Viva Woman

I haven’t really touched my Everyday Minerals Foundation since it arrived like three months ago.  I mentioned during my last review of their Everyday Minerals Multi-tasking Concealer that I didn’t picked the right shade.  But a few days ago, I decided to mix all the three shades of foundation into an empty container and voilà, I got a much closer shade to my skin tone.

And you know what?  I love Everyday Minerals Foundation!  The silky texture offers excellent coverage and gave me a smooth and porcelain-like finish.  I didn’t even use any concealer except for a dab of the Everyday Minerals Multi-tasking concealer under my eye and I actually received a compliment from the SA at The Face Shop who told me I don’t have any blemishes and didn’t need their BB cream.  The foundation didn’t sink into my pores to make them more obvious.  In fact, it stayed on the whole day and my face wasn’t exceptionally oily looking afterwards either.  

I’ve been pleased with Erth Mineral Foundation that I’ve been using for the past six months but I have to concede that my face does look a tad shiny by midday when the weather is exceptionally hot.  To address the problem, I have to use a finishing powder.  I’m not sure if Everyday Minerals Foundation will give me the same problem as the weather is currently cooler but I noticed that they offer four formulas of foundation for different weather conditions.

Original Glo for that added touch of dewiness and long lasting coverage, and is ideal for normal to dry skin.

Semi-Matte for a more subtle glow, formulated for normal to combination skin.

Matte for a silky smooth matte finish that is ideal for normal to oily skin.

Intensive for a silky near-matte finish and controls oil where needed without drying your skin and is suitable for all skin types.

But I need to figure out which will work for me as I have mixed three different formulations based on Fawn Matte, Fawn Intensive and Golden Fair Original Glo.  The shade is also still a tad fair so I need to pick a darker shade the next round.  Picking the right shade is always a headache when it comes to choosing mineral foundations but the good thing is that Everyday Minerals has made it easy with their free sample makeup kit.  All is required is that you pay for shipping and you can get 3 foundations, 1 face color and 1 concealer.

And if you intend to order full kits from them, you may like to know that you can use discount code 7oukyM in your cart to get 7% off your order before December 24th.  In addition, all orders over $32 (after discount and minus shipping) receive Eve Dual Fiber Brush, as well as two exclusive full size eye shadow colors in Mistletoe and Tinsel Time.  While stocks last of course.

For me, I’ll probably be ordering more Everyday Minerals Foundation soon.  The quality is good and the price is reasonable.  And I just read that they’re going to launch their oil-free pressed powder soon! 

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I’ve been using mineral makeup for 6 months now and I’m mighty pleased with the results.  Not only does it give me a more natural look, the foundation is better for my skin and doesn’t clog up my pores at all. 

Before using mineral makeup, I was using 2-way cake foundation from brands like La Colline, Estee Lauder and Stila.   I didn’t really noticed that my pores were clogged but I did have occasional mild breakouts.  It was when I started using Zia Fresh Papaya Enzyme Mask that I started having more frequent breakouts.  Every week after using the mask!   I stopped using, thinking the mask was giving me problems.  I brought up the problem to the guy who was selling me the mask and that was when I realized the breakouts were due to my clogged pores.  

I resumed using the mask again, on advice that it could help ”purge out the dirt”,  and that was also the time when I had already switched to using mineral makeup for a month or so.  Amazingly, I had no more breakouts.  So I’m now a firm believer that mineral makeup do not clog up pores.

Allow skin to breathe and natural UV blocker

I’ve covered before that mineral makeup is made from very fine micronized minerals and inorganic pigments that exist in nature and contains no chemical preservatives like mineral oil, dyes or fragrances found in traditional cosmetics.  Mineral makeup consists of overlapping crystals that form a filter that allows the skin to breathe and naturally protects it from air-borne pollutants.  The minerals are non organic, which further prevents them feeding bacteria.  This is why such makeup has been said to be less likely to promote allergic reactions, and is typically good for people with sensitive skin. 

I also love the fact that mineral makeup comes with zinc oxide and titanium dioxide which are natural full spectrum UV sun blockers that provides coverage from the damaging rays of the sun.  In addition, titanium dioxide is the second most reflective mineral in the world, next only to diamonds and their reflective quality gives our face a radiant glow. 

Thus, besides making the skin look better by evening out the tone, redness and shine, mineral makeup actually benefits our skin by healing, protecting from the sun, and reducing inflammation. In addition, because their ingredients reflect light, this also reduces the appearances of lines and wrinkles.

However, it has to be pointed out that different brands of mineral makeup contain different ingredients; some of which may cause allergy.  For example, some cosmetic companies using bismuth oxychloride in their mineral makeup products to impart a shine to the skin.  However, this ingredient is very heavy and can cause not only clogged pores, but irritated skin.  So if you experience discomfort, it is quite possible you have developed an allergy to mineral makeup due to this ingredient.

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Holiday cheers for mineral makeup lovers! For this week only, from November 17 to 25, receive 25% on all Lumiere Cosmetics eyes, cheeks and lips makeup featured in the picture above. In addition, receive 25% off Lumiere Smudger Brush and Dual Eyeshadow Brush as well.  Offer is good on full size order only.

(The free international shipping may not apply because this offer is said to be not valid with any other discounts.)

Holiday Gold.  Holiday Glam.  Holiday Sparkle.  Holiday Romance.  Take your pick!

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Yippee!  Lumiere Mineral Cosmetics is offering free international shipping from November 1st to January 1st 2008.  Time to purchase another of their fantastic super baby soft kabuki brush! 

I haven’t actually reviewed the mineral foundations I purchased from them because I didn’t get the right shades.  So perhaps I can take this opportunity to order some new ones for experiment again because I remember Paris Beaverbank wrote that the foundation is awesome.

But what I’m really eyeing is their Lumiere Pearlfecting Powder, a super finely milled 100% pearl powder which can work either as a face primer or a finishing powder.  In fact, I can get this for free if I were to purchase a full size jar of Lumiere Foundation, Blush or Radiance.   And as a matter of fact, the company is offering a free gift package worth US$25 with all orders over $100 although I doubt I’ll be ordering that much.

Apart from these specials, Lumiere has also introduced a limited-edition holiday collection 2007.   Also remember to check attractively discounted items under their Specials!

But most important of all, remember to enter the code FREE-SHIP during checkout to enjoy the free international shipping.   Happy shopping!

* Upate: Due to problems with the code, Lumiere has automatically removed shipping costs for all international orders during check out.  There is no need to enter the code.

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Of the free sample makeup kit that arrived from Everyday Minerals, my favourite was the Multi-tasking Concealer.  I didn’t have a good experience using mineral concealer before and therefore was surprised how well this particular one agreed with my skin tone.   I could even use it to replace my existing undereye concealer.  Totally lovely!

Just dab a little with a concealer brush and it blends into my skin really well.  While it did not totally conceal my blemishes, it effectively made them less visible without accentuating their flaws, and had good staying power as well.  No caking nor streaking after a full day!  The only complaint I have is that I need to pay special attention to make sure I remove this completely otherwise I’ll find some remains at the corner of my eyes even after a double cleanse.

As for Everyday Minerals foundation, I have to concede that the coverage is rather good, making my skin looking smooth and refined even after a good half day.  The problem however, was that I didn’t picked the right shade. 

Of the three shades, I’ll say Fawn Matte is probably the best for me but I still need to pick a tone darker the next round and also to stick to the matte formulation as the intensive gave me too much shine.   Hopefully, I’ll get to try another time and give a fuller review.

But for now, I’m completely happy with the Everyday Minerals Multi-tasking Concealer!

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