I recall that I was the last in my family (of 3 girls) to ever appreciate the benefits of cosmetics or makeup. Although I was always intrigued when I watched my mom perform her morning ritual of putting color on her face. Its just that I was hesitant for a long time to pick up the skills she so clearly displayed with putting on makeup.

My entrance into the corporate world was not exactly colorful… literally. My dad used to reprimand me for not even putting on lipstick as I ran out the door. He would always say I looked anemic. That time my only constant companion was Pond’s face powder and nothing more.

The year I lived in the States was my rude awakening to my sorry state.  Everyone I worked with thought I was like 16 years old… and treated me that way. I had a hard time being believable because the foreigners I worked with thought I should still be playing Barbie or something.

So I convinced my more knowledgeable roommate to accompany me to the nearest Ulta store we could find. There, we filled my basket with powders, blushes, primers, eyeshadows, lipsticks, brushes, perfume and other tools and accessories.

Our next stop was the Scottsdale Fashion Square. The Express, The Limited and Banana Republic offered all the right things to up my look to “professional” from teen.

I was all set. I had the look to match my words. I became a success. That was eons ago.

Now, my makeup kit remains the first one I bought and it has never been empty of various brands of makeup. There’s my Maybelline, Mary Kay, Clinique, Mac, L’oreal, Face Shop, Bloom, Sue Devitt, Revlon, Almay, Body Shop and lots more. My face never leaves the house without ample coverage, with or without color.

The newest addition to my beauty loot is mineral makeup. This type of makeup has received so much hype that even conventional makeup brands have come out with their own. Too much hype in fact that I simply have to try it out to find out if the product really is what its been said to be.

I scoured the internet to find out which brand I could buy that would provide value for money (secretly, I was hoping to find a brand that wasn’t too expensive). I then chanced upon a multiply seller - BareNaturals. The site offered comprehensive information on their products and the inquiry I sent to their contact email was replied to immediately. Because of this and because their products were very affordable, I decided to buy myself a complete set of mineral makeup products - including an 8-pc brush set.

The loot from BareNaturals came with a DVD how-to on applying mineral makeup. I was so grateful for that DVD because I could not get it into my head how to start using the jars of makeup that I had ordered from them. But the uncertainty was temporary and soon I was brushing my face away (not literally). So was it the experience I thought it was? Here are my ooohs and aaahs with mineral makeup:

• Mineral makeup is very light on your skin. Being very oily, my face tends to feel heavy after hours of full coverage makeup. It doesn’t matter if the foundation I am using is oil-free. My face is its own producer of oil and needs no help in that department. With foundi-stay mineral makeup foundation, my face although still oil-producing surprisingly does not feel heavy or sticky.
• The mineral makeup glides on smooth and silky. I love how the powder covers my skin. A small amount does the trick of covering up your whole face (as promised) and a very small pinch can actually light up your cheeks with color. The color though is not overpowering and lasts the whole day unlike my other blushes and bronzers where only a part of it lasts the day.
• At the end of the day, after removing my makeup, my skin still feels light. Before, I swipe on toner even after using makeup remover. I do that because somehow my skin still feels heavy and oily after removing the gunk on my face. This time, I don’t have to succumb my skin to another round of cleaning if I used mineral makeup.
• I love how the powder does not stay on the brush. I have been using mineral makeup everyday for a week now and my brushes still look (appears to at least) good as new.
• Aside: I love the brushes I bought from BareNaturals. They’re made with vegan bristles like taklon, teijin and toray. I have an extensive brush set already but these are quite an addition and I am not regretting the purchase. They are soft to the skin and do not leave strands all over your face like my other synthetic brushes do.

All in all I am hooked. The price of approximately P200 per 5g of mineral makeup is the icing on the cake.

Online store: http://barenaturals.multiply.com
Official website: http://www.mybarenaturals.com

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