makeup, makeover
Sep 20, 2008
Bare Escentuals is a good line of mineral makeup. They were the first to go for market saturation with their name and product, and so today when many people think of “mineral makeup” they think of Bare Escentuals. (This is no longer the case. Folks who want to try mineral makeup now have a LOT of options.) If you use mineral makeup, and the Bare Escentuals team has a makeup artist event in your area, I suggest you go.
However, don’t just go and expect pearls of wisdom to drop from the makeup artist’s lips. Figure out tips and tricks you want to learn, ask for those specific things, and be aware that not everything the BE makeup artists do will work for everyone. Your opinions and routines may be different, but that doesn’t mean that their automatically wrong.
When I signed up for the makeover, I already knew that I wanted to ask about eye makeup application. All the women on my mother’s side have the same heavy lids, and so have the same problems with the “lashline-crease-brow” school of eyeshadow application: any crease color is completely hidden unless our eyes are closed. I also wanted to ask two other questions, since I had no formal introduction in how to wear makeup:
- where is the best place on my face to apply blush
- how do I use the brow powders to look natural-but-better, rather than “I’m-ready-for-my-closeup”
I arrived right on time for my appointment. I had tried to arrive earlier, but the parking pixies - those magical beings who make sure that someone leaves their parking spot just as you come down the row - just sniggered and said, “A mall on a weekend when it’s the first rainy day since early summer? You’re on your own. Some things are just outside our scope, ya know?” When I did get to the Nordstrom’s BE makeup counter, the crowds were insane. I checked in and then was lead outside of Nordie’s, into the mallway...where there were several makeup stands and chairs set up specifically to handle the ginormous crowds. (Smart, these people.) I was handed off to a nice woman named Nicole who helped me prep my face: wipe-off, skin revver-upper, eye primer, and a facial moisturizer called Wisdom. (Good thing I didn’t fall in love with that last product. It’s apparently been discontinued. And why do they not stop folks, even in the prep area, from using discontinued products? *sigh* Moving on...) She asked me if I used their MD Formulations, and I said that I tried it but saw no effects. I also let her know that I had tried using their Prime Time for two months, and it increased my breakouts a LOT. So, yay, no Prime Time. Next, on to the artist.
Quick digression: Bare Escentuals seems to have a mindset that beautiful = healthy, and healthy = slightly (or very) bronzed. (I agree with that first part, but I part ways with BE on the second half of that equation.) This mindset shows up in BE’s foundations, their blushes, and their lip colors. All look best on folks who are clearcut Spring, Summer, or Fall. Warm-toned folks are by and large fine. Cool-toned folks...it’s a dice-roll. Cool-toned Winters are SOL. And guess who’s a cool-toned Winter, as are most of the women on my mom’s side of the family? Yup - your narrator. My eyes are light blue-grey, and my hair is dark ash blonde. I grew up in the Southwest, and ran around outside whenever I got the chance, so I know what I look like when I’m tanned. My haircolor and tanned-skin color don’t contrast much, and my light-blue-grey eyes really don’t stand out much. It’s bronzed, it’s healthy, but it’s not beautiful on me.
We now return to our story.
I sat down at Audie’s station and was briefly introduced to Christine, who would be taking notes on which products were used. Yes, this is an attempt by BE to get you to buy more of their product. However, as I was specifically there to learn and as my short-term memory is lousy, I was glad to know that someone would be handing me a personalized cheat sheet of this session. I told Audie what questions I had about eye makeup and blush application, and she said, “Okay, no problem. I’ll make sure to walk you through each step.” (While a makeover is nice, the knowledge was what I really wanted. I was slightly concerned that I’d get a makeup artist who worked their magic without explaining the tricks. This was most definitely not the case. I had a makeup artist who was perfectly willing to be an instructor. Thank you, Audie!!!)
The artist asked me if I used the BE foundation, and I told her about the skin sensitivity: I had used BE foundation for two months, but noticed that my skin was itching a lot more and thus stopped using BE’s foundation. The mineral veil didn’t bother me, and neither did the eye makeup...but the foundation did. (Don’t ask me why. It doesn’t seem to make sense: all three of those products have many of the same ingredients with a few variations and some differences in proportions, so if one bothers my skin, shouldn’t they all cause the same problem? All I know is that when I stopped using BE foundation, waited a week, then started using it again, the itching returned. I stopped using BE foundation, waited a week, and started using another mineral foundation. No itching. That’s proof enough for me.) She then said, “You used...Light?” I said, “No, Fair mixed with Mineral Veil to lighten it.” The doubletake was interesting. I think I gave her a quick bit of mental whiplash. She applied Fairly Light foundation, which she said was a total match to my skintone. (Yes, but I want my skin to appear a shade lighter to give more contrast between hair-eyes-face...ah, never mind, what the heck.)
Next, she asked me if I used Warmth. I said no, it was a little too dark for my preferences. She said she wanted to try applying some, so I agreed. I’m here to learn, I thought. It’s highly possible that I’ve just been applying it wrong. This may actually look good - who knows? It’s silly to pass up an opportunity to learn something from a makeup professional. The artist applied the Warmth to the sides of my face, to my chin, and lightly on my forehead - which was different than the instructions in the various BE catalogs. It looked okay, not amazing, but it didn’t look as bad as when I had tried to apply it. I made a mental note to myself, and she continued with the makeover. She did one of my brows, then let me see the mirror so I could see the difference. The brow powder really helped define my face, but didn’t look too heavy or artificial. She had applied it with small strokes, along the grain of the brows. I hadn’t ever tried this stuff, and left to my own devices I would have applied it in one long stroke...and probably been displeased or even discouraged with the results. So those two bits of information - which color was best for me, and how to apply it properly - were much appreciated.
Next up, the eyes. I had mentioned that I was buying the Bare Crystals kit, and so would appreciate some application tips with the items in that kit. First the artist applied an all-over color: Vanilla Sugar. I did notice that instead of using long strokes to apply the color, the way I often did, she was patting and using short strokes. When I asked her about it, she told me that with mineral makeup you have to pat it into place to get coverage. Then she demonstrated on the back of her hand. I had taught myself everything I knew about applying makeup, remember, starting with sponge applicators and pressed powder shadows. You can’t pat those unless you gouge a furrow in your pan of shadow and really overload your sponge - you drag your sponge applicator across your lids, spreading the powder. More information, always a good thing.
I had mentioned that I was buying the Bare Crystals kit, so she used those colors for my eyes: In the Buff lash-to-brow on the inner and center portions of the lid; Guilded Quartz on the outer lid, angled up and inward; and Smoky Quartz applied wet as a liner. I liked the way my eyes looked. I had initially been a little concerned that the eye colors (specifically Guilded Quartz, and green-goldish brown) wouldn’t look all that great on me, since I have a rocky relationship with greens and greenish colors unless they’re emerald. This looked good, though.
Next, the blush. The artist applied Golden Gate, which I have avoided since it looks like it would be too orange for me. (See previous note about my being a Winter. Pinks, reds, and jeweltones are good for my coloring. Oranges and bronzed tones? Not so much.) However, I did learn that part of my problem applying blush was that I’d been angling it down too much. It should go from the tops of the apples of the cheeks back to the temple. (Factoid three, and in my mind, I now have the “price of admission” covered.)
The artist asked what kind of lip look I preferred. I told her, “close to my own skintone, but slightly more defined.” I mentioned that I used the sheer buxoms just about every day. She lined my lips, then applied some light streaks of lipliner inside the lines. This would bring some darker color to my lips - but not too much - and would minimize the contrast between lipliner and lip color as the day went on. (And there’s another factoid I had not previously known. I had assumed that lipliner only ever went on the outside of the lips, or around the outside.) She finished my facial application with Mineral Veil, and showed me the complete look. It didn’t look “made up”, which had been a minor concern. It looked good. This, combined with the items I had been planning to buy anyway, made this trip worthwhile.
The problem came when I got to my car, sat down, and looked in the rearview mirror. While my makeup looked okay in the mall, in the yellow light from the makeup artist’s mirrors, in natural Seattle daylight (grey-blue - welcome to the coastal rainforest) I looked like I had applied the makeup on my own, for the first time ever. I looked “made up” - specifically my skin was too bronzed, the blush was applied too heavily, and the lipstick was a bit too dark. I didn’t look like Tammy Faye Bakker, but I didn’t look all that well “made up”, either. I looked about as graceful as Drew Barrymore does in those ads for Mabelline foundation, where Drew looks like someone attacked her with a can of spray-tan. When I got home, it took five facial pads to wipe off all the foundation and blush. (Usually it takes two, possibly three.) I left the eye makeup since it looked okay. I just wanted to get rid of my California Kabuki look.
I would have been disappointed, or even annoyed, if I hadn’t gone in there knowing a couple of things:
- what specific knowledge I wanted to walk away with
- what specific products I wanted to buy - and what products I didn’t want to buy (five separate people tried to interest me in either the Bare Pleasures kit, or the Ultimate Indulgence box set. I already own most of the colors in each of those sets.)
If you just walk in and sit down, I’m sure that you won’t be totally satisfied, and you’ll probably be sold some items that you may not have wanted. Either way, you’ll feel passive and pressured...and the artist may be floundering, too, trying to figure out what to do for your makeover. (Or they’ll just apply the products and that’s that.) Go in there with a purpose - whether it’s how to make Wildflower work with your coloring, creating a look for an upcoming event, learning how to use a product, or learning how to accentuate or diminish certain facial features or skin issues. That could greatly change how satisfied you are when you walk away.
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Mineral makeup with no bismuth oxychloride, lovely colors, and a great price.
May 26, 2008
This follows up to my earlier post about Simply Naturals' multi-use mineral makeup (visit Simply Naturals' website), but while that one provided overall impressions of the company and a general review of their line, this one provides details about the specific colors. My personal favorite colors (so far) are Gypsy, Blaze, Plum Tree, and Plum Shimmer.
Some background on the "model": I have fair skin, blue eyes, and light brown hair. The BE foundation that works best for me is 9 grams of Fair (1.0) mixed with 2 grams of Light (2.0).
Legend
Main color: the primary shade(s)
Highlights:
| Weight | Opacity | Intensity | Finish |
| heavy, medium, light |
solid, medium, faint |
bright, medium, dark |
matte, sparkle, sheen |
Similar to: name of similar Bare Escentuals eyeshadows/glimpses/glimmers. I own over 60 BE eyecolors, and BE is a well-known brand, so this just provides another point of reference. (I don't own any Aromaleigh, Signature Minerals, Sheer Cover, or any of the other loose-powder lines, so can't accurately compare. If someone who does own these wants to make a one-to-one comparison of the Simply Naturals colors and provide the matchups, email me and I'll list the information as well as credit the donor.)
Description: my impression of the colors - its characteristics, quirks, special traits, some suggested uses.
Color listings
This isn't an exhaustive list of all colors available from Simply Naturals. This is just the ones I have, or have tried as samples, as of June 2008. Visit their site to view all their colors, as well as their other products.
Alphabetical
Colors
Some of the colors are listed in two groups. That's because, to my eye, the color could fall into either category.
Pinks / Reds
Peaches / Oranges
Golds / Yellows
Blacks / Greys / Whites
Browns / Tans
More..!
Related entry: The painted lady
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I've got the look. And the hookup.
May 25, 2008
When I first got into mineral makeup, I bought Bare Escentuals. It was there, I was familiar with the store and the brand (having bought some of their essential oils several years ago), and if I was going to pay that much for makeup, I wanted to know that I was getting it from a source that I trusted...somewhat. When I finally ventured onto Ebay, I stuck with BE. I could walk into a store, see the colors right there in front of me, and know (for example) that Bamboo was far too yellow, that Azure actually was less intense on the skin than it was in the jar, and that Silk Rose was prettier than it sounded. I am also lucky enough not to have reactions to bismuth oxychloride (a form of lead arsenic), so didn't have to go searching for something like Aromaleigh, KmS, Earth Daily, or any of the other brands formulated for sensitive skin. I was attracted to mineral makeup because of its claims not to clog pores, and the fact that it contains no preservatives or artificial chemicals. Thus, the standard rule-of-thumb that you should throw out your makeup after three years does not apply here. Mineral makeup is inert - bacteria can't grow in it - it will conceivably stay good for 10 or 20 years, perhaps longer.
Nice as it is, BE's eye color line lacks a good selection of blues and greens, and doesn't have many bright colors. I saw several dozen cottage-industry mineral makeup alternatives on Ebay, and tried out a few. One was priced nearly the same as BE, and the seller used misleading advertising. Another used the same color names as BE, and while their quantities and pricing were better, their product quality and their packaging needed some work. Then I found a particular seller that seemed to have a good selection of colors, no bismuth oxychloride, good quantities, and an excellent price. I ordered a few to check them out...and thus began my latest collection.
Simply Naturals mineral makeup can be used as eye color, face color, body color, even for decorative highlights and streaks in the hair. They have recipes on their site for mixing your own lip balms, and their reds could easily be added to those. However, since I'm not a huge lip balm user and since I have troubles making a batch of tollhouse cookies competently, I'm not mixing my own makeup — I'm only using the colors as eye makeup. When I first wanted to explore mineral makeup, I needed a safety net: I needed to go into a store, see what I wanted to buy, and test it out before plonking down my money. I know that others may need this reassurance, too...so I've compiled a long list and review of Simply Naturals' mineral makeup colors. (I'll be honest: part of my reason for doing this is that it gives me a chance to organize, compare, catalog, and organize some more - and I absolutely love doing that. I don't think I could be weirder unless I found photos of appliances highly interesting.)
I've compared the wearability of Simply Naturals to BE, as well. I have problems with eyeshadow creasing and not staying on for more than a few hours...unless I put down some mineral veil first. (The cornstarch in the mineral veil absorbs the oil, letting the eyeshadow stay in place longer without creasing or folding up.) I literally spent a few days with BE on one eyelid, and the closest-matching Simply Naturals on the other lid. Simply Naturals' powders stayed on as long as BE, looked as good...and are a fraction of the price for just a tiny bit more product.
Simply Naturals sells through their online storefront as well as through Ebay. If you want to sample a few colors, go ahead and order directly from their website. If you'd like to buy several colors, though, order through Ebay: they offer discounted multipacks of 5, 7, 12, 20, 50, or 100 colors in your choice. You might also want to buy separate sifter jars, since Simply Naturals doesn't include a sifter...with nearly 1 gram of loose-powder product in a jar that holds 5 grams of pressed powder, there's no room. (I found that two of Simply Naturals' jars will fit into one 10-gram jar with a sifter, with a small amount of overflow that sits on top of the sifter - approximately 1/16 of a teaspoon or slightly less. For comparison, two .57 gram quantities of Bare Escentuals' mineral makeups will easily fit into one 10-gram jar with a sifter with no overflow at all.)
Summary
- Quantity: each jar contains 1/6 teaspoon of loose powder...or approximately .791 grams. Compare that to Bare Escentuals's .57 grams per jar.
- Price: each jar is $1.99 when purchased singly. The price per jar goes down if you purchase one of their multipacks through their Ebay storefront.
- Wearability: same as Bare Escentuals...literally. I spent several days as an eye-makeup harlequin to prove this to myself. (If you have oily lids, put down a coat of mineral veil first and you'll need fewer touchups throughout the day.)
- Selection: they have more colors than Bare Escentuals — over 200 as of May 2008 — and since they make this themselves, they have the ability to make custom mixes. (Prices on those vary, though.) Several of their colors are what I call "transformatives": they look like one thing in the jar, but have iridescent highlights that are only visible on the skin and/or when applied heavily. Some examples are Plum Tree, Persian, Black Cherry, and Tumbleweed...and of course their Fantasy colors, which look nearly white but have colored highlights.
- Ingredients: individual colors may contain any combination of mica, titanium oxide, iron oxide, or authenitc pearl powder. Simply Naturals does not contain any bismuth oxychloride.
- Customer service: outstanding. I've had one package that was lost in transit, and they sent out a replacement very quickly (thank goodness for insurance). I've ordered items from Bare Escentuals directly, as well as from their reseller Sephora — and Simply Naturals has always shipped faster and arrived within 7-10 days, even when shipped first class rather than priority.
- Other: several samples come with every order, allowing you to test out different colors. The samples seem to change on a regular basis, so if you place one order in July and another one in August, you will get an entirely different set of samples.
Be Aware
- They don't seem to have too many bold, vivid, really strong colors in their line - colors which would show well on deeper skin tones. From what I've seen, this problem is present in nearly every mineral makeup line. I'm very fair, so this doesn't affect me personally...but people with darker or deep olive skin tones should be aware of this. I've noted the stronger, more opaque colors in my personal catalog.
- Like many other sellers of mineral makeup, Simply Naturals does not accept returns. Again, like many other mineral makeup sellers, this is done for hygenic reasons. (The good side is that they provide several samples with every order - allowing you to test the colors before you buy them.)
- A small selection of their mineral makeup is a little too grainy for me - specifically, the colors containing pearl powder. The pieces are a little too large, and so those colors aren't as silky-smooth as most of the rest of their line. When I placed my first big order, I was able to ask them which of my potential choices contained pearl powder...and so was able to choose alternates. (Though I do admit that I really like Diamond Pearl, even with the pearl powder.)
- Their photography doesn't always represent the colors well. The photo of Gypsy makes the color look medium-light orange/tan, while the color itself is actually a rich burgundy-brown very similar to BE's Here Kitty. I don't know if this is because of the photography, or because my monitor is miscalibrated. When in doubt, ask if you can get a sample baggie. (Or read my amazing descriptions. Aherm.)
- Because they mix the colors themselves, there may be delays in fulfilling your order - especially if they need to mix up a new batch. They state this clearly on both storefronts. This has never happened to me, but the possibility exists.
- Some of their color names are spelled differently: Sandlewood instead of Sandalwood, Westeria instead of Wysteria, Saphire instead of Sapphire. I know this could very well be branding, but one of my jobs is freelance editing...and unofficial spelling variants make my teeth itch.
Personal Tips
- For your initial order, get three or four jars, and choose different colors and types. They don't divide their colors by finish, but you can figure that out by reading their descriptions. (Or you can check back in a day or so and read my exhaustive catalog.) For example, my first order was for Viridian (green, sheen), Creamsicle (peach, matte), and Diamond Pearl (white, shimmer).
- When you order your packages, get insurance. The postal folk near Simply Naturals don't always scan in the packages when they're shipped...so you won't always receive up-to-date tracking information. Insurance protects you in case the postal folk lose the package. This happened to me once, and because I had insurance, Tina was able to replace the entire order very quickly.
- If you want to order more than 5 colors, order through their Ebay storefront. You'll pay less per jar...and on a truly large order, this can be a significant savings.
I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of two of their colorshifting "Solar System" colors: Earth, and Venus. From the descriptions, I think these might be very much like Christian Dior's Moonstones, or like Bare Escentuals' eye quickies. They're more costly than Simply Naturals' other colors, but they still cost less than Bare Escentuals' eye quickies...and if they do what I think they'll do, they'll be amazingly versatile and fun.
Disclaimer: While this is a review, I'm not getting any special deals or incentives to write this up. I just really, really, REALLY enjoy Simply Naturals' mineral makeup. (And organizing.)
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The sun is out! The sun is out!!!
May 24, 2008
After a miniature heat wave last weekend, followed a week of cold overcast rainy days, we have beautiful sunny weather for the long weekend. I plan to spend some time outdoors, getting a mild sunburn (and soaking up plenty of vitamin D). When it gets dark, I’ll be writing about the mineral makeup I’ve found. I am now surrounded by pots and pots of colors, and am ridiculously giddy. Yesterday I got an organizer with two pull-out trays and removable compartment dividers. I will probably spend a large chunk of the evening figuring out which things go where, grouping makeup colors, regrouping them, and then changing my mind and starting all over again. (I’m a strange, strange person. Between my love of organizing and my love of office supplies, I’m hell on wheels at preparing to do things. I just never seem to need to actually -=do=- them. Once I’ve chosen the materials, bought them, and organized the work area, I’ve gotten all the pleasure out of a project that I’m ever going to get. There’s got to be a twelve-step program for people like me...and once we find the program and register, we never actually go.)
Stay safe, have fun, and next weekend (closer to the actual Memorial Day, rather than the observance) take time to remember everyone who’s fought for the ideals they believe in.
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And I'm going to share it. Implementing it, though...that's another story.
May 09, 2008
I’m launching another blog - this one for my hosting and development businesses. I get plenty of compliments on my writing, and I’ve been published in internet-industry magazines, so I know that not only will I have things to say, I’ll say them well.
My concern is that no one will comment. In several forums, I was The Thread Killer: I’d make a post describing my opinion about a certain show, or situation, or character, or plot twist...and all activity in a formerly active thread would come to a screeching halt. One of my friends told me that this happened because I expressed myself so well, that they didn’t just want to post “Me too!!” While I appreciate knowing that I express myself well, blogs and forums are supposed to be somewhat interactive. After a certain amount of time spent shouting into the void, one begins to feel a bit like Typhoid Forum-poster.
Another worry is copy theft. It’s happened before, and given the nature of the internet, I’m sure it will happen again. Still, while I’ve got no objections of people quoting my work, or even writing their own articles based off of ideas they got while reading my writing, I don’t like the idea of some startup hoster taking my articles wholesale and representing them as their own...either for public consumption or for their clients’ benefit. I may start out dividing the content, and anything that could be useful to the reseller clients will go behind a membership-login.
If nothing else, though, this will put activity on a domain I own. I’ve been using subdomains for the servers in my network, but the main site hasn’t been actively used in quite a while...and so I get a lot of requests to purchase the domain. I don’t want to sell the domain, but I’m getting tired of wading through all the offers. (Hey - there’s an idea for a post. Why I won’t sell, or what price will make me consider selling. Would $500,000 shut most of the speculators up?)
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Sometimes, you've just got to laugh.
Mar 26, 2008
Good things, bad things. And some more good things.
My friend got her publication date, and the pretty cover art for her book. Last Friday a bunch of us met up at the pub and shared nachos, chocolate cake, and drinkstuffs in celebration. (This has been a long, incredible process; this is her first book; and we’re all fairly jazzed. [And the cover art is very nice: she got the Michael Whelan of the romance cover art world. That cover art will catch a lot of peoples’ eyes, and hopefully will result in more sales.]) So go check it out, stop by her author blog, and say “hi” from Laughing Muse!
I got the billing software configured, populated, and integrated with the hosting site. I’ve run a few test transactions, and gotten them through. There’s one long slog finished! (And another beginning; but that’s how it goes, yes?) I’ve got the plans for revamping the hosting and support site content, and will be able to start migrating my clients over next week - right on schedule.
The first check for my document production is due in about two weeks, and I’ve gotten more documents to proof and edit.
Since I’ve gotten all these things accomplished, I splurged today. I hit the makeup store, picked up some pretties, did some damage to the bank account, and came home and painted my nails. (I’ll be stuck in an all-day meeting on Friday, so part of the splurge was also to give myself toys to play with. I do so love being a telecommuter. Sure, the meeting starts at 7:30 ack emma; but I can roll out of bed at 7:15, feed the cats, brush my teeth, stay in my PJs and drink my morning coffee. And paint my nails again. I’m thinking a metallic coral pink. Or lavendar-blue.)
As I was driving home in the rain, it began to snow. While it was raining. That wacky Pacific Northwest weather! Last week was all daffodils and cherry blossoms; this week, the flora is highly confused.
(And naturally, as I’m recognized by one of my daily reads as one of their favorite blogs to visit, I proceed to put forth a fairly pedestrian entry. *meep* Check for scintillating content mid-April. I may be able to manage something by then.)
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