Thursday, October 10, 2013

Green Beauties, Your Makeup Could be Causing Your Breakout


One of the greatest ironies I see in the green beauty world is women with acne switching to green makeup in hopes of getting their skin under control. While it is true that mainstream beauty brands use more chemicals and toxic ingredients, what causes acne are suffocating or irritating ingredients such as fragrance, mineral oil, and silicones. All this aside, switching from these ingredients to lines that use coconut oil and waxes is not going to be better for your skin.

I would almost say as a rule that if you have blemish prone skin, do NOT use RMS Beauty which uses coconut oil in nearly everything. My parents have seen many patients who go to them with massive clogged pores and breakouts after switching to "holistic natural" products and cleansing/moisturizing their skin with these thick oils. I'm not saying coconut oil is a bad ingredient, not at all, if you have dry skin or skin that just doesn't break out, you will even find it to be very useful but for people who break out, you should absolutely refrain from using this on your skin. The moisturizing properties aren't worth it because it will break you out eventually.

So that is makeup itself, now let's talk about how we remove makeup. Many green beauties swear by oil cleansing. I can see why, it works wonders in removing stubborn makeup as the oil pulls products from skin that water cannot. However, if your skin is prone to breakouts, I would definitely advise against just oil cleansing. No matter how well you wash, there will be residue left over that accumulates in your pores leading to more breakouts down the road. If you want the performance of a oil cleanse, I suggest the double cleanse method. Use an oil to clean your face, wash it as much as possible. Then go over it with a traditional cleanser that can take off the left over oil and actually clean out the other grime in your skin that oils do not remove.

Remember that just because something is holistic and green, it doesn't mean that it is suitable for you. Acne is a treatable condition, for most people who have those persistent but not severe types of acne, it is nearly always preventable by changing a few things in their routine.





13 comments:

  1. Your posts are always so thoroughly researched, informative and a pleasure to read. I have found coconut oil did seem to cause problems, now I know why!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great info and very informative post! Thank you! If one has dry skin and uses the rms as an undereye concealer, can it cause milia? Lara

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Btw. I have dry skin and have been oil/balm cleansing a few years ago, which caused bad congestions. It healed within weeks after I just used a micellar water. I now use micellars, milks (shigeta) or nourishing gels/lotions (yuli/kahina) and my skin likes it. I still use rms/kw/ilia etc for make up though. Lara

      Delete
  3. informative as always! thanks for making that clear. is it just coconut oil/waxes and rms that cause this problem or also other oils/lines, such as Kjaer Weiss, ilia, vapour, w3ll? Laura

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Laura, did you also comment in a more recent post about having dry skin? If so I don't think these will be too much of a concern for you. And it's the ingredient, not the brand so the issue isn't with RMS

      Delete
  4. Good point, because this exactly described me last year. I was breaking out from conventional makeup, discovered the beautiful world of green beauty, and hopped in with coconut oil, which only made me break out more and worse. A year later, my skin is finally healing and I stay far, far away from straight-up coconut oil. I do use coconut oil-based products on my face like RMS beauty and Kjaer Weis, but sparingly and always following up with double-cleansing at night (oil cleanser + gel cleanser).

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm so glad I checked your blog today b/c I was considering purchasing the RMS powder based on another green blogger's review. I usually get a couple/few breakouts a month, but my biggest concern is clogged pores and milia in the eye area... which is a new and not-so-welcomed addition to my under eye area! Anything else I should avoid in "green" skincare and makeup? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Now I know why that 3month-old acne was so persistent and refused to get healed! I have been concealing it with RMS un-cover.. I thought coconut oil would be ok..

    ReplyDelete
  7. why is it that coconut oil causes breakouts versus other types of oils? I thought 'like dissolved like'?? Great article as always!


    sonja
    lifeinblush.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Coconut Oil has larger molecules which can clog pores for people who are more easily congested. Compared to other botanical oils, it is high in comedogenic ratings.

      Delete
  8. Thanks so much for this information. I used to have really bad acne, a few years ago, I felt it all cleared up following a doctors regimen. One of the miracle products being a camphor toner. It was doing good for my skin, but not enough to make a big difference. I left that, and started going towards the trend of green products, after watching youtube video's by Cloudyapples. I followed her regimens step by step. Using oils (avocado for as a moisturizer under my make up and a mix of castor and olive oil for oil cleansing before bed time) This includes using all-natural make up products such as the RMS, concealer by Gabriel, and 100% pure tinted moisturizer (all bought in wholefoods). It seemed to clear up my skin rapidly. I woke up with no pores and less breakouts. I did that for about 2 months. but now, my skin is in worse shape than ever. My pores seem to be clogged and i get acne that are big and painful, but nothing in them. My skin is constantly red and irritated. Through out the day, i have flaky dry skin. Whats the best way, to fix this fast? Does avocado oil have the same effect to skin as coconut oil? What are your thoughts of Camphor toner, and raw apple cider to spot-treat break outs?

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have very sensitive, acne-prone skin. I recently started using coconut oil and it's causing irritation and breakouts. While I'd like to start using a more "green" skincare routine, I need something that will keep my acne and redness at bay. What cleansers do you recommend if oil cleansing is not for me? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete