lightnin's Full Review: Bare Escentuals bareMinerals SPF 15 Foundation
I've never been able to successfully apply foundation, powder, or any kind of liquid makeup and look natural. In fact, no matter how many times I practiced (and what a waste of time!) the stuff would blotch, cake, and crease. I've tried since I was 18 years old, and the blotchy/caked/creased look is actually difficult to achieve on a young woman that age. I opted to show my bare, sunburned, freckled, or blemished face to the public with a tad of blush and some mascara as the only nod to vanity.
Eventually I gave it another try. I purchased a package through QVC which included the foundation, Mineral Veil, some brushes, and eye shadow.
My first attempt at using this product resulted in too much of the powder on the brush--far too much powder. So I decided to read the enclosed hints. It actually takes very little powder to do the job. In order to apply the powder evenly, one dips the makeup brush into the powder, and not very deeply into the powder,only until the top of the bristles are there. Then you swirl the brush inside the cap and tap off any excess into the cap.
It sounds a little messy, and it is, a little. Powder does fly a bit, but it's better than tapping the brush over the sink. Sinks get disgusting with powder in them, and you have to clean them right away or gross out your husband or partner. But swirling and tapping the brush in the lid is very effective. This little action pushes some of the powder into the brush. It keeps the brush from depositing a glop of powder on the first application to your face, but allows the powder to spread gradually and evenly.
As far as coverage goes, it's absolutely great. From the time I was three months pregnant with my first child, I have had melasma, the "mask of pregnancy," a discoloration under my jawline and on my neck. Added to that are years' worth of residual tan/peel/tan/peel discolorations (like rings on a tree trunk, dammit) which may look fine under the bathroom lights but show up proudly on every photograph. This powder covers those marks, but it DOES NOT cake in folds or in lines unless you load the stuff on. Every single liquid, creme, or powder makeup or foundation previously used has accentuated any lines that I had and/or created lines where I had none! Not this stuff.
The powder also gives a translucence to the skin. Mind you, this is a matte makeup. The translucence is not from any sheen or glitter in the powder. It must be from the way it is absorbed into the skin. It's very even, and it lasts. The first time I wore this product "in public" was on a blistering hot and humid day. My sisters commented on how nice my skin looked. That's some accomplishment! They didn't comment on how nice my makeup looked, they commented on how nice my skin looked. And the powder doesn't run.
This makeup lasts all day. I don't know how or why, but I don't need to know that. It lasts all day, and I'm happy. Its ability to cling does NOT mean it clogs up your pores. I have never had a breakout or any sort of problem with this powder. I have sensitive skin and can't tolerate, for example, any soaps with glycerin or heavy lotions with mineral oil in them. bareMinerals washes off with soap and water, and if you use a soft cloth there is no need whatsoever for scrubbing. Just gentle wiping is all it takes.
The only drawback is how much makeup inevitably is on TOP of the mesh in the little jar. The mesh is more of a widely spaced grid, and it's easy to daub your brush and come away with too much of the makeup. This takes a little practice, but eventually one will be able to judge how much to tap off. If the little jars had a more closely knit screen, it would make this product all the better!
You know how they say you should throw away any makeup you haven't used within six months? If you follow that guideline, you'll be throwing away a lot of your bareMinerals, because a little goes a long way. Personally, if it doesn't involve lips or eyes, I use the same container of bareMinerals for longer than that. In fact, if the Makeup Police ever decide to go through my makeup, it'll be a shootout if they come near my Bare Escentuals, especially my bareMinerals Multi-Tasking Mineral Makeup.
What it is:A mineral-based foundation that gives flawless coverage.What it does:Made of only pure, crushed minerals from the earth, bareMinerals SPF 1...More at Sephora
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