Veludo Velvet by Christopher Drummond Beauty

Type: Beauty product- Natural foundation
From: Just Beauty Direct (UK)
Price: £50.00; $65.00 from CDB
Relationship with Brand/Store: None
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Do we recommend it: Only if you have extremely sensitive skin or feel like spending a lot of money.

Details:
Veludo Velvet is Christopher Drummond Beauty's all natural, organic based vegan foundation. This is basically a mineral powder foundation, but the unique thing about it is that it contains no Zinc Oxide, Bismuth Oxychloride or Titanium Dioxide. These three things are known irritants in some people who can't even tolerate normal mineral foundation. There's also the added claims from the website:

* Sweat resistant, yet allows the skin to breathe.
* Contains plant extracts, exotic fruit infusions, and antioxidants to help improve skin texture.
* Helps protect against the sun with phyto ingredients.
* Cosmetic-grade ingredients will not clog pores,
* Ingredients help bind moisture to the skin, so it is not drying.

When you buy it you get 8grams of product in a dark jar, a little travel jar and a spatula so you can transfer a small amount at a time from the dark jar for use (this is because the powder is sensitive to UV light); and a flat top synthetic brush.


All these come in a large cylindrical container.


First of all mineral foundation is very good for the skin because of the lack of chemicals, healing properties etc. Also a product that can be created without including Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide will be a welcome relief for all those who are sensitive to these ingredients. I like the idea of the little travel jar and using a little at a time. It stops you from contaminating the entire product and it also stops the product being degraded by UV light. You get a brush with it, which means you don't have to go out and buy a brush. The brush is synthetic, in keeping with the vegan theme.
Every time I've used it I found that it blends really well with my skin and a tiny amount is all I need.

If you know much about mineral foundation, you'll know that Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide are the main natural sunscreens used. So this foundation compromises on sun protection to give you less ingredients. There is some 'sun protection' in it but there is no mention of the SPF, which is not a good thing. Sun exposure is itself a skin irritant and in this day and age of increasing sun damage, SPF is not something to compromise on. I also find it a bit ironic that other products from this brand in the same category (e.g. Saude Pele) have Zinc Oxide in them, because of its soothing properties. Hmm...
I would never pair a flat top brush with loose powder, simply because of the potential of packing too much on the brush. I also know that natural brushes are better for powder than synthetic ones, because of their ability to hold and release more particles evenly. However, I never really got to test my CDB brush properly because this is what happened after I took it out of the packaging for the third time:



Considering that this product cost £50, surely a better quality brush would have been more appropriate. I could not return it because you can only return within seven days of purchase. This foundation blends very well, but so does my Jane Iredale PurePressed base and Bare ID foundation. You get 8g of product here whereas with my JI one, I got 10.5g for half the price!

The conclusion: If you have the need for foundation that is absolutely rid of all irritants or you are a vegan through and through, then this is for you. Also if you are professional, this would be a good addition to your kit, because you might across one of those people. Otherwise, I recommend you get another brand of good mineral foundation. It will cost you a lot less and you will get better value for your money.

Stay beautiful...