Raw Minerals, a little primer

Wanting to get on the mineral makeup bandwagon for a while, I jumped at the chance at a very generous free trial offer from Raw Minerals. OK so thank god this stuff comes with a how-to DVD because when I first got my sample kit I was completely bewildered. So many different brushes and little powers, it was a bit overwhelming to say the least. Especially as this is a whole new perspective on makeup! But my partner in Pretty was already a convert, so I figured I needed to try it as well!

The kit comes with three brushes, a primer, two mineral foundations and a mineral glow. Okay, okay, so many steps, but I watched the DVD and I think I got if covered. I'm kind of nervous, but here it goes.

Start off with the primer -- that's easy enough. The Andiroba Botanical Face Primer first provides a flawless canvas for the makeup and includes active botanicals to reduce pore size and minimize wrinkles. Wait until it dries, and then move onto the next step.


For this you're supposed to use the retractable brush and put on the Active Veil SPF 18.



I don't necessarily trust that this powder will provide enough sun protection (I freckle and worship the luminosity of the great Cate Blanchett, so sun protection is important to me). I'll stick to putting this on in addition to an SPF face cream, not in lieu of it. OK brush some of that on my face with the retractable brush. Done.

Now I move onto the mineral foundation. And with that I have to use this fancy foundation brush:

OK, so then I'm supposed to tap a little in the cap of the powder, put some on the brush, tap a bit out, and get to it putting it all over my Pretty face.

OK, so now I'm getting closer to the finish line - but man this is getting arduous. Now I take my nifty concealer brush and put some more foundation on that and use this to cover up the nasty zit the stress of remembering this whole procedure is putting on me.

Last step - yay! I'm supposed to take the retractable brush from the first step (remember that brush?) and then sweep on a teensy bit of this mineral glow powder and put that on.

All done!

But you know what? After the third or so time doing this, I became a pro. I didn't think that powders would provide all day coverage, but was surprised to find that my skin looked great all day. It didn't look like I was wearing makeup, I just happened to look subtly wonderful. Although weirded out at first, I have to say I'm a convert!