bareMinerals READY Foundation Review

This has been a long time coming. I cannot tell you how much I love the bareMinerals foundation. One of my coworkers first introduced me to bareMinerals years ago and I never kept up with it. I bought an intro kit, used it a few times and forgot all about it. I mean it was also at a time where I wasn't into makeup at all like that. I did like the coverage I got when I used it, but I wasn't into all the steps with the powder and it was too messy for me. Last year when I started getting into makeup for real this time, I bought a new starter kit in Matte (previously they only had 1 powder - original) and got re-matched. I liked it, but still was looking for something more, so I put it to the side for occasional use. I experimented with some other foundations that I have reviewed on the blog, but ultimately came back to BM. Then lo and behold they came out with a compact version! There were some variations with shade, I quickly learned from reading the reviews, but everyone most were praising it, saying it was better than the original loose powder. I knew I had to have it, so I went to the BE store in the mall and got shade matched again.

No matter what I did, my camera made it lighter than it is in person

 In the matte powder, I was Golden Medium, but in the compact, I am Golden Tan w30. The shades run much lighter in the compact (sorry I didn't post a pic of the loose powder to compare!) Comparison pics added at the bottom! While I probably could have gotten away with the Golden Medium, it was too pale/yellow for my taste. I wouldn't have been able to build up without looking jaundiced. So I opted for the Golden Tan, which gives me a hint of color without looking like a completely off shade. If I build it up too much, you can tell its too dark for the winter. In the summer though, it's perfect with a little bronzer. This is my go to and I love it. It's very natural, and gives me great coverage without needing to use a lot. I find that a little goes a long way with this. I've had it for a few months now, over 6 for sure, and it still looks like I haven't made a dent in it. While I'm not a heavy make up user, I have used it almost daily, and there is still quite a bit left in the pan. 

Pros:

• doesn't make me breakout, even when sleeping in it
• doesn't exacerbate my already oily skin, tames it a little
• doesn't cake up, even when layering
• compact format is easier to use, less mess, and I take it with me everywhere
• lasts a really long time, you don't need a lot for coverage, so you use less than the powder, and there's less waste in this format!
• has a wide range of shades for women of all colors/ethnicities

Cons:

• does cling to dry skin, so you have to really moisturize
• w/o primer, sinks into lines
• transfers easily to everything, unless I use setting powder
• uses a different brush than the powder

Best Use (for me)

• quick everyday basis when I want to cover up red spots without overdoing it or spending too much time getting ready
• as a setting powder for my Revlon foundation (when I want super full coverage)

I don't really have any before and after pics of it on me. :( Mostly because you can't really tell! I took some pics of it on my hand, but you could hardly see the difference.

With the brush, it's worth mentioning that you don't have to use their brush. I use my ELF Studio Powder Brush instead of the bareMinerals Precision Face Brush because I couldn't justify paying that much for one brush. Not when I had just bought a whole set of other brushes. They're both flat topped, so it works. A lot of other reviews I read said they used the ELF brush as well, so I'm good with my decision. I have not tried to use it with a regular round powder brush, but I would imagine it would still work, at the worst, you'll just get a powder cloud that you don't get with the flat topped brush. I also use the BM READY Touch Up Veil in tinted, and I use that with a regular round brush, so I get that powder cloud barely, so it doesn't count.

Overall I like this foundation and will continue to use it. It's one of the few products that I've found to really match my complexion. I've been happy with bareMinerals products, and I love their eyeliners as well. I'm definitely feeling the READY line, because lets face it, loose powders can be really irritating. I'm glad BM has taken their products in this direction and I will be glad to try more!

- L

***EDIT***
I posted the pics to include the ELF Essentials Clarifying Powder because in a stitch I needed something and this actually worked well for me and matched pretty close. You can see from the swatches in the pic below that it's a near perfect match. You wouldn't think so from the pics, but it's almost the same shade as the BareMinerals READY Foundation. The ELF powder helps with evening out some of the redness (it's not full coverage) and controls oil (for me) so I keep that around for travel. I also compared the Golden Medium powder with the Golden Tan and boy the Golden Medium made me look so pale and yellow! Why didn't I notice this sooner :| Oh well you live and you learn!

Golden Medium

Golden Medium powder on Golden Tan. Yikes what a difference!

ELF Clarifying powder in Honey compared to Golden Tan

1 - Golden Medium, 2 - Golden Tan, 3 - ELF Honey

***This post was not sponsored by Bare Escentuals, ELF, or any other company. I purchased the products discussed with my own money, for my personal use.***