Bare Escentuals, Bare Necessities (Bare Escentuals i.d. Bareminerals Foundation)

Member Name: mandysomerville

Product:	Bare Escentuals i.d. Bareminerals Foundation
Date:	25/09/07 (2802 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great coverage, Great feel, Easy application

Disadvantages: Seems expensive to get started

I am a typical girl and I LOVE my makeup. However, I have found myself spending obscene amounts of my hard-earned cash on hyped up cosmetic items, which find themselves in the bin after a few months of sitting in a drawer.

My foundation of choice was Armani Luminous Silk and although I was somewhat happy with the results, there were no Armani cosmetic suppliers in my country (ridiculous, I know). Every time my foundation ran low I'd have to phone Selfridges in London and get them to ship me a bottle. Not cheap but it was better than the alternative; waiting on a bottle in my shade to come up on Ebay.

I was half way through a bottle when a friend who was recently home from a trip to America told me about Bare Escentuals on the telephone. Flawless skin, easy application, in POWDER form?! It sounded too good to be true. I just had to see the results in person. The next time we met up I was stunned. Her normally pasty, freckled face was absolutely flawless. She looked great; I just had to try it for myself.

After a quick search on Google, I decided on the starter kit for £49.99. I was slightly shocked at how expensive at first, but I decided to go for it. I was used to spending £30 on a bottle of foundation anyway. My starter kit contained two 0.06oz shades of Bare Minerals foundation (I chose the light set so I received fairly light and light), Bare Vitamins skin rev-er upper, 0.06oz Mineral Veil, 0.06oz Warmth, a flawless application face brush, a kabuki brush, a maximum coverage concealer brush and to top it all off, a free how-to-dvd. Not too bad for £50 if you put it like that, huh?! This review is for the foundation. I have a separate review for mineral veil.

The products came in a bubble wrap bag inside a little box. Each pot had a sifter inside and was accessed by a screw on, black lid on top. The skin rev-er upper was in a little white bottle with a pump action dispenser. The brushes were also covered in plastic.
I wanted to dive right in and play with my new purchases but decided to watch the free DVD first. The DVD was slightly naff but quite useful in seeing the technique. It's very well saying 'swirl, tap and buff' but it's a bit ambiguous. 20 minutes later, I was ready to try for myself.

I first put on some rev-er upper on. A dab on my forehead, each cheek and chin. After this was absorbed (which happened almost instantaneously) I applied my moisturiser as normal.
Whilst I waited on it to absorb, I tapped out some powder from my fairly light foundation onto the lid. It took longer than expected but I think it will get easier with more practise. I found it easier to tap the bottom with my finger as if I'm going to throw it away rather than to hit the pot off the lid. I next swirled my flawless application brush in the powder until it was covered and then tapped the excess into the lid. Next I 'buffed' the brush into my face. I found it best to make medium circles over my cheeks, nose, chin and forehead. I then went over particularly prominent blemishes and red areas with the concealer brush.

The coverage is perfect for me. I don't have awful skin but it's by no means perfect. I've read reviews that say you have to have flawless skin to begin with in order to get good results. I have large pores across my nose and cheeks as well as a number of icky blackheads on my nose. I am also cursed with the occasional spot and uneven skin tone. This foundation worked wonders on eliminating any redness and evened out my skin a dream. With the help of my concealer brush, I managed to banish my zits. Another great thing about this foundation is you don't get telltale tidemarks on your jaw line and don't need to continue application down to your neck and chest. It blends in perfectly. The only semi-con of this is that my pores appeared larger. I was quite worried at first but the next step, mineral veil, took care of that.
My gorgeous looking skin stayed that way all day. I leave the house at around 6am, work in a hot hospital for 6 hours then go to the gym and sweat for around an hour. It stayed put until 6pm that night when I showered.

In conclusion, I would most definitely recommend this foundation, however I think the starter kit is a great idea. You get everything you need, including the brushes that won't need replacing. I won't be going back to liquid foundations and powders ever again.

Summary: Great feeling/covering makeup that's easy to apply when you get the technique down.