Minerals Cosmetics

Minerals cosmetics — you’ve heard about mineral makeup, but what is it, really?  A bunch of hype?  Or the answer to some women’s makeup prayers? 

Let’s take a look at what minerals makeup is (good for your skin), and what it isn’t (a miracle-worker).

Minerals Cosmetics 101

Since mineral make up doesn’t contain the fillers, binders and preservatives of traditional makeup, it’s generally kinder to your skin, especially if you are sensitive to a lot of the ingredients in traditional cosmetics.

Now not all mineral makeup is the same.  While they all basically rely on the same minerals, they may or may not include extra mineral ingredients.

Minerals cosmetics traditionally are loose and powder-like.  There are some pressed mineral makeup lines; check the ingredients list to see what they were pressed with, as they do require some binders.

Acne and Oil

If you’re prone to acne breakouts, mineral makeup in generally kinder to your skin than traditional makeup.   With no preservatives or other chemicals to irritate, you may find yourself with fewer breakouts.

And for those with oily skin, loose mineral makeup helps to keep down the shine and lets your makeup last longer — not do a disappearing act 3 hours after you’ve put it on.

What About Dry Skin?

If you have dry skin, you can still wear minerals cosmetics.  You do put on a moisturizer before applying traditional makeup, right?  Just keep on doing the same thing; it’s your makeup that changes, not your skin care routine.

Unlike powders, mineral make up has a different texture.  And instead of laying flat on your skin, they are buffed in.  Less is definitely more; if you put on a heavy layer and don’t buff it in, it will look bad.  But with a lighter touch and proper buffing, your skin doesn’t look like it has makeup on; it’s just luminous.

Mineral Makeup and Miracles

Let’s get this straight; mineral makeup isn’t a magic bullet to all your facial woes.  If you’re 45, you won’t look 25 again (sorry about that).

What minerals cosmetics do is hide flaws — such as breakouts, scars, dark spots, etc. — well, and give a glow to your face.

Think of a pearl.  When you see a good set of pearls, they seem to glow from within – a luminosity no other gem has.  Now those pearls might have imperfections, but you don’t notice them because they are luminous.

It’s the same idea with mineral makeup.  You look like you, only better, and with a glow about you.

More About Mineral Makeup

In these pages, you’ll find more about minerals cosmetics.  There are many different options these days; from Bare Escentuals (the granddaddy of them all) all the way to the drugstore brands have jumped on the mineral make up bandwagon.  Any of course there are newer companies that are devoted to just mineral makeup, like Everyday Minerals.

You’ll also find information about a necessary tool — makeup brushes; you can’t apply minerals cosmetics properly without them.  And you’ll of course need to know about how to clean makeup brushes (also very important).

And naturally, you’ll discover where you can purchase minerals cosmetics online!

So kick back, relax and get ready to explore the fascinating world of mineral makeup!

E.L.F. Eyelid Primer faced some extremely tough competition, like Too Faced, UDPP and Bare Vitamins.  How did it stack up — a keeper or a dud?

And just for the record, I bought my container of E.L.F. Eyelid Primer; it was not given to me for free or sent as a sample.  And in case you were wondering, E.L.F. stands for Eyes, Lips Face.

My Test Conditions

I live in Florida, which means extremely high humidity most of the year.  I also have oily skin, which the humidity makes worse.  Plus, I’ve developed hooded eyes as I’ve gotten older.  Eyeshadow does not last long on me!

In other words, any eyeshadow primer that stays on all day facing these conditions is probalby a keeper.

Here’s the Competition For E.L.F. Eyelid Primer

I tested E.L.F. Eyelid Primer (the non-mineral version) against 4 other primers:

• Bare Vitamins Prime Time Eyelid Primer
• E.L.F. Eyeshadow Primer (mineral version)
• Too Faced Shadow Insurance
• Urban Decay Primer Potion

This primer definitely faced some tough competition!

Testing Conditions

Testing was done by putting the Eyelid Primer on one eye and one of the competitors on the other.  This way, I was sure that both eyes faced the exact same conditions.  I rotated the primers, until each had been tested against E.L.F.

Also, I used eyeshadows that have a history of creasing on me if I was wearing it without a primer.

E.L.F. Eyelid Primer, Non-Mineral Version

Now’s the moment you’ve been waiting for — how did E.L.F. compare against all the others?

E.L.F. Eyelid Primer, non-mineral version,  is on the thinner side, similar to the mineral version, and so gave me plenty of time to blend the primer over my lid and brow area.

The “grab” was decent, keeping most of the mineral shadows off my cheekbones.  Probably a little less grab than most of the others, though.  Which actually I kind of like, because it was more easily blendable.  But it’s not as great if you wear a lot of micas or straight pigments.

One thing I liked was that the primer is a lighter color than the others.  That might not appeal to everyone (especially women with deep-toned skin), but for me it brightened my eyes a little.  And it made my shadows a tiny bit lighter than the other primers.

The biggest negative was the container it came in, which had a doe-foot applicator.  I don’t particularly care for using an applicator, so I dotted it on my lids then blended with myfinger.

A container of E.L.F. Eyelid Primer costs $1 (yes, you read that right) for .17 fluid ounces.  This was definitely the most affordable of the eyeshadow primers! 

Would I buy it again?  Probably not, mainly because I like the E.L.F. Eyeshadow Primer (mineral version) better, and it’s only $3.  No point in having both.  However, if every penny counts, I’d say this would be a good buy for you.  On the other hand, I might buy a little more seeing as it’s nice for keeping the oil down in the worst part of my oily T-zone — I put it on after my regular makeup primer and before my foundation.  Works nicely!