Barely There Bare Escentuals

A few months back I was searching for a tinted moisturizer…I never found one I really liked, and resorted to mixing my SPF moisturizer with a few drops of liquid foundation. But my readers had some great ideas. Recently I was killing time at the mall (I hate malls, even the gorgeous Gardens Mall in Palm Gardens) while TBG was at Apple trouble-shooting a software problem. I wandered past Sephora…and remembered the advice of Toma T, who suggested I check out Bare Escentuals.

I admit: I was a skeptic. I’ve never worn liquid makeup. And I’ve never worn powder: this did not look promising. I’d managed to ignore the Bare Escentuals bareMineral Original SPF 15 Foundation hype the past couple years. Yes, I’d vaguely heard InStyle, Teen Vogue, Allure, Seventeen, Glamour and Cosmopolitan Magazines repeatedly vote it the best foundation. That Sephora and QVC routinely vote it a top favorite. I’d even scrolled past the 2 hour (2 hour!) sales promos on QVC TV. But with time to kill, and still needing to find a better solution to my need for a little facial cover-up, I decided to do some personal research.

Easier said than done. At 2:00pm on a Tuesday afternoon, Sephora at Gardens Mall was deserted. Which meant the sales staff was talking to each other, but not to me. So I played around at the prominently displayed Bare Escentuals counter, picked a foundation color that seemed to match my skintone (I picked Light W15 out of the 20 colors, for all skin shades). I paid my $25 plus tax (No, no one helped me today, thank you very much!). And took my little pot of bareMinerals home to test.

Wednesday morning I applied my normal Olay moisturizer and fave YSL Touche Éclat concealer, then opened up the little jar. First, read the instructions to figure out how to open the new snap and click dispenser. Hmmm, powder. I had a make-up brush handy, so dipped it into the powder and puffed it onto my face. And onto the counter, and my shirt. Not a good start. Back to reading the directions: Swirl   Tap   Buff.  OK, less mess but still doesn’t seem right. Next stop, the internet.

The Bare Escentuals website had instructions and demos, but also talked about QVC programs and sales, so I decided to see if there was a sale coming up soon. Perfect: the next night there was a 2 hour Bare Escentuals demonstration and sale. 2 hours! To put on make-up? So I set the DVR so I could watch and fast-forward.

The product demonstration made all the difference: once I saw the models applying the make-up, I totally got the Swirl Tap Buff system: sort of like a friend (or a salesperson at Sephora???) showing me how to use it. But QVC also showed me another tip: for $29.99 plus tax and shipping, I could get a starter kit containing the foundation, an application brush, and a few other

goodies including a how-to DVD. Another jar of foundation, plus the brush and other products: sold! I received my kit a few days later, and tested out the new brush. They were right: the application face brush holds the powder foundation much better than mines does, so no more messy bathroom counters. I watched the DVD, yes it did provide a few more tips on applying, storing and transporting the bareMinerals foundation. Plus, I got another brush for the other products included (Mineral Veil Finish Powder and All-Over Face Color in travel sizes), a mascara, and some product samples.

Am I happy with my bareMinerals foundation? YES: I love it! It doesn’t look like I’m wearing any foundation, but it evens out my skin-tone and provides a little color to my fact. My skin feels dewy and clean, I look like me: only fresher.

My next Bare Escentuals purchase: the refillable travel brush, that lets you take bareMinerals foundation with you in a handy all-in-one brush and powder holder. $29.50.

Thanks for the tip Toma T!

Moi tip: you can’t beat the price for TV starter kit offered on the Bare Escentuals website or on QVC. Watch the video: application of the powder foundation is different, but the videos or product demonstrations on QVC make it simple. I’ll probably by refills at Sephora. When I get over being irritated at them.

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