Review: Dirty Hippie Cosmetics Mineral Cream Concealer

Review: Dirty Hippie Cosmetics Mineral Cream Concealer

Can I let you in on a secret? I love makeup tutorials on Instagram. Do you know the ones I'm talking about? They use what feels like a bajillion products to contour, sculpt and transform faces. I can't put it down to why because there is a lot of packaging involved; maybe it's the artist in me enjoying the process. Makeup is a fun medium for self expression. I liken it to putting on a costume. Similar to slipping on a costume, makeup can be help to trick you into behaving differently. For instance, when I put concealer over the dark circles under my tired eyes and mascara on my lashes after a long night with my teething baby, I don't feel as sleep deprived. Is that just me?

Humans love affair with makeup has been going strong for thousands of years. But over the last four-five decades the packaging has become more and more wasteful. Looking for zero-waste and plastic-free makeup has been an intentionally slow journey as I wanted to make sure the businesses I circulated my money with ticked the right boxes. This concealer is one of the last items i've been searching for.

Apart from my sisters foundation I borrowed for my wedding, I hadn't used anything on my face except tapioca powder since 2014. It's what helps control the shine my oily skin creates. It wasn't until my son came along and some very long nights as a result that I wanted to use concealer. I feel comfortable and confident with and without makeup. However, I'm a working mother and some days I would like to fool my brain into thinking I am more awake than tired.

Dirty Hippie Cosmetics Mineral Cream Concealer is made here in Australia, in Bywong to be precise. Most of the low waste beauty products I've purchased have been from the US but if I can i'd prefer to support the local zero waste market and of course, reduce those air miles needed to send items from overseas.

Review: Dirty Hippie Cosmetics Mineral Cream Concealer

Dirty Hippie Cosmetics use newspaper and recycled paper packages to ship their products along with a little note also on recycled paper. Both of the newspaper and packaging have been reused. Labels are made of recycled paper printed in-house with vegetable ink. The handmade Mineral Cream Concealer is housed in a secondary aluminium tin, meaning the aluminium is recycled. I prefer to buy ready-made beauty products in either in cardboard or metal, as these two materials have a higher chance of being recycled in Australia. Cardboard can be composted too. While glass has the potential to be recycled continuously (ie glass jar recycled into a glass jar), here in Australia our booming construction and infrastructure industries require a fair amount of sand which they can obtain from glass. The Australian recycling industry is going through a transition since China has reduced what they accept for recycling from us, so hopefully one day in the not so distant future we'll see more true glass jars to glass jars recycling right here in Australia.

While recycling is great (when done correctly), saving on resources, materials and energy by offering refills is a better choice. Dirty Hippie Cosmetics accept tins and bottles back for reuse and refills on all full sized products to residents of Australia. Imagine if every company offered this! We certainly wouldn't be experiencing the panic our recycling industry is facing right now.

Let's talk about the actual concealer; does it work? I took before and after photos last year in September and I'm still using the Mineral Cream Concealer in shade moonlight. It's not heavy enough to hide my freckles which i don't ever want to cover up (love my sun kisses) but provides enough coverage to disguise the dark circles. I also apply it to t-zone. I use my fingers to apply but if you have a foundation brush it would work too. Once applied to my skin I brush over with tapioca face powder to combat any shine. It's a product i'd definitely repurchase from Dirty Hippie Cosmetics. The added SPF 15 makes my pale skin happy, even though I wear a sunscreen and hat most days. I'm happy with the ingredients, there are no synthetic chemicals, preservatives and additives. Since my purchase last year the formula has been updated slightly to be a little thicker and less oily.

Review: Dirty Hippie Cosmetics Mineral Cream Concealer
Before

Review: Dirty Hippie Cosmetics Mineral Cream Concealer
After

The business is quick to respond with any queries too, which is what a customer wants. They also allow for custom orders. Dirty Hippie Cosmetics products are vegan, cruelty free, organic, free of harmful toxins, with ethically sourced and fairtrade ingredients.

I did notice a low waste mascara available on their Etsy store – let me know if you have tried it. I'd be keen to test the BB cream as I've never used this type of produce before. I'm still not sure what BB cream does. Is it like foundation?

Dirty Hippie Cosmetics were kind enough to include a Nourishing Lip and Cheek for me to try. I'm  wearing it in the last photo. If you have followed my journey to finding as close to zero waste beauty products you'll know I had bought (and love!) a similar product from the US. It's great to have a version of this available in Australia now. The texture has more shine compared to the matte finish of UrbApothecary Tint Stick but i'm still very happy and use it most days.

I recently came across lunazerowaste for those based in the UK looking for low-waste mascara. If you have an awesome low-waste beauty product you love, leave a link in the comments for others to find.

In case you are wondering I was never asked to review this product by the business, it was purchased myself. 

7 comments:

  1. This was fun to read. I don't wear much makeup, and feel deeply conflicted about its role in our society, but when I want it, I want it! This looks great on you. Thanks for linking to a site in Europe, too; sometimes I get crushes on products from across the planet, which isn't so zero waste....

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  2. BB cream is like a light foundation. I love using it as it doesn’t have that heavy feel that foundation can have!

    Thank you for so confidently sharing your journies with us :)

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  3. Re: BB cream, it's more than a foundation. It was developed in Europe by plastic surgeons for post-op skin care to protect and heal (and went off in South Korea because all the pop stars have plastic surgery and so use BB cream). A true BB cream is a moisturiser, a healing aid, a concealer/colour corrector, a sunscreen and a primer (smooth the skin tone). If it doesn't promise to do all these things, it's a tinted moisturiser or tinted sunscreen. I've yet to find a zero/low waste option that matches the European / Korean BB creams, but I'm always looking. Maybe I'll give the dirty hippie one a try next.

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  4. Anonymous4/13/2018

    I had been putting off restocking my makeup because I hadn't had much success finding minimally packaged products made in Australia. However after reading your post I was inspired to test out Dirtie Hippie for myself- and I am really glad I did. I had only been intending to try out their Concealer, but ending up purchasing their Volumising Mascara, Eyeliner, a Mineral Lipstick and a Mineral Eyeshadow too.

    I am happy to report that I am pretty pleased with their mascara, though admittedly the little bamboo brush that comes with it isn’t the best. As it's not part of the lid, the end is left exposed. This I feel wastes a bit of product because any mascara left on the brush dries out and causes it to get a bit clumpy. However, I now just use an old LUSH wand, which solves both of these issues. It certainly is a light mascara, so a very natural look, but it’s gentle on your eyes, especially if you unexpectedly burst into tears, (though certainly not waterproof,) and I think it's worth trying.

    The eyeliner is not bad, but again the brush is not really ideal- I am yet to find a better solution for this as I haven’t any old eyeliner wands.

    I do love their Dusty Rose Mineral Lipstick. It’s a lovely natural shade, which I also use to add colour to my cheeks.

    In short I just wanted to thank you for sharing this product as I am really happy with my purchases and love Dirtie Hippies packaging solutions.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on the Dirty Hippie cosmetic products you tried. You could try asking friends if they have an old eye liner brush you could use? Or if it's a tool you'll use often invest in a good brush that works for you.

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  5. I'm just starting my personal swap to low/zero waste cosmetics, but a BB cream is somewhere between a tinted moisturiser and foundation. it's not super heavy but gives some light coverage.
    Thanks so much for the article. My concealer has lasted me quite some time and there's still a lot left, but I'll be glad to have a zero waste option once it runs out

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  6. This is top-notch information, thanks for sharing your expertise.
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