what i've been using lately: Extra Virgin Minerals

On a recent hunt for a liquid mineral foundation, I came across these little guys from The Body Shop. First of all, I wasn't even sure it was possible to find a liquid mineral foundation since usually the point of a mineral makeup is to have it in powder form. I was curious, so I Googled "liquid mineral foundation" and the first thing that popped up was this Body Shop stuff. I know, I know, I'm a lazy product hunter!

I'm always hesitant to try ANY new makeup product because my skin likes to try to combat it immediately. I usually stick with my Everyday Minerals powder base and that's that... however, I wanted to find something to give me a little extra coverage.

I read all of the reviews on the site and everybody seemed to be raving about this stuff. To make things even better, they had a BOGO sale on all makeup that very same day. Buy one, get one free. So I did.

I grabbed this Extra Virgin Minerals liquid foundation first, then stuck the Compact foundation in my cart as well, thinking that a liquid mineral foundation in a compact was an interesting idea. When my products arrived, I was excited to try them out.

First impression, I wasn't really liking these products. The blatantly obvious colour difference between the two (though I had ordered the exact same shade in both) kind of put me off. The swatch on the left is the liquid one, the one on the right is the compact.

The compact shade definitely seemed more natural and really does match my skin tone perfectly. Please excuse my ugly cold looking hand in the above photo. Both of these were the lightest shade available. I'm not really sure how the liquid one can claim itself to be "natural ivory" when it looks more like a bad tan.

So, first impression wasn't good. After trying these on my face, I still wasn't sure that I was in love with them. They definitely took some getting used to and trial-and-error. They have olive oil in them as a base, so I found that they were quite oily, especially for a "mineral" foundation. HOWEVER, after perfecting my application techniques, I absolutely love this stuff. The compact much more so.

I apply it with my fingers because I do not like the stiff application brush it comes with. Using my finger, I dab under my eyes and on any darker spots that need covering up. It goes on really smooth and creamy. I've also become accustomed to putting it on my eyelids and brow bones as a base before eyeshadow. The trick, I found, is to "set" the creamy foundation with a powder to prevent creasing and moving about. I still use my Everyday Minerals matte base on top of this and it seals everything in and makes my skin look flawless!

So, there you have it. I would absolutely recommend the compact version of this liquid mineral foundation if you use a powder to seal it. It really does make the perfect concealer for those dark spots or bumps... and you can rest easy knowing that it doesn't contain harsh chemicals, which is a must for sensitive skin!

Are you a fan of mineral makeup? What do you use for your foundation/concealer?