Mineral Makeup : Beauty and Fashion Tech

Maybelline Mineral Power Powder Foundation

Maybelline has done an impressive job entering the mineral makeup market. Their Mineral Power liquid foundation (read review) is one of the few liquids branded as a mineral foundation in the drugstore price range. With its Mineral Power Powder Foundation, Maybelline has done a nice job of providing a good basic powder foundation in a wide variety of shades.

Maybelline advertises their mineral makeup as talc free, but they do not mention bismuth. I did not see it on my ingredient list of the one that I purchased, but I have seen others report that they saw it listed as one of the “may contain” ingredients.

The number of shades is quite nice. Women with pale skin like mine up to dark brown skin shades will find something that works for them in this line. The range really is quite impressive.

The downside to the powder seems to be for those with oily skin. For example, Makeup Moxie tried it and found that it didn’t quite cut it–she got oily not too long after applying it. I too found that it didn’t really absorb oil well when I wore it on an oily day.

However, when I used Mineral Power on my drier days, it worked quite well. I did not experience issues with it settling into lines and wrinkles and it never looked flaky.

Coverage with this one is light to medium. I found that it covers redness fine, but it didn’t really hide my areas of melasma and hyperpigmentation. So if you have pigmentation that you want to hide, this one might not be quite enough.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Alima Pure Mineral Eye Shadow

Alima Pure is a mineral makeup company that boasts 60 shades of foundation! I’ll be writing more on that in the future, but today, I am looking at their eye shadow.

I tried out four shades from the limited edition sweater set collection. Swatches are pictured below:

Alima’s makeup is 100% certified natural, which is good news for those who get itchy from the bismuth found in many brands of mineral makeup. You won’t find that or other fillers in the Alima products.

The eye shadow is smooth and well pigmented. Thanks to the mica in it, It has a nice luminosity to it that I particularly liked. The shadow can be applied wet or dry. I suggest using it wet as a liner.

The set is available for $25, and $2 from the sale of each set will be donated to the Global Fund for Women. So not only can you get some great eye shadow, you can also help a great cause!

I have some more Alima reviews in the pipeline, so keep an eye out for more.

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Popularity: 27% [?]

Powder Sunscreens, Full Spectrum Protection That Won’t Ruin Your Makeup

Regular application and reapplication of sunscreen should be an essential part of any beauty routine, but it can also be problematic when wearing makeup. That sunscreen that you applied this morning needs to be reapplied part way through the day, yet you don’t want to ruin your full face of makeup. What to do? The answer lies in powder sunscreen.

Powder sunscreens generally consist of titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, or both. These are wonderful sunscreens because they provide physical blocking of the full spectrum of the sun’s rays. Unlike chemical blockers, they will not break down in sunlight, meaning that they last longer, and the full spectrum protection keeps you completely protected. Because they come in powder form, they also can be applied over makeup without ruining your look.

There are a number of good items out there. In particular, take a look at your favorite mineral foundation or finishing powder. Chances are, it has an SPF factor. So, most mineral makeup can be applied as a powder sunscreen. But since mineral foundations do not always have a listed SPF rating or are formulated for more coverage than a person might want to apply, a formulation intended purely for use as a sunscreen may be desired. Below are several recommended items. Many of these are fairly high in price, but I have found that so little is needed for an application that they last a very long time.

* Colorscience Sunforgettable Powder Sunscreen is packaged in easy to use tubes, complete with a pop-up brush. The powder is so fine that you barely notice it, and it is available in both Almost Clear and Perfectly Clear versions. It provides SPF 30 coverage. Read Previous Review.

* Jane Iredale Powder-Me SPF 30 Dry Sunscreen comes in both Translucent and Tanned versions. This one has a sponge application and includes a mirror.

* iS Clinical SPF 20 Powder Sunscreen - Translucent (pictured) provides SPF 20 coverage and comes with its own pop-up brush. A medium tinted version is also available.

* Peter Thomas Roth Instant Mineral SPF 30 is another one with a prepackaged brush and SPF 30. Available in translucent.

Looking for some more options? Comparison Shop for Powder Sunscreen.

Popularity: 21% [?]

Jane Be Pure Cosmetics Liquid Mineral Foundation SPF 30

Jane Cosmetics has a new SPF 30 Jane be Pure Liquid Mineral Foundation at that I really love, although I think it is mislabeled a bit. Why mislabeled? Well, this one really seems like a tinted moisturizer to me. It is very sheer and high in moisture factor. So I wish they had just labeled it as such.

As far as tinted moisturizers go, this one is nice. It feels great and it provides just enough tint to even things out. It left me wishing that I didn’t have dark pigmented patches to cover, because then I would wear this all the time! As it is, I have been wearing it quite a bit with some concealer and touch of powder mineral makeup on the areas where I have melasma. The light shade is perfect for me and although it is a moisture product, it hasn’t left me looking greasy like some other tinted moisturizers do. Best of all, this item is only around $5!

The SPF 30 foundation is not yet on the Jane website and I can’t seem to find anyone selling it online yet. But you can find Jane Cosmetics at Walgreens stores.

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Popularity: 14% [?]

Elf Cosmetics Mineral Makeup Kit

e.l.f. cosmetics is widely known for their $1 cosmetics, although some of their items run a few dollars more. Now they have released a full line of mineral makeup at excellent prices.

A Mineral Starter Kit is $20 and contains:

Mineral Foundation-SPF 15
Mineral Concealer-SPF 15
Mineral Blush
Total Face Brush
Blush Brush
Canvas Case

That is a good amount of items for the price. Mineral eye shadows are only $3 each. One thing to note though is that these items contain bismuth, which is common ingredient in many mineral makeup brands, but unfortunately, it is also an irritant to some people. The kit is paraben free.

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Popularity: 14% [?]

DIY Mineral Makeup Kits From Bramble Berry

Here is fun item for the do it yourselfer, mineral makeup lover, or craft maven: Make Your Own Mineral Makeup Kits from Bramble and Berry. I spent a morning playing with the neutral and metallics kit and had a lot of fun. I also got some decent eye shadow from the process.

Below are some of the items before I got started (I supplied the larger measuring spoons and larger baggie). The entire kit contains: Titanium Dioxide, Dry Flo, Kaolin Clay, Sericite Mica, Super Pearly White, and the following pigments: Gold Sparkle, Bronze, Honeyed Beige, Sparkle Copper, Cappucino, Heavy Metal Gold, Vintage Grey, Patina Sheen, & Luster Black Mica. There are also 2 eyeshadow brushes, 5 mini measuring scoops, and 10 black containers to fill with your creations.

The kit contains all that you need to custom blend mineral foundation in varying levels of coverage and a variety of eye shadow shades. It also includes a booklet with recipes for various shades and well written instructions. I decided to make a light, medium and dark brown.

To get started, I followed the directions for a matte base and then added color from the included pigments according to recommendations in the book. It is fairly easy to increase or decrease shimmer by changing the mix of the base. The kit also contained a light brown sample. I didn’t end up matching that, but I liked what I got. My attempt at light was more of a neutral beige and my medium and dark turned out to be differing shades of taupe. Then I decided to make a darker brown/gray by adding a bunch of the darkest pigment. Mixing is pretty easy. Simply measure into a ziplock baggie, seal it, and shake! However, for mineral foundation, using a food processor or coffee blender to thoroughly mix the makeup is recommended.

Below are my finished eye shadows, the one on the far left is the light brown sample that came with the kit:

Here are skin swatches in the same order:

Oh, and I made a mess. Clutzy people like me probably should be more careful with shimmery loose powders! Fortunately it also was very easy to clean up.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this kit and I liked the results. It would be a great gift or something fun for your inner do it yourselfer. There is also a kit for vivid eye shadow shades.

Bramble and Berry actually specializes in soap making supplies, so if you have an interest in that, also take a look at the rest of their site. In addition, they have a lip balm kit, that I just might have to try for Girl Gloss!

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Popularity: 16% [?]

Revlon ColorStay Mineral Foundation

Revlon, like just about everyone else, has entered the mineral makeup market. I rate their effort, Revlon Colorstay Mineral Foundation in the fair to OK category–I just can’t find anything special about this one.

This powder foundation provides decent sheer coverage at a fairly good price. For those that require an included brush, it also includes one that is serviceable, although it is rather small. I would recommend the L’Oreal mineral makeup instead for those who really want their minerals to come prepackaged with a brush (read review).

Unfortunately, there are also several issues with the product. The packaging does not allow for easy use with a different brush because the mouth of the shaker is narrow. I did not fare well trying to cram my favorite kabuki brush in it, and was unable to tap off excess back into the container without making a mess.

Also on the unfortunate side is Revlon’s decision to cut the product with both talc and bismuth. Leaving out the talc allows mineral makeup to provide better coverage and bismuth can cause irritation and itching in some people. For a drugstore mineral makeup without talc and bismuth that has a nice standard container for use with personal brushes, try Maybelline Mineral Power instead. Other higher end options, such as Jane Iredale (highly recommended), are available online.

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Popularity: 13% [?]