Wanting...maybe needing a change

I have worn BE for 7 years...I am starting to notice my coverage is not the same. When applied it looks cakey..the foundation seems to settle in my pores even with a primer...and my pores aren't noticeable when I am makeup free. Does anyone have suggestions for a new line of makeup?

Hello, I'm not sure if you're looking to stay with mineral makeup or not, but my co-worker experienced the same things as you are with bareMinerals.  Both she and I used BE and she began complaining about it emphasizing her lines and wrinkles.  She ended up switching to Benefit and using their Hello Flawless powder foundation which she says works better for her.  I use that too (and BE, I like both) and find that Hello Flawless gives a great finish and in my opinion seems to offer a bit more coverage than BE.  In addition, Benefit has a primer called The POREfessional which is designed to help reduce the appearance of pores which seems like it would work well for you.

Sephora has a set called How to Look the Best at Everything that contains travel sizes of both of these items.  I would consider checking that out.

Good luck.

Thank you!! I will give it a try! I have been a loyal BE customer for years...but I think I need a change. I will go to Sephora tomorrow...I even have a giftcard! /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I too was loyal to BE for several years.  I still use a lot of their products and will continue to do so, but ever since trying Benefit's Hello Flawless powder foundation I have found myself really enjoying many of Benefits products.

I hope you get something that works well for you with your gift card!

I've been using BE for a zillion years, but I need a break from it now and then.  I've recently been using a lot of Alima Pure's mineral makeup, and I really like it a lot.  You have to order samples online, but it's worth it.  They ship really fast, and always send little samples of eye shadow and/or blush that may coordinate with the foundation shade you ordered.

Just an FYI - they tend to run a little on the lighter side.  So for example, I'm the absolute lightest shade there is, Fair, in BE.  But Alima starts off on a 0 shade, so their 0s and 1s are really light.  My shade is a 50/50 mix of Neutral 1 and Neutral 2, so try a few samples starting with what you think you might wear, and then going a shade or two darker (or lighter, if you're super fair).  Good luck!

I use Meow Cosmetics in Fierce Korat. Mineral makeup is easier on my supersensitive skin. Fewer or no chemicals.

I've been using BE for a zillion years, but I need a break from it now and then.  I've recently been using a lot of Alima Pure's mineral makeup, and I really like it a lot.  You have to order samples online, but it's worth it.  They ship really fast, and always send little samples of eye shadow and/or blush that may coordinate with the foundation shade you ordered. Just an FYI - they tend to run a little on the lighter side.  So for example, I'm the absolute lightest shade there is, Fair, in BE.  But Alima starts off on a 0 shade, so their 0s and 1s are really light.  My shade is a 50/50 mix of Neutral 1 and Neutral 2, so try a few samples starting with what you think you might wear, and then going a shade or two darker (or lighter, if you're super fair).  Good luck!

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With this brand...is their a limit on samples...I'm fairly medium in BE but go to medium during spring and summer.

Thanks for the feedback!! I knew y'all would point me in the right direction.

Originally Posted by JodiJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif

With this brand...is their a limit on samples...I'm fairly medium in BE but go to medium during spring and summer.

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No, not that I know of - I've ordered tons of samples while I was monkeying around to get my shade right, and they didn't seem to have any kind of limit on what I was ordering. 

Originally Posted by Chenoa45 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I use Meow Cosmetics in Fierce Korat. Mineral makeup is easier on my supersensitive skin. Fewer or no chemicals.

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I second this recommendation! Meow Cosmetics' foundations are my absolute favorite. Alima's are very nice too but I think I prefer Meow a smidgen more.   

Meow's website and the color selection can be a bit, well... daunting to navigate but I think it's worth the trouble. You can even pick the coverage level you'd like to have. I use their flawless feline foundation because I have a lot of blemish discoloration to cover up and it works pretty nicely.

So so happy with my purchase!! I went to Sephora and was all set to try Benefit Hello Flawless. The associate was super helpful and mentioned that the foundation contained oxygen..it may not be the best product for my combination skin. She uses Urban Decay Naked Skin...I had read about it in Allure and had already been curious....WELL!!!! I LOVE it!! My makeup stays fresh from 7:30 a.m. until I wash my face at night. I haven't even needed to do a touch up with powder. Super pumped with this decision....YAY!

PS....Thanks for all the feedback!

Originally Posted by mauu /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I second this recommendation! Meow Cosmetics' foundations are my absolute favorite. Alima's are very nice too but I think I prefer Meow a smidgen more. 

Meow's website and the color selection can be a bit, well... daunting to navigate but I think it's worth the trouble. You can even pick the coverage level you'd like to have. I use their flawless feline foundation because I have a lot of blemish discoloration to cover up and it works pretty nicely.

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Nice!  Flawless is great stuff - I like that when I'm feeling like I need a bit more coverage.  Right now I love Alima more, but I tend to go with Meow at times too.  Did you ever try their Pampered Puss, their medium coverage?  I haven't tried that in a long time, but I'm thinking of ordering a couple of samples and giving it another whirl.  And I'll tell you, one of the things I love about Meow is that I'm dead on in Sleek Siamese - no mixing, no playing around with a shade here, a shade there - it's just the perfect shade for me, which is rare.

Originally Posted by LisaF1163 /img/forum/go_quote.gif


Nice!  Flawless is great stuff - I like that when I'm feeling like I need a bit more coverage.  Right now I love Alima more, but I tend to go with Meow at times too.  Did you ever try their Pampered Puss, their medium coverage?  I haven't tried that in a long time, but I'm thinking of ordering a couple of samples and giving it another whirl.  And I'll tell you, one of the things I love about Meow is that I'm dead on in Sleek Siamese - no mixing, no playing around with a shade here, a shade there - it's just the perfect shade for me, which is rare.

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Great stuff indeed! I tried Pampered Puss a couple of years ago (I checked and it's been three years, wow) but went back to Flawless Feline. I'm hoping to give Pampered Puss another try if/when my skin improves. They really do have an amazing shade range. I've been using Sleek Abyssinian but I'm thinking I should place another sample order and try some other yellow-based shades just to make sure I'm using the best match for my skin tone.

Do you use a primer or setting powder with your foundation? I'm currently testing the Equilibrium Balancing Powder, which seems like a really nice product but I'm not sure if it's the best one for my skin (blemish-prone/oil control issues, mostly).

Well, that's the thing - I recently started using some Philosophy products, along with the Alima foundation.  And what I've found is that if I use Hope in a Jar SPF 25 (for all skin types) along with the Alima Foundation, it tends to stay on pretty well without a primer - but that's just been this past week.  We'll have to see what the future holds!  I tend to not have the best of luck with primers - nothing seems to stay on me!  Believe it or not, I even had that issue with Flawless - even the primer didn't do it's job.  So that's another reason I'm a little more in love with Alima right now - despite the fact that I had to do a mix to get my shade (which wasn't too much trouble, and I got two jars of blended makeup out of that little experiment!), it tends to hang onto my face better than Meow, Aromaleigh or BE.  I don't know if it's the foundation itself or the new Philosophy moisturizer, but I haven't been having as many issues with my face falling off by lunchtime this past week! 

Now, all that being said, I'm probably going to need a primer powder of some sort once the summer hits, which is when my face turns into an oil slick.  I have a sample jar of the Alima primer, so I'm saving that for the hot weather.   The Meow primer powder was good, too, I had a sample of that. 

Anyway - I do need to wait for some skin issues to clear up before I'd give Pampered another try, because I need the coverage; that's why I'd give a second chance to a sample only.  Right now, I'm doing great with the Alima, but I'll always give something else a try, or even a second try!  I "cheat on" my brands all the time, LOL!

Nice!  Flawless is great stuff - I like that when I'm feeling like I need a bit more coverage.  Right now I love Alima more, but I tend to go with Meow at times too.  Did you ever try their Pampered Puss, their medium coverage?  I haven't tried that in a long time, but I'm thinking of ordering a couple of samples and giving it another whirl.  And I'll tell you, one of the things I love about Meow is that I'm dead on in Sleek Siamese - no mixing, no playing around with a shade here, a shade there - it's just the perfect shade for me, which is rare.

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I love that I found an exact match @ meow. My skin is very dry so I haven't needed a primer. I use the purfect puss formula- I prefer lighter coverage.

Originally Posted by Chenoa45 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I love that I found an exact match @ meow. My skin is very dry so I haven't needed a primer. I use the purfect puss formula- I prefer lighter coverage.

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Ahhh, lucky girl, you must be blessed with great skin! 

Ahhh, lucky girl, you must be blessed with great skin!  :thumbsup2:

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Sorry but it's flawless...my best feature.

Hmm, this thread has made me consider going back to Alima's foundations when I run out of my Flawless Feline - which might take a while, heh. I do have some issues with foundation not lasting as long as I'd like it to, so your description of Alima's foundation sounds good, LisaF1163. I've forgotten if I had the same experience as you did re: Alima staying longer than Meow but I suppose I'll have to see for myself. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Does anyone have other tips for prolonging the wear time of mineral foundation? Or am I derailing the thread? /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I would just say try a primer, both a liquid one or a powdered one for minerals, and see how you do.  Primer is a funny thing - there are times I swear I don't need it, and other days when I know I have to use it. And just because I have my days and brands when primer works and other times that it doesn't, that doesn't mean you shouldn't experiment around with it.  I still do - but I also have weird skin that a lot of stuff doesn't work for.

Plus, make no mistake, I still LOVE Meow even though I'm using Alima more.  It depends on my mood, but I'd never part with Meow.  Currently, those are my two favorite brands.

The only mineral makeup I was undyingly faithful that I'm now pretty disenchanted with is BE.  I'd still use it in a pinch, but Alima and Meow are just miles ahead of BE for me these days.  And also, as I get older, BE has that "pearly" effect which was nice up to a point, but now it makes my pores look huge.  Plus, BE doesn't have the shade range that Alima and Meow have - I can still see Fair along my jawline in BE, and that's as light as I can go.  But even so - I still have BE and Aromaleigh in my "once in while" rotation.  My current line-up consists of "What I Can't Do Without", which would be Alima and Meow, and "What I Like To Use Once In A While For a Different Finish", which would be BE and Aromaleigh.

Originally Posted by mauu /img/forum/go_quote.gifDo you use a primer or setting powder with your foundation? I'm currently testing the Equilibrium Balancing Powder, which seems like a really nice product but I'm not sure if it's the best one for my skin (blemish-prone/oil control issues, mostly).

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Hey, I just wanted to bump this for you again - I think I may have found a primer I can call my HG!  I just used Aromaleigh's Silk Primer Powder (which is for their normal and combo skins) under my Alima, and it really makes a huge difference!  I've used primers here and there, like I said, but this is the first time trying the Aromaleigh Silk primer, and I'm really noticing a difference.  My makeup went on much smoother, and looks more "finished".  Not sure of your skin type (and they make one for oily skin, too, if that's you), but you might like this.  I'd still list Aromaleigh's foundations as "not as great as I'd like them to be", but the primer is excellent so far.