Cosmetics so delicate you can eat them. Seriously.

- by Shay

 I talk to my girlfriends about make-up a lot. What they're lusting after, what they love and what they would never ever use, even under duress. One thing I've noticed recently is their fear of using bright colours on their faces, and their puzzling fear of mineral make-up. This seems to be an epidemic amongst my nearest and dearest, and it’s something I would like to stomp out right here and now.

To ease my friends toes into the wonderful world of the mineral I have enlisted the help of Inika Cosmetics – a 100% natural cosmetics brand who also happen to have been developed by two amazing Aussie chicks. Just over four years ago Miranda Bond and Jenni Williams started using natural ingredients to create make-up that feels great, looks amazing and works just as well the chemical-laden stuff.  Oh, and did I mention it’s perfect for use on even the most sensitive of skins?  Hell.  Yeah!

Their products are packaged with the environment in mind, and all of their products are certified either vegan, organic or both.  Yes, your sister could eat your Inika make-up and still stay well within her New Years resolution to not eat animal products.  But they don’t encourage that.

I have been using the Inika mineral eye shadows in Blue Steel (1) and Honeycomb (2), two colours that also happen to work very harmoniously together on the eyelid.

Blue Steel is a lovely muted cornflower blue.  It appears very strong in the pot, but applies a gentle wash of colour that is very buildable – perfect for my sissy mates.  I found it to be easy to apply but be mindful that you will experience fallout on the cheeks where the particles drop, so it’s probably best to leave applying your foundation until after doing your lids.

Honeycomb is the perfect blending or highlighting colour.  It’s a sweet pale gold colour, and again is very buildable on the lid.

Both shadows lasted well throughout a normal day of activities, and they left my eyes looking picture perfect after removing with eye-makeup remover.

I also gave the Inika mineral blush line a swirl and tap. Pink Peach (4) is a gorgeous shimmery dusty rose colour.  It has a fair amount of sparkle but still looks natural on the apples of the cheeks.  I was enamoured with the super convenient puff pot attached to the lid – just a quick tap and it applies straight from the pot, so easy!

Peachy Keen (3) is, as the name suggests, a lovely strong peach colour with added shimmer.  It applied beautifully with my blush brush and left my cheeks looking bright and Summery.  This worked especially well with my favourite maxi-dress teamed with a nice metallic sandal.  Very beach-chic.

The end result of all of this is I’ve finally convinced my mates that mineral – and brights – really aren’t that scary after all. They’ve all told me they will be scouring the website for their local Inika suppliers (there are 371 Australia wide, so that should be an easy task).  My brown-eyed friends are even keen to give the Blue Steel shadow a go now they’ve seen how well it makes darker eyes pop.  Mission accomplished!

Inika Mineral Eyeshadow
Price: $24.95
Inika Mineral Blush
Price: $24.95
From: Buy on the Inika website or check for stockists
Why you need it: Beautiful colours, gentle formula and affordable prices. Consider all the boxes ticked.
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