Are you a fan of mineral makeup? If so, what are your favorite brands? If not, why not?
I’ve tried it with minimal success thus far, so I’m hoping you will all share with me some great ideas!
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I was skeptical of mineral makeup too- until I tried everyday minerals.
Companies like Bare Escentuals use bismuth and talc, and Everyday Minerals does not. These are the two main irritants for MANY people and caused my face to become a cystic mess.
Everyday Minerals is great- you can order a FREE sample from their website (just pay like $3 shipping) Which includes three foundations, a blush and a concealer.
Even their full size foundations are super cheap against their competitors.
I had trouble applying it at first but this is what i do now:
Tap the powder onto a tupperwear lid and take my kabuki- spritz it with avene’s thermal water (or any spray water) and dab the powder with the damp brush, and apply! It goes on so much better this way- with no cakey look at all.
I was super surprised at how Everyday Minerals transformed my cystic mess of a face- i use their original glo formula and it makes my face look so young and gives it that dewy glow.
Hope this helps 🙂
I’m so happy to hear that EM worked so well for you! I didn’t have that luck when I tried it a year or so ago 🙁
I use bare minerals – their sheer powder, not the foundation – as a finishing powder sometimes, however my biggest complaint is their brushes are terrible!
The product itself is not too bad. Like Naomi mentions there is talc in their product which is an irritant to many people’s skin but for a setting powder it is very effective.
It’s great that Bare Minerals is working for you, but yes, I’ve heard both the talc and bismuth are irritating for a lot of people!
Depends on the brand. At the moment i’ve got avon’s mineral face powder and it works like a charm ;). At the moment, i’m waiting on an order of mineral eyeshadows/blush/face highlighters from an unknown brand.
Awesome, Briodmun! I’m trying out Mary Kay’s right now myself 🙂
Haven’t found a brand to impress me overall. Tried Everyday Minerals and it just didn’t agree with my skin. Innocence is good to me, but only in the eyeshadows and I find the whole loose powder thing too messy to carry around. I haven’t liked mineral powder foundation because (last time I tried it) it couldn’t cover my blemishes. And my oil prone face looked like I’d slathered butter all over it after a few hours.
I’ve heard a lot of good things about EM, so it’s good to hear the other side!
But I agree, haven’t been satisfied with any mineral foundation yet.
I’ve been using Bare Minerals for over a year now and I have no complaints *shrugs*
That’s fab, Leigh!! What are your favorite products?
Hey,
I never heard of Mineral makeup here in Pakistan,someway first time im hearing it from u guys.I liked wot i read in Naomi’s conversation,….but soon i am gonna use it cuz soon going to USA with hubby INSHALLAH..
Plz do tell me more of the website Naomi.
Zzainy..
Hey Zainy! Oh, wow!! Yayyy for coming to the USA 😀
I have tried MMU before but I prefer liquid makeup more. Of the brands I’ve tried, Laura Mercier is what I liked most. Merle Norman comes in second.
I like liquid, too, I think I may always be a liquid kind of girl.
I’ve been using Bare Minerals for a couple of months now and i absolutly love it!!! It makes my face look flawless! The Foundation can also be used as a concealer since i do have acne and it works really well! It’s worth the money, Thankfully my skin did not have a reaction to the talc. I like Mineralized shadows also since it gives a lot of intensity which i love to do! Thats why i use Mac most of the time for eyeshadow.
That’s fabulous, Vanessa! So lucky 🙂
I have used samples by Alima and was quite impressed with the results. There is a huge variety of shades to choose from – http://www.alimacosmetics.com – and the finish was quite nice. It photographs really well too.
I didn’t switch to mineral make up because I am happy with the brands I am using right now. Maybe once I finish my current stash of liquid and cream foundation I will buy the full size product from Alima. That could be awhile but hey, maybe there will be a million other mineral make up lines out there by then!
That’s great! I’ve heard good things about Alima, too 🙂
I’m so in love with liquid foundation, I don’t know if mineral could ever sway to me (at least for powder).
I can’t decide whether or not to try mineral makeup, what brand to try, etc. Confession: I’m a little intimidated by any foundation other than compact powder foundation. I would love to get that smooth, dewy look, but powder found. is soo easy to use, not greasy, etc. In such a bind!
Aww, Erin! I know what you mean, I was quite intimidated by liquid foundation when I first started thinking about it!
Seriously, anyone who is sceptical of mineral makeup should really try Jane Iredale! Although it is quite expensive, you get extremely nice, long-lasting products which sometimes even contain real gold!!! I truly love this mineral makeup brand! (But of course, it will never replace my predilection for MAC!)
Love your site, Christine!
Thanks for the recommendation, Sara! I’ll try to check that line out!
🙂
I can’t wear BE.. It’s too shiney and the mineral veil makes me look ashy. It made me look NC not NW!!
I did try EM and liked them but I have some enlarged pores on the sides of my nose so some minerals just sink right in.
I’m on a mission to find a good one!
Mac is coming out with their loose mineral foundation very soon, so I’m dying for that. I love their MSF in Medium but I know it contains talc because that’s what makes it stick together in the dome. It’s very pretty on.
I hope Mac steps up to the plate and brings their A game!! Hopefully their new minerals will be bismuth and talc free!!
(wish wish wish)
Hey Carrie! That sucks that BE didn’t work out for you, and EM wasn’t that good either.
I’m excited about MAC’s, too!!
I love Philosophy The Supernatural mineral foundation! love love it! Also they just expanded the color range, which is great b/c previously even the lightest shade was a little dark for me.
Except, it has one of those big built-in-sponge applicators which I can never get to work right, so I have this special trick: take off the sponge applicator, turn it upside down in the cap, put the cap on the bottle, shake the bottle to get some powder on the sponge, and then use a powder brush to apply the powder from the sponge. works great!
I completely spaced that Philosophy had a mineral foundation!
Good to hear they’ve expanded the range, too 🙂
Thanks for the applicator tip!
I use the Jane Iredale Amazing Base loose powder foundation when I want a more matte coverage and Jane Iredale’s Liquid Mineral foundation (mixed with a small amount of Benefit High Beam) for a more dewey look.
Re Price: When I was only using the loose minerals, a container would last me nearly 6 months… so although it’s a more expensive line, it’s got good milage. When I use the liquid minerals, one pump (mixed with a pea sized dab of high beam) covers me when I use the foundation brush.
Sounds like we have some Jane Iredale fans 🙂
Thanks for letting us know about how long the product lasts you!
I’m not into liquid foundations or powder foundations for everyday so I switched to mineral makeup. Liquid foundations are okay for me for special occasions or when I need really heavy coverage.
What mineral makeup do you use, Cristina?
I use BE as my everyday foundation. At first I found that my skin was very itchy and red after I put it on and assumed I was sensitive to the bismuth in the product, but it turns out I was reacting to their brushes! I began applying it with a MAC 188 brush and now I don’t get itchy or red at all.
Also, instead of using Mineral Veil to avoid shine, I apply a light dusting of Mineralize Skinfinish/Natural, instead. It works great!
Oh, wow! It’s great that you were able to figure it out that it was the brushes, not the product!
I am using mmu for nearly a year now and I have sampled many, many companies.
Like mayn others I have started with Everyday Minerals. Their foundation works for a lot of people, but not for me. Couldn´t find a good enough match and didn´t like the look of it on my skin.
I do love their blushes a lot, though. Very pigmented and smooth.
Foundationwise I love MAD minerals. It looks natural, coverage is amazing and the lasting power is good, too.
Lumiere has great products, I love their brushes, high quality, sythetic.
With Silk Naturals you can mix your own foundation, their colour clones are amazingly similar to the real thing and their lip products are so moisturizing..anyone with drier lips will *live* them!
I really love the fact that mmu is inexpensive. It lasts well on my face and my skin has never looked better. Traditional foundation used to make my skin feel dry and flaky and irritate the heck out of it. Now I am getting complemented on my smooth skin..
Oh and one other thing: the right brush makes all the difference. It´s important to get a dense enough brush (I like sythetics the best), like a kabuki or a flat top. Nothing else will work, really.
Okay, I stop gushing now! :o)
Eva
Hey Eva! Thank you so much for sharing with us your expertise! It’s good to hear what works and what doesn’t 🙂
IMO, mineral makeup is a gift to all women. I just love the way that mineral makeup looks when applied and how easy it is to use. I also love the fact that it’s powder and doesn’t harbor bacteria and that it doesn’t clog my pores or cause me to break out.
My favorite brands are Lumiere Cosmetics, J. Lynne Cosmetics, Everyday Minerals, and Meow Cosmetics. I like Silk Naturals as well but my skin is too oily (and not the dehydrated oily either) for their foundation.
Hey Julie! Thanks for sharing your favorite brands! I’m new to MMU, in terms of wanting to use it, and I haven’t had any luck thus far, so this is great.
I used to use Bare Minerals but recently switched to Everyday Minerals b/c I could find a better foundation match, it was a MUCH better value for your money, and you can choose the type of finish you want (ie: matte, semi-matte, intensive). The price is so good I got one of their large kits where you can choose several foundation shades and finishes and I combine them together if my skintone changes or if my skin feels more oily or the weather changes, etc etc!! I like how they try to keep the ingredients simple and pure as well.
I apply my mineral foundation wet. Check out a video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMV9Kw38bUw
Oh yeah, I forgot..I used MAC Mineralize Satinfinish liquid foundation for a while and i LOVE the finish. However after a couple months of wearing it straight I found that it breaks me out and so I reverted back to Mineral makeup and my acne has drasitically disappeared to the point where I need minimal concealer. Even if I apply my mineral foundation wet I still don;t get the acne I get with the liquid foundation :(. Also, the finish using the wet method is REALLy similar to the MAC MSF foundation! I’d recommend it to you using Fix+ or charged water if you have not had great results in the past with mineral makeup! I hope you try it out 🙂
I use silk natural mineral foundation. You can mix your own colour and its great price , not cakey at all. You get a bag of white base and a bag of darker colour, when your skin colour changes you can add more dark. Its great.
They have great e/s dupes for MAC, bobbi brown etc. Lipsticks are very moisturizing and affordable, they have MAC MSF dupes one for stereo rose and new vegas….OMG they are the best, even better than the real thing!
http://www.silknatural.com
check it out!
Hey Christal!
Seems like a lot of readers like Silk Natural 🙂 Thanks!
In the past I have used liquid foundation but then one day my face broke out really bad and I wanted to look for an alternative for my skin. I thought that minerals wouldn’t cover well but i works so great since you are able to conceal your spots. Also with spending all your money on skincare, if you had makeup that clogged your pores it defeats the purpose. Bare Minerals worked really well for me and with minerals you have to rem to buff in the powder more. I recently found another type of mineral called bella pierre which wasn’t as time consuming and lasts all day. I live in Ontario, Canada so I don’t know where its available. I have oily skin and I find that using a moisturizer which absorbs oil helps. I love the product but it can be pricey but I think its worth it because my skin has broken out much less and my skin can breathe better now 🙂
I’m so glad to hear that Bare Minerals worked well for you! It’s great to find out what works and what doesn’t.
I’ve used Bare Minerals for years…lately I was short on cash so I switched to a drugstore brand. Man did I regret that decision. After a few uses I quickly went to EBay and found my foundation for only $18.00! I know it’s weird buying make-up off Ebay but it was the same and it was brand new and sealed. I will never go to a drugstore brand again… well for foundation at least lol.