Shade it right

The term lsquoclean beautyrsquo has become the latest buzzword in the beauty space However with no clear regulations around the use of this term many products continue to fly under the radar with their use of preservatives and additives says Jasmine Shah cofounder of Karibo a bespoke clean beauty brandThe writer tries the lipstick shadeldquoI became concerned about the lack of beauty products that stayed true to the philosophy of clean beauty being able to recognise all the ingredients that go into a beauty product without a cosmetology degree Upon studying the science of making beauty products I realised that the formulation is quite simple For my brand I replaced synthetic ingredients with allnatural substitutes and designed a product that has multiple applications in the makeup routinerdquo she shares In addition to offering personalised products the brand involves customers in the process of creating their own lipstick via home visits or video consultationsThe process We began by stating our choice of colour and finish cream glossy or matte Mindful of the season we chose a winehued shade in a creamy texture Shah explained that the pigments used are organic food colours suspended in castor oil to offer added hydration Next she blended the pigments with aloe and neem bases and added mica and silica For fragrance we selected a sweet pea essential oil Shah then invited us to mix the product pointing out the processrsquo calming and almost therapeutic benefits Finally the lipstick was packaged in a tube of our choice and labelled as per our preference we went with Mulled WineThe verdictWe were surprised at how quick making a lipstick from scratch really is the actual process took no longer than 20 minutes with the largest portion of the consultation dedicated to choosing and finetuning the shade Shah patiently explained the role of each ingredient and also pointed out that the lipstick wersquod created could easily double up as an eye shadow and blush a claim we found was true Although the lipstick didnrsquot glide on as smoothly as most massproduced brands the application was even and the lipstick stayed put through a full meal and beverages At 1200 per consultation this service is affordableSince numerous jars of pigment must be physically carried for every inperson consultation we would have preferred if the visit had been prefaced by a video call this would have helped the representative to understand our preferences and prepare accordingly While more exciting shades including blues and greens are available we could only choose from the predictable pinks browns and reds as these were the only pigments on offer With experimentation being an important part of the experience this service will be more enjoyable for groups than for solo consultationsLog on to wwwknmain