The cosmetic industry loves to bombard us with fancy packaging, a plethora of colours and shades as well as limited edition sets, all in the name of tempting us to consume more make-up than we actually need for that one face we have.
But do we really know what’s in these highly processed products that ultimately goes onto our skin and into our pores?

I stumbled across 100% Pure by chance, after watching a popular YouTube series, and immediately googled if it was readily available in Singapore.

Fortunately, there is a single online distributor here, and I didn’t hesitate to purchase a few products for my perusal.
First of all, what is 100% Pure? It’s a US-based beauty brand that uses no synthetic ingredients in its products, and the colours you see in the make-up is the result of using fruit- and vegetable-based dyes.
In fact, to achieve thicker consistencies or a powdery finish, they even utilise rice starch as an ingredient. Of course, as a result, the shelf-life of these products are shorter, but that by no means translates to lower quality.

I swatched a few of their lipsticks to test their pigmentation, and the first thing I noticed was a potent fragrance. These aromas are the result of the natural ingredients used; no perfumes are added!
The textures were creamy, and their matte range was surprisingly truly matte. I purchased the Fruit Pigmented® Cocoa Butter Matte Lipstick in Mojave (S$51), and I fell in love with it instantly.
It uses cherries, pomegranate, blueberries, grapes and cocoa butter. I usually always stick to matte liquid lipsticks because I find regular lipsticks too sticky for my liking, but this was different.
This one glided on creamily, dried to a matte finish but didn’t feel drying at all. The cocoa butter content ensured that my lips stayed moisturised all day.
What’s better is that the staying power was surprisingly tough; even after eating greasy and soupy food, only the pigments on the inner part of my lips faded away.
They also have two ranges of foundation — the 2nd Skin Foundation and Fruit Pigmented® Healthy Foundation. The former provides only light to medium coverage and is great for daily wear that feels like you’re wearing nothing. The latter better serves those preferring medium to full coverage and is a buildable foundation.
Some of the ingredients used in their foundations include turmeric, olive squalane, rice starch and coffee beans. The colour spectrum available could use some improvement; I feel that there isn’t a large enough range to cater to all skin tones.

In the name of beauty experimentation, after trying to figure out the best shade for my skin, I applied shade #3 of the 2nd Skin Foundation (S$80.50) on only half my face for the whole day (I blurred out that telltale line by brushing on some matte bronzer).
I chose to do so because I wanted to see how the colour would oxidise throughout the day, how my oily skin would hold up, and if anyone noticed that I was wearing foundation at all.
It’s got quite a runny consistency, so fair warning that it could get messy (which is a con for me). But it applied evenly and had a great subtle floral smell. Also, it did stay true to its light coverage as my imperfections shone through.
To my surprise, my face didn’t produce as much oil as it usually does, on the side with the foundation applied, and when I asked my colleague if she could spot any differences (in broad daylight), she claimed she couldn’t see any.
The next day I tried the Fruit Pigmented® Healthy Foundation in Peach Bisque (S$81). This time around I decided to test its staying power throughout the day, given that it claims to be buildable up to full coverage. I made up my entire face.
The consistency was a little thicker than the previous day’s foundation and after allowing it to settle for 10 minutes, it gave my face a nice radiant glow.
The day was extremely hot and I even broke into moments of sweat, but I didn’t touch up or blot my face once. After reaching home at 10.30pm, I was pleasantly surprised to see my blusher still intact and my skin still looking fresh, albeit a little dewy.
One of the drawbacks of this foundation was that it did tend to hold on to the drier spots on my face, so ample moisturiser and a scrub beforehand would’ve done some good.
Another product I tried was the Fruit Pigmented® Pretty Naked Palette (S$81).
It’s a five-colour palette that contains (from left to right) a luminiser in Pink Champagne, a pink luminescent powder with pearly-gold shimmer, Pretty Naked, a peachy nude blush, Flax Seed, a pale pink-nude eye shadow with taupe undertone, Toffee, a taupe-grey eye shadow with silver undertone and Chestnut, a rich, bronze-chocolate eye shadow with rosy undertones.
You’ll be pleased to know that the use of rosehip oil, goji berries, rose petals, apricots and carrots are just some of the unexpected ingredients that go into the making of this palette.
In natural light, the payoff wasn’t fantastic and the colours were incredibly muted. I tried to brush on more strokes of each colour to see if it’s buildable but there wasn’t much difference. I suppose these are best used as layers for existing colours that are more pigmented (which I did eventually).
As seen here, even under white light, the colours seemed faded and not vibrant and contrasted at all.
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I know many of you may think twice given the rather steep price of the products, but taking into account that all 100% Pure’s products are all-natural, it’s amazing that they’ve managed to harness nature to produce quality make-up.
Even if the colours may not be as pigmented as I’d like, I also have to take into account that there’s only so much you can do to process vegetables and fruits to produce high-contrast and lasting shades.
So, are their products really edible? 100% yes, but they are definitely not the tastiest things to consume (and not in large quantities, please!).
Would this warrant a re-purchase from me? I’ll be back for the lipstick line for sure, since I’m a complete sucker for pucker products.
Prices: S$50 – S$100
100% Pure (Singapore): 16 Shaw Road #03-05, Singapore 367954 | Website | Facebook
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