Monave Mineral Makeup made the decision from inception to use ingredients that were benign and beneficial to the skin. To that end our mineral foundation is produced with the highest quality ingredients possible. Two of our main ingredients are Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide. Titanium dioxide is a naturally occurring oxide that has a variety of uses, from toothpaste to ceramics to sunscreens. Titanium Dioxide has a high refractive index and strong UV light absorbing capabilities. The other important ingredient is Zinc Oxide it blocks both UVA and UVB rays and is water resistant. Both of these ingredients cannot be absorbed into the skin so they are non irritating and non allergenic.

However, sunscreens today use micronized particles of Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide which does get absorbed into the skin. There is a theory that these nano particle sized ingredients gives rise to cellular malfunction causing cancer.  Monave Mineral Makeup does not use micronized particles in our regular loose mineral foundations making them safer for the skin.

With all these wonderful factors is it any wonder that mineral foundation is best when used in place of a conventional sunscreen? Pick up yours today for the health of your skin.

Green Clay bar and the Luxurious Lavender bar are in!! As some of you may know our original soapmaker recently had to put her business in hiatus as she nurses her husband back to health following a serious health crisis!  We were lucky to find Geralyn, a soapmaker from Charm City Soaps. She does beautiful soaps and was able to perfectly execute our soaps! Go Geralyn!  So visit our site www.monave.com and stock on some old friends.

Working at Monave enables me to get first run colors straight from the lab and last month was no exception when the new Crystal Collection came rolling out! Mineral eye shadows with names like Tourmaline, a rich green, Carnelian, a vibrant orange and Peridot, an apple green were a sight to behold! Not far behind were two new mineral lip colors, Crimson Agate and Rose Quartz. I have been wearing both the Tourmaline and Peridot mineral eye shadows non stop since I’ve gotten them. Tune in next week when I give a tutorial of two of these fantastic new mineral eye shadows and the mineral lip glaze I pair with it!

Monave Mineral Makeup is having a Memorial Weekend Sale! Sale starts on Friday May 28th to Sunday May 30th!  So if you have been putting off getting your mineral foundation or trying a color from our new collection of mineral eye shadow now is the time to do it! The sale is 30% off the entire retail site, only retail customers are eligible not wholesalers.  To take advantage of the sale input MONAVE30 in the Promo Code box when placing your order! Have a safe and wonderful weekend!

There are some new gems being mined at Monave Mineral Cosmetics this Spring! Our new Crystal Collection have a total of four new mineral eye shadows and two mineral lip colors. The mineral eye shadows are, Tourmaline, a rich verdant green, Peridot, a delicate  apple green color with a shimmer of gold, Carnelian, a fiery orange and Smoky Opal, a pearlescent smoky pink! These new mineral colors are awesome with a shade for everyone no matter what skin tone you are!  The mineral lip colors are Crimson Agate, a lush cranberry and Rose Quartz, an opalescent pink.

We incorporated these new mineral shades into our Spring/Summer Collection. We have a Pastel palette which has a couple surprises. Babe Pink, normally a mineral lip color, Lilac Mist, normally a mineral blush became  semi matte  mineral eye shadows along with the new Peridot! The lip color, Rose Quartz rounds out the collection.  Our Vibrant palette is the Tourmaline, Carnelian and an old favorite Dragonfly,  a shimmery purple haze with Crimson Agate complementing the gem like versatile powders. So step into fashion with these new additions to Monave’s kaleidoscope of mineral colors!

Armed with my Oval Fluff eye shadow brush I proceeded to put the look together. After lining the eye with Espresso eye liner I applied the Driftwood from the corner to the middle of the eye lid. Be careful to get the excess shadow off the fluff brush before applying as it could get messy. After applying the Driftwood, dip lightly in Gold eye shadow and apply to outer lid and brow bone. Blend to create a seamless transition of color. Voila! A beautiful Golden Chocolate look!

A flurry of women in all stages of the mineral makeup business descended on our warehouse on September 27th at 9am to participate in our final mineral makeup  seminar of the year. The participants, one of whom came from as far away as British Colombia Canada, got to hear great information from a long time formulator on how to expand their mineral skin care line by using lip bases to create new products for continuing and future success. Another contributor, David Craig the owner of an emerging label company Arcana Graphics, gave invaluable insider tips on how to choose and use the correct labels to sell and market their products successfully. He also gave tips on what you need to know when having dialogue with your label company, it was an eye opener!

The highlight of this makeup seminar was the discussion on Intellectual Property and the ramifications of choosing a name that is being used by another company! Now that got the class hopping as several horror stories were exchanged! Deb Bilezikian, company owner, gave a class on using existing products in your line and combining or adding different pigments to create a whole new product. Imagine taking a mineral  foundation adding a versatile powder and making a mineral eye shadow or combining two versatile powders and making a mineral blush. The possibilities can be endless! This makeup class was a seminar favorite too! The ladies were really impressed by this method of thinking outside the box!

There will be a video on the blending for new mineral skin care available for download on the website soon. A video from the previous makeup seminar on June 18th which features Julie Edwards, whose class on making mineral makeup for women of color was wildly popular, will also be available in the near future! See you next year for more great makeup seminars. Let us know what you’d like to learn!

Monave strikes again! Monave’s Moisture Mousse foundation got Editor’s pick as the best liquid foundation by the Natural Solutions magazine. Natural Solutions Magazine is a great magazine that is always chock full of information on health and beauty issues. For the past two years the Natural Solutions magazine has held their annual Beauty With a Conscience Awards, where natural and organic cosmetics and skin care companies are judged on various categories within the beauty industry.

The Moisture Mousse foundation is formulated for women with normal to dry skin, handmade with ingredients such as organic shea butter, organic jojoba oil and rose hydrosol it glides on the skin for a weightless feel and total absorption. Unlike other liquid foundation the Moisture Mousse gives excellent coverage and comes in all shades of our regular loose foundation with no color differentiation.

Last year, Monave racked up awards in three categories: Best Eye Shadow with our Versatile Powders, Blush with our Matte blushes and Cleanser with our Honey Clay cleanser , which they loved as a three minute mask too. We were so excited as we work so hard to get quality products into the hands of women who want natural beauty products that are beneficial for them. The Beauty With a Conscience Awards feature will be in the October 2009 issue of the Natural Solutions magazine…..don’t forget to pick it up!