder if there were other mineral lines out there. I joined Delphi after my mineral curiosity led to a link at their BE Addicts forum. From there, it was just a natural progression to find those other companies (although there were a lot less of them back then). Five years later and I’m still curious! LOL! I’ve tried approximately 30 brands and counting so far. Luckily, I’ve found two Holy Grails in the foundation department (that are currently in business; there was a third (a first? LOL!) who’s out of business now), but I have many more when it comes to eyeshadow and blush!

How do you feel about being called “Mother of Mineral Makeup Addicts” ?

I’ve been called various “mothers” before, although not quite as flattering as this one! Tee hee! This is one mother I’m definitely happy to be. I believe I’m the forum alibi, too. Anyone who has a problem justifying their mineral addiction only has to show their spouse/complaining party my collection pics, and they’re off the hook!

Why should people use mineral makeup? What do you like best about it?

Anyone who has problem skin or wants to try a more natural approach in their beauty routine should give mineral makeup a try. And I don’t mean for a “natural look” per se, since minerals can take a face from just a bare hint of color to full-on drama, whatever the user prefers. In fact, a favorite saying of ours on the forum is that with minerals, there are no rules! There’s so much flexibility with mineral makeup, from applying wet/dry, to using various tools, to mixing and tweaking, the possibilities are endless!

I, myself, love mineral makeup because it makes me look beautiful and it treats my skin beautifully , and at the same time, they are unlike the “conventional” cosmetics that perpetually wreaked havoc. It’s also very cost-effective compared to the conventional stuff. A liquid foundation must be purchased every couple of months (or even more often) while the same spent in minerals will last for years! Also, there’s no comparison between the color dimension and depth of mineral makeup vs. the pressed variety. Those little jars of powder can leave you breathless! Or wanting to open them all and simply stare. LOL! Yes, going mineral is definitely an adjustment in both product and technique, but once mastered, it’s verrrry hard to go back!

What brands have you used, and which brands are considered your favorite?

I’ve used too many brands to list, but I’ll be happy to share some favorites. My two favorite foundations are bareFaced Minerals Velvet Plush formula, and Mineral Boutique’s Veil It formula. Both are made with Vitamin E, although they can also be requested without. Another nice thing about minerals . . . the owners are sooo easy to work with! bareFaced Minerals also makes the best mineral lippies on the planet in the form of Lippie Styx. Gorgeous colors, great smell and taste, and lasting performance. Adore!! For eyeshadow and blush, I have many more favorites, such as the aforementioned two, and in alpha order, a few more: Alima, Alpha Skincare, Bare Escentuals, GeoGrafx, J.Lynne Cosmetics, MAD Minerals, and Monave.

Okay, for the ultimate question. I love love asking this question. This is the ultimate “symptom” for mineral makeup addiction ( Haha! )

“Do you try to convert people into using mineral makeup when you go to parties, or any social function? “

Well, if the size of the collection is an indicator, I’m pretty darn extreme, I guess! As far as foisting minerals onto others, I tend to let the prey come to me. Haha! It usually starts with a compliment on some part of my makeup. I say, “Thanks! It’s mineral makeup.” And they say, “Huh? What’s that?” And so the dissertation begins! Or ends, in this particular case!

As of now, Toni’s plans for Mineral Makeup Mania are far from small. Her aim is to increase her forum members, and thereby increase the number of mineral makeup users around the world. Now, that, we strongly agree on!

So, if you want to learn all about mineral makeup, and read objective discussions, as well as mingle with mineral lovers themselves (we have to stick together, right?) Sign up today (membership is free), and be a member of the Mineral Makeup Mania Forum!