Alima Pure is a locally-owned natural cosmetics company, run by a team of ladies who specialize in mineral makeups. They got in touch with me to work on a little partnership, sent me some products to review and we also did a little interview! to feature a local company (woman owned!) that makes quality, natural products, because that’s the kind of thing I like to use. I am absolutely not a makeup expert, and really prefer to wear as little as possible. I don’t think anyone should ever feel like they HAVE to wear makeup. I am almost always bare-faced, except for lipstick or some kind of tinted lip product. It’s definitely not because I have a perfect complexion or anything, it’s mostly laziness on my part- not wanting to figure out which products are good, which ones work for me, and committing to the added daily steps of application and removal. BUT, if a nice local company wants to send me some natural cosmetics, I will totally give it a shot.

In this photo I went all-out and used the Color Balancing Powder (a cool product if you get flushed easily), the Satin Matte Foundation, the Satin Finishing Powder and some of the Satin Matte Blush. Obviously that’s more than I would normally use (compared to nothing), but it still gives a pretty natural, nice look. I spoke with one of their makeup artists about my product preferences, and said that I never use blush because of my tendency to get all pink (after a drink, when it’s hot, etc), but she encouraged me to give their blush a shot anyway. Combined with the other powders, it actually seemed really nice! I checked back in with my face (yo, face) a few times throughout the day and it never looked weird, even after a cold bike ride home. Apparently I CAN wear blush, who knew? The only downside to the overall look was that upon close examination, it did have a bit of that “makeup look”, you know, like when you look at someone’s face and all you can see is the way the makeup gathers around the pores and gives it all away, but I think it was my fault and I didn’t try any of the tricks to fix it. Their makeup artist gave me a bunch of handy tips for that “chalky” issue, like spritzing your face to set the powder. Or, using a damp brush application or even applying a tiny bit of moisturizer over the makeup. Next time I will give that a shot. They also sent me some brushes which was a makeup miracle because I am a total makeup baby and didn’t already own any. PS, I’m wearing a self-made ANN-YA malachite dress.

Natural cosmetics always have the most beautiful colors. It looks like roses and sage, pretty dusty old 1930′s dress colors. I also tried the Lipbalm, in Sweet Pea and Sugar Plum. They were totally nice, no weird taste (always such a bummer when that happens), really mellow colors and I didn’t have to re-apply over and over again. I think the sign of a good lip balm is that you aren’t forced to continually re-apply, I always feel like I’m being tricked by the ingredients when that happens.

I did a little interview with Alima’s Creative Director, Terresa Clark, to learn a little more about their Portland roots and the natural cosmetic world in general. Check out the beauty archive (small, but growing!) on the blog for more fancy lady beauty posts. Don’t miss the coupon code to score some free lipbalm!

Hello! Thanks for taking the time to talk about Alima Pure. Can you let us know your connection to the brand and how you first became interested in natural cosmetics?

My name’s Terresa, and I’m the Creative Director. I have been with Alima Pure for about 6 years, and before that worked for several conventional cosmetic lines. Over the years, I started to realize that perhaps all of the chemicals in the products that I was using were not only unnecessary, but could be harming my health. The more aware you become, the more difficult it is to justify using conventional products.

I admit I’m not a makeup expert, so for those of us who are still getting to know the world of natural makeup, why are mineral-based products special? Are all mineral makeups created equal, or are there specific details that a buyer should be aware of?

If you read the label on most of the cosmetics you own, you will see some of the same ingredients that make up Alima Pure products. The difference, of course, is that conventional lines contain many additional ingredients that you won’t find in our products. In fact, Alima Pure’s Satin Matte Foundation contains only four ingredients, and each one of them is a mineral. Sadly, not all mineral foundations are created equal, you do need to read the ingredients for minerals as well. Several years ago, as minerals were rapidly gaining popularity, many cosmetic companies decided to jump on the bandwagon and introduce their own mineral lines but if you read their ingredients, many of these brands contain just as many chemicals as their liquid counterparts.

Portland is pretty famous for being environmentally-conscious, having lots of organic farms, kombucha drinkers, all those natural buzzword type things (that I admit to totally fitting in to). Was Alima Pure founded locally? Do you feel that there’s a specific type of client or retailer that is drawn to mineral makeup, or is it reaching beyond the expected realm?

Alima is definitely a true Portland company. Our founder, Kate O’Brien, started the company upstairs in her home. At the time, back in 2004, minerals were just becoming popular beyond the health-food store shopper and those with health concerns. It has only grown since then, and we have customers from all age groups, all socio-economic categories, and from countries all over the world. The main thing that Alima Pure customers have in common is that they are not willing to compromise on either purity of ingredients or on range of color.

Are there any events (local or otherwise) or special promotions that you’d like to let us know about?

We are happy to extend a special promotion, exclusively for our Clever Nettle friends! We’re offering a free lip balm (any color) with any purchase $40 or more now through Sunday, May 16, 2012. The coupon code is “CLEVERLIPS”, and should be entered during checkout.