Bare Escentuals bareMinerals Get Started Kit

...across the bareMinerals range by Bare Escentuals, and they were selling the 'Award Winning' range including the Get Started Kits! I did go to dismiss these as I mentioned before, I had not had a good experience with any mineral make-up before, however for some reason I decided to read some reviews on this range. I firstly looked on the Debenhams website itself, and I was suspicious of the fact EVERYONE was giving it 5 stars. I suspected Debenhams ...
...make-up around these days, but Bare Escentuals started the revolution in mineral make-up with their 100% pure bareMinerals. They also offer colour cosmetics such as lip glosses, mascaras and application brushes. Their range is quite pricey, a pot of the foundation alone costs £17.50 but compare this to the likes of Clinique's foundations and they are a pound or two cheaper, and in my opinion, of much nicer quality.


== The Kit ... more

bareMinerals is a BRILLIANT make-up range. There, I've said it. If you told me over a week ago I would be saying a brand of minerals foundation is one of the best types of make-up I have ever used, I just would not have believed you, simple as that. I have tried all the usual liquid foundations from brands such as Maybelline and L'Oreal, right up to the likes of Clinique and MAC. Whilst I do rate some of those more than others, there was a certain type of make-up I didn't like, minerals powder. Admittedly I hadn't tried any 'high end' mineral make-up, only Maybelline, Rimmel & The Body Shop to be honest, but each left me with a streaky appearance that certainly didn't provide the coverage I like on my oily and blemish mad skin.

I was browsing through the beauty section on the Debenhams website when I came across the bareMinerals range by Bare Escentuals, and they were selling the 'Award Winning' range including the Get Started Kits! I did go to dismiss these as I mentioned before, I had not had a good experience with any mineral make-up before, however for some reason I decided to read some reviews on this range. I firstly looked on the Debenhams website itself, and I was suspicious of the fact EVERYONE was giving it 5 stars. I suspected Debenhams of only displaying positive reviews, so I headed over to Ciao. Again I was struck by 5 star reviews all claiming this range to be amazing! I caved in and bought a Get Started Kit! from the Debenhams site, one of the few places you can buy this online officially.

bareMinerals

There is alot of mineral make-up around these days, but Bare Escentuals started the revolution in mineral make-up with their 100% pure bareMinerals. They also offer colour cosmetics such as lip glosses, mascaras and application brushes. Their range is quite pricey, a pot of the foundation alone costs £17.50 but compare this to the likes of Clinique's foundations and they are a pound or two cheaper, and in my opinion, of much nicer quality.

The Kit

An important thing with mineral make-up is application brushes. If you don't use decent brushes it just won't work, and it will just be a waste of money buying the foundation without good quality brushes. bareMinerals also do primers and finishing powders and priced separately along with brushes it could prove to be expensive. This is why these Get Started Kits are brilliant. You only pay £45 for them, yet the products alone are worth £141, saving you a HUGE amount of money! The Kits include everything you need, the exact contents are:

* Two shades of 2g (mineral make-up is light!) bareMinerals SPF 15 Foundation. They include 2 to ensure you find the perfect match. There are 5 different kits to choose from ranging from Light to Deep, so you will find your perfect shade.

* bareVitamins Skin Rev-er Upper (a skin primer applied before your mineral make-up to help give you radiant skin)

* Mineral Veil - Provides a translucent finishing touch to your makeup, and giving it a flawfless finish.

* Warmth All Over Face Colour - Gives a nice sun-kissed glow to skin where the sun would normally touch.

* Flawless Application Brush

* Full Coverage Kabuki Brush

* Maximum Coverage Concealer Brush

* A 'How To' DVD with beauty tips from the Bare Escentuals CEO.

As you can see you get a lot for your money, I was amazed they give you 3 brushes as these brushes are actually worth £20 each!! The Kit comes packaged in quite a large good quality box. It's nice to keep your kit in as it has nice thick cardboard and the lid doesn't fall off easily unless you really pull it off. The items inside the kit came nicely packaged in bubble wrap, and the brushes each in their own separate wrappers.

I purchased the 'Light' kit as I have really fair skin. The 2 foundations that come with it are 'Fairly Light' and 'Light.' There was a quick flick instruction book which I read carefully, I had planned on watching the DVD first too as I have been so terrible with applying mineral make-up in the past but I was eager to give this make-up a try, so I sat with the guide and the kit in front of a mirror with a freshly cleansed face.

Application

Now, the first time you apply mineral make-up I strongly recommend not attempting it 15 minutes before you leave the house to go out. I did it on an evening in to try it out first to make sure I wouldn't make a mess of it.

The instruction book explained to swirl a small amount of the mineral foundation around in the tub's lid until all the minerals are tucked into the bristles. You should then tap off the excess; there should be no mineral foundation visible on the outside of the brush. It then explains to buff the bareMinerals onto your face in a circular motion starting on the outside of your face and working your way around. So I did just that, at first I was really dismayed as it looked like this powder was providing me with no coverage and my blemishes remained red and visible. However I applied more bareMinerals to the brush and kept buffing away at my skin. After a while I was shocked to notice it was providing coverage, and it wasn't feeling heavy on my face or streaky at all! There was however still red blemishes which were noticeable so I moved onto the Concealer Brush provided in the kit. I was dubious that using this same brush with the same foundation would act as a concealer, but I was surprised. I dabbed some of the mineral make-up onto the brush and applied straight onto the red blemish areas. It did provide a good concentrated coverage, and it was so easy to blend in! Once I was happy with this, it was time to move onto the next step, using the All Over Face Colour.

Now, I was dreading this step. I have very pale skin and using any sort of bronzing products usually ends up making me look ridiculous, a pale face with brown patches basically. Seeing the colour of this powder in the pot I was expecting the same results as it was a dark brown colour! The guide advised that a little goes a long way so I was careful to apply a tiny amount, again making sure it tucked into the bristles on the brush and that nothing was visible on the brush surface. I applied to my cheeks firstly and at first hated the brown appearance to my cheeks, but the powder was light and blended in nicely. I looked closely, for the first time in a long time my face looked like it was naturally sun kissed! I then moved onto buffing around other areas such as the forehead and nose, I didn't add any more powder to my brush, and it gave a light and gentle tan to my face.

So at this point I was impressed, however my face was still quite shiny (I have horrible oily skin!) and my pores was just clearly visible. It was time to use the last product, the Mineral Veil. This was the best out of all 3 for me. It's a very light translucent powder, which I applied to my brush the same way I had with the foundation. When I applied the mineral veil to my face I was so happy to see it taking away the shine, my pores weren't as visible at all, and the overall appearance to my face was amazing. I was so shocked with the result! I actually sat looking carefully in the mirror for ages trying to find a fault with the way my make-up was applied but I couldn't. For once my face didn't feel heavy and thick after applying a liquid foundation, and the results were a million times better! I never once thought a powder make-up product could be better than liquid, I always find powder just falls away from the face and doesn't provide a good coverage, this doesn't happen with bareMinerals. The foundation is just so silky and light, and so easy to work with. I was a total amateur to using minerals and my face wasn't streaky or patchy at all.
The first time applying this I spent about 10 minutes carefully applying it, however I'm getting much quicker at this now that I am used to applying it, and getting the knack! I do recommend applying in a good, natural light so you can make sure you are applying it evenly, especially the all over face colour.

Summary

I am now converted to minerals make-up and specifically this range. Not only is it so much better than normal liquid foundations but it's also kinder to skin as it only contains minerals, in fact Bare Escentuals say it's so light and natural you can sleep in this make-up if you wanted to! I have oily skin with will often get blemishes, mostly around my hair line, and bigger spots on my chin. Using minerals foundation will be much kinder to my skin compared to a heavy liquid make-up, and the fact it gives better results means it a definite winner in my book. I highly recommend this range, go buy your own Get Started Kit now!

You can buy this range on Debenhams.com. For more information go to Bare Escentuals website at: www.bareescentuals.co.uk. 

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