RMS Beauty - raw cosmetics

RMS Beauty is another new beauty line that's the brainchild of Rose-Marie Swift, a makeup artist. Her backstory is that after many years of working as a makeup artist she suffered from health problems that she eventually attributed to the build up of toxins in her body, which may have been caused by the numerous products she'd been exposed to.

Like Dr Alkaitis, the products are not heated to more than body temperature, in order to avoid destroying or compromising the natural goodness in the ingredients. The ingredients are high quality and nourishing - coconut, argan and jojoba oil, shea and cocoa butter, and natural pigments (with the only exception of the Smile Lip2cheek cream, which contains a synthetic dye. They're working to find a natural alternative.)

I'm not going to be chucking out all of my other pretty stuff just yet, but I do love the way these look, feel and perform. There are definitely more of these in my future. I avoided a lot of makeup, nail polish and perfume and stuck to natural skincare lines when I was pregnant and breast feeding seven years ago, and I'd have loved to have the option of a brand like this then. I think this is the best brand I have come across for anyone who has a compromised immune system and is trying to avoid as many chemicals as possible, but still wants a pretty and modern looking makeup.

The cream eyeshadow has a glossy texture. Honestly, this creases. If you hate creasing, don't buy this product. I don't mind the creasing, as I like that slightly destroyed, casual look. I can easily fix it in a minute with a fingertip and the small pot is convenient to carry in my bag for touch ups. It gives a glowy, glossy sheen to the eyelid, which I love (I was a massive fan of the Club Monaco eye greases in the 1990s.) The colour I purchased, Myth, is probably the most high fashion of the six shades available - it's a reddish/copper shade with gold shimmer. I like this kind of shade because it brings out the green in my sludge coloured eyes, and it's a bit edgy without being too mutton dressed as lamb.

The Lip2Cheek is a fantastic product. It's along the same lines as Bobbi Brown's pot rouges, but I prefer the RMS version. It's creamy, pigmented and it's comfortable on both lips and cheeks. It has a matte texture that still manages to leave my lips in better condition than before it was applied (I'm guessing that's the argan oil in it.) The colour I purchased is Illusive, and the angels sang when I applied this. It's a very slightly plum/browned rose (no shimmer) that amps my lips back to the colour they were when I was a teenager (lips fade as we get older.) I can't overstate how much I love this colour.

Each of these products is £28 for a small (4g) pot. Yes, that's expensive, but they are very pigmented and I think the quality justifies the price. The packaging is simple but very classy and represents the high quality of the product well; it's a small glass jar with a white metal pot with the brand name on it. The only thing I find slightly annoying is that the text on the back of the pot is a strange mid grey which is much harder to read than either black or white would be against the colour of the product; this makes it a bit difficult to read the shade name on the pot.

In the pictures above I am wearing Chantecaille total concealer in Ivory under my eyes and around my nose, Myth on my eyes with Le Metier de Beaute black Mascara and Illusive on cheeks and lips.

In the UK RMS beauty is stocked at Content Beauty - www.beingcontent.com. I thoroughly recommend this website; it has great customer service (I emailed about an out of stock moisturiser and got a quick and helpful reply) and ships quickly and safely. Postage is also free with orders of £50 or over. I am already eyeing the gold and the taupe/mauve eyeshadows and the reddish Lip2Cheek for my next purchase.