It's natural for your skin and looks very natural on your skin. (Bare Escentuals i.d. Bareminerals Foundation)

Member Name: Jcapulet

Product:	Bare Escentuals i.d. Bareminerals Foundation
Date:	16/10/08 (465 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cost effective, it lasts for ages. It looks natural on the skin and allows it to breathe.

Disadvantages: Can take a while to perfect the technique and find the right shade for you.

Bare Escentuals is the original mineral makeup. Made from pure crushed minerals it means that it's good for the skin, so much so that they say that you could sleep in it.

The first thing is to choose the right shade for your skin tone. The main categories make allowances for fair/light skin with yellow or pink undertones and medium/dark skins with different undertones too. If the veins on your wrist are more blue in colour, then you have pink undertones and if they are more green in colour, then you have yellow undertones for example. I'm fair with yellow undertones and I buy the 'fairly light' shade which seems to suit me perfectly.

The trick with mineral makeup is less is more, use a decent brush and use the swirl, tap, buff technique. I first saw this product on shopping TV a few years ago and I didn't believe that such a tiny amount placed in the lid of the foundation was all that was needed for full face and neck make up. But it really is all that is needed, in fact, if you use too much you will soon know about it as it will look too thick and 'cakey'. Also, if you have open pores I would not only recommend a primer, as I would with any foundation, but also recommend light strokes down the face not up the face.

However, the main technique is what they call the "swirl, tap and buff" technique. You place a tiny amount of the foundation in the lid and swirl your brush collecting up all the minerals in your brush. Then you tap the brush handle downwards to allow the minerals to travel deep into the bristles of the brush and then tap the side of the brush to remove excess minerals. Then you buff the brush onto you skin in circular movements all over the skin. The trick is to constantly move the brush over the face and neck for an even, light coverage.

I have friends with open pores who complain of the 'strawberry' effect on their nose and cheeks because of open pores. I recommend a primer, less minerals in this area and downward buffing in this area to minimise open pores. For those who look 'cakey', you either have the wrong shade or you've used too much, or perhaps both. Those people who give up with mineral makeup do so early on as they struggle to find a colour that works for them and master the technique that results in natural looking makeup.

After the foundation you can apply the Bare Escentuals concealer and mineral veil finishing powder. I use the bisque concealer and the translucent version of the mineral veil, but there are others.

The Bare Minerals foundation contains zinc oxide which is a natural sunscreen and is used as an ingredient in physical sunscreens. The company can promote an SPF of 15, however, because of the ingredient you must use it within the year for it's full effects, just like other sunscreen products as they can become unstable over a period of time. However, I would personally recommend a moisturiser or a primer with an SPF in it also and see the SPF protection in the foundation as a bonus.

The effort is very much worth it, but it may take time to find the exact right shade and master the technique.

Summary: If you have the time and patience to find a great, natural looking foudation you can't go far wrong.