Best Beauty Buy in a While – bareMinerals Get Started Kit

bareMinerals Customizable 8-Piece Get Started Kit 

Back in March I found myself as I often do, taking a stroll down Grafton Street and into BT2. On that particular day I had a Brown Thomas gift card burning a hole in my purse and my previous makeup was coming to an end, so call it a friendly makeup artist doing her job or call it fate, either way after only moments of stepping inside the BT2 doors, I was perched on a high stool being made up in bareMinerals skincare and makeup. 

Of course like any woman, any way in touch with makeup goings on, I’d heard about bareMinerals. I’d also known a few gals who wore the stuff, but we’d never actually discussed it so I didn’t know what to expect from it – colour-wise, cover-wise or indeed price-wise. Amy, the make-up artist who busily and professionally made me look a million dollars that day, explained how to use the products and sent me away a happy glowing woman with a ‘bareMinerals Customizable 8-Piece Get Started Kit’ plus a Gift Card that showed a balance less €57.00. 

The Kit

In the Kit, which I mentioned was €57.00 and worth approx €150.00 if you were to buy each included item seperately includes the following :

• A choice of bareMinerals Foundation
• Prime Time Foundation Primer, size: 15ml
• Original Mineral Veil Finishing Powder, size: 2g
• Warmth All-Over Face Color, size: 1.5g
• Full Flawless Face Brush
• Flawless Application Face Brush
• Maximum Coverage Concealer Brush
• How-To DVD shows you how to Swirl, Tap, Buff® your way back to the skin you were born with

That’s a lot of bareMinerals stuff and all for under €60.00 … nice. Now the next part was using it.

The Products

One thing I’d noticed on the night I went to remove my makeup after Amy made me up, was the fact that it was still in place and still flawless. If I could achieve this I was onto a winner so the next morning and most mornings since (I do go makeup free on rare occasions) I wash my face, add a dab of moisturiser and apply a pea sized amount of the Prime Time Foundation Primer. It’s clear in colour and leaves your skin feeling super silky but the real reason for applying is to keep your foundation in place for longer.

After the primer has been applied, I apply my eye shadow, eye-liner and pencil in my eyebrows (which I swear some day I’ll have permanently drawn on), I do my eyes first so that that I can brush or wipe away any marks or shadow that lands on my cheeks or any where else it shouldn’t be.

Next I grab my Full Flawless Application Brush, and I open the pot of bareMinerals SPF 15 Foundation in Fairly Light. This is the foundation I chose and the colour that most suited my pale skin. Tapping a little of the foundation, which is a powder, onto the lid of the pot, I take my brush and swirl around, making sure to tap it lightly before I apply it to my face. I blend and buff the foundation onto my skin and reapply for as much cover as I fancy. It’s buildable cover, buildable but it keeps it’s natural appearance.

To get into the hard to reach places, I use the Maximum Coverage Concealer Brush which I also swirl in a little of the foundation. This brush is great if I have a little spot (Gawd forbid) or when the circles under my eyes are a little darker than usual as I cover them right up with a dab.

After I’ve buffed and blended my foundation it’s time to add a bit of colour so I take my Flawless Application Face Brush, tap a little of the bareMinerals Warmth All Over Face Colour onto the lid of the pot it comes in, I tap the brush and then apply to my cheeks, forehead and a little across my nose, hitting the spots that the sun would normally get to achieve a natural glow.

When I’m happy with my natural glow, it’s time for the bareMinerals Original Mineral Veil, I apply this to keep it all in place and do so exactly the same way I’ve applied the foundation, tapping a little onto the lid, swirling the brush of choice, tapping off the excess and blending it onto my skin. Finally it’s a lick of lippy and I’m ready to face the day.

So is bareMinerals my new makeup essential? 

Honestly I had doubts I’d manage tapping, swirling and buffing my way to a fully made up face every morning. I thought it would take longer than it does, it takes minutes. I thought that I’d never manage applying it in the car as Patrick drove us to work (yes this happens a lot), but I do and it’s pretty easy too. The pots have a ‘Click, Lock, Go’ Sifter, that makes it easy control the amount you use, without unnessessary spillage, which means there is no waste. Have I mastered applying and building cover? I think I have. Does my skin feel better for using bareMinerals, as it does proclaim that it is so natural you can sleep in it? I think it does, but I must admit that I’m not too prone to breakouts. I love the natural look, it’s easy to apply, it’s made from highest quality ingredients, it contains no harmful, harsh or chemical ingredients, I still have loads left after over a months use and the price is good. It’s a winner!

A couple of weeks after I bought the bareMinerals Kit, I attended a Master Class in BT2, where I observed skincare and makeup applications and learnt about more of their products. I received a goodie bag with some excellent freebies and also purchased a few items, these will all be reviewed in the next Best Beauty Buy in a While. 

Visiting The Life of Stuff from the UK? Then you can get 10% off your next purchase by following this link to the official bareMinerals website: “GET ON THE BEAUTY LIST And we’ll give you 10% off your next purchase.

You can purchase bareMinerals in Ireland from Brown Thomas, BT2, Debenhams and Boots.

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