Guest Author - Christine MacCarroll

I’ll admit it. For most of my life, my skin has been my main vanity. My clear complexion was the envy of friends and relatives, and I never had to do much to maintain it. Concealer? Foundation? Ha! I laughed at such cover-ups.

But recently, all that changed. My skin just seemed—well, blah. Worse, I began developing blemishes, and examination with a magnifying mirror revealed uneven skin tone. So an infomercial for mineral makeup, with its promises of a flawless, but not cakey-fakey, finish, mesmerized me. I went online and found a starter kit.

The hardest part about the process was choosing the right shade. The starter sets I was eyeing came with two shades to allow mixing and matching for a just-right shade, but it was still a challenge to determine the right one from a tiny computerized swatch. Ultimately, I enlisted the aid of my husband, who examined my face next to the computer screen in good light.

The results? Amazing! I’ve been using the makeup for the last eight months. I never look like I’m wearing five pounds of makeup (my fear after growing up in Texas), but my skin looks flawless. I use the lighter of two shades sent to me, as well as a rust-colored version simply called warmth on my cheeks, with just a light additional sweep over my nose, chin, and forehead. (Caution—use the lightest possible touch with this shade or risk looking like an Oompa-Loompa.) A concealer brush, which applies the base shade in a more concentrated fashion, is perfect for all but the most vicious blemishes. In those cases, I do use a real concealer just on those spots underneath the makeup.

The biggest complaint I’ve heard from others is that the finish, while flawless, can look almost plasticized—like a Barbie doll. I’ll concede that it does have a slight sheen, and this effect is usually emphasized by a too-heavy hand. However, using a lighter hand, as well as finishing with another product from the starter kit, the mineral veil, usually reduces this effect. Overall, I think the makeup still looks much more natural that other options do. It’s also a bit more change out of pocket initially, but I found that even the smaller containers lasted almost six months (longer for the warmth).

No makeup can ever claim it won’t clog anyone’s pores—even the gentlest might gunk up someone’s super-sensitive skin—but the finely milled, breathable nature of this makeup greatly lessens that chance for most. I also love not using something with a long list of chemicals I can’t pronounce.

The bottom line is that this is one of the best products I’ve purchased in recent memory.

Note that this review is for i.d. bareMinerals. I’ve seen quite a few drugstore versions popping up recently, and while I assume that they are similar formulations, I haven’t tried any of them personally.