Monday 21 December 2015

bareMinerals "Get Started Kit" - Foundation Review

From starter kit to the full collection... How I got started and got hooked on bareMinerals all-natural powder foundation.

My well loved bareMinerals Get Started Kit... I'm due a new one in a month's time!
I am a bareMinerals devotee. I am not sponsored by bareMinerals in any way to write this... I just love their products! I bought my first bareMinerals starter kit in the Brighton store on a mother-daughter shopping trip. The SA discussed my skin type with me (dry to very dry in winter) and applied the starter kit to the left hand side of my face. She showed me how different it looked to my old makeup (liquid foundation and pressed powder). She then let me complete the right hand side of my face, which convinced me of how easy bareMinerals products are to use! I was sold.

My first bareMinerals Get Started kit, all those years ago. Two and a half to be precise.
I am lucky in that I have never had "problem skin". What I dislike about my skin is that I can often looked washed-out and pale when I'm tired, and my skin is a very irregular colour! I use bareMinerals to achieve a natural "fresh faced" look on a daily basis, but a night out look can definitely be achieved just by applying more of each product.

bareMinerals products are so special because they genuinely don't feel like you are wearing makeup, but provide complete coverage even for acne-covered skin. It's all in the application. bareMinerals is not the quickest foundation to apply, you can't just slap it on and go. But if you're willing to invest five minutes on your foundation routine, it really can give you skin that appears even and fresh every morning.

Flawless natural-looking skin with bareMinerals
I start with clean, moisturised skin (well, almost always moisturised) and apply primer. The bareMinerals Get Started kits contain the PrimeTime primer. Although it does feel pretty bizarre when you apply it, it really does work. When people complain that bareMinerals doesn't last I always ask whether they apply primer, and whether they buff their foundation in for long enough. Often the answer is no. As I said, bareMinerals isn't the quickest foundation, but it might well be the most effective.

I swear by the Original SPF 15 Foundation. I use shade Medium Beige, and I would recommend matching your shade in store the first time as they do come out quite different in real life to how they appear online. Success with this foundation requires tapping a small amount of powder into the lid, swirling the brush in the lid to coat it in powder, and buffing the powder onto your face in repeated circular motions. Higher coverage is achieved simply with repeated applications, tapping a little more powder into the lid each time. Some days I only need to do this once, other days I can do it 3 times until I'm satisfied my skin is even and "flawless".

If you have blemishes you want to cover, whilst you still have the foundation pot open, take the Max Coverage Concealer brush and repeat the same process, only focussing with this smaller brush on particular points on your face. This can be really effective to combat red or blotchy patches.

I would note that although the foundation does have a low level SPF, when I'm outside of England and in the sun I still apply sunscreen before my foundation. I experimented this summer in Italy and for me SPF 15 on my face is definitely not sufficient! I now put on my sunscreen instead of primer, allow 15 minutes for it to dry (so brush teeth and get ready in this time) and then apply bareMinerals as usual to make sure my sunscreen is effective.  

I then use exactly the same technique (as bareMinerals instructs me) for the bronzer and mineral veil. I love the bronzer "Warmth" supplied in the Get Started kit, but it's not for everyone. Again, applying little by little avoids achieving a too dark, overly Kim K look. Applying Mineral Veil is really important. Whenever I'm in a rush and skip the final step, I always regret it! It evens out the other powder layers you have applied and "sets your face". All of this is explained in far more technical detail on bareMinerals site. 



I still buy Starter Kits even though I've been using bareMinerals for a while now. Department stores such as House of Frazer and Debenhams often sell "Get Started" kits for considerably lower prices than buying direct from bareMinerals. bareMinerals have introduced a variety of starter kits but I recommend buying the full customisable version. Having read many times how important it is to renew your makeup brushes regularly, this is the most cost efficient way for me to do it - the complete kit contains a Full Flawless Face brush to apply foundation, a Flawless Application brush to apply bronzer/mineral veil and a Max Coverage Concealer brush. The cheaper Get Started kit does not contain the Full Flawless Face brush and without it, I don't think you can get the full coverage from the powder foundation, even on non-problem skin. 

In the pictures in this post I am only wearing bareMinerals makeup products. I visited a bare Minerals (bareEscentuals) outlet store in Park City, Utah last year. The prices were a fraction of UK equivalent so I experimented and bought a variety of loose eyeshadows, lipglosses and highlighter/concealers. For the price I paid these products are great. However, I now buy those products from other brands in the UK and stick religiously to bareMinerals for my skin routine (foundation, bronzer, highlighter, mineral veil). 

In the past, I really disliked caking my face in thick liquid foundation in order to achieve decent coverage. What I love most about bareMinerals is that it allows the (im)perfections that make my face unique to stay, whilst making me comfortable with glowing, healthy-looking skin. 

Let me know what you think of bareMinerals, or if you have any suggestions of products I should try!

With love, Tania xo



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