The Ingredient Glossary

It is the body of the baked pressed formulas — the platelet structure is what lets a powder sit flat on skin, diffuse light instead of sitting on top of it, and carry pigment evenly across the face.

It refines the texture of the base. Where mica gives the powder its body, sericite gives it slip — the fine particle size is what makes a pressed mineral feel silky rather than chalky under a brush.

It is the reason a dry pressed powder behaves like a cream. Jojoba softens at skin temperature and blends with your own oils, which is what gives the baked pressed line its shade-adaptive wear and buildable medium-to-full coverage without a powdery edge.

It is the one addition that separates the blush from the foundation. Blush needs to sheer out and stop where you stop it, and safflower's lighter body gives the pigment a longer, more forgiving blend window on the cheek.

Part of the botanical preservation system. Lavender has traditionally been used to help keep formulas fresh, which is how we hold a powder stable without parabens or phenoxyethanol.

Part of the botanical preservation system. Thyme is traditionally used to help keep formulas fresh, and it is one of the reasons the ingredient list can end at nine names.

An antioxidant botanical that helps protect the oils in the formula from going off, so the compact stays true through the life of the pan.

The most established natural antioxidant in the botanical preservation system. It guards the jojoba and safflower oils against oxidation, which is what lets us skip a synthetic preservative.

It does two jobs at once: it conditions the powder so it reads soft on skin, and it works with the rosemary and green tea to keep the oil phase stable.

This is the color. Three oxides in different ratios make every shade we sell, which is why the shades read as skin rather than as paint, and why they do not oxidize orange over the day.

It is the base of the Liquid Foundation — the first ingredient, in place of the water-and-silicone base most liquid foundations start from. Everything else in the formula is suspended in it.

It adjusts the viscosity of the aloe base so the formula meters evenly through the pump and spreads without dragging.

It keeps the film flexible on skin. Without it a botanical foundation tightens as it sets and starts to sit in fine lines by the afternoon.

It is the emollient that makes full coverage wearable. Squalane spreads far for its weight, so pigment load can go up without the foundation reading heavy.

It absorbs surface oil through the day so the finish holds. This is the natural stand-in for the silica and silicone elastomers that usually do this job.

Soft focus. It scatters light across the surface of the foundation so full coverage looks like skin rather than like a layer, without using mica.

It gives the emulsion structure and keeps the pigment from separating out in the bottle, so the shade you shake is the shade you pump.

It is the richness that keeps a high-coverage formula from looking flat, and it carries the fat-soluble botanicals through the emulsion.

A comfort botanical for skin that has reacted before. It also contributes to the freshness of the botanical preservation system.

It is here for scent, and we would rather name it than write the word fragrance. There is no synthetic fragrance in the formula and nothing hiding behind a proprietary blend — this is the whole of the scent story.

It is the emulsifier — the thing that lets the aloe-water phase and the squalane-shea oil phase live in one bottle without a synthetic surfactant.

The lead botanical in the preservation system of the Liquid Foundation. Traditionally used to help keep formulas fresh, it is a large part of why the bottle needs no parabens or phenoxyethanol.

Part of the botanical preservation system, working alongside oregano, thyme, rosemary, lavender and goldenseal.

The sixth botanical in the preservation system. Six named plants doing the job that one unnamed synthetic usually does — that trade-off is the whole reason the list is longer and fully disclosed.

It is the opacity in the Liquid Foundation. Full coverage from botanicals needs a white base pigment to build the iron oxides against, and non-nano titanium dioxide is the one that does it without mica.

It does the blurring and the shine control. The spheres roll against each other, so a powder built on silica presses smooth and keeps surface oil from pooling through the day.

It is the glide. In the Duos it carries pigment evenly across a lid without dragging; in Blur + Set it is what lets a translucent powder press down rather than sit on top.

It is the soft-focus layer in Blur + Set. Round particles scatter light across fine lines instead of settling into them, which is what makes a setting powder read as blur rather than as coverage.

It is the adhesion. Lauroyl lysine is what makes a powder cling where you press it rather than migrating, so Blur + Set stays put in the areas you actually set.

It binds the cake. Without a binder a silica-heavy powder crumbles in the pan, so this is what holds Blur + Set together across a handbag lifetime.

It keeps a water-containing formula safe over its shelf life. In the mascara this matters most: bacterial growth in a product used near the eyes is a real risk, and we would rather name a preservative than accept that risk.

It is the cool end of the color. In the Duos it makes the steel and plum shades possible; in the Cream Foundation a trace of it neutralizes orange so tan and deep shades read true rather than brassy.

It is the base of the Cream Foundation — the first ingredient, and the reason a solid stick turns into a spreadable film the moment it meets your face.

It thins the coconut oil into something blendable. Coconut alone would sit heavy; sunflower is what lets the Cream Foundation move under fingers and stop where you stop.

It is the structure. Two liquid oils and a pigment load will not hold a shape, so ozokerite is what makes the Cream Foundation a stick rather than a jar.

It raises the melting point so the formula survives a warm bag, and in the mascara it is what builds length along the lash without flaking.

It is traditionally used to help keep an oil-based formula fresh, and it is the reason the Cream Foundation carries a natural scent. This product is not unscented, and we would rather say so on the label.

It gives the Cream Foundation its body — the difference between a greasy balm and a foundation that sets to a skin-like finish.

It is the flexible part of the mascara's wax system. Carnauba gives hardness, sunflower wax gives bend, and lashes need both or the coat cracks when you blink.

It holds the waxes and the water together. Without an emulsifier a mascara separates in the tube within weeks.

It conditions the film left on the lash, which is what stops a natural mascara from feeling brittle by the end of the day.

It keeps the formula from drying out in the tube and helps the botanical extracts stay in solution.

It is the film-former that carries length. Each coat lays a thin flexible film along the lash, which is how a wax mascara extends the tip without a fiber additive.

It lets the phenoxyethanol work at the low end of its range. Less preservative for the same stability is a trade worth naming.

It covers mold and yeast, which the phenoxyethanol alone does not fully address in a water-based eye formula.

It sets the viscosity of the mascara — thick enough to coat in one pass, thin enough not to clump on the second.

It is the hold. Acacia gum is what keeps the curl and the length in place for the day without a synthetic film-former.

Another named plant in the primer's botanical preservation system, in place of a synthetic preservative.

It is the slip in the primer. Rosehip absorbs quickly, so makeup can go on top within a minute rather than sliding around on an oily layer.

It gives the primer enough body to stay where you smooth it, so it grips foundation instead of being absorbed straight into skin.

It turns an aloe-and-water base into a gel you can spread evenly across a face. Without it the primer would run.