Everyday Minerals

Website: www.everydayminerals.com

Mineral makeup is all the rage these days. I'm sure you've seen the (in)famous Bare Minerals I.D. (AKA Bare Escentuals) that's popular in Sephora. Actually, in Bellevue Square near Seattle, there's a whole store dedicated to Bare Escentuals (BE)! After much research and many testimonials, I found Everyday Minerals (EM) to be the clear winner. Those who started off with BE and switched to EM never went back. Those who started with EM didn't even bother trying BE because it's much more expensive and those with sensitive skin developed a reaction (an itch, they claim) to BE.

OK here's the promised review!

I ordered:
1. Free Sample Makeup Kit: This includes 3 foundations, 1 blush, and 1 concealer
2. Kabuki Long-Handled Brush [$10]
3. 3 Eyeshadows/eyeliners [$2.50 each]
4. Cosmetic Wet Wipes (80 biodegradable for kids and adults, lightly scented Lavender and Grapefruit) [$3.75]
I ordered this much because I realized I had to pay around $7CDN for shipping and the Free Sample Kit didn't seem like it was worth $7...

My skin: I have very dry skin (non-sensitive) with a light to medium complexion, freckles, and the occasional annoying zit. In the summer, I tan more than I burn. My blood vessels are also very close to the surface of my skin (a genetic thing) so you can see the red lines and dots on my cheeks... and this hinders me from ever having a totally clear complexion because it looks like blemishes when they really aren't. As for my eyes, I never get bags, but I do have semi-dark circles... and hereditary dark outer corners.

OK so let's start with the foundations! It's difficult ordering shades that suit your face online - especially because you're just looking at pictures and some monitors (like those w/ no glare) distort the colours! EM does a great job in describing every shade so you will eventually discover which one is perfect for you.
I've redboxed the ones I chose. I have a beige and olive undertone so I chose (from top to bottom)
- Warm: Medium Beige (Matches really well - ideal for those w/ light tan complexions and peachy undertones)
- Golden: Medium Tan (a mistake - it's waaay too dark. It's for those with medium tan to tan complexions and deep warm yellow undertones. When I chose this shade, I was thinking of me in the summer so I might try it again later on)
- Olive: Golden Medium (my favourite - a versatile soft golden shade ideal for light to medium complexions)
It did take me almost 2 hours to find my 3 shades before I YouTubed this and found a girl with the exact skin tone as myself. She said she was an NC35 (MAC) and so was I. I confirmed my shades. The girl said a lot of people mixed the shades together to create their perfect shade. While I can see how, I was lucky enough to have 2 of the shades to match my skin perfectly. Each shade is actually much more versatile than you'd think. Someone darker than you could actually use the same shade because it covers a wide spectrum of face shades as long as you choose the right tone (ie. Olive, Warm etc.)
You can also choose your formula choice.
Semi-Matte Semi-Matte Foundation formula, ideal for normal to combination skin types, gives you a creamy matte finish with a subtle shine while controling oil. I chose this one mainly.
Matte Matte Foundation formula, for normal to oily skin types, gives you a essentially shineless yet silky smooth matte finish while it controls oil.
Intensive Intensive Foundation formula, for all skin types, provides an extra boost of lasting intensive coverage with a silky near-matte finish. This rejuvenating formula controls oil where needed, without drying your skin.for all skin types - almost matte.
Original Glo Original Glo formula is ideal for dry to normal skin types, providing you with a dewey glow and youthful appearance.
Anyway, I totally recommend EM's foundations because they give you an air-brushed finish without looking cakey. The only thing is that if you have dry skin like me that flakes, you gotta really exfoliate before you use it or your dry flakes will really show and that's just gross. Of course, the more coverage you want, the more you add.

I bought this little Kabuki Brush that's recommended to apply the powder with.
So cute and so soft (maybe too soft?)!! It does a really even job when you just buffer it all over your face. Plus it takes literally less than a minute and is super easy. It's a great price for a brush this quality. I did notice about 5 stray hairs coming out when I used it, but I think the shedding has stopped. I do think it'd be better if the bristles were a bit shorter so I can have more control over where I'm applying the powder.

The concealer. I actually don't use this at all. I chose the formula "Intensive" for it - maybe the wrong choice? I think the concealer is unnecessary. It's just a bit more dense/concentrated than the foundations. I got Intensive Medium which does match my skin.

Blush was fun but hard to choose because of all the variety! I love blushes and wanted to choose more than one. I chose Waffle Cone. It's a bit darker than the NARS Orgasm shade I'm used to, but it's a nice colour and I think it suits a lot of skin tones. It does have a bit of a light shimmer to it too.

Oooo Eyeshadows. On Makeupalley.com, these eyeshadows got GREAT reviews - especially because they don't fall off over time. I actually haven't used them yet except to do a light test. I'm waiting for A to show me how to use them. I got:
- Matte: Smokey Eyeliner
- Matte: Emerald Eyeliner
- Pearl: In The Garden ('cause it got really good reviews)
I'm happy with them all of them xept the In The Garden is probably best for non-Asians. It's a dark mauve with some sparkle, but it makes me look like I have 2 black eyes... but I'm probably just not applying it properly hahaha

I tried them out really quickly (as you can tell haha)... mainly b/c I needed to see if I could do my own make up for the Junos or not. I need so much help with makeup...
This is my first attempt of the "smokey eye" using the emerald and smokey eyeliner from EM... and of course fake lashes. The 'shadow' really stays put and blends really easily I think. I also sort of lined the bottom of my eye with sparkle to try the rocker look (LOL) but it ended up being a glob. I think next time I'll wing my eyeliner a bit more out. I forgot to put any foundation on beforehand which is why I cropped the pic so.
Showing more of my eyelid crease so you can maybe see the gradiated effect... not so much...
On my right eye, I used my mom's Physician's Formula "Bake series" tri-pack. It comes with a light ivory shimmer, a gold-bronze shimmer, and a dark brown shimmer. Wow what a hurried mess this is - I didn't use any mascara here... and I even forgot to curl my eyelashes!
Both eyes: haha my eyes look uneven! It's almost a Paris Hilton. One has a nicer crease than the other. Anyway - You can't really tell much of a difference between them makeup-wise xept the eye on the right is darker... and the eyelashes are put on better.

Lastly is the cosmetic wipes (see above) -- they're alright. As a somewhat environmentally conscious citizen, I feel good that they're biodegradable and that I can throw them in the toilet. However, I don't recommend them. They're so cheap though! The smell is a bit alcoholic-like. I can see how they're good as a wipe down in the summer. As a makeup remover, it only does 3/4 of the job. It only takes away all the heavy stuff. When I use my toner, I can see the rest come off.

Customer service is exactly what it should be. They add a lot of smilies too. I accidentally bought the baby kabuki instead of the long-handled one (b/c the long-handled one was on backorder) and so I e-mailed them to cancel my original order and they e-mailed me back right away and took note of my request.

So IN SUMMARY: I love the foundation, kabuki brush, and eyeshadows and recommend it to everyone (xept those with really bad acne...)

Did I miss out on anything? Leave a question if I did.

[Edit] I forgot to mention that mineral makeup is for virtually every type of skin from super dry to super oily.. and there's a shade for every skin tone too!