Demystifying Minerals

Okay, Now I Get It.

Demystifying Mineral Makeup 

Call it close-mindedness, or just plain old snobbery, but I must be the last of the beauty junkies to fly a mineral makeup flag. A couple of years ago, when every beauty expert was swirling and buffing their face into mineral oblivion, I was still holding out, waiting for the infomercially-charged frenzy to inevitably fizzle. After all, minerals sounded like just another makeup marketing trick, the kind of hype that the ubiquitous lip plumper was in the nineties. Sure, what they don’t have sounded great: “No preservatives!” “No talc!” But, I figured as long as I wasn’t eating my makeup, I cared a lot more about what it did have in it, (“Luminizers!” “Wrinkle-Fighters!”) and, more importantly, how it made my skin look, which never seemed to be the selling point. When practically every beauty brand added mineral products to their line, it made me only more convinced of its “me too” fad-status rather than curious about its benefits.

Cut to just a few months ago, when, after a thoroughly de-gunking facial, the aesthetician insisted on dusting my freshly-purified face with the spa’s favored mineral loose powder foundation, to provide sun protection and soothe redness. Before I could protest, she had fluffed on a coat of the powder and thrust a hand mirror in front of me, and I bit my tongue when I saw my naturally glowing, poreless skin. The makeup was positively traceless, yet, as promised, cancelled out the post-facial redness and blurred my acne scars. It felt clean and weightless -- nothing at all like the sacrilege of putting makeup on immediately after a facial. I added that little jar right onto my spa bill.

Imagine my disappointment when my next experience was anything but the undetectable airbrush effect that I had left the spa with. Instead, my face was a muddy, blotchy mess. I threw the offensive minerals into one of my makeup Black Hole drawers, where it sat until I watched a makeup artist use a similar product on a friend, rendering her average skin virtually flawless in minutes, and with only one brush. That’s when I got it – with minerals, it’s all about the application, and like any art form, it takes some practice to master.

Since then, I’ve experimented with different brands, and the application is the same – it’s never a swip-and-go like you can do with other makeup, but it’s worth the effort. Learn from my mistakes, practice the following method and remember that mineral foundation, like all others, should just look like great skin, not like makeup. As Beauty Expert Bobbi Brown reminds us, “The right foundation will make you look like you’re not wearing any foundation at all. You’ll just have even-toned, great-looking skin.”

The Right Application for A Flawless Finish

• Apply eye cream and moisturizer and let them soak in completely for a few minutes. This is the most important step and the reason why my first attempt was sticky and blotchy. If excess shine or residue remains on your face, blot with tissue.
• Chant “Less is more” as you shake a small amount of mineral powder onto your palm, and swirl a short-handled Kabuki brush with short, fluffy bristles into it.
• Tap the bristles onto the back of your hand, to get rid of excess as you  “push” the powder into them, which is how you get an even, glob-free application.
• It’s counter-intuitive, but start at the perimeter of your face and work towards the center, buffing the powder onto your skin in small, tight circles, making sure to avoid the under eye area completely.
• Next move on to the T-zone, buffing the forehead, nose and chin in small circles.
• Your canvas is complete; check for any areas where the powder is visible, and buff over it until it disappears. This is the key to the airbrush effect.
• For concealer-strength coverage on blemishes or scars, use a small, flat brush to pat a tiny layer of powder directly onto the darker area only – not on the surrounding skin.
• Because mineral powder is too heavy for the eye area, pat your usual eye concealer onto any dark circles and set it with a regular loose powder. (Try Laura Mercier’s Secret Brightening Powder, $22, lauramercier.com.)
• Finish your makeup routine with only powder formulas of blush, bronzer and highlighter, as creams/liquids and powders don’t mix! 

Expert Tips

Keep in mind that mineral foundation works best on normal-to-oily skin, and if your skin is in particularly bad condition, plagued with flakiness, blemishes or other pitfalls, you may not love the results of mineral powder and would benefit most from the medium-to-heavy coverage of liquid and cream formulas.

Color matching is vital; choosing a shade that’s even a smidge light will inevitably turn chalky in a mineral formula. If your skin tone falls between a lighter and a darker shade, go with the darker one. Brown warns that very oily skins “can change color of powders, and they may appear dry and pasty,” so, if possible, it’s wise to test-drive a sample of the shade and check it throughout the day before purchasing it.

Though one mineral brand boasts that their formula is so good for your skin you can “sleep in it,” please don’t! An oil-based makeup remover or cleansing balm is the method of choice for completely dissolving mineral powder out of your pores.

Product Picks

Estée Lauder Nutririous Vita-Mineral Loose Powder Makeup SPF 15, $33.50; esteelauder.com. One of the last brands to the minerals party and worth the wait – steers clear of the dry look with a radiant, glowy finish.

Jane Iredale's line has enough all-natural, good for you, artificial filler-free products to fill an aisle at Whole Foods; scan the brand at beauty.com or janeiredale.com for the best foundation fit for your skin.

Physician’s Formula Mineral Wear Loose Talc-Free Powder SPF 16, $10.95; drugstores nationwide. With its own Kabuki brush, SPF coverage, and a good shade range, it’s a beauty bargain.