I recently put out a plea for recommendations for foundation for my oily, acne-prone skin and received several for Everyday Minerals intensive base. They have the option to buy four different colors and styles of base to find what fits you, and for only $5 for the trial set it seemed like it was worth a shot.I have now used it three days in a row and I would say that I am still firmly in the “We Try It” stage rather than the “Furiously Approving” stage. I was hoping to have made a decision either way, but I haven’t yet because there have been a few problems.
So, first off, it’s summer and it’s not like I have A/C in my bathroom. So my face gets sweaty even as I’m putting on makeup. Even though I stick my head in the freezer and use the hairdryer on cold on my face. That’s not very conducive to makeup application in any form. However, my more serious problem is that I have acne and red marks that are just a bitch to cover up. I layer and layer and it seems like the makeup still leaves my face showing more blemishes than I would like. I have to say that it’s nothing like the Bare Minerals infomercials of a few years ago where they went to flawless skin with just a few sweeps of the kabuki brush.
The kabuki brush is another issue. Mainly, that I didn’t have one. So afterDay 1 I bought a cheap one from Walgreen’s because I am unwilling to invest $20 in a fancy kabuki brush if I am not going to stick with mineral makeup. Even the cheap brush was an improvement over the old blush brush that I have been using, and seemed to cover my face more thoroughly. So that was Day 2. I also bought some green concealer to cover up the red marks, which works pretty well, even if it’s not a magical transformation. I figured that since part of my problem was that my old foundation was making me breakout with blackheads and those flesh-colored bumps that have a ton of sebum in them, that I could just deal with not having perfect skin for a bit while my skin heals and I use the new makeup. But I still had my most annoying problem of all – my skin gets super oily during the course of the day. I thought that part of the problem was my old makeup and I hoped I would have miracle not-greasy skin with this new mineral makeup. Not so. On Day 3 I could still solve middle eastern oil crises with the “dew” on my skin that forms by mid-afternoon. Humph.
In conclusion – I’m still not sure. I have noticed that my face has broken out less in the past three days. With my previous makeup I could feel pimples forming halfway through the day and I’ve had none of that with this makeup. That’s a major plus. I’m also not completely done tweaking my makeup routine. The next step (and the next We Try It!) will be to use Philosophy’s Present, which I have seen recommendations for as a primer for oily skin. I’m hoping that will keep my skin matte throughout the day. As always, any more tips are welcome!
13 replies on “We Try It: Mineral Make-up”
I swear by Physican’s Formula powder foundation and I use their green concealer stick on my red acne blemishes . It’s “non-comediogenic” which means it does not cause [more] blackheads/blemishes/zits/acne/cysts/insert preferred term here. However, I live in St. Louis [Hell’s Sauna] and like alecto says, “60 % humidity is a good day” so needless to say, I sweat. A lot… I usually need a touch up half way or about 3/4 of the way through the day. If I’m able too, I brush over my skin with some more foundation. If I have them, I use Clean and Clear’s oil absorbing sheets.
I use Pur Minerals makeup. I have oily, acne prone skin too, and it does wonders on my face. When I’m wearing it I look like I have skin from a makeup commercial.
I’m also a massive oil producer, and I live in bloody Taiwan, so it’s ridiculously hot, and 60% humidity is a GOOD day (= sweaty, sweaty, sweaty).
Never used mineral make-up – if I remember right, when it first came out I read something about it not being the miracle it was touted as, so I didn’t bother – but I survive the summer mostly by using a matifying primer (mine is a Sephora brand one, it’s effective and cheap – although I get mine back home in France, so I’m not sure what prices are like in the US), or by switching to BB cream on the bad days. Does BB cream exist in the US? It’s a kind of tinted moisturiser that helps deal with flaws – the actual name is blemish balm cream. And then, powder with SPF and those oil blotter thingies, all the time!
I’m a big fan of mineral make up, so here’s what I’ve learned:
1. Use a primer on your face. I really like Smashbox’s (and they have one in green). Ulta carries a travel size so you could try it out before buying a big one.
2. To cover up your blemishes, brush on your mineral foundation, then using a foundation brush or concealer brush use the same color or the next lighter to cover the blemishes. (if you do the concealer first then you basically brush it away when you put on the foundation)
3. Mineral Veil–put this on after you’ve applied all your other makeup. It helps reduce the shiny-ness and create a more matte-like finish. If you get oily later in the day, just brush another light layer on.
4. Rice paper blotters are your friend. These things are a lifesaver for me in the summer.
As far as overall skin clarity–I have sensitive skin and rosacea, which gives me some seriously red skin and red bumpy papules that don’t go away for at least 5 days. I’ve found that using the oil-cleanse method (1/4 castor, 3/4 jojoba or grapeseed oil) every other day (twice each day), a gentle cleanser on the other days (I use Burt’s Bees Daily Radiance or Kohl’s All Calm), and one day a week a mild exfoliator (Neutrogena’s Naturals exfoliator). This has pretty much kept the bumps away and doesn’t exacerbate the redness on my cheeks and nose.
I have very oily skin as well. In fact, just like you I used to joke around about solving the oil crisis single handedly. If only we could harness the power of our sebaceous glands! I always gravitated toward powdered make-up, even before mineral make-up got ‘big’. If I tried to wear liquid make-up I’d ended looking like I had oil paint slathered on my face, and the oil would make it wear off in patches, usually with concealer rings around my healing blemishes. I started using Bare Escentuals and like it, if only because it wore off uniformly. Then, a few months ago I started using the Oil Cleansing Method and my skin has healed so much and is so much less oily, I don’t really need foundation.
I have dry, sensitive, pale skin and I tried the mineral makeup a few years ago.
It.Was.Horrible.
In a week I had a scaly, itchy something across my eyelids and forehead. Ugh. It just flaked off. It took two weeks for the flaky skin to diminish and another two weeks for the itchy redness to fade.
So, please, if anyone notices any irritation – Stop. And pick up some witch hazel.
Otherwise, I have friends who have used it for years and love it. Trial packages appear to be the way to go.
I just rub plain baby powder into my skin. VERY THINLY. I don’t know how well this plays on skin that isn’t super pale, but baby powder + dabbed moisturizer on scaly bits + spot concealer keeps me matte all day.
See I have spot-prone skin and I found that mineral makeup massively exacerbated my problems. Has anyone else had a similar experience? Maybe my skin just needed time to get used to it, but I didn’t want to suffer through weeks of bad spots to get there!
I’ve always used tinted moisturisers with powder on top and had great success for my combination skin, though lately I’ve been getting bad spots on my chin and jawline. I’m told these are ‘hormonal’, but what does that mean? My hormones haven’t exactly done anything unusual lately, except my stress hormones…
I have a terrible reaction to mineral make-up (angry red bumps on my cheeks). It took me several years to figure out it was the mineral make-up that was causing it. I still use the powder on my T-zone … but keep it off the rest of my face for sure!
I just switched to an SPF moisturizer and in the past week I’ve broken out more than I did in the four months prior combined. So I am sympathetic to the havoc changing your routine can cause!
In addition to mineral makeup I would recommend giving up dairy – ever since I stopped eating it my skin went from constant breakouts to maybe a zit every few months, or less.
I have heard this recommendation before! I have half-heartedly tried it, but it was so tough! I think if I knew 100% it would clear up my skin I would do it…but it’s hard to stay committed since there are so many factors and dairy is only one and I love cheese.
My biggest tip would be to ask for samples or to try out a foundation for a day before you buy a more pricey one. I find that when my skin is oily they always oxidize to a different colour (orange) after wearing for a little while, and I need to adjust my shade a lot of the time. I’m not a huge fan of the loose powder foundations, mostly because I am unable to master the kabuki, but I like the pressed MAC Mineralize.