Mineral Makeup Brand Spotlight: Alima Cosmetics

Alima Cosmetics is an all-mineral makeup brand. In their introduction, they state that their products are free of irritants and are 100% natural, thus suitable for all skin types and shades. One of the great things about Alima is that they even have a 101 section for beginners. When you have a brand that is solely about mineral makeup, the selection is much larger–this is something I really liked. I also like that they provide ingredient lists to their products that aren’t buried within the site. Also, when you look at swatches, they have some of the better swatches I have seen overall–the colors seem fairly accurate and true-to-color.

Some products I enjoyed:

Satin Matte Foundation ($18.95) is a lightweight loose mineral foundation that gives decent coverage for a powder foundation. It also has titanium dioxide and zinc oxide (which are both SPF ingredients), while the mica minimizes lines and imperfections. The finish is matte, which is makes it more suitable to normal-to-oily skinned users, but I didn’t find this too drying or even too matte that it wouldn’t work on those with slightly dry skin.

For those of you who like more traditional cosmetics and may not feel like hitching your wagon to the mineral makeup trend, there are still great ways to enjoy it that don’t include replacing your liquid foundations and foundation brushes! I really liked their Illuminating Shimmer Powders ($14.00), because they’re super finely milled highlighters that look so natural and glowy. My favorite was Nectar, described as a “luscious apricot-gold.” There’s about nine different ones to choose from–ranging from very light (Luna) to bronze (Cafe).

Need a face primer? Alima has you covered with their Balancing Primer Powder ($14.00), which helps your mineral foundation stay on better throughout the day–especially if your face gets oily.  They also have Color Balancing Powders ($14.00) to fix certain problems or cancel out pigmentation in the skin (like redness).

Other products you may be interested in: Mineral Finishing Powder ($14.00), Luminous Shimmer Blush ($14.00), Satin Matte Blush ($14.00), Pearluster Eyeshadow ($8.50), and their brushes (varies in price).

What could they improve on? Nothing really. I suppose wanting to be able to see everything in-person, before you buy, is a dream. Besides, you can get samples of just about everything for no more than $1.00, which makes trying the brand infinitely easier.