Look for the - Bare Escentuals (Bare Escentuals i.d. Bareminerals Foundation)

Member Name: glitter_princess

Product:	Bare Escentuals i.d. Bareminerals Foundation
Date:	26/11/08 (364 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great coverage, really lifts complexion, good for your skin, contains sunscreen,

Disadvantages: Annoying application method, expensive

The sure sign of a great beauty product is when you start to notice copycats springing up all over the place. I'd seen it with the Stila lip glaze and the Benetint cheek stain, so when I started to notice all sorts of mineral based powder foundations popping up I knew there must be a great product out there I'd not discovered yet! Having tried the Maybelline mineral foundation and not been particularly impressed I wanted to try the 'original' out for myself.

Bare Minerals launched their first foundation in 1976, so it's not exactly a new product, just one that has only really become popular lately. Their selling point is that all their products are made from 100% pure crushed minerals and is free from preservatives, perfume, oil and any other nasties that could irritate your skin. Whenever you apply foundation, rather than just sitting on your skin, 60% of it is actually absorbed into it, so it makes sense for your foundation to contain things that will be good to your skin and allow it to breathe. The minerals in it soothe and calm your skin and it's marketed as being "so pure that you can sleep in it". As someone who regularly goes to bed with their make-up on (shameful, I know!) this appealed to me a lot. Because it contains zinc oxide it also has an SPF 15 (approved by the Skin Cancer Foundation) which is always useful in a foundation.

The foundation itself comes in different shades, Fairy Light, Light, Medium, Medium Beige, Medium Tan, Tan, Dark, and Deep. I am olive skinned and find Medium Beige works really well for me. The colours also allow for variations in undertones - Medium Beige works for those with golden undertones whereas the regular Medium will work for those with neutral undertones.

The application is actually quite involved and annoying. The powder itself comes in a small pot with a black screw top lid. It also has a plastic film over the top with a couple of holes in, which is designed so that you can get the product out but to prevent the product spilling. The idea is that you tap a tiny amount of the powder into the lid and use a brush to swirl around, collecting the product onto the brush, tap the brush to remove any excess, and then swirl onto your face. Sounds easy enough, but the reality for me is that the powder is actually so light that tapping it into the lid is actually really difficult! I normally give the product a good shake with the lid on which loosens it all up and normally shakes some onto the lid anyway when you open it up. Bare Escensuals do recommend that you use their own Kabuki brush to apply and while this does sound like a con, I have actually found that it makes a big difference as it seems to absorb the powder far better than other brushes I've used this with.

However, once this product is applied all the annoyances I have with the application disappear. I love the way this makes my skin look - it's so light that it barely looks like you're wearing any make-up at all, but it really lifts the colour your skin making you look radiant. I've always found that liquid foundations can often give me a bit of a patchy look, but with this you only need the tiniest amount to get the full coverage you need and it gives a really flawless finish. I'm lucky that my skin is fairly good anyway, so I don't need a foundation to cover up flaws, just to make my skintone look a little lifted and more even and this is great for me. My skin is combination so I do have small oily patches and this is great for that as the powder just absorbs any oil. It also manages to last all day with no need for reapplication - especially if you apply the Bare Minerals Mineral Veil after, which is a dusting powder which minimises pores, adds radiance, and seals the powder. The way this looks on your skin though is all down to the technique - it took me a bit of practice to get it right, at first I was using too much and the effect was a bit caked. The set I bought this in came with a DVD showing how to use it, but there is also a guide on their website: https://www.bareminerals.co.uk/?cid=912427&pag e=howto

The Bare Minerals range isn't cheap - the foundation costs about £24 for a 3oz pot and can be bought in the UK from www.lookfantastic.com or www.hqhair.com . As I wasn't sure about whether I was going to like this, I got this in a set from an ebay seller, which included the foundation, a Kabuki brush, the Mineral Veil, and a tiny blusher, all for £28.

Although this foundation is expensive, I would thoroughly recommend it even despite the annoying application - the results I've got with this are far superior to any other foundation I've used. If you need more convincing, apparently this is the number one selling foundation in America!

Summary: The original mineral foundation