What other companies should I try??

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I have been using mmu for a while now and still haven't found a lot that I really really like. I am really getting tired of sampling and sample baggies and jars! I got rid of a bunch of samples in a big swap a while back and I'm ready now to get rid of some more. I've tried quite a few companies so I am going to list here what I've tried - I am hoping based on this to get some ideas of some must-try brands that are still out there that I've missed!!

Everyday Minerals - hard for me to find a good color match; also the foundation just doesn't last that well on me (even the intensive). By the middle of the day it's patchy. The eyeshadows and blushes are okay, but nothing I can't live without. Their concealers may end up being my go-to's though, because I haven't found any other concealers I like better yet.

Signature Minerals - found a good color match (medium beige 5.3) right away. However, the coverage is so sheer that I have to use LOTS of product to get the degree of coverage that I want. It then lasts on me much better than Everyday Minerals though, which is a plus. I was a little disappointed in their lack of choices of colors of blush and eyeshadows.

Ocean Mist - my picky skin reacted to all of their products, plus my eyes reacted horribly to their eyeshadows. There must be some ingredient in their products that I'm allergic to.

Meow - loved the Flawless Feline formula in the Naughty Siamese shade. I thought I'd finally found the perfect foundation, and then it made my skin break out, as well as causing burning and rough texture. I think it is because of a higher concentration of zinc oxide (zinc oxide is the 2nd ingredient in this) because I had this happen with another foundation with a similar ingredient list (I will explain below.)

The other 2 formulas (Purrfect and Pampered) just weren't heavy enough coverage for what I wanted, and I didn't care for any of Meow's other products at all.

M*A*D Minerals - same issues with their foundations as with the Meow flawless feline - breakouts, rough texture to my skin, and burning. Their foundation has the same ingredients as the Meow Flawless Feline with the only difference being that Meow has boron nitride and M*A*D does not.

Lure Beauty - I do like their Luminous formula in the summer when I have a tan and don't need as much coverage. The coverage is sheer and the staying power is minimal. I have also found their foundations and veil to be too drying for me in the winter since they contain kaolin clay.

Cory - I am currently testing the samples. I really like her blushes and eye shadows - she has really lovely colors, and everything is very pigmented. Her foundations have great heavy coverage, but surprisingly the coverage doesn't last that well on me either. By the middle to end of my workday my face is red again. Plus I think the foundation is making my face break out too. It is so TD heavy though that I'm not really surprised.

Oh, and I almost forgot that I ordered samples from Silk Naturals, but I never mixed the foundation. When I saw those teeny samples I didn't know how I would ever get anywhere with the mixing thing. I just don't think mixing is for me, and I've also read that it isn't very heavy coverage. I think I will pass on this until if and when she comes out with a heavier coverage formula I may revisit it.

I don't know - maybe I am expecting too much to expect the foundation to last all day - but that's really what I want. I know there are many other companies out there that I haven't tried (even though to me it seems like I've tried a LOT!) I have come *this* close to trying Lumiere multiple times - but don't know what formula to try - and their foundations have a lot of ingredients so it makes me nervous about reactions etc. If anyone who loves Lumiere is reading this, please give me your ideas and opinion. I've also never tried Monave, which I know some people love. I may still try their foundation, but if I do I will try it through Elegant Minerals, who I have heard is a reseller of Monave and I think the foundation is cheaper through Elegant Minerals.

PS - I forgot that I tried samples and one LipJunk from the She Space. The samples are small, but the colors seem nice, and I do like the Lip Junk. I guess I didn't really count this though because she doesn't sell foundation.

Any other suggestions of must-try companies before I give it up???!!!

Thanks in advance.

 
carmonious, I know how frustrating it can be sampling to find the one that works. I can't remember how many I've tried but there are 2 companies so far that stand out in terms of coverage and lasting ability for me.

1. Aubrey Nicole full coverage

2. Pure Luxe

I've tried Lumiere (FF formula) and it made me break out. I think that was the only that did that.

 
Try Lumiere. A lot of people like them. My samples from there are on their way to me. I also use Classy Minerals Liquid foundation and like it.

 
I guess the big question is what exactly are you looking for? The ultimate foundation? Full coverage or medium coverage and your skin type? If foundation is what you are looking for (and the samples of blush, eye shadow, etc are the fun extras) maybe we can narrow it down some. Any colours that are matches in the brands you have tried?

Foundation sampling is very frustrating.

I also got the trial mix your own foundation from Silk Naturals. Even though I have HG in foundation/concealer I did mix it up. Actually not bad.... However, you can always keep the base and colour and possibly "tweak" a colour that is an almost match.

I have tried about 16 various companies and some really are better than others.

I am VERY oily and my foundation does last all day. It does look better with a primer and finishing powder. (Not as "glowy") I am not sure how oily you are but that might help.

EDM did not last on me all day. I did find a good colour match but hours later it would look as if it was in my pores. I recently tried Lure foundation. The Lumierious formula is too glowy for me. The regular formula disappeared! (To be fair I did not use a primer or finishing powder that day.) I do like other Lure products including the finishing powder.

I also have WAAAAAY too many baggies and jars of stuff!

I have tried Lumiere and VV is good for oily skin; but it does contain oates. FF is better for normal to dry. I have not tried her other two formulas. Kim has a trial kit which is now $9.00 but includes a $5.00 coupon on future purchase. The ladies on the Lumire addicts forum could probably suggest a formula for you or you could email Lumiere directly.

If you are looking for Monave or a reseller I would be sure to confirm that the reseller is actually selling Monave (not a tweaked base!)

 
Hi

I haven't samples that many, but enough. I have found I cannot wear foundation that are too heavy, a lot of TD & ZO breaks me out. Yes they should last almost all day, I know that I do touch up in the day, sometimes.

I swear by Fusion of Color, don't know that one looks good on me, got a good color for me and doesn;t look cakey or dry

 
Autumn Again - Thanks for the info - I guess looking for the perfect foundation that will last all day is a good way to put it. I think if I found that, I would be happy, because I don't have so much trouble finding other products I like (blush, eye shadows, etc.) I would love to find one company where I like everything they have and I could buy all my products from them, but I doubt that's going to happen - I think I am too picky for that.

I have combo skin which is oilier in the summer and drier in the winter. With it pretty much being the dead of winter here right now - I'm fairly dry. As far as color matches - I never really got there in Everyday Minerals. Found a few that worked okay, but nothing perfect. In Signature Minerals, Medium Beige 5.3 is quite good. I was quite happy with Flawless Feline in Meow in Naughty Siamese - color match, coverage, staying power were all very good. Too bad it made me break out - otherwise at that point I would likely have quit sampling foundations!!!

Right now with Cory, I think Beyond Cream is a match. IF I could tweak application techniques or something to get better staying power from Cory foundation, maybe it would work, because I'm really VERY happy with how it looks on me when I put it on in the mornings. It just doesn't last on me as well as I hoped it would. I wonder if that's because it's so concentrated and you use so little product, so it wears off quicker. I don't know if applying more product would work though, because it's so heavy that sure as anything it would look very cakey if I put too much on.

I agree with your statement of foundation sampling being very frustrating!!! My skin tends to react easily to ingredients and etc, so Lumiere's foundations make me a little nervous because she's got a lot of ingredients in each of them (more potential for reactions.) I tend to do better with the fewer-ingredient ones.

I am eyeing the Aubrey Nicole mousse foundation a little bit, but if it didn't work for me it would be a big waste of money because I don't think they have samples of that.

Good point about the Monave too - I read on another forum that Elegant Minerals is likely reselling Monave, so that's where I got the info. The ingredient list is pretty much the same, I think.

 
Lumiere's Cashmere is oat-free and good for either dry or oily skin - I love her foundation. The colours run lighter than other brands, which you might want to bear in mind, and the Luminesse formula runs darker than the other formulas.

EDM kept switching formulations, so even though I found a colour match, the next time I tried it was warm instead of cool-toned. Plus it didn't last at all and made me sweaty (I have dry skin so this is pretty hard to do).

Signature - better than EDM (I can wear Signature's Ivory), but again with the sweating, and not really long-lasting.

Silk Naturals - I love most of their stuff, and the foundation is good, but I like Lumiere's foundation better. Not sure if it's laziness or mixing difficulty owing to deathly pallour. But it's my second choice after Lumi. Both the Lumi formula I use and SN have lots of silk powder - and that doesn't make my face sweaty from make-up.

Some others I've blissfully forgot.

The She Space has great eye colours - don't hesitate to order full sizes there!

 
Originally Posted by dentaldee /img/forum/go_quote.gif so far I have found that Monave has the best coverage and staying power. dentaldee - you said the "magic" words for me (best coverage and staying power.) I think I'm going to have to sample Monave before making a final decision (just what I need...... MORE samples.....) LOL!!! will I ever decide what I like best??!!
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Gavriela - do the Lumi foundations last all day on you? and when you say they run lighter, how much lighter? Like if I go a shade darker than I would usually pick (say - medium instead of medium light) would that do it?

 
Lumiere's Cashmere lasts all day (and has done all night - I've fallen asleep in it occasionally) on me.

As for the colours, most people's fairly lights are iffy-a-little-dark on me, but in Lumiere, I can wear the Light and Light Mediums in some shades, which is nice. I'm a LM Beige at the moment (beige used to be cool - it's mostly pink undertones, with a hint of peach, while the current cools are pink and no peach).

I think it's worth sampling the Cashmere and FF. And I do feel your pain - it took me nine months to find a foundation I could happily live with. I'll use SN as a backup, but I really love the Lumiere. I'm not prone to acne but I do have sensitive skin, so when I react to stuff I tend to get lovely big red blotches all over my face - ugh.

Veena Veil seemed to me to have slightly more coverage than Cashmere, and it's good - but it has oats in it, so not sure if you want to try that one or not.

Unless you're supernaturally lucky, you probably won't find everything you want in one place. I'd hate to give up SN's Datebait or Climax blush, and I like her silk perfection powder better than Lumiere's, but Lumi does have some great blushes, bronzers, and eyeshadows, too. And I love her dropper-bottle emu oil (might be out of stock at the moment, though).

But that's part of the fun of MMU, at least once you've found a good foundation. I could probably live with either Lumiere or SN, but I'd hate to give up all the great E/S's from She Space and MAD, and I'm still trying to find a MAC Dame blush clone!

Good luck!

 
I found with Monave a little goes a very long way thats how great the coverage is.and also the colour in the jar seems lighter than it ends up being on your skin. I used to use Estee Lauder double wear traditional foundation which was heavy coverage and it had the staying power.........so, so far for me Monave is the only thing that has worked out. I have found that other brands just don't cover the way I want and do not last all day. I also found some turned orange on my skin after half the day....EMD in particular did this. I have the best luck when using a foundation primer as well.

good luck on your search......I have tried many but Monave is my fav

I have tried..

-meow

-lumiere

-aubrey nicole

-ocean mist

-emd

-coconut bay my #2 choice

-monave my #1 choice

I still want to try cory and joppa and Aromaleigh

 
Personally Pure Luxe seems to work better for me than anything I've tried. Buy samples and if you find that you need to mix shades in order to find the perfect skin match, just keep up with your proportions. When you get ready to order a full size, email her the proportions you used and she will custom mix your foundation for you.

What works for me is: I moisturize and let set for 5-10 minutes. I then apply Pure Luxe Powder Eraser, then her Translucent Matte, then foundation, then a another layer of Powder Eraser, then blush, then April's Mix, then eyeshadows, then I spritz with mineral water, curl my lashes and apply mascara and am ready to go. My foundation lasts all day until I take it off.

 
I agree about the Monave if you get their concealer foundations. I wouldn't worry about blush colors and eye colors - there's no rule that says you have to get everything from the same place, and those items are easy to find.

Elegant minerals resells Monave? Their shades don't look the same at all. Or maybe I'm looking in the wrong place - elegantminerals.com?

 
Originally Posted by carmonious /img/forum/go_quote.gif Autumn Again - Thanks for the info - I guess looking for the perfect foundation that will last all day is a good way to put it. I think if I found that, I would be happy, because I don't have so much trouble finding other products I like (blush, eye shadows, etc.) I would love to find one company where I like everything they have and I could buy all my products from them, but I doubt that's going to happen - I think I am too picky for that.I have combo skin which is oilier in the summer and drier in the winter. With it pretty much being the dead of winter here right now - I'm fairly dry. As far as color matches - I never really got there in Everyday Minerals. Found a few that worked okay, but nothing perfect. In Signature Minerals, Medium Beige 5.3 is quite good. I was quite happy with Flawless Feline in Meow in Naughty Siamese - color match, coverage, staying power were all very good. Too bad it made me break out - otherwise at that point I would likely have quit sampling foundations!!!

Right now with Cory, I think Beyond Cream is a match. IF I could tweak application techniques or something to get better staying power from Cory foundation, maybe it would work, because I'm really VERY happy with how it looks on me when I put it on in the mornings. It just doesn't last on me as well as I hoped it would. I wonder if that's because it's so concentrated and you use so little product, so it wears off quicker. I don't know if applying more product would work though, because it's so heavy that sure as anything it would look very cakey if I put too much on.

I agree with your statement of foundation sampling being very frustrating!!! My skin tends to react easily to ingredients and etc, so Lumiere's foundations make me a little nervous because she's got a lot of ingredients in each of them (more potential for reactions.) I tend to do better with the fewer-ingredient ones.

I am eyeing the Aubrey Nicole mousse foundation a little bit, but if it didn't work for me it would be a big waste of money because I don't think they have samples of that.

Good point about the Monave too - I read on another forum that Elegant Minerals is likely reselling Monave, so that's where I got the info. The ingredient list is pretty much the same, I think.

HI you can try TMM and BUFF'D.. the have a foundations with a full coverage!

 
Originally Posted by Scooter /img/forum/go_quote.gif I agree about the Monave if you get their concealer foundations. I wouldn't worry about blush colors and eye colors - there's no rule that says you have to get everything from the same place, and those items are easy to find.
Elegant minerals resells Monave? Their shades don't look the same at all. Or maybe I'm looking in the wrong place - elegantminerals.com?

Yes, you're looking in the right place - elegantminerals.com. I read on another forum that they likely resell Monave?? but don't know if it is true or not. There was something on the Elegant Minerals website about "buying our minerals in bulk from the largest manufacturer in the US" or something like that - and then if you look at the ingredient list for the foundation between theirs and Monave it is the same/similar, so from this I think they deduced that the foundation was likely Monave's.
 
I swear by Aromaleigh Mineral Makeup. I've only tried a few brands but this is my favorite so far. They have a huge selection of foundation colors and several different types of foundations as well. Their Glissade line of foundations are targeted towards individuals that are prone to breaking out due to mineral makeup. Thankfully they offer cheap samples that come with free shipping and a $5 off of orders over $20 for new customers.

So far this is the only company I've found that actually has the right foundation color for me.

 
as for eyeshadows, so far i am happy with MAD Minerals and taylormade, but then again, i do not have much to compare them to because that is all that i have tried.

 
If you're an E/S addict, definitely check out TheSheSpace.com - Heather makes some truly amazing pigments.

 
Aside from Monave (the longer it stays on, the creamier your face looks), I also recommend LaurEss (good coverage but still looks natural and feels very light, plus the shades are very forgiving).
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