Mineral Makeup - Friend or Foe Part 5

Hourglass is a luxury line and according to the creator Carisa Jones is supposed to be all about extravagance and style. I generally like this line a lot and I find the eyeshadow palettes and lipsticks to be pricey but worth it. So I was very excited to test drive their mineral product to see if it really is a rival to what I have tried so far.

Oxygen Powder Foundation is $46 and comes in 4 shades. While the fair to medium skin tones are covered someone with a darker complexion would be out of luck here. The compact on this powder is really interesting in that it has a mirror that turns 360 degrees so you can position it for the best face view.

The thing that struck me right away was the lack of a sunscreen in this product. Most mineral foundations include titanium dioxide or zinc oxide but not so here. I generally look for well formulated broad spectrum SPF but decided I'd give it a whirl to see if the texture warranted a separate sunscreen.

So how did it feel? It was okay. I sound super lackluster right.....well that's how I felt about this powder. In general I am very giddy about Hourglass stuff but this powder just didn't work for me. It was streaky and tough to blend and I was pretty darn shiny faster than I care for. I always like to make sure that I mention I do have pretty oily skin and so what fails on me may be your godsend but this would not be my first suggestion for mineral makeup.

On that note, my favorite mineral powder is Laura Mercier. That powder is a work horse and is truly the hands down winner! It controls shine, gives good coverage and looks luminous and light doing it. The lid that closes over the sifter alone won some serious points. Plus the Mineral Primer may seem silly but to my own amazement it really worked.

It was great fun doing this series and it is really something to see what used to be a niche segment of cosmetics grow to have such a huge selection. I encourage you to try again, as I did, if at first your mineral makeup wishes did not succeed.

Mineral Makeup - Friend or Foe Part 4

There was no way I could do a Mineral Makeup Challenge and not revisit Bare Escentuals. BE is after all the #1 mineral makeup brand and it is for good reason. The line is huge and the eyeshadow selection is one my favorites.

I really appreciate that BE focuses so much on customer education and never hassles you about a return or exchange and is one of the few lines that seems genuinely concerned with helping you get it right.

By and large I love the line but the foundations have always been the tough spot for me. I wish the packaging had a way to close the sifter for travel and that there was less mica in the foundations. On my oily skin they appear shiny which is the opposite of what I am going for.

On the other hand I love the Mineral Veil and the newer version, Feather Light Mineral Veil. Also my addiction to the Buxom Babes lipgloss is well documented.

For my revisit of this foundation I mixed Fair and Fairly Light to get the right shade for me. After chatting with one of the artists I found out that this is a common practice. The combined shade was a decent match and it took a tiny amount of product to achieve good coverage. Shine aside, coverage is something BE really wins points on.

Also the multi-tasking Bisque powders are all SPF 20 now. My preferred method of concealing with BE is to mix Bisque with Well Rested as the yellow base of Well Rested looks right on my skin.

Overall I still have trouble with BE foundations and just don't think they are the best for me. I hate writing that but it's true and while other products in the line are among my desert island picks (Celestine eyeshadow) the foundation is not.

Next and last up will be Hourglass Oxygen Powder.......

Mineral Makeup - Friend or Foe Part 3

Jane Iredale was the third mineral powder that I test drove and this one really took a beating because I was on my way to the gym after applying it.

It's a major plus that this powder is available loose or pressed. The pressed version really cut down on the mess factor and is of course super portable. I got light to medium coverage with this and was able to cover a blemish with a small concealer brush.

Jane Iredale's powder is a nice blend of coverage while looking sheer and with 24 shades to pick from it rivaled MAC or Prescriptives for color choice. I used the powder in the Amber shade which was a good match with a few others coming close as well. The shades are pretty forgiving.

The Handi Brush is a flat and slightly fluffy brush that made application and buffing the minerals a breeze. It is worth it to consider this brush if you don't already have a favorite for applying mineral foundation.

This line is free of talc, parabens and bismuth which can all cause problems for some, so it is a great option if you have had trouble with other powders.

As for the minerals gym performance...it did better than I expected. It looked natural and did well through my sweaty weight session and stair climbing activity.

I found this line at Elephant Pharmacy which is a local natural products pharmacy and if you live in the SF Bay area is a must visit. The cosmetics section alone will keep you enthralled for hours.

Up next.....Hourglass Oxygen Powder Foundation.

Mineral Makeup - Friend or Foe Part 2

My hunt for the best mineral foundation continues with Laura Mercier. I have read many reviews of this mineral foundation and they have been overwhelmingly positive, so naturally I had high hopes for this one.

I suppose that my readers may be asking why I want a mineral foundation option instead of just being satisfied with my favorite liquids. The short answer is that sometimes the ease of a powder is just what I want and there is a lot of evidence out there that ideally you want both a chemical AND a physical sunscreen on your face for maximum protection. Since titanium dioxide or zinc oxide (physical actives) are the active SPF ingredients in mineral powders this has been even more motivation to find a good one.

Laura Mercier's Mineral Foundation SPF 15 comes in an impressive range of shades and the container has a great lid that closes over the sifter making it possible to travel with the stuff.

Laura Mercier also has a Mineral Primer which has silica as it's 3rd ingredient and does a nice job of smoothing the skin and also controlling shine. The line also has a finishing powder but I really didn't notice any difference when this went on versus just the primer and foundation powder.

This powder is not shiny but did have a subtle glow that was very pleasant and kept the powder from looking too heavy.

After a few full days of wear I am thrilled to report amazing shine control and it did not change color on me. I am using the lightest shade, Tender Rose.

So far this is winning the Friend or Foe challenge.

Next up....Jane Iredale Mineral Pressed Minerals SPF 20

Mineral Makeup - Friend or Foe Part 1

Let me say upfront....I have a tough relationship with mineral makeup. I want to love it and when it comes to eyeshadow and blush I do, but my consistent issue revolves around the foundations.

I have oily skin. As I have gotten older it isn't the oil slick of my teenage years or early twenties, but oily it still is. I do battle with what my dermatologist calls the triumvirate! Combination skin with occasional breakouts, sun damage and fine lines, yuck!

Mineral foundations claim to soak up oil like no other but I don't find this to be the case. During my average day they perform just fine for the first half, but the rest of my day is spent keeping makeup melt down at bay. The oil in my skin takes over and the minerals are transformed to soup, even with the use of primer.

My other issue is the amount of mica in most mineral powders. I just don't get this.....I would rather have a fairly matte, non-shiny foundation and be able to add highlighter at my discretion. So with nearly every cosmetics line making mineral makeup these days I figured I would venture out and see if these contenders are really an improvement.

First up is MAC's Mineralize SPF 15 in light/medium. This powder went on smoothly and was lacking the shiny quality of BE foundations. I also really liked the color selections for fair skin. They tended to be yellow based which is usually a good sign.

My only gripe was the spongy type applicator in the cap. I didn't like that it seemed to pick up a lot of product and even the MAC SA who applied it to my face did so with a big fluffy brush. Overall this mineral powder did well at soaking up oil, but I felt it got a little darker as the day went on.

All in all this is a good one to check out, but I would recommend using a brush for application. MAC has a few that I really like for powder application such as #182 which is a goat hair kabuki that is oh so soft and gives fuller coverage or the duo fiber brushes #187/#188 which provide sheer coverage.

Next up...Laura Mercier Mineral Powder SPF 15