baremineralsbounceandblurblushreview

The Makeup bag used February 6th – 12th, 2021

Good morning my darlings it is time once again to review all of the products I used on my face this week. As usual we will start with primer.

This week I again used the Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch primer and I have to say the photos do not do it justice. It was like magical pore eraser in a pretty red glass jar. I love this primer and A part of me really wants to keep it in the makeup bag until it is empty and then just replace it, however, I have other primers in my collection that I need to use.

So this coming week I will return it to my dressing table and take out another primer. Actually because it reminds me so much of the Pore Professional Pearl Primer, I might take my last remaining sample of that out of the dressing table and use it so that I can get a comparison.

Bare face on the left, just primer on the right.

Plus I think the sample has been in my dressing table long enough. It is unopened but I know it won’t keep forever and as I am not planning on traveling anytime soon, keeping it for travel is sort of pointless.

For Foundation this week I went with the Laura Geller Quench ‘n Tint hydrating foundation. It is hydrating and it is a really good light to medium coverage foundation that feels like a moisturizer when you apply it. You can read my full review here, but the result is that I liked wearing it now but have reservations about summer wear.

If my skin were dryer I think I could get away with year round use, but I think in the summer it would be too hydrating for my skin.

Just primer on the left, primer and foundation on the right

It was also a light enough formula that I needed to use my concealer on my cheek scar and this week’s concealer was the Trestique Conceal, cover and correct crayon. Because of it’s shape and formula it worked well on my cheeks. It is too stiff to use under my eyes though as I feel it pulls at the skin a little too much. I love it for spot correcting though as it covers blemishes well and blends in with any foundation I have tried it with.

My bronzer this week was from elf. It has been a while since I used this bronzer and I forgot how pigmented it was. The first day this week I used this my skin went from winter pale to summer bronzed as I tried to blend it out instead of having an intense bronze on. I really like the elf formula because it is very blendable, but it is necessary to remember that it is also highly pigmented and needs a light hand when applying.

My bareMinerals blush I absolutely loved this week. You can read the full review here but in short, the color was fantastic, the bendability was wonderful, the soft focus look was excellent and I really liked the feel of the product on my fingertips. This is a blush that you apply with your fingers and I have to say I really enjoyed using it and once this sample is used up I will be purchasing the full sized version. So you will see this blush a lot as I work through it.

My highlighter was a sample sized pan from Wander Beauty. It is the Wanderess Glow in After Hours and I have to say it was a beautiful highlighter. It is a sort of silvery pink and blends really well into the skin. I like that I can make it bright or subtle depending on my blending The color as good and the formula worked well for me. It is a big pan and even though it is a sample size, I suspect it will last quite a while. For me highlighters tend to last a really long time since I use so little of them. I have always preferred my highlight in small doses and to provide a subtle glow rather than a blinding light. While I could do something blinding with this, I like that I can go for a soft glow instead.

I had two powders this week one pressed and one loose. The pressed powder was the It Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores pressed powder. It is a sample sized. It is also beginning to show pan. While I will be keeping this powder in my makeup bag until it runs out I suspect that will be another week at best as it is very thin indeed at the moment. Once it is gone however, I will be replacing it with something else. I enjoy using it, but I will not be purchasing a full size once the pan is empty. It is a fine product, but I have others I currently prefer.

My loose powder this week was the Kristofer Buckle Translucent setting powder. It is a very finely milled powder that sits well on the skin and doesn’t cause flash back from cameras. I really like using it. The only thing you have to watch out with this powder is the fact that since it is so finely milled, when you open the inner lid, you can sometimes get a small cloud of powder. It isn’t much, just a small puff that spots your hand, but it is something to be aware of. I just run my powder brush over my hand before dipping into the powder itself and there is no waste. Just be aware so that you don’t breathe it in and you will be fine. It is a lovely setting powder and I am really glad I picked it up.

Actually it wasn’t a deliberate purchase. Kristofer Buckle has these Kits and as I adore the formula for their Cashmere slip Lipstick I wanted to try some of the other products on offer and ended up purchasing the kit so I could. It was a fantastic investment as I have used every item in the kit repeatedly, and some, like the mascara, I have already had to reorder. This powder is one of the things I will be reordering once it runs out. Currently they are having a sale on this powder (among other things on the site). Normally it is $24 but currently it is on sale for $18 and there is free shipping.

I skipped the eyeliner this week, but my brow pencil was from Il Makiage. It worked really well and has a fine enough point to it that it went exactly where I wanted it to go. I really enjoyed using it. The shade I used was in Truffles and it suited my eyebrow color perfectly. The product was soft enough so that I didn’t feel like I was scratching my brows with a pencil, but it was soft enough to leave product behind easily. It was one of the better brow pencils I’ve tried.

The simple two color eye look I wore most of the week

For my eyeshadow I reached for my trusty Ciate London. It was the nine pan The Trend Edit that I used this week. The link will take you to the full review if you are interested. This week I kept things pretty tame and went mostly with the brown shade Burnt on the lid and the shimmer baby towards the inner lid to lighten it up a bit.

I love the other colors in the palette, but quite frankly this was a simple easy look that took no thought on mornings when I was rushed. The colors don’t have a really wide range to them, but if you are looking for a good everyday palette you can wear to work and then use to brighten up the shine before heading to happy hour, this is a palette you might want to look into.

And at the moment Ciate is having a sale, The Love Sale, actually. Some of their items are up to 50% off. As I have quite the collection of Ciate London Products there are many I can recommend. They are good quality. And for those of you who love the Muppets, their Miss Piggy Collection is also on sale. There is a good possibility the Miss Piggy Mirror will soon be mine.

My mascara this week was brand new, not just to me, but in general. I had to run out to Target and as I hadn’t been out of the house in a while, I took my time. Thee on the end cap was the new Big Poppa mascara from Wet ‘n Wild. I know I have other mascaras that are waiting unopened and ready for their turn to be used, but I couldn’t resist. I think it is the fact that the mascara is wearing a crown. I couldn’t leave the crown waiting in the wings. While the crown is a nice decorative touch, I did find that the ridges of the crown actually let me grip the wand more comfortably and securely. So it is a functional design as well. The wand is straight, relatively short and bushy with an hourglass shape to it.

No mascara on the left and mascara on in the righthand photo

It made for a surprisingly effective application actually. I really liked the way my lashes looked. They were lifted and lengthened. It was quite dramatic actually. I liked that the mascara stayed on all day without flaking on me. It is actually a really good mascara. I was very impressed. I don’t know why I am so surprised because Wet ‘n Wild’s new releases lately have all been fantastic. At this point I have tried new releases of their tinted moisturizer, eyeshadow, lipstick and now the Big Poppa Mascara. All have been absolutely fantastic.

I can’t really say the same for the Jules Smith Beauty Lip gloss. It is glossy and I do like the color, but it is sticky and even after the color and shine have worn off, my lips felt strangely waxy. It was actually a strange feeling. It felt like a heavy, waxy lip balm, but when wiped off my lips felt a little dry instead of nourished. It was odd. Luckily, this is a sample size and there is very little in the sample after a week of use. I may keep it out to use up, because I really do like the tint of color, however formula trumps color and this is not a formula I will be purchasing in a full size.

I have to say the same thing about the Lise Watier Magnifix Setting Spray. I like the thought of the healthy setting spray and I like the scent, which made me initially like the spray. I also used it right after using a very paint smelling setting spray so i think it got bonus points for that. It is a very wet setting spray that often leaves spots in my powder. The more I use it, the less I actually like it. I just dislike having to touch up wet spots it leaves behind. It gets a little old. The bottle is halfway empty and I think I will use it up, but once it journeys to the empty bin it will not be repurchased.

And that my darlings was the good, the bad and the fabulous of this week’s makeup bag. Tune in next week to see what new products are lurking in the soon to be refilled bag.

bareMinerals is one of those makeup brands that I really like, but tend to forget about for long stretches. Then I will use one of their products and wonder how I could have possibly forgotten about them. They are always good quality with good for the skin ingredients and for me they always work really well.

This week I used the bareMinerals Bounce and Blur blush in Mauve Sunrise. According to the product page…

This fingertip-friendly, weightless powder blush blends like a dream — no brush needed. The good-for-skin formula blurs the look of pores and imperfections for a naturally airbrushed effect with no harsh lines or uneven texture. Choose between 4 shades inspired by the gorgeous tones of the sunrise and sunset.

Our breakthrough bouncy technology provides a buildable, blendable texture thanks to a Botanical Blend of hydrating botanical ingredients, naturally derived from Moss. Mineral Blurring Microspheres and Vitamin B blur and minimize the appearance of pores and imperfections. Like all of our mineral makeup, these blushes are Paraben-free, Sulfate-free and completely cruelty-free.

Okay in many of my skincare posts I have mentioned why parabens and sulfates are bad for you and not just a marketing gizmo. (well they may also be part of a marketing plan, but it isn’t an empty one) Parabens and sulfates can potentially cause skin irritations and clogged pores and have been linked to certain cancers. So really not good to apply on the body.

I like that bareminerals does not have these nasties in them.

But how does it perform?

First off, the color I used is Mauve Sunrise which is perfectly suited to my skin tone. While I have a sample size currently, this is the color I will be picking up in the full size. And yes, I will be purchasing this in the full size once the sample runs out (I like to completely use up samples before I purchase the full size).

This bareMinerals‘ blush feels like a cream when touched, but applies like a powder on the skin. It also blends like a powder, so if you have fears of cream products leave them aside. It may feel creamy to the touch but you work with it more or less as you would a powder blush. Which is kind of the best of both worlds in my opinion. I use both creams and powders and I like each for different reasons. This has the ease of applying that a cream has in that you can place it exactly where you want with your fingertip and have absolutely no fall out from the product, but has the blendability of a powder. I love the combination.

You apply this blush with your finger and basically brush it along the skin and then blend it in. You can blend it in or use a makeup sponge or even a kabuki style brush to blend it in if you really want to, but fingers really do work best. And as I had my Makeup Eraser handy, once I was done, I simply wiped off my fingertips before reaching for the next product in my getting ready process. It was super simple with no mess.

I found it blended in well and gave me a nice soft look to my skin. There were no harsh lines from the application and the blush stayed in place all day, it didn’t fade away throughout the day and it didn’t disappear when blending. And best of all there was no fall out. So my sink is not dusted with pink and all of the product that came out of the package was actually used. There was no waste.

I very much enjoyed using this blush this week and I will be working to use up the sample. Once it is empty, I will be purchasing the bareMinerals Bounce and Blur Blush in a full size. I will probably stick with the Mauve Sunrise as well as the color works really well on my skin and I can see it working well in both summer and winter for me. Truthfully the hardest part is knowing my shade and liking the formula. I really want to order a full sized version for my collection. Currently bareMinerals is having a 30% off sale so I may be checking them out later and if this blush is a part of it, I may pick the blush up now and just nt open it until I use up the sample. that way I can prevent waste AND take advantage of the sale. Of course even if the blush isn’t on sale, there are several bareMinerals products I wouldn’t mind stocking up on. The sale banner is linked below in case any of you fancy a bit of shopping as well.