mineral makeup

Mineral Makeup Review: Ferro Cosmetics

by PJ on Friday, January 18, 2008

in makeup, makeup - base makeup, makeup - base makeup - foundation, makeup - blusher, makeup - eyeshadow, mineral makeup

(Ferro Ultimate Foundation)


Ferro Cosmetics is one of the many mineral makeup lines in the market today. I have been particularly interested to see if their Ultimate Foundation does create a matte finish and a medium-to-full coverage, which I personally look for in a foundation.

— Ultimate Foundation (pictured above)


“Full coverage with matte finish” is what is stated on the packaging, so the stakes are high. Upon application, this foundation, out of all the mineral makeup foundations I have tried so far, is the only one that gives a truly matte finish. It is also the one that has the best coverage and the most convincing pore-diffusing property. (The medium-to-full coverage is more easily achieved with a dense flat-top brush, which, compared with a kabuki brush, also gets to the awkward areas around the nose and the eyes more thoroughly.)

However, while the matte finish does maintain for a couple of hours, one drawback is the finish later in the day. As my face gets oily, an unnatural metallic sheen starts to appear and it is hard to blot it completely off with my usual blotting paper.

This seems to be a general problem with mineral foundations. My observation is that the powder itself doesn’t really absorb facial sebum and that the sebum tends to float on top of the foundation. (But if you don’t have oily skin, then this might not be a concern.)

— Blushers

(Blusher in Bashful (left) and Pinkie Swear (right))


Bashful looks like a dusty pink in the container and it goes on as a nice cool pink. Pinkie Swear looks like a soft warm pink and it goes on with an orange undertone. While Bashful would be a good shade for me all-year-round, Pinkie Swear would probably be a wearable summer shade.

The powder is well-pigmented, so a tiny bit goes a long way. The finish is nicely luminous. The staying power is fair but I do wish it could be slightly better.

— Eyeshaodws

(Eye Candy Pearl in Secret (left),
and Eye Candy Shimmer in February (right))

Eye Candy Shimmer in February is a very pretty lilac shade with noticeable shimmer and fine sparkles. A very trendy shade for spring 2008.

Eye Candy Pearl in Secret has a champaign hue with a pale skin-beige undertone. I think it is a good multi-purpose item. It is a great shade to be worn alone to brighten up the eyes. It can also be used sparingly in the immediate under-eye area for the same purpose. I also think this is a nice and subtle highlighting shade for the brow bone and the T-zone.

Both shades are quite well-pigmented and long-lasting. (As with other loose powder eyeshadows (mineral or non-mineral), the eye areas should be properly primed with enough moisture so the color shows up better and stays on longer.


— Bronzer


(Glow Bronzer in Glow Baby)

Glow Baby is a natural bronzing shade with a luminous finish for people with light and light-to-medium skin-tones. It can also be worn as a blusher for people who like beige-tone blushers. (A couple of other shades, like Spring Kiss and Autumn Kiss, are perhaps too orange for most skin-tones.)

Compared with the other mineral makeup lines that I have tried, I think the quality of Ferro is fairly good. I particularly like the two eyeshadows and the blusher in Bashful that I mentioned above. But, at the moment, I still can’t see myself switching to mineral foundations. They seem to share many traits that don’t go along with my oily skin. As a whole, they pale in comparison with many other non-mineral foundations that I have used. Only time will tell if there will be improvements in this particular aspect…


Other mineral makeup reviews:

Von Natur (Part One)

Von Natur (Part Two)

Erth Minerals

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Product Review: A Wash of Color — Erth Minerals

by PJ on Wednesday, August 1, 2007

in makeup, makeup - base makeup, makeup - base makeup - foundation, makeup - base makeup - powder, makeup - eyeshadow, mineral makeup

(Clockwise from upper left:
Erth Minerals Foundation in 2.3
Eyeshadows in Fern, Night, and Snow
Bronzer in Glow,
Eyeshadows in Rose and Carbon )

More and more mineral makeup lines have been trying to grab a share of the market, apart from major players like Bare Escentuals. Erth Minerals (not “Earth”, to be clear…) is one of them.

Their website describes their foundations as matte and offering excellent coverage, which attracted my attention. After trying them out, I actually wouldn’t describe them as either. They are semi-matte and provide medium (on the sheer side) coverage. There is no obvious shimmer and the finish is all very natural.

For me personally, one drawback is the staying powder. On my oily skin, the foundation started to melt in about two hours (in the less-than-warm British summer). I would not recommend this for people with oily skin or with oily T-zone.

On the other hand, Moth Veil is a good finishing powder for me. Soft and silky, it mattifies my skin and conceals pores nicely (after my usual foundation). Only one shade is available, but I think it is translucent enough to suit most skin-tones.

Their eyeshadows work nicely on me too (I don’t have particularly oily eyelids). All the shades I’ve got are sheer and with multi-color sparkles. My favorites are Snow (pearly white), Rose (very pale pink), and Carbon (dark charcoal, can be doubled as an eyeliner). The sparkles make Snow and Carbon particularly beautiful, while Carbon is great for the smoky-eye look.

I need to point out that the eyeshadow in Night, which appears to be a pastel blue in the container (seen in the photo), looks almost completely grey when applied. Even though the website describes the shade as “deep blue”, it is just too much of an ashy grey to be called blue. This can make on-line ordering confusing.

Since it is also the case with von Natur Lip Shimmer in Sweet Violet (a rosy purple in the container, a brownish brick-red when applied), I wonder whether the blue pigment used in mineral makeup in general is simply not delivering. (I have never experienced this kind of color inconsistency with brands not marketed as mineral makeup.) If you have any similar experience, I would very much like to know about it.

On the whole, mineral makeup, with its simple composition, does not irritate my sensitive skin, but it takes much longer to apply. No surprise, it is the case with Erth Minerals. If you want your foundation to give you a good coverage and your colors to be vibrant, you might need to look elsewhere. But if you prefer your makeup to be sheer and natural (and with shimmer for the eyes), then Erth Minerals will be worth considering.

Related posts:
Von Natur Mineral Powder Foundation
Von Natur Mineral Color Makeup

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Mineral Makeup Review: von Natur (2)

by PJ on Friday, March 16, 2007

in makeup - eyeshadow, mineral makeup


Today I’ll talk about some other von Natur’s mineral makeup products.

Their eyeshadows are what I really like. They have the same advantages as their mineral foundation I talked about last time (good staying power, good for sensitive skin, proper anti-UVA ingredients), while some of the drawbacks of the mineral foundation are not really an issue here. Even in the loose-powder form, the application is hassle-free. Also, the shimmer which does not appeal to me in the foundation turns out to be a plus in the eyeshadows.

Overall the texture of the eyeshadows is light and smooth. My favorite colors are Pyrope (deep purple), Ruby (warm pink), and Chrysocolla (minty green).

The blusher I got (in Dawn) is a nice neutral pink. It can be slightly too iridescent for daytime wear, but the color itself is wearable and flattering for most skin-tones.

The Face & Body Shimmer is a very shimmery bronzing powder. Considering it is a bronzer, there are many colors to choose from, and the one I have (Sun Worshiper) is great for medium skin-tones.

Personally I think their color cosmetics items fare better than the powder foundation, simply because of the easy application and the shimmer not being a problem for me. Also there are good ranges of colors for the eyeshadows, bronzers, and blushers.

After trying these mineral makeup products for the first time, I can definitely see the appeal and buzz about “going mineral”. As heavyweights like Neutrogena, L’Oreal, MAC, and Laura Mercier are launching their mineral makeup products, it does seem that a new era is coming.

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Mineral Makeup Review: von Natur (1)

by PJ on Wednesday, March 14, 2007

in makeup, makeup - base makeup, makeup - base makeup - foundation, mineral makeup


There has been a lot of hype in mineral makeup in the UK at the moment. When I came across a big beauty feature on mineral makeup on Grazia magazine (it is like US and Allure combined) last week, it’s as if the mineral madness has really started to take shape here.

This major media coverage coincides with my first trial of mineral makeup, with products from von Natur. It is an organic cosmetics brand, and they just launched a collection of mineral makeup.

I have heard a lot about mineral makeup before and how it is compared with non-mineral makeup, so I am particularly interested in how their mineral makeup products figure in the whole spectrum of comments. Today I will talk about their mineral Powder Foundation that I received (and I’ll review some of their other mineral makeup products in my next post).

Overall, the Powder Foundation lives up to the kind of hype among mineral makeup lovers:

1. It offers great coverage and it doesn’t feel heavy, which I love. The coverage is medium at the very least and can be built up much fuller. It can even double as a concealer with the right brush.

2. It doesn’t irritate my sensitive skin, since the foundation is simply made of crushed mineral powder that is not absorbed by the skin.

3. The staying power is quite good. It stays on for the whole day with minimal fading. Also, the color stays nice and fresh and doesn’t darken on my oily skin.

4. The main ingredients of the foundation, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide (the typical ingredients in mineral makeup), are both ingredients to protect the skin from UVA. They give the foundation a very beneficial skincare property.

But there are some downsides as well:

1. Even with some practice, the application takes a bit of time. For the 2-way powder foundation that I usually use, it takes about 5 minutes to do the whole face. For the mineral powder foundation, it takes at least 15 minutes. It takes a lot of gradual layering and buffing to get an even coverage for the whole face.

2. The powder has a great deal of shimmer, which doesn’t go very well with my oily skin. (I sometimes layer a matte loose powder to reduce the shine.) I hope they will bring out a matte version, which I am sure I’ll like better. (But, on the other hand, for people who want that glowing luminosity, this can probably be a good choice.)

3. The loose powder is not the most convenient thing to travel with. A pressed form will be much better in this case.

Despite the downsides, it is a good foundation, simply because of the good coverage and staying power. It is a relatively new collection and hopefully they will bring out different formulations. Maybe a matte pressed powder? Then it will be everything I want from a mineral foundation.

In my next post, I’ll talk about some other von Natur mineral makeup products that I tried, which include eyeshadows, blusher, and bronzing powder.

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