Lucy Minerals foundation swatches

my old jar of Pale Olive seems larger
but the new ones should contain the same
amount of product, 10 grams per weight

Recently I have been taking advantage of Lucy Minerals' generous offers - Annie has moved (and enlarged) her shop and managed to organize some nice sales events at the same time.

Her foundations have medium to heavy coverage and she has special base mixes for people with extremely oily skin (either with calcium carbonate or silica). Her ordinary recipe contains organic components as well: 

Ingredients~zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, mica, magnesium stearate, iron oxides, allantoin, Apple Poly® polyphenols, trans-resveratrol, green coffee bean extract, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate; you can read more about these skin-beneficial ingredients here.

For MMU purists she has her Lucy Light recipe which contains the basic pure mineral makeup ingredients only: zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, mica, magnesium stearate, iron oxides. No organic additives and suitable for people who might react badly to them. Of course one can always order samples of different recipes. I have ordered all my goodies in original recipe and am quite happy with my stuff: lasts up to 6 hrs on my face, then the oil takes over (I found the oil-control recipe a bit too drying for my skin - after all I am already 34).

The foundation itself is heavy on low-micron zinc oxide and titanium dioxide  which makes it extremely covering but also makes the finish not completely matte - it will have a glow (not shimmer or sparkle, sort of a pale cast). The effect is insignificant enough for the foundation still to be usable on older skin as well but complete and utter matte-ness is not achieved. This is definitely not suitable for photoshoots but is excellent when one needs to look great irl.

Because of it's recipe (heavy on those coverage providing white pigments) most tones all run on the light side - I can wear Fair and Pale Olive for winter and Light, Bisque, Light Medium and Shell Beige for summer. 

Application should be approached with care - I advise to use small amounts, cakeyness is easy to happen here, especially when on is using a flat-top brush. Packaging is ok. Sometimes some of the powder has moved on top of the sifter  (Annie uses twistable sifter seals, those are not glued shut with a separate plastic seal) but no big harm has come of it.

But enough talk: here are the foundation swatches :)

Fair, Light, Pale Olive, Cream, Bisque, Light Medium, Shell Beige, Soft Beige and Medium

Lucy Minerals on hetkel üks odavamaid MMU veebipoode - kvaliteet on hea, katvus suurepärane ja toonivalik kaunis laialdane. Tema eripakkumised on tavaliselt tasuta rahvusvaheline saatmine ja mõni eriliselt tore puudri-kit (juurde pannakse kas  testrid või selle kuu tasuta toode). 

Ostsin enda omad 20 USD kit'idena. Lisaks tasub talle ka kirjutada ning ostu tehes mainida, et "paki väärtus võiks olla selline". 20USD kit mahub alla tollipiiri ja ei jää kinni aga kallimad pakikesed jäävad napilt üle selle ning üks jubedamaid asju mida tean, on Eesti Postist tollis oleva paki kättesaamine. Lihtsalt JUBE. Ma maksan selle lisanduva käibemaksu vingumata ära aga PALUN ÄRGE SUNDIGE MIND SINNA IDIOOTLIKKU KANDEKESKUSESSE MINEMA! Ma ei taha näha haisvaid osse ja mädanevate süstlajälgedega narkareid. :S Selle kohta tuleb lausa eraldi rant teha...

Took a tiny trip last week - spent some time in the countryside and enjoyed myself - these were the few selected playmates I chose to accompany me::

the unrecognizable mascara is Lumene Natural Code something...

Travelling is excellent if one has to test some products - there is no possibility to stray from the chosen path: this time I took Lucy Minerals foundation samples with me and wore different one each day (forced my mum wear the darker ones...). Creamy, nice coverage and nice durability. Pale Olive is still the one I favor most. Does it look too pale on me? 

Mum looked quite nice in Light Medium but she still complained it was too light... On wrinkly skin MMU will need some added dewyness - a light spray with some skin freshener would be very nice. Perhaps I applied too much foundation on mum's skin but it looked somewhat heavy on her... :S sry no pic.

The cheap Russian moisturizer (Чистая Линия Фитоформула) needs some more time to be judged properly - so far it seems a nice liquid-y and well absorbing product, leaves skin nice and smooth (I liked the ingredients list (although with parabens) and the price, which was some 2,5 eur). Scent is also slightly herbal and very faint.

It's the sunscreen that gave me most trouble - Garnier Ambre Solaire Rapido for kids SPF 50 in spray bottle was terribly greasy. Stubbornly refused to absorb into my skin and stained my poor powder brush something terrible - it was almost soaking oil after this week and yearned for a wash. I was very sorry I did not pack my silica microspheres with me during this trip - I would have needed all that sucking power...

after sauna and wearing Lucy Minerals Cream

bare minimum for Sunday...

Also I'd like to note, that sauna has wonderful effect on skin - all the flakiness disappeared as if by magic and skin looked marvelous the next day (except for a couple of pimples on the neck but those heal slowly anyway). While mechanical scrubbing rips the upper layers of dead skin away, sauna melts them off - basically you sweat your skin clean and all the dirt and old skin comes of when rinsing. No hard scrubbing will be necessary, the result will be even and smooth.

before sauna

NYX jumbo eye pencil Milk is great eyeshadow base (minimal if any creasing) and I can easily wear it as a lower liner on the waterline - but the blinding pure whiteness of it disturbs me a bit - I'd prefer something light but a bit more skin colored there - must continue my search. Milk will still be used and loved but I'd like something not quite as 60s for everyday wear.

A bowl of some kind has always a role to play in my makeup routine - I cannot easily apply my foundation without it. I sprinkle some mineral foundation in a small (smooth and round-bottomed) bowl and use it to load my brush evenly with powder - I dislike using the lids of the jars since it's so messy and unhygienic. Alas when I travel - my trustee (grandma's christal) bowl stays behind. But there's always something that helps me out - this time it was the lid of an old teapot. I asked mum to keep it for me for my next visit - it was very comfortable to use (perfect curve and smooth surface).

perfect design for mineral foundation application - for loading the brush

When looking around for a nice small mixing bowl or plate , either for home use or travelling - before heading out shopping  do have a thorough peek at your own cupboards - you might be surprised how many suitable utensils you might find. :)

Puhkus oli lühike kuid ütlemata mõnus - ja meigikott sai seekord kerge kaasa võetud - niikuinii ei viitsi midagi suurt ette võtta. Tellisin Liisi kaudu endalegi NYX jumbo-silmapliiatsi Milk (valge) ja testisin seda reisil olles alumise silmalainerina (sisejoonel) ning silmameigi alusena. Töötab väga kenasti kuid mingil hetkel hakkas valevus häirima - silma sisse sobiks silma avama mõni veidi neutraalsem ja tsipa murtud hele toon. NYXil loomulikult sellist pole :S.
Ma ei saa aru, miks ma oma pisipaleti kaasa vedasin kui oleks nii palju testida olnud! Elisa Miten niin liikaa? blogist saatis mulle just posu testreid - vot need oleks pidanud hoopis kaasa haarama. :S Kõige tipuks oleks meigikott ka paremini kinni läinud... reisimiseks on kilekotinäidised parimad - väike kaal ja võtavad ülivähe ruumi. Aga noh - võtame seda kui paleti reisitaluvuse katsetust - pidas vastu küll, ükski (isepressitud, muide) värvinupuke ei purunenud.
Sellesuvine kiiruga ostetud päikesekreem on tõeline mitteimenduv õlipomm - seda meigi all kasutades määrisin pintslid korralikult õliga ära - aga õli tuleb pestes välja, kui seep ei aita, siis aitb Fairy - ja sünteetika kannatab teadupärast ju kõike :D. Peaks seda silica microspheres'tega proovima - too imeb naha muidu kuivanud ploomiks aga ehk kulub säärase rasvase toote puhul selline imemisvõimsus marjaks ära. Päiksekreemi puhul ei lugenud ma silte enne ostmist - kiire oli, ja selle sisu on kaunis hirmutav - keemiline päikeseblokaator... oleks tahtnud tavalist, füüsikalist, tsingiga. Seda mida teised väldivad, sest too jätav sellise valge kuma. Mul pole valge kuma vastu jällegi kõige vähematki.
Tšistaja Linijat peab veel nädalakese kasutama enne kui põhjapanevaid arvamusi avaldama hakata - odav ja tundub, et hea tavaline kreem, mõningate parabeenidega. Samas on ka toimeainet andvad koostisosad nimekirjas austustväärivatel esikohtadel niiet vaatame, milliseks kokkuvõttes osutub. Hind oli ka täiesti vastupandamatu - midagi 2,5 euroga.

And something I also picked up from Saaremaa - there are some dolomite mines there, dolomite is basically poor man's marble. This little jar and it's lid are carved from one single block. They are sold as souvenirs :) (7 EUR a piece).

Lucy Minerals foundation swatches

Lucy Minerals foundation swatches

As I have been lamenting about the bastardly behaviour of EDM lots of people have suggested Lucy Minerals to me. So finally caved in and ordered the samples (the original formulation) in Fair, Pale Olive, Light, Bisque, Cream and Light Medium. Am quote pleased - Pale Olive seems to be a match. Bisque, Light and even Cream in it's yellowness seem to be quite wearable summer tones. 

Full sized foundations come in 30 gr per volume jars (10 gr net weight) and until midnight of July 18, without any shipping cost - so at the moment it's cheaper then ordering 2 two full sized EDM foundations (25% off starts at 6 products over a the EDM). 

Consistency seems to be medium coverage, nice and creamy. Overall - I definitely recommend. Ingredients list mark this as partly organic for it also contains some organic compounds:

Ingredients: zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, mica, magnesium stearate, iron oxides, allantoin, Apple Poly® polyphenols, trans-resveratrol, green coffee bean extract, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate.

One sample baggy was $1,5 and the entire sample haul cost me $11. Quite a lot for 6 little baggies. Apparently US customers get their samples in jars and internationals in  baggies.  Juicy Peach was the free gift and  - well, it's a blush with silvery shimmer. IMHO would be better without the shimmer.

 Swatches are made dry over bare skin and photographed in daylight. I have no idea why skin looks so pink on the pics.

Lucy Minerals foundation samples in Fair, Pale Olive, Light,
Bisque, Cream, Light Medium and blush sample in Juicy Peach

Good to know - they also have a pure white base so one can mix the foundation lighter when needed.

Olen EDMi sigatsemise pärast päris palju igal pool kurtnud ja mitmedki inimesed on mulle Lucy Minerals'i  mineraalpuudreid soovitanud. Tellisin siis testrid ära (kokku 7,59 eur) ja esimene mulje on küll väga positiivne. Pale Olive pole üldse halb, kui siis veidi hele suveks - talveks ideaalne. Bisque tundub kaelaga võrreldes veidi liiga oranž ja Fair on puhas hele-heleroosa. Pale Olive neutraliseerib punetuse ja üldse - roosakas rahvas ei peaks kandma tooteid, mis roosasuse veel rohkem välja toob - kes see ikka tahab Miss Piggy olla. Suur 30 gr per volume karp maksab 14 USD ja hetkel on sooduspakkumine: kuni 18. juuli südaööni saatmiskuluta. Kui üle 20 USD tellimus, siis viskavad tasuta silma v kulmuvärvi juurde (5 gr per volume) - peab vaid meeldima hakanud tooni ära mainima. Ma võibolla võtan ühe Pale Olive'i... mõtlen veel.