Bare Escentuals I.D. Bare Minerals Foundation

Why oh why didn't I buy this stuff years ago when I saw it on TV? I've had a love/hate relationship with foundations since I first attempted to cover up breakouts at age 12. Nothing worked and if it did work - it looked so obvious that I was covering something up. I'd given up on actually doing anything but toning down the little shine I had and had only really worn pressed powder as a base for years.

And then I got a little mad money and headed to Sephora...well I had to visit both Calgary locations before I could find my colour (apparently there are alot of Calgarians needing the light kit).

It was love at first buff. I love how it covers everything without being noticable. I don't have as many breakouts as I have had in the past, but this covers what I do have and looks so natural. What's more - I had a bad skin infection on my face this summer that left me with alot of pigmentation scars...and this stuff covers them too. I am so happy with the entire kit!

I am now a bare minerals convert and look forward to many happy years with my new favourite makeup!

The amazing part about "bareMinerals" is that when you have it on, it doesn't feel like you do...yet it gives you a healthier looking sort of glow. And you don't have to worry about falling asleep in it since it's so pure. I got the starter kit and it was well worth it.

I love BE foundation. You can apply it wet, dry, and in layers. You can easily combine colors for a perfect match. The end result is a natural healthy complexion without cakey makeup.

The first time I tried it, I probably made the mistake of using WAY too much. You really do need that Kabuki brush by the way. No joke.. but I bought the Bourjois kabuki brush rather than the BE one. A bronzer brush works too. :) It has the same dense bristles.

Anyway, the first time I tried it, I dipped too much into the brush and when I first brushed it on, it looked WAY too shiny, WAY too caked on and awful. I almost cried, remembering how much I paid for it.

Then I read on how to actually put it on, and all you need is to LIGHTLY tap your brush into it, then use the underside of the lid to do a swirling motion, tap out the excess powder, then do a light buff all over your face, THEN go back to the spots you think need more attention. This way, the powder gets evenly applied to your entire face, and then you do the spot checks.

Caution: this will NOT cover ALL of your blemishes, your dark spots or problem spots. It will minimize them, try and give them a nice sheen of a cover, but it will NOT completely cover it, and make you look poreless. You don't want this poreless look anyway, because then it looks really contrived, fake, and not like its your own skin, but a mask.... Eww. :) What you want, is your own skin, with all of its imperfections MINIMIZED (not completely covered)...

Also, if you use too much, you'll look like an orange alien. Just sayin'.

I also do the Mineral Veil over this BE powder, and on its own, it doesn't last all day and keep the shine away (I'd have to wear a primer like the one from Smashbox for that, but I'm too lazy / cheap) but it works to kind of soft focus your face, and make it less shiny, less pore-like.

Highly recommended, but make sure you pick the right skintone for yourself...

I Love this product and can't imagine going back to anything else.

I switched to Bare Minerals about a year ago and love it. It's so quick and easy to use. Light, but still providing enough coverage to look polished. My only gripe now is that it's not available in Vancouver yet!!!

I have been using Bare Minerals for over three years, and I will NEVER go back to pressed makeup. My skin is so much clearer and prettier with these minerals. They are preservative and talc free; perfect for sensitive skin. I have large pores, and with this line of products, I look like I have a flawless, airbrushed complexion!

I gave bare minerals a great run... I do have oily/acne prone skin and the commercials said it was good for this type of skin, and would actualy help acne improve, etc,etc.... I have never had as much acne covering my face as I do since I started using bare minerals :( I've been using it for about 7 months, and I kept with it thinking that it couldn't possibly be the bare minerals that was breaking me out, since supposedly it's all pure, etc etc, you know everything they market it as. And YES i was washing the brushes religiously! So I switched around my cleansers/moisturizers thinking that had to be it.. I even used proactiv for a while, NOTHING helped. My face kept breaking out, was itchy at times, and seemed more oily than normal. I finally had to admit that maybe it was the bare minerals and stopped using it just this week. HOORAY! My face is no longer itchy!!! And whereas I'd been getting a new pimple practically every day, so far nothing!! The sad thing is my face is COVERED now in acne scars, I've never in my life have dealt with looking this way and I've gotta tell ya it's awful! :( I'm soooo self concious and try to hide from people :( It stinks.... I'm going to stay off the bare minerals of course and see how my skin is in a couple of weeks.... I just hope the scars fade soon.

So bottom line, bare minerals didn't work for me, it actually made my skin MUCH MUCH worse than it's ever been before, and i wouldn't recommend it for girls with oily/acne prone skin or large pores.... :(

I can't say enough about this product. It gives you flawless skin in minutes. I don't have the best skin, but with this product no one would ever know!

I wanted to like Bare Minerals, I really did. Unfortunately the stuff tended to make my pores on my face look larger than they were, it also made my skin feel tight and itchy. Although I did not have a true allergic reaction, it did not feel very nice on my skin. The only thing in the kit that I liked and would buy again was the eye shadows and eye liner and face glimmers. These were extremely generous portions of highly concentrated products in very nice colors, otherwise the kit was a bust.