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Style Beauty Buy: BareMinerals Complexion Rescue Foundation Review – Buttercream & Ginger

I just happened across when I was out with Baby Bun (who loves Sephora by the way, he goes around closing all the compacts and trying to snatch all the lip colours and eye pencils out to play with).

I picked it up on a whim because I have been desperately searching for a great foundation with all of the following characteristics:

  • SPF 30
  • Natural as possible
  • NO SILICONES
  • Available in my skin tone (golden tones underneath)

I FOUND IT!

I have been checking and checking all over the place and then I read the ingredients in this :

Water, Coconut Alkanes, Propanediol, Squalane, Trehalose, Isostearic Acid, Glycerin, Silica, Agar, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Globularia Cordifolia Callus Culture Extract, Salicornia Herbacea Extract, Melilotus Officinalis Extract, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Butylene Glycol, Lauroyl Lysine, Sodium Hyaluronate, Succinoglycan, Polysorbate 60, Cellulose Gum, Polyglyceryl-4 Laurate/Succinate, Sorbitan Sesquiisostearate, Magnesium Stearate, Magnesium Hydroxide, Magnesium Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Chloride, Potassium Sorbate, Phenoxyethanol. May Contain: Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides.

No where in this entire list, does it list anything with “cone” at the end, most commonly Dimethicone.

Anything with “cone” at the end is a kind of silicone and I ALWAYS break out.

ALWAYS. 100%. Guaranteed little spots.

Of course a few ingredients in there are not exactly natural (squalane), but I am at the point where I need to wear makeup to work or weddings for a polished look and I am being a little flexible these days on my rules.

WHAT I WAS USING BEFORE

I had 2 foundations I was waffling back and forth on:

Kate Kanebo BB cream

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this BB cream from Japan, because the texture and the colour is incredible.

No SPF however, but the main problem is this one is chockfull of silicones because every time I put it on, I break out in little tiny pimples or I see that I have little white bumps (a sign of clogged pores).

BareMinerals Powder Foundation

and is a nice matte finish when I buff it on my skin but it makes my skin feel a little itchy afterwards because the powder (methinks) is too dry.

Anyway it is messy and a lot of work to buff in, but I did it because I had no other non-silicone alternative until now.

What I needed was a BB cream that is from bareMinerals and that is pretty much what this product ended up being.

THE BAD ABOUT THE BAREMINERALS COMPLEXION RESCUE GEL/CREAM

So I thought I’d start with the low points first.

SPF LAYERING AMOUNTS

It is SPF 30 but to properly apply SPF without having to put another layer of it elsewhere, you need to put on a thick layer.

A thick layer of foundation is not really my jam but if I want this to do double-duty as an SPF and as a foundation, I need to put on 2 pea-sized amounts all over my face, which is a heck of a lot of foundation.

If I went with a light layer, the SPF would be spotty in areas and not very effective. I’d also need a moisturizer with SPF without silicones (STILL LOOKING FOR THIS) underneath to be sure…

DEWY OR JUST OILY?

It sort of leaves a bit of a shine on the face. People call this dewy, but oily-skinned girls like myself would say: oil slick.

I think it would be fine on dry or normal skinned folks to leave it as is, but I need to set it with my  to get rid of the shine, and to make sure it doesn’t slide off my face.

I also hear from other reviews that during the course of the day, it slides off your face because you need some sort of finishing powder to set it.

I haven’t seen this happen but then again, I get home and I clean my face immediately. I try not to wear makeup for long periods of time and I don’t bother on the weekends.

HARD TO FIND THE RIGHT SHADE

I initially took the colour Ginger and when I first applied it, it looked fine on my face.

In fact, it was a perfect match, even to my neck.

After about 15 minutes the colour darkened and you could see very clearly that my neck was a shade lighter than the foundation on my face.

Why? How? Maybe it oxidized? Maybe my oily skin turned it darker?

Who knows.

Granted, I slathered on the foundation pretty thickly because of the fear of not having enough SPF on my skin, but still!

I had to downgrade to Buttercream which is a shade lighter.

Even that, darkened a little on my skin after I applied it but not as dark and as noticeable as Ginger.

I would suggest for your winter skin colour, to go a shade lighter than what looks perfect on your skin. Then keep the other colour that is a shade darker for the summer when your skin is inevitably going to tan a little.

bareminerals-complexion-rescue-swatch-shades-tones-tints-colours

 

You can use the BareMinerals Shade Finder to find the perfect shade for your skin to see faces with each shade:

bareminerals-complexion-rescue-swatch-shades-tones-tints-colours-faces

Just remember that each shade has an undertone. Cool, Neutral or Golden until you get to the higher echelons and I feel like they dropped the ball catering to dark skinned ladies. Boo.

BUT HOW DO I FIND MY SKIN TONE?

The trick I use is the veins.

If your veins look green then you have yellow or golden undertones because the two colours are ‘mixing’ to show green.

Yellow Tones + (Truly) Blue Veins = Green Veins

Blue Tones + (Truly) Blue Veins = Blue Veins

Neutral is if you aren’t completely cool-toned and not completely golden-toned.

THE GOOD

IT HAS SPF 30 & NO SILICONES

Obviously. This is a big thing for me, and I am pleased as punch! I hate wearing sunscreen because it is always oily, greasy, and then all my makeup slides off my face.

If I can do double duty with ONE product, then I am golden.

IT GOES ON VERY SMOOTHLY & DRIES NICELY

I put about a small pea-sized drop on my fingers and I spread it all over my skin, rubbing it in.

I guess I should use a brush to stop rubbing oil all over the place, but I don’t have a foundation brush. Might be time to get one.

At any rate, it goes on smoothly, dries nicely, doesn’t show streaks in the colour where you spread it on, and once you set it with a light powder, it is excellent.

THE SHADE (ONCE PICKED) IS PERFECT & STAYS LIKE THAT

Like I said, I went from Ginger to Buttercream.

Buttercream is perfect for my winter skin, Ginger will be my summer one. I might have to mix the two in between Winter and Summer to get the right shade.

Once I apply it, and it dries and sets on my skin, the colour doesn’t shift. It stays like that, it stays like that colour and doesn’t darken which is a boon for me.

THE COVERAGE IS EXCELLENT

At least for me it was, but my skin has been cured (pretty much) of acne ever since I went on this regimen. Read all about my acne journey here and this is my skincare regimen.

It is not caked on in terms of its look.

I think if you have bumpy, acne-prone skin, this may not be enough coverage for you. This is really for lighter scars or uneven skin tone.

See, it covers my light brown acne scars quite nicely with the amount I spread on my face, but it still looks like dewy, smooth SKIN.

Like actual skin, and not dried out, or oily skin because it isn’t super caked on or opaque.

It is also not too shiny which I think I disliked in the bareMinerals powder foundation (too many crystals or whatever), and if I do a very light dusting of my Hourglass Ambient lighting powder, my skin looks luminescent.

I look like I have elven skin. Kid you not. ELVEN SKIN without being a glowing disco ball.

DOESN’T LOOK LIKE POWDERY OR OILY FOUNDATION ONCE SET

It lasted quite well for the day. I looked at my mirror a few times during the day to make sure in different lights and lighting conditions my skin looked great, and it was GLOWING.

I had AWESOME SKIN. Like TV star awesome. I was so pleased.

It is also because it is more of a tinted moisturizer than a real foundation and it is exactly what I needed — slightly more opaque coverage but not so much that it feels like I’m wearing a ton of makeup.

REVIEWS

Paula’s Choice gave it a good rating and I think their review is the most technically honest out of all the ones out there.

I’m pretty honest but I don’t have any research to back my claims the way they do!

HAVE YOU TRIED IT? WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PRODUCT FOR COVERAGE?

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