And The Winner Is............

Congratulations to vidia2be.etsy.com, who won my blog contest!!

At Heather's shop, Pixie Hollow is her own magical setting where the Enchanted reside. It is a vast rich world of Fantasy and enchantment hence Enchantasies!!! The mythology and secrets are hidden in the visual splendor that becomes each design from each and every one them in Pixie Hollow!

Pixie Hollow Enchantasies is the home of Vidia2be and her lovely little girls who are proud to present their wares for you. Painting, crafts and so much more but they are a secret they must share with their new friends, like you!

So for all your art needs and desires just look in the sky second star to the right, straight on till morning.There you'll find Pixie Hollow Enchantasies!!!

Win A Mineral Makeup Kit!

With the holidays approaching, why not try and win a free makeup kit? Here's what you have to do:



1) Go to MineralMagic.etsy.com.

2) Look around, and find what your favorite item is.

3) Come back here and post to this blog with your answer. If you don't, you are disqualified! NO exceptions.

Simple!

Winner will be chosen November 1, 2008.

You will have your choice of 4 jars of mineral pigments plus an 8 piece synthetic bristle (vegan-friendly) makeup brush set in a chic travel pouch. Perfect for gift-giving!

Mineral Makeup 101 eBook CD Is Here!

I will also be offering a Mineral Makeup Starter Kit. This seven-piece starter kit is a fabulous way to introduce yourself to mineral makeup. It's packed with everything you need to achieve a radiant, flawless-looking face, including an instructional CD that explains precisely how to apply each product!

We all want to look our best and cover our 'flaws', but we seem to always fall short of those goals on some level. In my new eBook, you will find detailed information and instruction on how to look and feel your best. The first thing you need to do is start liking yourself. Once that happens, everything else will fall into place.

As I walk you through each chapter, there are plenty of photos throughout for you to discover the different shades and color options used to conceal and combinations of colors that you would never have dared to try on your skin before. The Tips And Tricks chapter will soon be your best friend!

You will also receive much needed enlightenment on the many ingredients found in mineral makeup on the market today and, in a separate section, I also include the ingredients that I personally use. In no time at all, when you go to look at the ingredients on a mineral makeup label, you will know exactly what you are reading and if it is good or bad for your skin.

At the end of the book, you'll find a full page of resources that I encourage you to read through, investigate and follow through with each point of reference.

There are 6 chapters and 38 pages in total that I burned onto a CD for you, so printed papers, if misplaced, or 'saved links' won't get lost, should your hard drive die.

This makes a fabulous gift for someone who wants to start their own skincare company, not only because the ingredient chapter is so extensive, but rather my book is extremely detailed and leaves no stone unturned.

NOTE: Adobe reader is required. If necessary, this can be downloaded for free at http://www.adobe.com/.

Copyright © 2008 Mineral Magic Cosmetics – All Rights Reserved

The contents of this eBook are strictly for informational purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

This eBook and its contents are protected by U.S. and International copyright laws; any reproduction of this eBook or any portion thereof in any manner, including electronic transmission to third parties, is strictly prohibited.

Looking For Product Testers

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Are you willing to try three colors of mineral makeup?
In this exercise, I will be sending out three colors for you to try. Just look up. There they are. There are only 4 ingredients total, and are all-natural, pure minerals from the earth. Below are their names and a brief description of their use:

Iron Oxides are minerals that are used to create color.

Kaolin clay is great for dry sensitive skin because it is very soothing, offers great coverage, and is able to absorb oil from the skin. It absorbs 1 1/2 times its weight in oil!

Mica is transparent and allows for smooth makeup application.

Zinc Oxide is a skin healer, and water-resistant. It offers great SPF protection from the sun's harmful UVA/UVB rays. It is very soothing to the skin and helps heal acne.

NOTE: Not all of these ingredients are going to be used for all of the formulas. Some of the colors will have more or less of a certain ingredient, if any at all. Read your labels to determine which ingredients were used in each jar.

Each Jar will be labeled A, B or C.

This makeup is specifically formulated for ultra-sensitive skin. You will not have any burning, itching skin or runny, watering eyes.

Q. What Do I Have To Do To Participate?

A. Go to MineralMagicCosmetics.com. Once there, you will find a listing for Product Testing Participants. Simply add the listing to your cart which is free. The only thing you will have to pay is your shipping costs.

After you've tried everything, find the poll on this page, and click on the letter of the jar you liked the best. It's that simple.

Mineral Makeup is for external use only.

Lover Of Artisan Lampwork

I found an awesome jewelry designer who has a real eye for lampwork beads. Her name is Susan, and she is the creative genius at Cserpent.etsy.com.

Susan is a software engineer which allows her to be creative in a different way - writing code and fixing coding problems. Jewelry design is totally different, and gives her an additional creative outlet.

Custom jewelry design is very satisfying for Susan as she loves being able to create something that is just what the customer wanted, even though they didn't exactly know what they were truly looking for to begin with. She is also constantly amazed at how some designs create themselves and other designs are a struggle to get just right.

Jewelry Group memberships:

Jewelry on Etsy (JET), etsyBEAD, California Crafters Club on Etsy (CCCOE), Tranquil Beading Oasis (TBO) and Bead Hive (BHV).

William Dohman - World-Class Architect And Photographer

William Dohman, architect and worldwide traveler, makes his creations from photos taken from India, Japan, Holland, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Greece and Spain. He fell in love with photography while traveling around the world, studying architecture.

India, Japan, and the Netherlands were so unlike his West St. Paul roots which compelled him to document everything he saw, from kite strings to street life, broken playgrounds to the Taj Mahal. India was the first time he used a manual camera, and he was hooked—through trips to the Netherlands (where he studied at TU Delft) and surrounding countries, as well as a post-grad study of Japanese architecture.

His obsessive snapping prompted his fellow travelers to remark that they didn't really know what he looked like, given his face was constantly behind the camera. William finds his most striking images are ones of everyday life, objects, and hidden details—not the classically beautiful ones perpetuated by the media, but rather the ones most people tend to overlook. He frames them with his lens for examination, most often finding that the everyday people, places, and remnants are what truly express the life within a culture.

Always the architect, William could not sketch quickly enough to capture it all, so he was lured to photography. He shares, "Too many Americans are quick to assume that the United States is the best county, many of whom have not even left their respective state borders. I show these photos to encourage others to travel the world and become aware of dissimilar cultures."

When he is not traveling, he finds new things to create. " If I am not doing photography or architecture, I am either painting or drawing. I have also taken up road bicycling. I find it a great way to sort my ideas and thoughts while getting a great workout and exploring the city I live in."
The impact he wants his creations to have on others is the desire for everyone to list the ten places they want to visit before they die and actually try and plan them. It is a lot easier and cheaper than a lot of people think!

Origami Strands Retail $25
In Japan, tradition states that if you fold 1000 origami cranes, it will bring you good health and good luck. When someone is suffering from a severe sickness or injury, spouses, parents, children and other family members and friends would fold 1000 cranes to wish for the person's recovery. The paper crane has become an international symbol of piece through the work of a young girl named Sadako Sasaki and her battle with leukemia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadako_Sasaki

Retail value: $25


Website: http://www.williamdohman.etsy.com/

Making Lipstick 101

For those of you just beginning to make lipstick, buy the melt and pour lipstick base to start. You can add your minerals or use liquid lip pigment. Buy a lipstick mold and tubes.

1) Take 3 ounces of lipstick base and melt it for 1 - 1 1/2 minutes in a pyrex measuring cup. Check on it after one minute, because you do not want it boiling.

2) Remove from the microwave and add 2 - 3 tablespoons of mineral makeup or 1 drop of liquid lip colorant for every 7 grams of lipstick base (see below).

1 ounce = 28.25 grams, so you will add 4 drops per ounce = total of 12 drops.

3) Stir the mixture with a disposable plastic spoon. You will want to stir longer if you use minerals instead of the lip liquid because the minerals take time to be evenly dispersed throughout the mixture.

4) Pour the mixture into your lipstick molds and place it on a level surface-preferably in the refrigerator. Let it sit for at least one hour. The colder it is, the easier it will be to release the lipstick bullet from the mold. 5) Slowly remove the top of the mold exposing your lipstick bullets.

6) Take an empty lipstick tube (NOT a chapstick tube), make sure you have the barrel twisted all the way UP, and press it completely down until the lipstick barrel is flush with the mold. Lift and remove your new lipstick. Cover with cap.

Makes 12 lipsticks.

NOTE: You can use 1/2 the ingredients and make six of one color, then repeat the above steps and fill the remaining barrels with a new color.
Good luck!

Mineral Makeup IS Mineral Magic

If you are looking for the purest makeup and are not sure where to start, look no further. These two stores are the same. They are owned by the same person and have the same products.

Here are the websites:

http://www.mineralmagiccosmetics.com/

http://www.mineralmakeup.etsy.com/

http://www.mineralmagic.etsy.com/

You control the coverage, so go light at first, adding more with each application until you achieve the desired coverage.

Try earth tones, or being daring and go for bold! You don't have to be a teenager to enjoy mineral makeup. It is great for mature women as well. It helps hide fine lines and wrinkles, too!

Mineral Magic is Titanium FREE. Titanium Dioxide is a safe mineral used as pigment and sun protection from harmful Ultra Violet rays, but some people shy away. I don't know why, really. There is Titanium dioxide in toothpaste, soap, even on pumpkin seeds!

Google and see for yourself.

A Very Basic Mineral Makeup Recipe

If you would like to have a fun project for birthday parties or to just save money, here is a recipe to create your own mineral makeup.

This recipe will make enough makeup to fill a 30 gram jar at least three to four times over, depending on how bad you screw up! LOL!

What you will need:

3 Tablespoons of Titanium Dioxide

2 1/2 Teaspoons of Zinc Oxide

2 1/2 Teaspoons of Iron oxide pigment color of your choice(Start with small amounts and build to achieve the desired shade)

2 1/2 Teaspoons of Mica (choose either shimmer or plain) (Choose the pearl mica if you want a shimmer to your shadow, or the matte mica if you want a low luster)

A blender or mortar and pestle (A coffee grinder can also be used, but please reserve it just for cosmetics)

4 - 5 makeup sifter jars - 30 gram size

Mix the titanium and zinc oxide together in a large bowl or mortar. Slowly add the iron oxide pigments until you have the desired color you are looking for.

An example would be to mix red oxide and yellow oxide to get anywhere from a peach to a bright orange color, depending on how much pigment you add to your mixture. If you go too dark with your color and wish to lighten it, add more titanium dioxide.

*The key is to completely blend your pigments together.

Transfer your finished product into your sifter jars. Apply with a makeup brush.

All colors can be used for eyeliner, blush, nail polish and lip color as well, with blue and green being the only exception. Regulations prohibit the use of blue and green on your lip area.

Good luck!

External Linkshttp://www.mineralmagiccosmetics.com/ http://www.mineralmakeup.etsy.com/

If I use Titanium Dioxide On My Skin, Will I get Cancer?

NO.

Titanium is found in soap, toothpaste- many places. Even on pumpkin seeds!! (See very the last link from artgirlx, below! ) It is generally used as a pigment and to help block sunrays.

A recent Canadian study showed respiratory lung cancer in a rat study. Google it for yourself. None of us sit in a chamber with the only air to breathe is exclusively Titanium.

Beach weather: Sunblock versus Sunscreen.

They are two 2 different things. Sunblock contains titanium dioxide, and zinc oxide and have a lower SPF around 30, in it so you have to reapply.

Both titanium and zinc are physical barriers, meaning they will stay on the surface of your skin reflecting sunlight and other environmental dangers like free radicals (cancer causes and aging).

Titanium and Zinc are both white in color and can be used on anybody without complications or sensitivities due to the fact it does not penetrate your skin.

What I think many people are concerned about are the chemical sunscreens that are the oil free higher spf's that neutralize the UV rays once they enter your epidermis (skin). Those can cause cancer because they do not block free radicals. They also work by setting off a chemical reaction inside your skin.

If you find a product with titanium dioxide it is safe!!! It will prevent cancer rays if used and reapplied correctly. It will also protect against other environmental factors. Trust me its good ...and safe to use on your skin.

Free radicals as described in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

In chemistry, radicals (often referred to as free radicals) are atomic or molecular species with unpaired electrons on an otherwise open shell configuration. These unpaired electrons are usually highly reactive, so radicals are likely to take part in chemical reactions.

Radicals play an important role in combustion, atmospheric chemistry, polymerization, plasma chemistry, biochemistry, and many other chemical processes, including human physiology. For example, superoxide and nitric oxide regulate many biological processes, such as controlling vascular tone.

"Radical" and "free radical" are frequently used interchangeably, however a radical may be trapped within a solvent cage or be otherwise bound.

Simply put, titanium stays on top of your skin rather than penetrate it.

http://www.ccohs.ca/headlines/text186.html <_------Here is a link from a fellow Etsian, by artgirlx. Thank you for that!

What ingredients are in mineral makeup?

Well, I can't speak for every one, but here are mine:

Mica is transparent and allows for smooth makeup application. It also comes colored for soap making, etc.

Zinc Oxide is a skin healer, and water-resistant. It offers great SPF protection from the sun's harmful UVA/UVB rays. It is very soothing to the skin and helps heal acne.

Iron Oxides are minerals that are used to create color.

Ultramarine Blue is used in cool shades of makeup because there is no blue oxide.

Kaolin Clay is great for dry sensitive skin because it is very soothing, offers great coverage, and is able to absorb oil and impurities from the skin.

What Foundation Should I Use? How Do I Find My Foundation Color?

Here is A general guideline for your foundation color:

Blythe- Lighter than Ivory. If you are really as white as a ghost; porcelain white, then this is for you.

Ivory - All-white skinned always burns (e.g RED HEADS)

Fair - This color is for women with very fair skin who tend to burn very easily and usually will not tan. Light- This color is for women with average light skin who tend to burn more than tan.

Medium - This color is for women with a medium skin tone who tend to tan easily and seldom burn. 80 percent of women will choose medium as their color.

Tan - This color is for women who never usually burn or are simply tan year round: Latinas, Pacific Islanders, Asian.

Deep/Dark - This color is for light African American women.

Sista-Girl - This is for the very deepest African American skin tones. Period.

Bisque = Concealer - This is a different name for the exact same color. A multi-purpose mineral makeup that covers all flaws. Can be used to highlight dark skin, to cover acne, scarring, beauty marks, uneven skin tones from pregnancy.

We moved!!

****We have MOVED everything over from MINERALMAGIC. *** Feedback: 465, 100% positive.
---MINERALMAGIC will have everything my son makes. He is 9 years old and has autism.
I am teaching him about business and how to manage his money

Mineral Color "Daylight" contains titanium.

I make all of my makeup. I buy the individual micornized minerals and use my own recipes. I do not stand on a mountain with a jackhammer and drill for my own! :D These are already pre-crushed. :)

I can make any color you like. If you don't see a color you would like, please send me a quick note describing what you are looking for. I will work with you to formulate your very own color.

Everything I make is fresh and made to order. If you are not sure of your foundation color, try samples first. Why pay more?

Nightime Intensive Care Skin Treatment and More - Helps Heal Acne, Hide Skin Discoloration, Makeup Kit By Eye Color

Nightime Intensive Care Skin Treatment

You SLEEP In This!

It is an overnight,
while-you-sleep, mineral supplement for
your skin.


I now have Vegan Mineral Makeup Kits by Eyecolor! Be daring! Try another color kit!!


Color Kits By Eye Color Color Kits By Eye Color Color Kits By Eye Color
Brown Eyes Blue Eyes Green And Hazel Eyes




Concealers By Skin Tone Foundation By Skintone

Mineral Veils - Setting - Finishing Powder

In your choice of clear or the faintest tint!

Here is what the mineral look like in the jar.

Mention BLOG at checkout and receive 25% off the purchase of ANY mineral makeup kit.

My new Planner/Organizer holds your makeup, makeup brushes, date planner,
and has a bonus checkbook holder, places for credit cards and your driver's license!

This is just one of my many color charts.

Go to:

http://www.mineralmagiccosmetics.com/

http://www.mineralmakeup.etsy.com/ to see awesome deals and specials!

SobeBotanicals-Another Mineral Makeup Brand I Use

From South Beach, Florida, Lex is the creator and owner of Sobebotanicals.etsy.com. This lady takes perfection to the extreme! She will let one of her product lines sit for a year if she has to until she is 100% satisfied with the finished result.

I am proud to say I am one of her latest 'product testers'-and I loved every minute of it! Her Whipped Coffee Dream Body Butter and Scrub is divine!! I told her she had to make this in a formula for a face scrub!! Your skin feels refreshed and you smell awesome! There is no sticky or slimy residue with this product, either. It rinses off clean. You feel clean.

Her pictures are enticing. Her mineral makeup is WONDERFUL. If you buy one of her kits, you always get more than what you pay for-every time. No kidding.

I got so much product from her in one kit that it could probably last me up to a year, and that was just the sampler kit! I wound up with TEN full-size jars, just like she advertises "packed FULL". She let me swich out my brushes for extra jars of makeup, knowing I already owned my brushes. She is very flexible that way.

She is very generous, professional and is another mineral makeup seller that loves to trade secrets and help find the best deals in supplies so that when we as sellers buy in bulk together, everyone benefits.

It has truly been a pleasure to meet her, and an honor to call her friend.

Giving Credit Where It's Due To Another Fellow Mineral Makeup Seller On Etsy

Here is another mineral makeup vendor on Etsy. Her name is Maria, and she is the creator of BeautybySaria.etsy.com. She was more than willing to help me out, answer questions and also was very friendly. So much, in fact, that we share suppliers, secrets and ideas.

This former Registered Nurse was passionate about her work, but her creative heart took over. Her desire to help people feel and look good shifted from the inside to the outside! She was always creative and missed having that opportunity.

"Being able to create different looks and styles is what led me to taking on my latest adventure- Mineral Makeup. It actually started from a desire to find a mineral makeup line for myself- as the benefits of wearing natural makeup are well documented. So I was searching for an affordable mineral make-up line, and was shocked to discover that true natural mineral make up is very hard to come by.





Most of the popular brands, besides being expensive, included Bismuth Oxychloride in their formularies. Bismuth has some great properties- it helps with smoothness or slip, and adherance of make up, but it also is a well documented irritant and allergen. Chemically speaking, bismuth is nearly identical in structure as arsenic - you know, rat poison. No wonder it's irritaing! Rubbing arsenic on my face wasn't exactly my idea of natural.

In my quest to find a true, natural mineral make up line, I decided that the only way to really know what I was putting on my face was to make the make up myself. I should tell you that I have very sensitive and dry skin, and at the age of 33 I had yet to find a foundation that didn't cause major breakouts, rashes or increase the dryness of my already parched skin."

After some long hours researching ingredients, recipes and manufacturers, she finally started mixing her own makeup line! As soon as she started wearing her customized mineral makeup, people started to notice.

"Everyone was suddenly complementing me on my skin and make up. When I told them I made it myself, they wanted to know if I could make some for them. And so beauty by Saria was born!

My passion for helping people feel good and look great is my motivation behind everything I do. I truly believe that natural mineral make up is the best and only type of products that should be used on your skin. So whether it's my line, or someone else’s, I hope you do what's best for your skin!


Whether in nursing or cosmetology, I have always found that the best way I can help people is to educate them about their skin, hair and health. In my experience, once people understand how their skin and hair works, and know why certain products work or don't work, they are able to make educated and informed decisions about their product choices."



She truly wants to give her clients the tools they need to have and maintain young, healthy skin, so please don't hesitate to convo her with any questions you may have.

Working with Maria is fun for me. It is so refreshing to have such excellent communication with someone who's not afraid to share ideas and even offers to go in together on the cost of supplies so that both we and the clients can save money. She's very friendly, down-to-earth, easily approachable and modest, too. And her products ROCK!


http://beautybysaria.etsy.com

Mixology Makeup - Yes, I Use Other People's Makeup!

Although I make and sell the exact same thing on Etsy, it is still nice for someone else to pamper me for a change! With that said, I will be giving you the scoop on my fellow competitor's stuff!

I happened to do a search one day, and saw to my surprise that there were other mineral makeup sellers on Etsy. HAHAHAHA! Now it's my turn to see what's in all those jars!! I wanted to try a new scrub. New Makeup. I wanted to feel new textures. Why not? So I started to snoop around in other people's stores and I bought from several sellers. I will be blogging about them as well. Stay tuned.

First up is MixologyMakeup.etsy.com.

Rae has been in makeup like the rest of us at a very young age, when we used to try on Mom's lipstick or in her case, with her babysitter, who just so happened to be a makeup artist who was caring for all boys, at the time, so Rae was a sitting duck. Not surprisingly, she learned very early how to put on her lip liner at the age of six without a mirror. She shares:

"I was hooked and I continued in theatre and film and weddings and anything other event people would let me do makeup for!

A few years back I looked into starting a makeup line and discovered that having a company make it and package it is very expensive and what I would have to sell it for, I wouldn't even buy. So began the research and the learning process of making mineral makeup and Mixology was born! I am in love with what I do!"





http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9244161 = Suga Smakk Lip Scrub



She can be currently seen in Figure Magazine - Buzzworthy Items Women MUST Know! To celebrate the wonderful buzz Mixology is receiveing, she wants to share her blessings and will be donating 5% of all her sales to Blood:Water Mission (http://www.bloodwatermission.com/)




She shares: "We are fortunate enough to never think about where to get pure water only what pure water to choose. Did you know $1 = 1 year of clean water for an African!




The 1000 Wells Project is building 1000 wells and clean water projects in 1000 African communities. Businesses, churches, schools, artists and individuals are collecting funds so they can sponsor the construction of wells in Africa. In the process, they are learning about how HIV/AIDS affects African communities, and what it means to partner humbly with communities to pursue transformation. Thank you for purchasing makeup so we can donate to Change Lives."




Mixology Makeup is the healthy makeup alternative that will help improve the quality of your skin. NO cheap fillers, NO chemicals, NO synthetic dyes (the culprits for most allergic reactions). Virtually water resistant, anti-inflammatory, great coverage for acne & rosacea, won't clog pores so your skin can breathe, natural SPF, light weight, & dry ingredients so bacteria does not grow. Bismuth & Carmine Free! All organic and a great choice for Vegans!

Mixology is all handmade and free of chemicals, her micas are free of dyes, skin irritants like Bismuth, and truly as natural as you can get! Like other ruputable mineral makeup companies, Mixology can help improve the quality of your skin!

So I ordered a sampler kit from her and I have to agree with the feedback from her clients:

- "I just have to scream....Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I am so excited about your great product!

- "I have been watching as my face has been clearing up. I know that your makeup has been making all the difference. It has such great coverage and is so light."

- "A sheer delight to work with. Fast communication and extremely helpful. Products are A++. Very lightweight make up that rivals the big names. I'm a customer for life, you should be too!"

- "This is the best makeup I've ever used! It feels and looks so natural!! Thank you!"

- "If you like Bare Minerals, you will LOVE Mixology! The coverage is amazing and goes on like silk! LOVE IT!"
---------
Truely, this list can go on and on....and it does. I, myself, also have actors who seek my company out for that same 'magic' so this next testimony about Rae and Mixology couldn't be more true:

"Everything from Mixology is better than retail. Her colors are thoroughly mixed and go on like a dream. Colors last and last." I'm a performer and I absolutely love Mixology Makeup. The colors have a lot of pigment which is very hard to find. I can honestly say that the eye shadows I like better than Mac and Lancome."

"I was surprised that a smaller company could offer up so much competition in a market filled with big namers. I was very skeptical of the coverage a mineral makeup could offer and it looks and covers better than your standard foundation powder ritual. I'm a connoisseur of makeup and I would recommend everyone giving mixology a try."




I couldn't have said it better. Her catchy names, fun pictures of her models make it impossible for you NOT to look around her listings and be able to resist. I am happy to say that I've found a great new lip gloss-and friend.