Itâ??s never a good idea to leave home without a lip gloss. Usually I end up buying the gaudiest albeit least toxic lip goo available in a local drugstore.

This day, I stepped into a heavily scented The Body Shop haven - and yes, I managed to find a lip balm without parabens (a rare treat!) but most interestingly, I was surprised to enjoy a mineral makeup range that's free from all the toxic nasties that normally pollute The Body Shop shelves.

The Nature's Minerals range by The Body Shop is in fact the purest, greenest line in the whole store. Free from preservatives, bismuth oxychloride, synthetic fragrance, or other ugly ingredients, the line is made up of long-lasting foundations and cheek colors.

The shades are unfortunately too matte, and for a reason: they contain kaolin which is really good for acne-prone skin and is far less sensitizing than bismuth oxychloride. Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide play the major role, along with some mica for shimmer. Kaolin still contains aluminum but in an inert form, kept inactive by the salts.

The only drawback in the lovely mineral range by The Body Shop is the color selection. Foundations are all a bit too deep and yellowish for Brit skin tones, and cheek colors are too rusty and intense to apply them safely.

I would probably go for a shimmery light peach or golden pink (think NARS Orgasm in minerals, of course, not the real "orgasm" filled with FD&C colors and parabens) but the lightest shade in mineral cheek colors, Pink Quartz, left my cheek bright pink in a merciless, 1980s style.

Women with deeper skin tones, however, will find this line godsend. And the prices are very reasonable!

body shop mineral foundationWhat I really see myself digging in to is The Body Shop's mineral eye colors. Rich in clay that, according to the website, |Itâ??s never a good idea to leave home without a lip gloss. Usually I end up buying the gaudiest albeit least toxic lip goo available in a local drugstore.

This day, I stepped into a heavily scented The Body Shop haven - and yes, I managed to find a lip balm without parabens (thatâ??s a rare treat) but most interestingly, I was surprised to find a mineral makeup range that's free from all the toxic nasties that normally pollute The Body Shop shelves.

The Nature's Minerals range by The Body Shop is in fact the purest, greenest line in the whole store. Free from preservatives, bismuth oxychloride, fragrance, or other ugly ingredients, the line is made up of long-lasting foundations and cheek colors. Read more of this post