Laura Geller is a popular cosmetics brand that sells a wide variety of products and is often featured on QVC. The brand was founded by a makeup artist and there’s even a community of devoted customers that call themselves Geller Gals.
But is Laura Geller better-formulated than the average drugstore cosmetic? Does it contain any unhealthy ingredients? Is the brand engaged in marketing spam? And is Laura Geller better or worse than popular makeup brands like Il Makiage?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in two of Laura Geller’s most popular products (Baked Foundation, Blush) to give our take on whether or not they're likely to be effective at improving skin appearance, and whether or not they're healthy.
We'll also share our concerns about spam tactics used by the brand, and compare Laura Geller to other popular cosmetic brands to pick our winners (and losers).
Key takeaways:
- Contains some ingredients we consider potentially toxic
- Website spammed us without our consent
- We do not currently recommend Laura Geller makeup
Baked Foundation Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in the Medium, Tan and Fair shades of Laura Geller Baked Balance-n-Brighten Color Correcting Foundation are shown below:
While this is one of the brand's most popular products, it contains several ingredients that may be questionable from a health perspective.
Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate is an ingredient more commonly referred to as octinoxate, and was shown in a medical review published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology to be toxic to the environment and to wildlife.
This ingredient was recently banned in Hawaii over toxicity concerns.
Phenoxyethanol is a synthetic preservative. As we referenced in our review of Seint Makeup, this preservative has been shown to be toxic to human cells in at least one clinical trial.
Chromium oxide green is a synthetic colorant containing the mineral chromium, which was shown in a clinical review to cause contact allergy, skin ulcers and swelling of the skin in some individuals.
Camellia sinensis (green tea) leaf extract is an effective natural ingredient, shown in a review published in the Molecules journal to delay visible signs of skin aging like wrinkles.
Overall, we consider Laura Geller Baked Foundation somewhat likely to improve the appearance of skin given the colorants and green tea leaf extract, but we don't currently recommend this product due to the inclusion of octinoxate, phenoxyethanol and chromium oxide green.
Laura Geller Spammed Us
While researching this article, we visited the Laura Geller website and received unsolicited marketing spam in the days after.
We never opted in to these emails nor was there any clear notice that our use of the website would opt us in for email spam.
We very strongly disagree with this practice and we recommend that consumers avoid brands that do this to disincentivize the behavior. It's highly disruptive and not respectful of a user's privacy.
We urge Laura Geller to stop sending marketing emails to individuals that simply visit their website but do not opt in to marketing emails, and we would recommend that consumers set on purchasing from this brand do so on Amazon to avoid this negative experience.
Blush Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in the Roseberry shade of Laura Geller Baked Blush-n-Brighten Marbleized Blush are shown below:
Phenoxyethanol and ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate are included in this product, and we explained why we recommend that consumers be wary of these ingredients in the previous Ingredient Analysis section.
BHT is a synthetic preservative that's clinically shown to break down into a compound called BHTOOH, which may promote tumors in the body, as we documented in our review of Agency Skincare (another brand that uses this ingredient).
Red 7 Lake and Yellow 5 Lake are synthetic dyes that we consider to be even worse choices than the chromium oxide green used in Laura Geller Baked Foundation.
A 2012 medical review found that Yellow 5 was frequently contaminated with carcinogens (cancer-causing compounds).
The above-linked study focused on the ingestion of these compounds, but we do not recommend using synthetic dyes on the face either, given that there was “evidence for carcinogenicity, genotoxicity, and hypersensitivity.”
Overall, our takeaway about this product is similar to our thoughts on the Foundation: it may improve skin appearance and may be a good choice from a functional perspective, but from a health perspective we consider the Blush to be even worse than the Foundation.
Laura Geller vs. Popular Makeup Brands
Here's how Laura Geller compares to other popular makeup brands in terms of potential effectiveness and healthiness, in our opinion:
Il Makiage Foundation
Contains an active ingredient which is clinically shown to be metabolized into a cancer-causing compound, and this ingredient is more of a concern to us than anything in Laura Geller.
Winner: Laura Geller Makeup
RMS Beauty
While some formulations contain ingredients we consider unhealthy, RMS Beauty's UncoverUp Concealer is one of the best-formulated cosmetic products we've reviewed to date on Illuminate Health.
As we documented in our RMS Beauty reviews article, this product is free from any ingredients we consider unhealthy.
Winner: RMS Beauty
Ogee Makeup
Healthiest cosmetic brand we have reviewed; research-backed, naturally-derived active ingredients and no questionable additives.
Winner: Ogee Makeup
Can Makeup Ruin the Skin?
Given that most commercial makeup brands use a number of questionable ingredients, consumers are often curious about whether its daily use can ruin the skin over time.
In a popular video, a dermatologist and YouTube creator named "Dr Dray" reviews claims made by actress Jessica Chastain that makeup ruined her skin:
Our Clean Foundation Pick
Ilia True Skin Serum Foundation is our top clean foundation brand.
Ilia’s makeup has natural ingredients beneficial for skin health like aloe vera juice, coconut and jojoba seed oil.
Ilia’s makeup is free of phenoxyethanol and is also free of synthetic dyes.
While it does contain two preservatives (ethylhexylglycerin and sodium benzoate), we consider these to be less harsh options than the inactive ingrdients in Laura Geller.
We would prefer to recommend a preservative-free makeup product but have not come across one. If we do, we will update this section of the article with that recommendation.
Laura Geller Makeup Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Mostly positive online customer reviews
- Should improve skin appearance
- Affordable
Cons:
- Brand uses octinoxate
- Brand uses synthetic preservatives
- Brand uses synthetic colorants
- Brand website charges for shipping on some one-time purchases
- Products don't appear to be clinically tested
