My attempt at mineral makeup

[flutterbee]

I used to be a whiz at applying makeup. That was one thing I was really good at. That said, I can count on one hand the number of times I've worn makeup in the last year. Or two. And of course, I'm used to the liquid foundation.

I had gotten this mineral makeup (can't remember the brand off the top of my head) that is organic. I thought that would be good for my skin. I'm fairly fair skinned, so I held the bottles against my hand and picked one.

First off, it has a built in brush. I *hate* that. You have to shake the bottle so the stuff gets in the brush and you spend more time shaking than applying. Then, it was so darn light that it was like I wasn't wearing any.

Ok. So, that's $15.00 down the drain. I go back and pick another brand. I hold my hand up under the little color guide they have and choose appropriately.

We're going shopping today. I'm feeling pretty good and wanted to wear makeup. So, I open the container. There is this pad there. What the heck is that? Applying makeup with a pad??? I thought, surely not, and thought it was supposed to come off. Apparently it's not. I shook and shook and shook and nothing was happening. So, I opened the bottom part to make sure there wasn't a piece of plastic covering the holes. Nope.

So, I get out my own makeup brush, dab it in the power, tap, tap, tap and even blow off the excess. I'm blind as a bat without my glasses, so here I am leaned way over the counter til I'm a few inches from the mirror and I start applying. I couldn't tell anything was going on. I mean, all the commercials say how good this stuff is at covering blemishes and it wasn't covering no blemishes. I continue applying, making sure I get around my eyes, etc.

Then I step back, put my glasses on and take a look. It looks like my face just came out of a tanning booth. And blemishes *still* not concealed. ARGH. So, I take a tissue and wipe off some of the makeup. Then a towel. Then put a light covering on my neck so I don't look like some idiot walking around the store. Ok. Not so bad. Obviously the makeup is too dark for me, but it looks ok.

Then I applied my eyeshadow. I always use light browns. I put my eyeshadow on and it looked like my eyes were glowing it was so light compared to the foundation. Quick, find a darker brown to put over the light. That's better. Except by this time I just managed to bring my eye shadow to the color of the foundation. Certainly nothing to make my eyes pop.

I give up. I'm going back to regular foundation.

 

[totoro]

I am very challenged in the makeup dept. I use loreal coverup and stick with it because it works for me. I also like nuetragenia lotion with a little bit of color.
I am a clutz with any thing else... little bit of eyeliner, mascara and lipgloss very light! and that is me getting CRAZY!!!

 

[klmno]

I just wanna know- where's the photo?? Really- I figure it's a wonder I put any makeup on at all some days, and when I do, it's the 5 min hurry up and slap it on deal. There's no one I can impress anymmore...

 

[GoingNorth]

I've never been able to tolerate the feeling of makeup on my skin, especially eye makeup of any kind.

The last time I wore makeup was on my wedding day nearly thirty years ago.

on the other hand, my mum, who is in her seventies, won't leave home without it. She's on the spectrum as well, but is one of the "girlie" Aspies, LoL.

I'm about as "un-girlie" as you can get.

 

[donna723]

I'm another one of those who doesn't go out of the house without it, especially the eye makeup! Not even to the grocery store that's right across the street. To me, I just don't look like 'me' without the makeup.

 

[Suz]

Heather, the best thing I did for myself was get at 10X magnifying mirror at Bed, Bath and Beyond a few years ago. I can't see worth squat without it. The downside is that all of my wrinkles and bags are 10X worse- horrifying sight for the first thing in the morning. :O

As for the mineral makeup....I bought some Bare Minerals "veil"....and also have the blush you described with the built-in brush. Love the blush, hate the container and the brush...........so I bought a second "veil" and poured it into the first one. This left me with an empty container....you guessed it....I poured the blush into the empty container and bought a second brush. Oh, and I also dabbed a bit of hot pink nail polish on the lid of the blush container so I could tell right away (without my glasses) which container has the veil and which one has the blush.

I'm like Donna. I rarely leave the house without makeup. The "blush of youth" left me decades ago, unfortunately.

Suz

 

[DDD]

I have one sister who started perfecting her makeup at age thirteen.
She doesn't go anywhere to this day without her nails manicured and her makeup just right. on the other hand, I'm "still waiting" to get "into it"...lol.

A few years ago Bare Minerals came up on the Board and I really do like it because it is so light and quickly applied. I have a makeup sampler thingy that includes a couple of "concealers" that are applied with a finger tip and removes ALL signs of redness from booboo's. The combo works ok.

Like Suz, I have a magnifier mirror that keeps me from looking like a clown as I just can't see the details anymore. Without that I would be up the creek. Good luck. DDD

 

[Martie]

I'm late on this, but Susie and I had a big discussion on Bare Mineral a while ago. I'm glad to know it worked for her.

I have VERY fair skin so anything liquid does not work for me. I feel I don't look like "me" without eye makeup, especially since I wear my glasses all the time now, but before Bare Minerals, I often did not mess with foundation--just daily sunscreen, a must for me.

I like Bare Minerals, and used as Susie suggests, it works well for a very light look. I like her idea of color coding the caps because I certainly can't read the labels with my glasses off.

I bought a very good 10X magnifying glass about 6 or 7 years ago. I always check it and have never been "surprised" by what I saw when I put my glasses back on.

I know other product lines are coming out with mineral products. I don't know anything about those. I tend to be a creature of habit and stuck with the first thing that worked for me. Oh, the other thing I like about the stuff is it doesn't come under TSA regulations as it is not a liquid or a gel. Since my 1 quart bag is usually too full, powered make-up is nice.

Best to you all,

Martie

 

[BusynMember]

I can't do makeup well at all. I always make myself look like a clown! So finally I gave up. When I"m going out I put on a little eye makeup and that's it, or else I look like I painted myself. Just not my thang.

 

[Stella Johnson]

I use Pur Minerals. It's in a compact and not loose powder. Works great at covering blemishes.
They have a starter pack that comes with everything you need including the brush. I think its around $30. They sell it at Ulta, Dillards, Nordstroms.
It's my favorite. It's not heavy at all but covers everything.

I didn't like bare minerals. The powder goes everywhere.
by the way, if you use any mineral make up do NOT blow on the brush to get the excess off. You just waste the make up. It's not like blush or regular powder.

Steph

 

[Hound dog]

I've never used it. But easy child pays a small fortune (in my opinion) for hers.

Now I understand the whole point is to not look like you're wearing makeup. But seriously, easy child doesn't look like she's done a thing. Nothing. Same as without the makeup. I've tried to tell her this.....and she keeps missing the point. She's happy it's "working". Only it's not working. sigh.

in my opinion easy child looks just fine without makeup. She's been blessed with mother in law's awesome complexion and skin. I just hate to see her putting out all that money on makeup that's not doing what it's supposed to. I dunno if she's not applying it right or what. Although I doubt it. She had someone show her how.

But I'll stick to my own. My grandmother taught me the fine art of applying makeup to honestly cover what you don't want seen while not looking like you're wearing any.

 

[Marcie Mac]

A year or so ago I attended a seminar in Lake Las Vegas and their spa there had a spray on foundation called ERA Face. I love this stuff - even though I don't have a problem with blemish's, age spots have reared.

It goes on really light, and covers everything - if you happen to over do just do a few taps with a powder puff works. One of my co workers was with me and she has a birthmark on her face - it covered it nicely

Marcie

 

[busywend]

Bare Minerals made me break out. I use a Mary Kay loose powder foundation. It covers well without the lines.

 

[amazeofgrace]

I love using my mineral make up, but I never look like the women in the infomercials when I am finished, and my sink is normally coated in powder.

 

[susiestar]

I like the Bare Minerals. While the initial investment can be high, it lasts for a LONG time. My mom and I SPLIT the Bare Minerals started kit and we still EACH had about 6 months worth! (We are anal about cleaning brushes, so we didn't have problems that way).

I also discovered a line called Everyday Minerals that is AWESOME! You can make your own samplers, or even get a free set for about $3 postage (might have gone up to $4). This is the BEST concealer I have tried. You can only find it on the web, as far as I know (www.everydayminerals.com).

The one thing I HATE about bare minerals is the eyeshadow. It is impossible to get them put on with-o having little flecks all over - drives me nuts!

I find that anything other than the mineral makeups (and those applied VERY lightly) make me feel like my skin can't breathe. I went to the Lancome counter for their special, and had them do my makeup. it looked very nice, but with-in 10 minutes I had to wash it off. I DID have the grace to go into another store to wash it off, teh young lady was so nice!

One NICE thing about the mineral eyeshadow/blush is that you can work them with lip balm or even nail polish to make a cool color.

 

[Marguerite]

I've been experimenting with mineral make-up lately. Some variable success.

First, I didn't want to buy the expensive stuff advertised with long advertorials on TV - tose ad placements are expensive and the costs have to be recovered somehow, hence the stuff is ridiculously expensive. I figured if the stuff was good enough, soon the mainline cosmetics companies would bring it out bit without te expensive advertising to push the prices up.

And so it has been. I bought my first lot through Avon. I've gone for years without wearing much make-up, usually only eyeshadow and maybe some lipstick, but with my weight loss and having mother in law loudly telling anyone who complimented me, how sick and pale I looked, I thought, "I'll show you," and began wearing foundation and blush again.

I found a lot of my stuff is old and technology has improved. Also, with mother in law & sister in law both having skin that reacts to most cosmetics, I did some research on mother in law's behalf a few years ago, and discovered that just about all cosmetics sold these days have preservatives in them, which I believe are causing a sudden increase in reactions, to cosmetics that previously were not a problem. I presume it is also a problem in the US. It would be about 3 years ago that mother in law first reported skin reactions to her favourite hypo-allergenic moisturiser. She thought her bottle had "gone off" even though it was new, so with me along she visited the cosmetics counter in the big stores, to test what they had. And yes, she reacted again. Her skin begins to burn fairly quickly after putting the problem product on her face. I asked the person on the counter and she said that the formulation had recently been changed to bring it into line with new regulations; the packaging no longer said "free from preservatives".

I checked online, rang various authorities, found this was true. The law made them put preservatives in.

At about the same time, I got contact lenses. The idea was, I would wear them swimming. The trouble is, my eyes react to preservatives. I tried eye drops, I tried pure saline drops and found I reacted to EVERYTHING except ampoules of saline sold for injection. So while I can wear contact lenses, I need to rinse them in preservative-free saline before putting them in my eyes.

Which all gave me furiously to think, as they say. I passed all this info on to mother in law & sister in law of course, although sometimes I wonder at how some people seem to thrive on deliberate stupidity. sister in law was telling us this trip that she can't use products "containing SPF" because she's "allergic to SPF". Hence she won't be able to use mineral make-up, because it contains SPF.

I explained yet again about the preservatives that are now in just about every cosmetic. However, in Australia at least, mineral make-up DOES NOT have preservatives, because there's nothing in it to go "off". Mineral make-up is, literally, ground-up rock. If you want a sparkle, use mica. Various minerals have various natural colours. In Australia we should especially understand this, with Aboriginal culture often using various ochres as part of ceremony, "body paint" in different colours as well as traditional art. Mineral make-up is little more than ochre, carefully selected and blended to give the shade you want. THAT'S why it shouldn't be expensive. It's also why it should be good for skins which otherwise react to various chemical ingredients. If you react to mineral make-up, then I suspect there's something else in it that's NOT mineral.

SPF protection in mineral make-up - that comes purely from the mechanical barrier that the particles make. If you have a shimmery make-up for example, it undoubtedly has mica in it which is reflective. Any light reflected from the face is light that doesn't get absorbed to burn. A common ingredient in really good high SPF products is titanium dioxide, which is an inert white mineral.

Back to mineral make-up for cosmetic reasons - the problem I've found (apart from the products always being out of stock) is getting the colour right. I bought some from Avon, choosing the same shade name (and it also looked the same) as a cream Avon make-up that I really like. But the mineral make-up is so much darker - it looks orange!

My skin changes colour depending on the time of year. I was expecting to get more tan before difficult child 1's wedding, but it didn't happen (lack of summer conditions). So I still had my winter greenish-white skin (sallow is being polite). I used the mineral make-up I had and a few weeks ago husband said, "I'm glad you're not wearing that make-up so much any more - you looked like you stuck your face in a flour bag at the wedding."

So what I've been doing is wearing the mineral make-up just as blush. Since getting some sun on my face (at last) I don't feel I need to cover up so much. I'm still experimenting, I an envious of those of you who have found a make-up that is the same colour - that is the aim, after all! You shouldn't be wearing foundation to change the shade of your face (unless it is a stage performance). You should instead match your foundation shade to your skin colour, then use your foundation to mask any major colour variations and blemishes.

While repeatedly painting my face a garish orange in mt recent experiments, I cast my mind back to a girl husband & I knew years ago. We were involved in a uni production of "Godspell" and this girl was beautiful, in an Italian/Tuscan sort of way. She had a classic peaches-and-cream complexion which she persisted in covering with a dark foundation. I was also assisting with the production make-up but when it came to doing her stage make-up, she was the only one I didn't need to darken (OK, there was also the bloke from south India). I made her wash her face off thorough,y and she refused to let anyone (especially her boyfriend) see her "naked face". But those of us who peeked were astonished - she was even more beautiful! She'd been wearing so much make-up that no sun had touched her face (couldn't get through the barrier). We didn't succeed in convincing her, but she really would have been better off wearing a foundation closer to her own skin shade, and then if she felt she needed more colour, using a trace of blush.

As soon as you pile on the fake colour, you have to keep it going or somewhere there is a border. If, on the other hand, you only add colour where it's needed (such as a trace of blush) then you can get people saying, "I love your make-up, it's flawless, I can't even see where you've applied it!"

I had a women come up to me in the supermarket and touch my face. "What foundation are you wearing?" she asked.
"None," I told her.
She exclaimed about my skin being flawless (what was she smoking?) and moved on and it made me realise, a lot of people just don't understand how make-up is supposed to work. I've been taught stage make-up by some really qualified people.

But even with my experience, I'm on my second pot of mineral make-up and still trying to make it work. So even I can make mistakes!

Just because I understand make-up doesn't mean I can always make it look good on me. Less is more, unless you're trying to fool a short-sighted mother in law trying to find fault with your appearance!

Marg