A Buyer’s Guide to Hypoallergenic Makeup

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Have sensitive skin? Tired of wearing makeup that causes you to break out, dry out or become irritated? Then it may be time to make the switch to hypoallergenic makeup.

Many women suffer from acne and eczema because they are using makeup that causes them to suffer from unknown allergic reactions.

Hypoallergenic makeup is allergy free, and quite often is actually better for your skin than the more old fashioned, conventional makeup.

The trick here is to actually find makeup that is truly hypoallergenic makeup. The Food and Drug Administration in the United States of America (or more commonly referred to as the FDA) has, at best, what can be described as a very “loose” definition of hypoallergenic and they do very little to ensure that companies actually produce what can truly be considered hypoallergenic makeup.

Though not strictly monitored or enforced, when armed with some basic information a buyer can more easily determine just what products will most likely not cause their skin to break out and which ones will. Here are some non-hypoallergenic makeup friendly ingredients:

• Any sort of perfumes spell “d-o-o-m” if you have sensitive or easily irritated skin
• Waxes (such as carnauba wax) and fats (like cocoa butter) often cause women to break out
• Metallic compounds, something that is most often found in eye makeup such as eye liner and eye shadows
• Formaldehyde resin
• PABA (para-aminobenzoic acid)
• Tosylamid
• Mercury and hydroquinone
• Tetrabromofluorescein (often found in hair dyes)
• Lanolin (often found in moisturizers or “hydrating” products)

The next step in finding “true” hypoallergenic makeup is to start doing some research. Doing a simple internet search and seeing what other users of makeup products say are truly hypoallergenic will definitely help you weed out just which products are going to be worth checking out and which will be worth it to pass on.

Within 10 to 20 minutes you will have compiled a list of what “hypoallergenic” makeup brands will work, which won’t, and which are questionable.

The last step before buying any of these products is to test them out! You can usually test them in the store, or better yet, ask for a tester to bring home.

It can take any where from 2 hours to 2 weeks for your skin to begin to show signs of irritation, so having a tester of a product to bring home will help you see the long term effects of the makeup on your skin.

You can often acquire testers from beauticians working in beauty stores, or you can even order them online.

Most samples are free (if you get them online, then you may just have to pay for shipping) and companies are more than happy to give them out.

Apart from choosing hypoallergenic makeup, some other great ideas to help reduce skin irritation include:

• Use a clean sponge every day to apply face makeup, such as primer and foundation. This way you know that you are using a clean, bacteria-free surface every day to apply makeup
• Make sure that your makeup brushes are clean! You can easily clean these with shampoo or facial cleanser
• Try out different facial cleansers too if you suspect it may be causing your skin irritation.