All that Glitters

I am a girl with expensive tastes when it comes to makeup. A good friend introduced me to bareMinerals a few years back, and I've been hooked ever since. It certainly isn't cheap, but I've always felt that makeup (especially foundation) is one product that is worth spending a little bit more (minus mascara - I will forever be a Maybelline Great Lash girl). I started out with the basics of their Get Started Kit, and have since collected additional brushes, eye shadows, complexion enhancers, etc. When I receive birthday or holiday money, it's quickly spent on something glam and fun. And now that I have the "swirl, tap and buff" system down, it has become part of my daily routine. I just love it.

And then BAM, I lose my makeup.

On a busy day when I was running late, I put my two cosmetic bags in my purse, intending to put my makeup on at work. Somehow in transit during the day, my case of bareMinerals disappeared. Cars, lawns, and hallways have been searched to no avail. At this point, it's just gone. While it's certainly not the worst thing that could happen, it was definitely disappointing.

I waited for awhile hoping I'd find it (meaning I went without makeup for about a week - frightening, I know). Last night, I finally decided it was time to replace at least the basics. I was about to head to the mall, when I paused to consider "do I really need this?" I was pained at the thought of dropping over 100 bucks to replace what I had. In my effort to save more money, I figured it was worth checking out what Walgreen's had to offer first before splurging on more bareMinerals. Although I didn't want to go back to a heavy liquid foundation, I knew that some of the drug store brands had recently jumped on the mineral trend, and might have a comparable substitute.

After much debate, I finally settled on the Maybelline Mineral Power Powder Foundation. At just $10, it was less than half the price of the bareMinerals Foundation of the same size ($25). Plus, it came with a cute mini kabuki brush. The one drawback was that I didn't have the opportunity to test the different shades to see which best matched my skin tone. A clear benefit of Bare Minerals is their customer service and free consultations, if you are fortunate to have access to one of their boutiques. I picked the tone which seemed to be the closest, and hoped for the best. I was also fortunate that Walgreen's had a "buy one, get one 50% off sale on Maybelline products" this week, so I was able to get an eye liner too!

The Big Test: I tried the product this morning, and so far so good! I did a pretty decent job with the color - although it is a little pinky, I don't have streaks or noticeable foundation lines. The kabuki brush is a little small, but it got the job done. I fortunately still have my bareMinerals kabuki (which ended up missing it's way into the makeup bag that disappeared), so I will likely use that instead. It's only lunch time, so the jury is still out on durability throughout the day.

I can't say that I won't eventually switch back to bareMinerals, but for now, this is an affordable substitute.

K