I've known I was allergic to corn for several years, including several of the corn derivatives, but some recent reactions have finally proved to me I need to be even more vigilant about all the sneaky ways corn is used in just about everything, mostly unlabeled, from fresh meats, to Kleenex & toilet paper, food packaging, fabrics, skin care products, and even things as simple as Crayons & Playdough. The good news is since eliminating as much corn from my life as possible, I'm feeling good enough to care about wearing makeup and my skin is clearer then its been in my entire adult life, which says a lot considering I also have Rosacea. I've only worn makeup occasionally in the past few years because of how my skin reacted to it and how poorly it worked. I'm very pale complected, making it difficult to find good match that would also cover redness from Rosacea, plus any time my skin is touched it turns red & splotchy, which makes it difficult to apply traditional foundations. I got a Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Powder & eyeshadow set for Christmas; I love how easy it is to put on, though its a little too dark for me. I know Aromaleigh mmu is much better quality and I can't wait for my first orders to get here so I can really start to play (yes, multiple orders...I kept falling in love with more & more and couldn't even wait for my first ones to get here before I decided to order some other things-lol). I concentrated on basics- Voile, Pure Hues, Glissade, etc, since they had straight forward, basic ingredients I was fairly comfortable with.

There are a few product's ingredients I have questions about and would love if Kristen or someone from Aromaleigh could help me out. Do any of the mineral makeups, other then the lipstick, lip gloss, etc, have corn starch or other possible corn based ingredients? From what I've looked at, most of the 'powder forms' should be okay, but a lot of the 'creamy, non-powder' makeups have corn starch and/or other potential corn derivatives. The only lip product that I might be able to use is Luscious Lips Soothing Balm, but it list "vegetable oil" as the first ingredient. What type vegetable oil and could it vary from batch to batch? Does the Plain Jane type have any fragrance added? Most fragrances & flavorings would be okay on their own, except that corn oil or corn based alcohol are the two most common carriers used. Several of the non-powdery products list Glycerin as an ingredient, could you tell me what type the glycerin is?- I know its listed as vegetable glycerin, but unfortunately corn is one of the vegetables that can be used to make glycerin.

Thank you for you help- I selected Aromaleigh because it has such a wide selection of products & colors, yet is a small, personable company.

Christine

Hi Christine!

So glad to hear that you are enjoying the minerals and for the first time in a while, able to wear makeup! That's wonderful!

The glycerin we use is vegetable glycerin. They don't say from which vegetable sources it is derived, however... it always comes labelled as vegetable glycerin.

The vegetable oil in the lip balms is a proprietary blend that our formulator uses and I actually do not have access to the exact blend of oils that is in that blend, so unfortunately, I can't answer that.

I can tell you that you're safe with any and all of the loose powder products, which opens you up to a vast world of color!

Hope this helps, somewhat...

Kristen

That's great! Once I get a chance to really try Aromaleigh out, I'll post about your products on our Corn Free group- we're always looking for new products, and personal care products are some of the hardest to find safe alternatives. Physicians Formula Mineral Wear and BE are the only mmu on the list as of now; however with the BE, we can't use the Mineral Veil and I wasn't too keen on the Bismuth Oxychloride personally. Physicians Formula is okay, as far as a drug store brand goes, but their ingredient list has a lot more ingredients then most mmu, which raises the risks for me. We joke on the corn allergy board that if something has more then 4-5 ingredients, you might as well give up & assume at least one has some sort of corn/corn derivatives.

Since I can't use any of your lip products, could you recommend a simple recipe for a lip balm base that could easily be made at home that I could add Pure Hues to? Is there something that can be added to improve staying power so I don't have to reapply so frequently?

Thanks again,
Christine

Christine,

Our colorwashes don't contain anything corn-derived from what I can see. The fragrance is essential oils.

Ingredients: Prunus dulcis oil (sweet almond), Ricinus communis oil (castor), Prunus armeniaca oil (apricot kernel), Beeswax, Butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), Theobroma cacao (cocoa Butter), tocopherol acetate, mica, fragrance

I forgot about these when I posted yesterday.

I will be adding more colors, soon...

So these will be a possibility.

Candycane is a very soft color, you could almost use this as a base and dip your fingertip or a brush in it and then add it to other powders or pure hues or perles and add them to your lips...

Until I get the other colors up.

HTH!

Kristen

Forgot the link...


http://www.aromaleigh.com/cacaco.html

Kristen-

I've been having fun with my new toys and my skin seems to be loving it, though it probably helped that I started using simple, homemade skin care cleansers & moisturizes to further avoid corn & corn derivatives.

A friend send me the names of a couple other MMU companies she has used, but I think I've been spoiled by starting here. I can't believe how many MMU & other natural skin care companies can't understand customers need to be able to see ingredients right along with product description. What is with listing all product ingredients on one page for the entire site instead of with each product, as you do? I slip up often enough when I read every label on everything I put in my grocery cart; there is no way I would feel comfortable trusting myself to click back & forth to double & triple check from the ingredient page to the products pages. And what happens if ingredients change?- if they are listed with the product, I'll scan them every time; with one big list, it would be easy too easy to miss a minor change. So Kristen for making my life easier!

I don't know! It does seem to be pretty common to do a one-page listing with all product ingredients. I don't know why. I find it confusing and frustrating too, so I list them with each product. I personally like having the ingredients (and any and all information) listed at the point of purchase... so that's where I put it.

I'm glad that they products are working out for you!

K

Girls - I share the same problem with soy products. Kristen mentioned "vegetable glycerin" - more than likely the veggie is soy. Vegetable oil is usually soy oil unless noted differently. In a perfect world, labelling would be simplified down to "soy" "corn" "apples" and so on. Allergies are not fun to deal with.. Good luck.

Pinky