I was searching for some skincare issues regarding my newly acquired pores, which I am going to blame Bare Escentuals for until I know what actually caused them, and found Skincare Expert who has quick and easy info on tons of different skincare issues. I got caught up reading the tanning myth or mayhem article and didn’t find any info on Bare Escentuals, so until then, I am still blaming them for my enlarged pores.
Ok so after a couple of failed attempts at being schooled on how to apply the BE stuff at Sephora, I decided to make my way into the local Bare Escentual’s actual boutique (this is the 3rd time in a row that I’ve attempted to talk with a consultant - there usually is a waiting list).
Anyway, shout out to Nikki who took her time to show me and my mom how to put on a fabulous face, even under the pressure of being short a couple of girls. Just for the record - I ended up buying another batch of Rare Minerals because I bought my last one from amazon.com and didn’t really know how to put it on, and just washed my face with the Bare Escentuals cleanser, and I promise you all, my skin feels like SILK!! Raise the Roof!
I’ve got to call mama tomorrow morning and see how her cleanser is working out. It took off my makeup, but I didn’t have any mascara on so I don’t know how good its going to be on getting my chola-gunk mascara off, but will totally let you know. PEACE and happy monday tomorrow!
My aunt once told me “people with acne should never wear blush” - I was 12, ridden with adolescent zits and had a healthy dose of the cheapest pink blush in the county. I have not ventured into the blush realm since…until recently.
You see, I am 36 years old now, sans acne and somehow, the entire concept of blushing just seems so…young.
And so, the existence of how-to’s with blush come charging into focus. I’m obsessed with finding the perfect blush…and how to apply it. In rotation thusfar on my quest to find the perfect blossoming cheeks, are Bare Escentuals mineral blush, MAC cosmetics, Bobbi Brown, and Laura Mercier.
I bought the Bare Escentuals blush at ULTA and while the salesperson there was extremely nice, she wasn’t very helpful, and I ended up buying totally the wrong color. Of course, I didn’t realize it was the wrong color until friends ‘intervened’ and let me know. Fortunately I was able to swap it out successfully on MakeUpAlley.com
I also think the Bobbi Brown color is wrong. I had a professional consultation and makeover at the Macy’s counter, but still, it just doesn’t seem right. I think it’s past the return date, but I still have the box and the receipt so maybe I will see if I can at least exchange it out.
The Laura Mercier blush came in a pack of 4 in a holiday bookset that I was gifted, and while two of the pots seem to make a good bronzer, the other two pinky corals just don’t seem to work.
MAC - well, what can I say? It’s MAC, and it looks ok, but it looks like blush. And I don’t want to look like I’m wearing blush, I want to look younger and blushing.
Now that the colors have all not worked for me, we can move on to blush brushes, which I suppose I can’t really give a fair shot at review until I find the correct shade of blush.
Needless to say, everytime I see a failed attempt at blush, I can hear my aunt’s voice washing over me like a mirage in the desert…but I’m not giving up. I’m going to give it my all until I find the perfect shade for me. And I will look younger, even if I’m old by the time I find it.
Just today I decided to take an evening trip to my local Northridge Fashion Mall and not drive all the way down to the Topanga mall, which btw is totally my favorite mall in the whole world…and I notice 2 new stores that I had no idea where there: Coach (yes a boutique, upstairs kind of by BBW) and Sephora (!!!) but check it out - the Sephora is actually inside the JC Penny store! Crazy, I know.
Usually I cut through the JC penny store to get to the other side without having to make the long ass stroll by stores that I never go to to get to the Fredericks of Hollywood, the Doggie store etc. quick and in a hurry. Today as I was scuttling by the hall, out of the corner of my eye I caught the Murad logo, and stopped in my tracks. JC Penny carries Murad?? Then I looked to the left, and saw Bare Escentuals and thought…wow product placement is all over these days…and then I saw Benefit pop materials and looked up and saw that it actually was a mini-me Sephora inside JC Penny, mildew smell from the outside mall fountain and all lol. It’s not a full size sephora, but probably has most of the basic kits and pallettes and what not, and it sure beats having to drive all the way down to topanga on a friday evening during traffic hour! Another kind of surprise at the Northridge Macy’s store : They gave a chunk of the shoe department to Bare Escentuals for thier little boutique too - so now you can get all your messy minerals at macy’s!
I know that 6 months ago I raved and raved about BE being the bomb, but now after a bad bout with the Rare Minerals and trying out Bobbi Brown’s tinted moisturizer, I am on a WHOLE new propaganda cycle. I sooooo totally love the tinted moisturizer craze - because 1. it covers well enough to even out my spotches, and if I go one shade darker, it looks like I have a sun-kissed glow without actually being in the sun; and 2.it has a more natural finish instead of the ruddy kind of complexion that I was starting to notice in all my photos from the BE mineral powder.
So in lieu of the MAJOR application process that I used with BE (i.e. concealer brush, concealor pot, application brush, kabuki brush, foundation pot, warmth, bare radiance, mineral veil, swirling and tapping, and having a mineral veil mess on my counters) I am opting for the sheer luxury of 1 Bobbi Brown tinted moisturizor balm, my fingers and a q tip to dap tiny dallops of color on my face before blending it in old-school style with my fingers and *poof* I’m out the door. Fantastic!!!
Check me out on MakeUpAlley to swap for all of my Bare Escentuals makeup - I’m SO over it!
If Bare Escentuals is still your thing, OR if you want to try Bobbi Brown get it at Macy’s! 
OMG I totally HAD to have the BE night treatment Rare Minerals after I went bananas with the mineral makeup phase…and it was just so chic that I was confident that it just couldn’t be disappointing…but…well, let me just recap what actually happened and let you make up your own mind as to if you want to use it or not. First of all, it comes with a signature built-in ‘puff’ that is supposed to make application super easy.
I eagerly opened it up my first night and puffed it onto my face. It was kind of weird to feel a powder on my face because to be honest, I am usually slathered in anti-wrinkle moisture goo every night that not feeling layers of stuff on my face was a bit odd. So i kept it up. Day 3 brought major dryness. I also thought that the puff thing was a bit clogged because it wasn’t really feeling like any product was getting onto my skin. After digging around with the applicator puff thing, I basically got frustrated and just picked it off. My 3 day old package was now officially ugly. Plus it had hella buildup that I can only describe as product-plaque on it and so yes, it was time to get rid of it.
Day 4 came along, and as I opened up the cannister, apparantly the puff makes the package obvious as to which lid you lift, and I opened the wrong one - causing the powder to spill all over my clean white sheets. Now I was down to 2/3 of the product. I still was feeling overly dry, and didn’t really feel like anything positive was coming out of this whole experience. I read the directions again and saw that if you need to moisturize before applying the rare minerals, you can do so - but then it was beginning to feel like I was applying makeup at night to go to sleep, and well that is just gross. Day 5 brought along another spill and by day 6 I was swapping it out on MakeUpAlley.com I’m totally admitting that I didn’t give Rare Minerals it’s full run, but as with the regular Bare Escentuals product line, this is just too MESSY to be a fabulous beauty product. Sorry to say that when it gets swapped, it simply doesn’t make the cut.
If you still MUST try Bare Escentual’s stuff, you can get it at Macy’s of course!
Last week I went to Ulta and purchased a tub of BE’s Soiree which is a “glimmer” because I was wanting a really high intensity green that wasn’t too light or too dark for a photoshoot. What I ended up with was a soft kind of glittery effect that isnt what I was looking for at all. Does anyone have any suggestions or input? What is the difference between “glimmer’ and ’shadow’? Is there a primer that will actually make the color more intense?
thank u kindly!
Bare Escentuals is available at select Macy’s
