Yeah, ok

[ksmith]

I am an idiot.

Just spent almost two hours at sephora.com in search of the perfect green eyeshadow. Not screaming emerald or chartreuse acid, but a nice clear pastel that allows a hint of green without making me look like I'm wearing lettuce leaves on my eyelids.

Found two. Ordered same. Evening shot. And I wonder why my desk is still cluttered.

Comments

[technomage.livejournal.com]

Are you an idiot, or a victim of the beauty industry? I often spend this much time on theatrical makeup for costumes, so I understand your dilema. These things should be easier - there should be a small workshop in every neighborhood where we could all go to get handmade herbal makeup and perfumes. A place we can trust and rely on, based on centuries of oral tradition.

Unfortunately those places don't exist... or are very marginalized. We have a local merchant in floral products down here. Violets and lavender are her main ingredients and she makes wonderful lotions and balms from 100% organic, botanical, renewable materials. No makeup, but a start on local industry that doesn't depend on Whale oil.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Umm..why should I see myself as a victim? All I'm doing is looking for the right shade of celery green, and trying to compare colors on a video display that may or may not be accurate.

Ok, speaking as a chemist and as someone who works with microbiologists, I would be reluctant to put any handmade cosmetics near my eyes or on my face or mouth unless I was very sure that they were stable, safe and uncontaminated. Yes, some larger commercial manufacturers use ingredients that make you go Huh?, but so some purveyors of supposedly all-natural products. I can develop an allergic reaction to 100% organic just as I can to 100% synthetic. Some essential oils can act like drugs on some people-- some of them are drugs--and the effects aren't always predictable.

I do purchase from Lush, which features a lot of products made in small batches with minimal numbers of ingredients and processing. Love their stuff. But I also buy big-name cosmetics with big advertising budgets and a whole lot of "great new scientific breakthrough in buzzword of the day" whatnot attached. Some of these things don't work for me, and I don't buy them anymore. Others have made my skin look better than it has for 10 years, and I will continue to use them.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that terms like "handmade" and "100% organic" don't in and of themselves make me comfortable.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

>No makeup, but a start on local industry that doesn't depend on Whale oil.

This captured my attention, so I started searching. Everything I've found in the Merck Index and other sources indicate that the cetyl alcohol used in cosmetics used to be derived from spermaceti, but is now derived from vegetable (palm, coconut oils) or synthetic sources. No idea whether countries that allow whale hunting allow use of whale-derived products in any of their manufactured goods.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Getting conflicting info on spermaceti, however. Some entries state that it's used in cosmetics, but others state that it's been replaced by other oils or with the synthetic version.

I would think that given the volumes required worldwide, the vegetable/synthetic route would prove more reliable.

Is the boring production supply side of me showing now...?

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

The hunting of sperm whales has been banned since 1981.

I really am going to stop now...