Make your own loose powder for sensitive/rosacea type skin
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Thu Oct 13, 2011 8:54 pm

Hello! I have very sensitive/rosacea type skin, and would like to make a loose powder that won't irritate my face. Mineral makeups hurt my skin, leaving it red and sore. Has anyone tried rice powder or silk powder? I tried a kaolin clay and talc combination, but my skin became very dry. Any suggestions about ingredients or ideas for simple recipes would be great!!

Thanks,
Linda

free skin care · Fri Oct 14, 2011 5:44 am

What are you wanting from your powder, oil absorption, setting foundation or evening out the complexion? Might be a silly question but ... have you tried applying your powdered products with super fine, super soft brush or patting on with a synthetic sponge? I find many brushes that feel soft on my hand don't on my face, whereas my Sigma kabuki is so soft it can tickle, and I cannot feel the individual bristles at all! Alternatively using a primer under your make up might give your skin a layer of protection? GOSH offer one that is nothing but silicones and is inexpensive.

Fri Oct 14, 2011 7:29 am

Thanks for the reply. I'm just looking for a loose powder to dust onto my face just to even out the complexion. Nothing more than that. It's a matter of figuring out which powder won't hurt my skin. I do have some rice and silk powder on order. Also, I use a soft brush to pat the powder onto the skin. I used to use a product called Lavera which was great, but had a bad skin reaction to the "new" formulation. (They should have kept it the way it was.)

Have a great day,
Linda

free skin care · Fri Oct 14, 2011 11:42 am

I feel for you with changes in formulation or discontinued products as I have sensitive skin myself. Have you tried to source the old product on eBay or are you able to find out what the ingredients were? Also have you tried sourcing a super finely ground MMU in case it's the size of the particles which aggravate?

I'm still a little confused as to your needs because concealer and foundation (I include MMU in that category) are what even out the complexion. Traditional loose powders are designed for setting liquid foundation or blotting oil; ditto talc, kaolin and rice powder.

free skin care · Fri Oct 14, 2011 12:52 pm

I second the taking a look at your brushes. Synthetic are much softer than traditional animal hair ones. I also suggest using flocked sponge. Whatever you decide be sure to keep it clean.

free skin care · Fri Oct 14, 2011 12:57 pm

If you are looking to mix up a batch I suggest checking out the DIY sites.

i like coastalscents

http://www.coastalscents.com/

I bought a bunch of jars (I like to mix my own mineral makeup colours). They do have cheap brushes. I personally prefer to spend a little more.

I got silica powder and rice powder very cheap. I also suggest zinc powder as it is very soothing for sensitive skin. My sheer zinc powder is from Silk Naturals. Karen the owner has rosecea also. SN has samples of the powders and most mineral makeup companies do also.

Fri Oct 14, 2011 5:07 pm

Thanks for the replies. I do have a list of ingredients in the Lavera powder that didn't cause skin irritation. So I have recently ordered silk, silica, and rice powder. I will look into zinc powder as well. I find that wearing a simple powder actually makes the sensitive skin feel good. Now to figure out a recipe that might work. I appreciate all your ideas!

Linda Razz

Mon Oct 17, 2011 6:02 pm

Linda,

can you please post the recipe when you find one that works for you? My skin is really sensitive too. I'd love to know what you come up with.

Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:07 pm

I sure hope I can figure out a some kind of simple powder. I will be trying rice powder, silk powder, silica, and I also ordered fractionated coconut oil (caprylic triglyceride). I have no idea if this will work, but I noticed this ingredient in my moisturizer. The first four ingredients in the "Lavera" that I used to use were talc, silica, silk, and tricaprylin. Lawmom, is there anything out there that works for you? Are you able to wear mineral makeup? I tried applying zinc oxide to my skin, but it only made it uncomfortable. They say this is good for rosacea. I'm fed up with my own skin. Confused

Tue Oct 18, 2011 4:46 pm

I think the problem might be that a lot of mineral makeup products out there are not as natural as they claim to be. I don't wear makeup very often because my skin gets dry and rough if I apply makeup too often. I want to try making my own makeup for that reason. There are at least a couple books that have been written on how to do it... you can find some on Amazon. I'm thinking of ordering some.

free skin care · Wed Oct 19, 2011 3:09 am

linda417 wrote:

I sure hope I can figure out a some kind of simple powder. I will be trying rice powder, silk powder, silica, and I also ordered fractionated coconut oil (caprylic triglyceride). I have no idea if this will work, but I noticed this ingredient in my moisturizer. The first four ingredients in the "Lavera" that I used to use were talc, silica, silk, and tricaprylin. Lawmom, is there anything out there that works for you? Are you able to wear mineral makeup? I tried applying zinc oxide to my skin, but it only made it uncomfortable. They say this is good for rosacea. I'm fed up with my own skin. Confused

Sorry to read of your frustrations. Crying or Very sad

Zinc oxide is antibacterial and a physical sunscreen, both of which are beneficial to many skin conditions including rosacea. However it has drying qualities; in a cream or ointment that is offset by other ingredients. Dehydrated skin is more sensitive and can allow opportunistic bacteria to cause mini breakouts. Have you considered purchasing a formulation text book? They exist for pharmaceutical manufacturing so I am sure there are cosmetic science equivalents.

Also are you already consistently eating a clean, anti-inflammatory diet and have a healthy lifestyle in general? Even if this only has a modest effect it might be sufficient to make your skin a little more manageable as you experiment.

Wed Oct 19, 2011 8:25 am

Yes, I do eat a healthy diet, and exercise on a regular basis. It's always a good point to bring up, because it really does make you feel a lot better.
Interesting idea about the do it yourself cosmetic book. I could only imagine how many books are on the market! I'll have to start looking around.
Thanks for the ideas! Very Happy

free skin care · Fri Oct 21, 2011 4:35 am

Forget rice powder it's grainy as all getout. I think it's horrible to work with. A much nicer alternative is tapioca starch which is very silky fine and soft. Can also be bought at any Asian grocer for next to nothing. Tapioca starch also gives a porcelain finish and oesnt settle into pores and lines. If you have rosacea I would recommend staying away from both silk and silica which are drying on skin.

A basic formulation is mica (completely inert and non sensitizing) tapioca starch, zinc ( you need this for staying power, the finer the grade the better) and some form of colorant as zinc is whitening.

Personally though I wouldn't bother making your own as it's not an easy task to get a pleasing result. You will likely waste time and money and have to buy something anyway. I would just look for a brand with an ingredient list similar to the above. They are usually the cheaper mineral brands. Ironically, the more high-end the mineral brand, the more likely they are to contain allergens.

free skin care · Fri Oct 21, 2011 8:43 am

linda417 wrote:

Yes, I do eat a healthy diet, and exercise on a regular basis. It's always a good point to bring up, because it really does make you feel a lot better.
Interesting idea about the do it yourself cosmetic book. I could only imagine how many books are on the market! I'll have to start looking around.
Thanks for the ideas! Very Happy

Yes I'd imagine there are loads of commercial DIY books on the market! Try a cosmetic science text so you get formulation theory rather than recipes: the type of book a trainee esthetician or degree student would need to purchase. Wink

free skin care · Fri Oct 21, 2011 9:12 am

An equal combination of corn starch, baby powder (will help with the skin), and a basic loose powder will give you a very nice natural looking invisible powder that wont irritate your skin.

free skin care · Fri Oct 21, 2011 10:45 am

NotMeNotYou, I think there are finely milled rice powders available. I heard of one that's triple milled or something, incredibly inexpensive, and available from Sephora. Or do you mean that those are still lacking in some way?

I think a big point raised in this discussion is there are all different types of grades of products, so you need to do your homework and ask around to find out which can be trusted and are actually the purest, finest, etc. Especially for sensitive skin. I guess that's what we're doing in this thread, lol!

I'd stay away from baby powder - the perfumes in some of those things irritate a sensitive nose, nevermind skin. And loose powder can mean any number of things?

I imagine it can be a lot of work - and scary - for those with sensitive skin!

free skin care · Fri Oct 21, 2011 6:00 pm

Not all baby powders contain perfume LoriA in fact only some do, reason being is that fragrance free means less chance of irritation. A good example of this are the organic baby powders. Loose powder is a form of makeup, you know? You have pressed and then loose, pressed and then loose.

free skin care · Fri Oct 21, 2011 7:34 pm

?
Yes, that's why I said "in some". And what I was getting at is that it looks like she's trying to isolate ingredients here and what's termed "baby powder" can sometimes be just corn starch or a whole mess of things. My understanding is that this whole thread is a discussion of what ingredients to use to make up a loose powder which she won't be sensitive to.
Thanks for clarifying though, echoecho - pressed and then loose, pressed and then loose, lol!

free skin care · Fri Oct 21, 2011 7:58 pm

Glad to hear that it could be clarified for you Smile

free skin care · Sun Oct 23, 2011 8:28 pm

LoriA, that may be the case but I've never found any rice powder that could hold a candle to the performance characteristics of tapioca starch found in a local grocery store.

In any case I've spent years formulating both my own skin care and makeup and I went back to purchasing makeup. For the simple reason that while a lot of skin care is overpriced mineral oil & water that you can easily make yourself in more effective formulations and for a lot less money, the same is not true of makeup.

You can easily waste a lot of time and money attempting to formulate something as simple as finishing powder and still not end up with anything usuable at the end of it. Long wear, not caking, diminishing perfections, correct colour match are all things we take for granted in a powder yet prove surprisingly difficult to recreate at home. I created a few with good results but even then the inconvenience of mail ordering supplies, finding suitable containers and the time to formulate as well as dealing with the mess of loose powders makes it in my opinion not worthwhile. Especially when there are many excellent ready made products at very affordable prices.

I still make my own skin care, why not? My own Vit C product is potent and costs $4 per 100mls but I was never able to make decent makeup for less than I could buy it off the shelf, with the same performance characteristics.

Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:27 pm

Well, I tried the rice and silk powder together with some silica. (I also added a touch of magnesium stearate.) This homemade recipe for loose makeup just doesn't quite work out. It is a dry powder which dries your face; no matter what ratios you use, it just doesn't do your skin justice. At least it was worth a shot. Even my eyes dried out....lol. Embarassed

NotMeNotYou definitely has the right idea about makeup. The ONLY reason I tried this is because I can't wear anything on the market. (Except the old Lavera before they changed their formulation.)
My next step is to try Jane Iredale next week. I have to wait for my skin to calm down. (I also experimented with Physicians Formula and Almay today.....what a bad day.)
Any suggestions for powder makeup would be appreciated. (Sensitive/rosacea type skin.)

Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:30 pm

I also have some fractionated coconut oil coming in the mail. I wonder if adding a drop of this to the dry ingredients and blending well would solve the dryness issue.

free skin care · Mon Oct 24, 2011 4:15 pm

Linda sorry to hear about your disappointing experience. At least you did try and it was probably worth a shot. I think powder is by far the most complicated thing to formulate because skin is so finicky when it comes to these things. Even the best cosmetics companies sometimes can't get powder right and they have legions of cosmetic chemists on staff. Don't feel bad, just keep searching for a powder you can wear.

free skin care · Mon Oct 24, 2011 9:26 pm

I completely agree with NotMeNotYou. I DIY'ed for quite some time and the savings are huge but eventually it became a bit of an inconvenience for me and chose to instead invest in an already made line that contains great actives. I however would never DIY makeup because as you said there are just so many things store bought makeup provides like blendaibility etc.

Sat Oct 29, 2011 5:39 am

I have been through MANY loose/compact powder makeups, and I think I have finally found something that doesn't irritate my face. (My skin has been rejecting everything.) I ordered a few samples of Jane Iredale Amazing Loose Powder, and wore it for about 3 hours yesterday. (I'm starting off slowly) I actually didn't have to run to the bathroom to wash it off!! I can't believe it. I think I'm in shock.....lol. You know, it seems like this powder actually protects my skin from any airborne pollutants or irritants. When I washed my face, my eyes weren't swollen. I have tried making my own formulation, but thanks to NotMeNotYou, she made me realize that skin is very complex; there's no way you can figure it out unless you are a chemist.
Any ladies out there with impossible, sensitive skin, please try Jane Iredale.

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