Letter To Jane Iredale


Dear Ms Iredale,

I had meant to write to you a couple of months ago, soon after my foray into the heady world of beauty blogging. Unfortunately, I got waylaid by the glitzy lights of other makeup brands, resulting in my constantly putting off writing this letter. Please accept my apologies. You deserve to be treated better.

The reason I say this is because I credit you with getting me back into makeup, makeup as it was meant to be. The post Changing Trains talks about my past relationship with makeup, or the lack of it rather, and how I evolved into what I’ve now become. You are instrumental in this evolution. While my wedding was the catalyst, you were the enabler.

I've battled with acne for many years. They were unpleasant years and I’m sure you would be familiar with this as I believe many of your loyal users have a history of skin problems too. Your products certainly save the day for many of us!

I read that you started the Jane Iredale Mineral Makeup brand in 1994. Imagine, it took fourteen years after you had formed your cosmetics company before I discovered you! All those years of missing out on makeup! All those years of going out with an au naturel face albeit with an almost negligible sweep of eyeshadow and lipstick. I was simply resigned to the fact that I would never be able to wear any foundation or blush. Although I never lost any sleep over this, I did often have the thought at the back of my mind that I was forever doomed to a life of looking plain.

However, when I first read about your cosmetics last year, I allowed myself to have a tiny glimmer of hope. It was stated on the Jane Iredale website: “Our cosmetics are safe and good for your skin. Good for acne and rosacea.” That sounded promising. I was impressed by the fact that you worked closely with dermatologists and plastic surgeons in developing your products. My line of thought was that if your products agreed with patients of such doctors, then they might agree with me too. And they did!

I love your foundations, Ms Iredale. I find it quite incredible that I have accumulated five of your base products over the last twelve months. I guess it’s my way of making up for all those impoverished foundation-less years. Too eager, you could say. I’ll never forget the first Jane Iredale product that I acquired. It was the Pure Pressed Base Mineral Foundation. I was impressed with how natural it looked on my skin and even more impressed that it didn’t break me out! That, I have to say, was the watershed product for me. And with SPF 20, it was a big bonus!

I shan’t bore you with a list of Jane Iredale products that I now have. Suffice to say, my collection is enough for a basic full-face makeup. I will, however, list down the reasons why I love your products so much:

· All your products do not have potential skin-irritants – no parabens, no chemical dyes, no perfume and no alcohol.

· In 2007, you made the decision to remove another skin-irritant, bismuth oxychloride, from your powder foundations, eyeshadows and blushes. Some say that bismuth oxychloride causes cystic acne too. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that I discovered your cosmetics post-2007.

· Your products contain no fillers like the all-too-famous talc, the pore-clogging culprit for many.

· Because you don’t use fillers, your products are pigment-rich. A little goes a long way.

· Your powder foundations and powder blushes also do not contain oils.

· Your SPF 20 powder foundations offer broad spectrum UVA/UVB sun protection.

· Your foundation looks natural and feels light, like I’m not wearing any foundation at all.

· Your foundation stays on the face all day. I hardly ever need to touch up.

· You have a wide range of colours for your eyeshadows. Nobody can accuse the Jane Iredale brand of being dull.

· Your eyeshadows are pigmented and apply easily.

· I never have to worry about eyeshadow fallout – there is little fallout. Even if there was, I don’t worry about the particles left on my face that might cause breakouts because your eyeshadows are non-comedogenic.

· The Jane Iredale Eye Pencils are the only eye pencils that I consider safe to use for waterlining.

· Your Eye Pencils are creamy and apply like a dream.

· I like it that many of your products are safe for multi-purpose use, like your Lip Definers which can also be used on the eyes or anywhere on the face, ditto for your Eye Pencils, and your In Touch Cream Blush that can also be used on the lips.

I could go on, Ms Iredale, but this is all nothing new to you, of course. In an ideal world, I would have every single product in your cosmetics line. Sadly, that’s realistically not possible. You do know that your products are in the higher price range but I suppose one gets what one pays. In this case, one gets quality and safe cosmetics.

As much as I adore your products, I do have two matters that I’d like to bring to your attention. The first has to do with the Cream to Powder Eyeliner in Plum Plus. The one I have is so dried up that the edges of the contents have shrunk away from the sides of the pan. I had taken good care to close the container tightly but it still dried up after only a few uses. I bought this product also in Black/Brown Plus at the same time, but it’s strange that the latter is still fine.

My other issue is with the Sugar&Butter Lip Exfoliator/Plumper. Please take a look at the photos shown.

I had probably only used the product less than ten times in total when the brown sugar portion broke. I’m sure I handled the product with care, using no extraordinary pressure when applying. Then to make matters worse, the lip plumper portion broke a few weeks later! I’ve since transferred the broken lip plumper with the scraped up remains into a little container.




The brown sugar portion









The lip plumper portion





I have no issues with the contents of this product, the problem is probably a flaw in the product design. I don’t know if you’ve received similar complaints from other users, but I hope your team will be able to rectify the problem with the holder.

There! I’ve said it. I hope you don’t mind, but I think it’s important that you get feedback from your users.

Anyway, when I started my blog, I was quite clueless about how to move forward with it. The only thing that I was certain about was that I wanted to feature Jane Iredale products. Unfortunately and unexpectedly, I got distracted along the way and found other interesting topics to write about. I will not guarantee that I won’t get distracted again as there are just so many other exciting products and brands out there to be discovered. I’m having such a ball exploring every nook and corner of beauty land and makeup planet.

I will, however, say this. I absolutely love your products and it’s only right that I help spread the word about the Jane Iredale brand. So, in future, I will shine the spotlight on your products on a regular basis on my blog. Take it as my way of thanking you for helping me look radiant on my wedding day and for opening my eyes to a whole new world of makeup possibilities.

Happy 15th Anniversary!

Yours sincerely,
Witoxicity

7 comments:

Michelle @Lipstickrules said...

I LOVE this post and the way you wrote it. So very unique and cool.

I'm intrigued by this brand myself!

Michelle
xx

Lorla said...

Such a wonderful and whimsical read you've given us. My stepmother uses this line, and I never thought much of it...until now!

Witoxicity said...

@Michelle
Good to know that I've got your interest piqued in the Jane Iredale brand!

@Lorla
Ha ha, thanks for your lovely words! This is new as I've never associated my writing with the word 'whimsical' before. It must have something to do with my erratic personality, which some people say I have. :D

Anonymous said...

Wow so creative in your posts! Bummer with those products that broke on you though =\

Witoxicity said...

@Natalie
It's very nice of you to say that. Thank you!

It's unfortunate what's happened to the Sugar&Butter Lip Exfoliator/Plumper. The holder is actually visually very attractive and luxurious. Well, I've saved both the (broken) contents and am using them. Only the manner of application is now rather crude. Sigh!

Lavender said...

You have such flair for language my dear. i am truely impressed! BTW did u get any feedback from them or any free items for consolation. just curious..

Witoxicity said...

@Lavender
Thank you for your kind words. Well, if the folks at Jane Iredale ever read this post, they never did get back to me about my two complaints.