Mineral Makeup: The Big Boys- Bare Escentuals, Lily Lolo, Glo Minerals, Bella Pierre, and Youngblood

We all know mineral makeup is a serous buzzword this year, as it's supposed to be better for your skin, and good quality ones have all natural ingredients. We've been dutifully testing all the brands here at K&M (a hard job I know) and we're bringing you our round up of the premier market leaders in minerals. We've shown you a video on how to apply it, and now we're bringing you a roundup. Read on for reviews!

Bare Escentuals

This rage was tested by moi! It was my first experience of mineral makeup, so I thought I'd go for one of well known brands. I found it quite easy to apply, but be warned, you will get powder all over your dresser! The colour matched my skin really well, and infused it with a warm natural glow. It's quite light coverage, even with the full coverage kabuki blush, so it's best for a natural day time look, or after the gym to combat redness. It feels really light on the skin, unlike the heavier texture of non mineral foundations, and once you have the technique down can be applied really quickly as you don't have to worry about leaving smudges. I'd always advise setting it with the Mineral Veil powder as that gives a really sheer finish, and the eyeshadows that I've tested are really glimmery and lovely.

See a video of me applying ID Bare Minerals here

Lily Lolo

The gorgeous Isablle from Brandish tried out Lily Lolo.

"Ever the spendthrift when I first heard about mineral make-up I was put off by the cost. Then I shopped around and discovered Lily Lolo, for someone who doesn't wear heavy make-up on a regular basis their tester sizes are perfect. I bought three different shades of foundation, their concealer and a few blusher testers.

The blushers are good quality, but I'm not so keen on the shimmer in some of the blushes as it can look very heavy-handed quite quickly. I'm yet to try the eyeshadows, but having tried the other products I think they would work as well (if not better than) your regular eyeliner".

Bella Pierre

Our favourite HippyShopper Abi Silvester tries out the Bella Pierre range.

'I sneezed copiously as I applied the powder, which has to be applied with a broad brush. I can only assume there's a technique that comes with regular use. But I was pleasantly surprised at the result, which was even and smooth without the usual drying, ageing effect I associate with powder. My skin looked glowing, healthy and dare I say it 'young', while the powder covered problematic blemishes and redness.

My next concern was whether the makeup would set off my highly irritable and itchy skin. I did not notice any such ill-effects from wearing it over the long weekend, which is a definite benefit if true of all mineral makeup. It's said to be very hypo-allergenic, because its chief ingredient is Mica; a mineral that is found in nature as silica sand. Overall, I wasn't entirely sold on the powder foundation (partly due to my aversion to powder, but I also found the 'ivory' shade a bit yellow), but as powder foundations go, this is definitely far superior to most I've tried in terms of blending ability and suitability for dry skin.'

YoungBlood

A relative newcomer to the UK market, we've spoken to the creator of this line and tested out a variety of products. Here's our Gemma's impression of the range.

' I used the Youngblood natural mineral foundation, which really impressed me. I'm a Bare Minerals user at the moment, so applied it using the same technique I'd use for that, which gave great results. Apparently you can also apply it with a sponge for more coverage - I might give that a go but a big fat brush was fine for my skin (which has got significantly better since dumping liquid foundation in favour of mineral powder foundations). This one's very finely milled and you can tell it's a good quality product as it lacks the stuff chalkiness you often find in cheaper products. That said, the tub is very flat and narrow and designed so it doesn't leak as you're carrying it - just beware of spilling it as you apply - especially as it's pricey. I also have their lunar dust, which I've tried on my cheekbones and my cleavage. It gave both a very sparkly finish, so best left for evenings or mixed with moisturiser / body lotion.'

See Gemma being made up with Youngblood on our video here

Glo Minerals

The fab Isabelle has been trying out this range. Here's her views on Glo Minerals.

'I used it a lot more sparingly and it looked great on my t-zone mattifying oily patches and evening out skintone. On the other areas of my face it still wasn't great, seeming to highlight wrinkles and the pigment looked a bit too yellow (despite my definitely olive complexion!).I think this base would be perfect for someone who needs heavy coverage and has oily skin as it was good at covering imperfections but would easily highlight any flakiness or dryness.'

I've been using the GloCream blush , and find the colour really flattering on the cheeks and really easy to blend.

Like that? Read this: More mineral makeup

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