bareMinerals – Flawless Coverage

All my adult life, I have been looking for a makeup that gave me real coverage for my uneven skin tone, but that wouldn’t clog my pores and make me break out. Having a built in SPF would be an added bonus.

A couple years ago, I was in Sephora and on a whim picked up the bareMinerals Starter Kit. It was $60. I took it home and tried it immediately. And I was instantly in love with the coverage. It was exactly how I wanted my skin to look. I didn’t have any trouble mastering the “swirl, tap and buff” method of application. Best of all, it didn’t make my skin break out.

I had one complaint—all the powders. Between the foundation, the blush and/or bronzer, and the Mineral Veil finisher, it was a mess. And if I traveled, which I was doing a bunch of at the time, all the powders would end up spilling into the lids and making an even bigger mess until I was able to use up all that had spilled in the lids. I got so frustrated that I gave up and gave it all to a friend.

I tried several expensive brands of makeup after that, all with disappointing results. Then I found myself at the mall one day with time to kill and went into the bare Essentuals store and talked with one of the sales associates about my concerns. She agreed that the mess had in fact been a big problem for people, and they were starting to roll out containers that have a rotating cap so you can close it and not spill the powder everywhere. For the products that didn’t have it yet, she gave me an easy fix. Instead of tearing off the whole sticker (that covers the holes in the lid) upon purchasing the item, take a safety pin and poke only a few holes out. That way when you travel, it can’t make such a huge mess. DUH. What a simple solution. I bought ANOTHER Starter Kit then and there and haven’t looked back.

The system begins with a primer. The bareMinerals brand is called Prime Time and comes in a few formulas depending on your skin type. The second step is the foundation. I use Matte SPF 15 Foundation. To apply, you use a technique they call Swirl Tap Buff, which simply means you swirl the brush in the powder, tap the brush to remove excess powder, and then buff it on your face. Then you add your blush and/or bronzer, using the same technique. The last step is the Mineral Veil which sort of locks your makeup in place. I really love the look and the feel of the whole regimen.

I also have to confess to not being exactly um…. shall we say, consistent in my evening skin care routine. I’ve slept in this stuff far more times than I care to admit. Even then, it doesn’t make my skin break out.

The other thing I’d like to point out is that the brushes that come with the Starter Kit, as well as any additional brushes you may buy later, are of excellent quality. They require little care. Every couple months (or let’s be honest, when I remember) I just wash them with my shampoo and let them air dry. They don’t shed too much and they are soft but keep their shape.

I can’t recommend this stuff highly enough. If you are unsure, go to a Bare Essentuals store if you have one and have them put it on you. I think you’ll be a convert too.

Use Eyelid Primer for Smudge Proof Eyeliner

Getting your makeup to look good in the morning is easy.

Getting your makeup to still look good in the afternoon is like trying to live on a diet of chocolate cake and ice cream:

some people do it, but no one knows how.

I had tried every eyeliner known to man and still couldn’t keep my eyeliner from either disappearing completely or dissolving into smudge circles under my eyes.  I used liquid eyeliner, eyeliner pencils and even tried my hand at powder liner with an eyeliner brush.  All of it yielded the same results – fabulous at 9am and craptastic by noon.

And then a Bare Escentuals makeup artist changed my life forever.

Now my eye makeup stays perfectly in place until I wash my face at the end of the day.  My eyeliner survives rubbing, sweating and late afternoon naps without even a hint of smudging.

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