1. 2. 3. Mineral Makeup Series - Foundations | Grayburn 4. 5.

Friday

Mineral Makeup Series - Foundations

A good foundation, much like a good partner is hard to find. I think that sometimes we're so eager to get to the end that we forget that we can have a lot of fun along the way. A good foundation has to fit with the condition of your skin and help bring out the best of it. Once in a while, you need to re-evaluate the situation at hand to see if it is still doing its job. And finally, remember not to settle for second best.

I have given the following mineral foundations a good test run for the past month and more. They were tested based on their wear, texture, packaging, and their range of shades. I thought it would be interesting to put them all side-by-side to see how they do against some of their competitors. Of course, do try them out and judge for yourself, but here is what I think about them.

Lumiere Cosmetics
Formulas: Flawless, Veena Velvet, Luminesse, Cashmere
Range: 6 (from fairly light to deep)
Tones: 5 (cool, neutral, beige, golden, warm). The swatches on their website looks ashier than they do in real life.

Formulas:
**Veena Velvet
Ingredients: premium grade serecite (colorless mica), titanium dioxide, avena sativa, zinc oxide, iron oxide, magnesium stearate.

Wear - starts off on the dryer side then settles in as it wears. Lasted the day for me with only one touch-up.
Texture - sheer with no sheen. Light to medium coverage which takes 2 light layers to cover skin imperfections. Works even better worn with well-prepped skin (moisturizer & silicon-based primer).
Packaging - Works well and looks classier than many other companies'. I prefer transparent over opague labels on the bottom of these jars.

Cashmere
Ingredients: silk powder, serecite (colorless mica), titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, boron nitride, iron oxides

Wear
- starts off on the dryer side then settles in. Lasted the day for me with no touch-up.
Texture - with slightly more of a sheen than Veena Velvet. Medium coverage which I use sparingly and a moisturizer underneath. Works even better worn with a silicon-based primer.
Packaging - Works well and looks classier than many other companies'. I prefer transparent over opague labels on the bottom of these jars.

Flawless
Ingredients: premium grade serecite (colorless mica), titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, iron oxides, boron nitride, silica, magnesium stearate, squalane

Luminesse
Ingredients: premium grade serecite (colorless mica), boron nitride, zinc oxide, avena sativa, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tocopherol (vitamin e)

Overall:
I have tested both Veena Velvet and Cashmere. They go on slightly dry at first, they becomes more natural after couple of hours of wear. I find the Veena Velvet formula sheerer and more flattering on my skin. Those with dryer skin may find these two formulas a little dry initially. I would use a silicon-based primer to help the foundation glide on and to make it more dewy-looking. Color range is fair and it can be difficult finding the right shade based on the colors on your computer screen. Do purchase a sample first before commiting to a full size.


Everyday Minerals
Formulas: Semi-matte, Matte, Intensive, Original Glo
Range: 6 (from fairly light to deep)
Tones: 6 (warm, golden, cool, beige, buff, olive). The swatches on their website looks more ashy/pink than they do in real life.

Formulas-
Ingredients:
Mica (CI 77019), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Zinc Oxide (CI 77947). May contain: Iron Oxides (CI 77492, CI 77499, CI 77491), Ultramarine Blue (CI 77007)

Semi-matte
Wear - No color change and no touch up for me at the end of the day. May not control oiliness well enough for those with oily skin.
Texture - Quite creamy and seems to smooth over face. Very slight sheen.
**Packaging - The best I've seen. Samples come in small jars with sifters. Regular size jars have a wide mouths (wide lid), great for swirling a big brush in (see picture). All have clear bottoms with clear labels which make it easy to see through. They are also stackable (see picture).

**Matte
Wear - No color change and no touch up for me at the end of the day. This formula is not more matte than semi-matte. May not control oiliness well enough for those with oily skin.
Texture - Not chalkier or that much drier than semi-matte. There is slightly less sheen as well.
**Packaging - The best I've seen. Samples come in small jars with sifters. Regular size jars have a wide mouths (wide lid), great for swirling a big brush in (see picture). All have clear bottoms with clear labels which make it easy to see through. They are also stackable (see picture).

Intensive
Wear - Too intensive for my liking, so no touch-ups for me whatsoever.
Texture - Thick and chalky on my skin so it will cover well if that is what you're looking for.
**Packaging - The best I've seen. Samples come in small jars with sifters. Regular size jars have a wide mouths (wide lid), great for swirling a big brush in (see picture). All have clear bottoms with clear labels which make it easy to see through. They are also stackable (see picture).

Original-Glo
Wear - It feels lighter and sheerer than other formulas and did not last as long on my skin.
Texture - It definitely has the glow factor which I am not too crazy about. Even if it looks natural, I don't enjoy the way it emphasizes flaws on skin.
**Packaging - The best I've seen. Samples come in small jars with sifters. Regular size jars have a wide mouths (wide lid), great for swirling a big brush in (see picture). All have clear bottoms with clear labels which make it easy to see through. They are also stackable (see picture).

Overall: I like all the formulas (but the Matte version the best) I have tried and will use them depending on the day. The color choices are average and it seems to be lacking for those who have darker skin tones. I believe though that EM is looking into fixing that. I find that it works best on well moisturized skin. It is great that the jars are stackable and have completely see-through bottoms.

Meow Cosmetics
Formulas: Purrr-fect Puss, Pampered Puss, Flawless Feline
Range: 6 (Lightest (almost white) to Very dark)
Tones: 13 (peach, peach/yellow, soft yellow, yellow/peach, golden beige, yellow/beige, neutral, warm, beige/pink, warmpink cool pink, cool beige, oliver/beige)

Formulas-
Purrr-fect Puss
Ingredients: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides


**Pampered Puss
Ingredients: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide, Iron Oxides
Wear - Lasted the day with one touch-up at the end of the day.
Texture - Veerry sheer and light (very finely milled). I needed 3 layers to get medium coverage. More work for days when you may be rushed.
Packaging - Both 'munchkin' size and 'full size' have wide enough mouths for a good swirling of the brush. Full size is huge!

Flawless Feline
Ingredients: Mica, Zinc Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, Boron Nitride, Iron Oxides

Overall: I only tried Pampered Puss. I like this for days when I don't need much coverage and don't feel like wearing a primer. There is an impressive array of colors to choose from, which can be good and bad as well, as it can be overwhelming to find the right shade.


L'Oreal
Formulas: 1
Range: 10 (Light ivory to Cocoa)
Tones: 4 (Ivory, beige, buff, tan)

Ingredients:
1st formula - kaolin, iron oxides, mica, copper, boron nitride, calcium, manganese, magnesium, bismuth, titanium dioxide

2nd formula - Talc , Boron Nitride , Dimethicone , Carnauba Wax - Copernicia Cerifera , Cetyl Dimethicone , Trimethylsiloxysilicate , Triisocetyl Citrate , Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice , Tocopherol , Panthenol , Titanium Dioxide - May Contain , Zinc Oxide - May Contain , Bismuth Oxychloride - May Contain , Iron Oxides - May Contain

This is my review for the 1st formula -
Wear - Didn't control oiliness and emphasized dryness as well! The color changed at the end of the day.
Texture - Chalky, thick, shiny and just sat on top of the skin.
Packaging - The brush it came with is coarse and so it did not feel very nice to buff the product into the skin with it.


Overall: Not for me! I am too clumsy to work with this type of packaging and I did not find the right shade for me. It also does not come in different formulas to choose from.

Neutrogena
Formulas: 1
Range: 6 (Fair to light to Bronzer)
Tones: 3 (ivory, buff, tan)

Ingredients: Mica, Bismuth Oxychloride, Iron Oxides, Titanium Dioxide, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Retinyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Ascorbic Acid, Pantothenic Acid, Soybean Flour, Silk Powder, Zinc Stearate, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, may contain: Ultramarines, Carmine, Manganese Violet.

Wear - I gave up before I could tell.
Texture - Sheer
Packaging - The powder is dispensed through the brush by shaking and tapping the brush itself. It took a lot of work to get any powder out. The amount that I did get out was too sheer to cover anything on my skin.

Overall: I got so tired from shaking this thing plus it didn't look right on the skin. I don't think I really had a good chance to give this a proper test run. If you managed to try this, please let me know what you think.



Credits: Grayburn, lumierecosmetics.com, everydayminerals.com, meowcosmetics.com, lorealparis.com, neutrogena.com

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4 Comments:

Seeker said...

Again such good information, that I must read once more, more carefully.

I'm not leaving to Lisbon this weekend, my husband could take off these first days from work, so we'll fly on March 20 at night.

Thank dear for being so supportive.

Have a nice weekend.

Ps - You've been tagged, please see my blog for details.

xoxo

Seeker said...

... my husband couldn't...

Seeker said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Grayburn said...

Hi seeker :)
Oh thanks, I'm glad you enjoy reading them.
Oh wow, another 3 days to go!
Ooh, tag game, fun! Thanks for tagging me :)

Grayburn