Review: Bare Escentuals makeup
May 13, 2008 12:13 pm product/service reviews
I’ve been using Bare Escentuals mineral makeup for well over a year now, and I swear, I’ve never looked back!
I had seen the infomercials on TV, and had been seriously thinking about it. But then I heard from other people, real people, who used this makeup and swore by it. So I figured, what the hey, and I ordered the TV starter kit. This is a great way to get started, and it is MUCH less expensive than buying all of that stuff, including the brushes, individually. You also get a how-to DVD, which I watched through twice before starting to apply the makeup myself. You really do need to learn the *swirl, tap, buff* technique in order to get good results from these products.
These products may LOOK expensive at first, but really, a little goes a long way. When I ordered the starter kit, I also signed up for the club, where you get auto-shipments. The default is every two months, but this can be changed to suit your needs. I don’t need to get them that often, so I changed the frequency of my shipments.
The foundation has EXCELLENT coverage for anything you want to cover…seems unbelievable for something so light, but it’s true. I had some pretty bad acne when I started with BE, and it covered all of the redness beautifully. The starter kit comes with a concealer brush, which is great for applying foundation to blemishes, dark circles, anything you want to hide, for maximum coverage.
I also swear by the SPF protection that these products offer. The foundations are 15 SPF, and if you need added protection, there’s a product called Multi-Tasking Bisque that is 20 SPF. It makes an excellent concealer for those harder-to-conceal spots, but for me, it’s the BEST sunscreen EVER. I go to a lot of ball games in the summer, which involves sitting out in the sun. I burn very easily if I’m not careful, especially on my face. I’ve tried all sorts of greasy sunscreens and SPF foundations, but the BE products have been the best performers I’ve used.
Here’s how I use it: I brush some of the Bisque all over my face…I like the Full Coverage Buki Brush for this. Then I apply the foundation, warmth, Mineral Veil, etc. The stuff stays on all day, and I have NEVER gotten a sunburn on my face when I use the Bisque and the foundation together. Last week, Mike and I went out on a boat, and we didn’t have any sunscreen with us. Although we sat under a canopy on the boat, the reflection of the sun from the water still hit us. Mike got a little pink in the face, but I didn’t, not at all.
Another BE product that I swear by is the Essential Brow Kit. When I was a kid, my brother threw a hard plastic flowerpot at me, and it hit my eyebrow and cut it open. Our family doctor, Dr. Goliger, came to the house and stitched it up. Yeah, doctors actually made house calls back then, yeah, I AM OLD! So bust me! 
Anyhoo, to this day, I have a big scar on my left eyebrow where the hair won’t grow, and if I don’t use some kind of brow stuff, it looks weird. I used to use eyebrow pencils, but it’s hard to make them not look like drawn-on brows. But once I found the Essential Brow Kit, that was it for me…when applied, it looks like real brow hairs. $32 may look steep for this kit, but trust me, I’ve gone through far more than that much worth of cheapy Maybelline eyebrow pencils in the amount of time it takes to use up one brow kit. A little really does go a long, long, long way here!
BE makeup has a near cult-like following…there are internet message boards where women talk about the makeup, show off how much BE stuff they have, etc. It truly is an addiction, but it’s a fun and healthy one…no need to go to drug rehab to break the addiction!
I know I’m hooked! It’s the only makeup I use now! Try it.
