Bare Minerals - Holy Grail Everyday Foundation

Bare Minerals, a brand we've all heard of... Never did I think that I would find my Holy Grail foundation in this brand. But oh my God have I. People, I have found my Holy Grail foundation. I have found my Holy Grail foundation!! I HAVE FOUND MY HOLY GRAIL FOUNDATION!!! As you can see I clearly need to scream this out from the highest of rooftops! Let me tell you how I came across this not-so-hidden little gem....

Rewind back to the launch of the Bare Minerals Ready Foundation. Was I interested? No, not really, powders? For my face? I'd already been disappointed by bare minerals before so naaah, not for me thanks. But mini samples were readily available of their newest launch and my sister had managed to get hold of samples of a few shades because the SA didn't have her correct shade. So naturally she distributed them out to her sisters :). I happily accepted the sample in the shade 230 neutral beige because no.1 it was a freebie and no.2 i get to try this new foundation out and see if it's any better than the original. Why not? Boy was I in for a surprise...

So as any beauty addict would do I played around with it and oh my was I impressed... It looked amazing!! Using the tiniest amount, It went on so effortlessly and evened out my skin beautifully and the best thing was that you couldn't tell that I had anything on!! It was literally invisible! The shade was a bit off, a little too neutral for my skintone but I didn't even look horrible or fake or grey! Wow! I used it a few times and received only good comments. After doing some extensive research I found out that the original version was just as good. I even discovered the shade range and realised that Bare Minerals actually catered for ALL skintones and undertones. I really misjudged Bare Minerals before, I was uneducated about undertones and shade charts and I hated on a foundation simply because I had the wrong shade. Looking at the chart I figured out that I was most probably Golden Medium and decided to get a tiny sample. 

Upon trying the sample it was instant love. It mimicked my skins undertone soooooo well. No masking, no greyness, no cakeyness. My friend came to see me and kept looking at me weird, then she finally asked me: "What have you done to your face?? It looks so flawless!" I told her that I had Bare Minerals foundation on, she was shocked to hear that I had foundation on, a powder foundation at that, she was so amazed at how natural it looked and how it was undetectable, that it just looked like I had naturally good skin. I grinned a huge grin :D. I loved how I could fool people into thinking that my skin was naturally flawless. It was when I had finished my little sample pot that I realised I couldn't live without it and needed the full size in my life....asap! So I bought the full size jar and I felt a Zen like peace settle in the universe as the quest for my perfect skin base had finally ended. 

Now onto the technicalities: Bare Minerals is a brand that bases their products from natural minerals from the earth. They claim that their products have the safest and beneficial ingredients for the skin, apparently you could even sleep in their makeup! Their foundations are in both loose and compact powder form (and now also a liquid form). This is what Bare minerals have to say about their Original Foundation:

Our ORIGINAL SPF 15 Foundation gives you all the flawless coverage you want with a naturally luminous finish that won't clump or cake. It's proven to improve the appearance of your skin over time. The creamy minerals diminish the look of fine lines and wrinkles without drying out your skin. Its silky, soft texture looks like a powder, but feels like a cream and buffs on beautifully. Made with only the purest, highest quality ingredients. 

I agree with that 100%! I am so in love with the magic bare minerals does to my skin. I simple cannot get enough! If you are a person that likes natural natural natural looking makeup, who doesn't like thick heavy coverage foundations that look and feel cakey, if you want to cheat people into thinking you have ah-mazing healthy natural skin, then you will love Bare Minerals. I'm not a big fan of heavy coverage foundation, especially for everyday I prefer to use light coverage skin bases, like BB creams and tinted moisturisers if I want my skin to look a little more even. Just a little bit of bare minerals does the job for me perfectly. Its so lightweight you won't feel it on your skin. It has enough coverage to cover up small imperfections and redness but you will have to build up for coverage which might make it cakey.

The colour Golden Medium is the most yellowest shade in the range, some people find it a ridiculous shade but people with really yellow skin will appreciate it immensely, like I do. I tried the golden tan but i could honestly use that as a light contour. Being an Mac Nc40 ish, If i use too much of Golden Medium i look ghostly, i only use a tiny tiny amount, a small pinch and it instantly brightens up my face and makes me look luminous and even, the yellow is very complimentary to my skin. I apply it with the real techniques buffing brush and apply it onto really well moisturised skin, i brush downwards in long strides then buff into areas that need more attention. It doesn't make the area around my mouth stupidly grey either which is a major major MAJOR bonus!!! When its in action i feel like its an eraser, erasing any dull dark shadowy areas. You can set this but i usually dont, it lasts around 3-4 hours without setting. Sometimes it looks really nice when the natural oils come out, my skin looks really healthy and youthful. If I need to top up coverage during the day, I spray my homemade face mist (D.I.Y. Recipe coming soon!) onto my face and repeat the processLook how yellow this is

I use a pinch of this stuff as you can see.

If you are between an Nc30-Nc40 and really yellow undertoned, you will really like this shade. Like I said it is too light for me if I pack it on but I use such a tiny amount, literally a pinch and it does what I want it to do for my skin. I think it's the amount of yellow and the tone of yellow it is that seriously compliments my skin. This is my perfect everyday foundation so this is HG status for me because it gives me awesome uber natural results but the HG search continues for a liquid foundation for special occasions where i would need fuller coverage

Look at how much I've used! Im just under the barcode! 

Well done Bare Minerals well done! I just can't believe it took me so much trialling and testing and sample collecting to find this! It wasn't easy! Im so pleased with myself that I've used more than half of the tub, I can't wait to empty it out :D! Next I'm going to try out the Bare Minerals Ready Foundation, which is the compact version which apparently is more hydrating! And after that perhaps the new BareSkin Serum foundation too! Hope this was helpful! Ask any questions if you have any!