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Cosmetics MakersTurning to Stone

GROUND-UP ROCKS are the latest ingredients in face care.

A growing number of cosmetics makers are seeking new profits by charging the equivalent of hundreds of dollars an ounce for stone—minerals like mica and iron oxides pulverized into a fine powder. (The powders’color comes from pigments in the rocks.) Makers say the products are good for sensitive skin, because they are natural and generally don't have talc or oils, amd tjeu can offer protection from the sun, thanks to titanium dioxide, a mineral that box ultraviolet rays and is used in some sunscreens. Some say the products are gentle enough that they can--and in at least one case, should--be used while you sleep.

Formulations have been around for secades but they were sold in plastic surgeons offices' to post operative patients. Vendors say they are selling well, and are introducing new lines. Jane Iredale in Great Barrington, Mass., which has made mineral-based makeup since 1994, says retail sales reached $70 million in 2005, up 36% from the previous year. Some retailers say its $19 PureGloss lip gloss, which contains organic vegetable oil along with minerals, can be used as an overnight moisturizer. Earlier this year, Bare Escentuals in San Francisco—its marketing materials say “you can sleep in it”—introduced a nighttime treatment called RareMinerals ($60 for 0.15 ounce), made from 72 varieties. This year French beauty brand, L’Oreal Paris introduced Bare Naturale, a powder foundation ($15.25 for 0.35 ounce) with a “natural SPF 19.”

It’s a small but growing niche of the market. Sales of mineral-based foundations increased more than 60% in 2005, compared with 2% for all foundations, says the NPD Group, a market-research firm in Port Washington,
N.Y.

The idea hooked Stephanie Cho, a litigation consultant in San Francisco who says she suffers from frequent breakouts. She walked into a Bare Escentuals shop last year looking for some eye shadow, and walked out with over $150 in products. “I don’t know if it really helped me clear up, but it didn’t make it worse,” she says.

Doris Day, a dermatologist in New York, says the mineral particles tend to be larger than synthetic chemicals
used in traditional cosmetics, so they may be less likely to clog pores. But despite any SPF listings, she recom
mends using sunscreen with the makeup. Los Angeles-based brand Neutrogena, which introduced the Mineral Sheers line earlier this year, decided to forgo making any sunscreen claims. “You need to have a heavy lay-down” to get the sun-shielding benefits, says Andrea DiNunzio, group product director.

Another New York City dermatologist, Lisa Airan, warns that some skin types could still be irritated by mineral formulations. “You can’t really make claims for all people with any product,” she says. One user, Laura Lachman, says she got painful blemishes and a rash after a mineral makeover. “They told me it was so great for sensitive skin,” says the special-events manager in New York. “I had pimples on my forehead to prove otherwise.”

—Tatiana Boncompagni