The Budget Babe's resident beauty expert reminds us that not all so-called "mineral makeup" is created equal. —BB
by The Budget Beauty Babe
Every cosmetic company seems to be jumping on the mineral makeup bandwagon, and so continuing our reviews of budget-friendly mineral makeup, we put
Maybelline Mineral Power Natural Perfecting Powder Foundation and
Maybelline Mineral Power Naturally Luminous Blush to the test.
Attractively packaged and competitively priced, these products are sure to please many, but lets get some things straight first: If you're looking for pure mineral makeup, this is not it. Although called Mineral Power, this line of cosmetics is not truly mineral makeup (with our definition of mineral makeup being makeup that only contains minerals in its ingredient list).
And they're really sneaky about it, too. If you look at the package for the foundation you'll find it says, "The secret of micro-minerals - 100% natural earth minerals, etc."
The secret of micro-minerals is minerals? Duh.
The packaging also says, "Pure ingredients." Now look at the ingredient list: Nowhere on there does it say 100% pure minerals. Like I said, very sneaky packaging.
There are, in fact, a lot of other non-mineral ingredients, including synthetic wax and
PTFE, which is a synthetic coating used most commonly on pots and pans to create a non-stick coating also known as Teflon. I don't know about you, but if I think I'm getting pure minerals I don't want to end up with Teflon particles on my face (unless I decide to cook an egg on my cheek and don't want it to stick).
On the plus side, as far as makeup goes, it did its job. The foundation covered fairly well although concealer would still be needed (which is also available in this line). The color was nice and blended nicely, however I did find that this makeup seemed to get shiny after just a few hours of wear (and I have normal to dry skin in winter). Personally, I feel this makeup may have caused my skin to break out and become very irritated and red. I stopped using it and the problems went away.
The blush is nice, although the color is created using dyes and not minerals, which may be why the resulting effect looks a bit fake. Also, its not very pigment-rich and I felt as though it took a lot to do the job.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend Maybelline Mineral Power products. I can't help but feel it's just a clever marketing ploy and not really mineral makeup, not to mention I don't feel its that great of a deal either. In order to finish your look, foundation, concealer, blush
and translucent powder would all be needed and together could run you upwards of $40.00.
To sum up: Not all that great for "mineral" makeup that's not, well, really mineral makeup.
Find Maybelline Mineral Power Foundation ($8.98) and Blush ($7.99) at Walgreens stores nationwide.
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On today's Oprah Show, a bunch of frumpy suburban moms were given complete makeovers using - get this - AFFORDABLE clothing from budget-friendly stores! Instead of heading to high-end boutiques, they hit up stores like Kohl's, JCPenney, Gap, and Old Navy for cheap, chic finds. 