Take a powder

The bareMinerals product line includes different powders with varying pigments and different brushes to achieve different effects (a larger brush works best for all-over coverage while a smaller brush is best for using the foundation as a concealer).

Ever wake up and realize the face you put on almost twenty-four hours ago is still there except, you know, slightly less than perfect looking? I have a lazy habit of never washing my face before I go to bed. (Sorry, Mom.) So, when I heard there was a makeup you could wear overnight – without worrying what it would do to your pores – I almost didn’t believe it.
“A lot of times I fall asleep with my makeup on, and it doesn’t matter,” said Kelly Carson, a senior veterinary student at Auburn University, of bareMinerals.

I bet if you had three guesses as to what bareMinerals is, you’d probably get it right on the first try: the powder-formula makeup is composed of, you guessed it, minerals. (You’re so smart!)
A year ago mineral makeup was the hip new experiment. This year, its grown so popular, it seems like every company has its own mineral line including Jane Iredale, L’Oreal, M.A.C, Lancôme, and even Mary Kay. So minerals are here to stay. People love what they do for the skin.
The ladies at Blush, 104 North College Street, Auburn, say bareMinerals is chock full of stuff like titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, bismuth oxychloride, mica, and iron oxides. I was never one for the Periodic Table of Elements, but they say it’s all good and free of extra chemicals or additives.

Straying from a liquid foundation might be hard for some, but these products brag they won’t create makeup lines, and will improve skin condition.

Straying from a liquid foundation might be hard for some, but these products brag they won’t create makeup lines, and will improve skin condition. Its users say bareMinerals is nearly weightless on, yet it can still camouflage dark under-eye circles, acne, wrinkles, and rosacea. Unlike a liquid foundation, mineral powders let you decide just how much cover you want.
And for the skeptics who assume that the weightless powder will dust off as quickly as you can apply it?
“It stays on all day, which I didn’t think it would,” said Jennie Hill, a graphic designer for the Opelika-Auburn News. “I’m prone to breakouts, and it’s better than other makeup.”
My initial thought was something so small – like minerals – would actually clog pores. But the folks at Blush say the mineral composition will help improve your skin.
BareMinerals also offers a product called Rev-er Upper, which actually helps shrink and minimize pores, which, they say, liquid foundation clogs and enlarges.

So, which mineral product is for you? Or are any of them? Time to do some research. Grab your most honest girlfriend and go shop. The best way to pick makeup is to try it. Wear it for awhile. Does it stay on or disappear? Does it gather in creases or remain natural looking? Does it give you enough cover? Is the cover even? Does it flatter the skin tone? Compare your favorite mineral makeup with your liquid foundation. Which one does your girlfriend say looks better? You’ve got your work cut out for you here, but mineral makeup users say it’s worth the effort.

The bareMinerals product line includes different powders with varying pigments and different brushes to achieve different effects (a larger brush works best for all-over coverage while a smaller brush is best for using the foundation as a concealer).
Blush and most fine makeup retailers will help you find the shade that best matches your skin. At Blush, a bareMinerals basic kit is $60. It comes with two foundations (a lighter and a darker shade), Rev-er Upper, bronzer, and a set of brushes. Viola!

The only thing the kit doesn’t include is eye makeup, which bareMinerals does have. The available colors are all neutral, with the exception of one very electric blue, and let’s face it, if you’ve ever seen an episode of The Drew Carey show, you know electric blue eye shadow does not look OK on anyone. (Thanks for the tip, Mimi.) But in all seriousness, bareMinerals is about natural-looking skin, but it would be nice if its color palette had shades between neutral and Mimi-blue. You can take this “natural” thing a little too far.
Anyway, who wouldn’t be intrigued by makeup that helps the skin, even if you forget to wash after a long day of work … Or a long night of play. (Sorry, Mom.)