Everyday Minerals Base

I’ve been meaning to review this for absolutely ages as I keep seeing blog reviews of mineral foundation and I definitely think this is a brand that deserves a mention.  I’ve always been someone who never really got on too well with the more popular mineral foundations as I either struggled to find a good shade match (and I’m most definitely not going to buy two full sized foundations and then have to spend time mixing them together to get my shade right) or if I did find a good match, I’d end up with that mineral foundation look which is characterised by that overly sheeny finish that just doesn’t look natural.

Absolutely ages ago, I read about this brand on a forum and decided to give them a go as they were running a promotion.  I’m not 100% sure on this so don’t quote me as it could just be a rumour, but from what I recall, this company was set up by someone who worked with the development of Bare Minerals so the formulation of Everyday Minerals is inevitably going to be quite similar.  However, the significant difference (other than the mega choice of shades) is the fact that EM’s ingredients doesn’t include Bismuth.  Bismuth is an ingredient that can (and often does!) aggravate skin problems which makes it a problematic ingredient for spot-prone skins.

The thing that appealed to me most about EM was the fact that there are absolutely loads of shades to chose from (so no DIY mixing!) and there are also several finishes to choose from.  When I first became familiar with EM, they were only available in America which meant I had to ship them over.  Whilst this was a bit of a pain, on reflection it was definitely better as the stockists in the UK don’t seem to have the same selection (although if you visit the stockists you’ll wonder what I’m moaning about as the range is huge!) and the prices were definitely cheaper.  Yes you had to pay for shipping, but it still worked out much more cost-effective.

Not only do EM do foundations, they also do concealers, eye shadows, blushes, bronzers, correctors, brow colours and lots of mineral cosmetic brushes.  On top of that there are also lots of kits, ranging from things like skin tone specific kits to eye look themed kits.  So there’s absolutely loads available and there’s a good range to try out.

This was the image I used for the Effortless Extensions post which was the last time I  used this foundation alone without using anything else underneath.

I have some pretty shocking acne scars and I’m always suffering from one or two spots (at least!) so as you can hopefully see in the picture above, this really does provide amazing and very buildable coverage.

Whilst I’m a big fan of EM, I’m still a liquid foundation girl at heart and I only use EM if either I’m in a hurry (as once you get the shade right – bearing in mind that there’s about 4 different shades alone that work on my skin tone – it really is the easiest and quickest coverage to apply) or if my skin is being evil and I need a lot of coverage.  If the latter is the case, I’ll usually use this as a finishing powder over my foundation and concealer, but if you’re someone who prefers mineral foundation then this is most definitely a product to try.

I use the EM Kabuki Brush to apply my foundation and I currently use the semi-matte base which is perfect for my skin type as it mattifies without looking too dry or cakey.  The full range is available here and the foundation I use is priced at £9.95.

Disclosure:  All Everyday Minerals products mentioned in the post were purchased by me.