Mineral makeup is often unimaginably messy.  bareMinerals fans like me know the drill: a jar of loose powder accidentally opens inside your makeup bag, and suddenly makeup is everywhere, with industrial-level cleanup required.  (The more you rub, the more it resists!)  Bare Escentuals has recently revamped their foundation jars with a screw-lid, which minimizes mess–praise Jesus!–but I was still excited as hell when I discovered my new favorite makeup accessory: The Mineral Case.  Check out my video above about it, which provides a compact solution for storing and displaying your jars of mineral makeup.  No mess, no fuss, no problem!

London Correspondent Katherine McKenney writes:

When I’m having a strongly feminist moment, I don’t wear any make-up.  (After all, what’s wrong with what god gave me?!)  Then the beauty blasphemy washes away and I pine for Bare Minerals, the only makeup that I wear.  Bare Minerals has improved my skin’s condition over time–the foundation contains SPF and keeps the sun’s damage at bay (yes, there is occasional sun in London!)–plus doesn’t clog my pores and reduces breakouts on my oily T-zone.  It actually helps me like what I see when gazing in the mirror under the harsh fluorescent bathroom lights at work.  I know I don’t need to tout the benefits of Bare Minerals to you, dear reader, as Jolie is not too shy about her opinion on the topic–just check out her infomercial as evidence!

I recently had a make-under at the new Bare Minerals kiosk at Selfridges, and I was in heaven.  All dark wood and hot pink, the new counter beckoned from across the hall with the minerals in their naturally colorful glory, beautifully displayed at circular stations.  The beauty ambassadors were decked out in hot pink tee shirts and black skirts, their arsenal of tools and brushes wrapped in a holster around their waists–ready to spring to action quicker than you can say “mineral veil, stat!”

While my designated beauty ambassador Hayley swirl, tapped, and buffed Fairly Light foundation and Warmth onto my face, I pondered the term “make-under,” considering the Bare Minerals were under supplying the usual nasty synthetic chemicals found in most cosmetics. Hayley applied Queen Phyllis minerals to my eyelid and lined my eyes with Green Tea minerals, and I thought about how appealing I found the term “make-under.”  I didn’t need to be made over; I simply wanted to enhance my true beauty while allowing it to shine.  At the end, I still looked like me, only better.  And, really, isn’t that the point?

So says a recent article in the Daily Mail that I discovered on BellaSugar (one of my favorite beauty blogs!).  While everybody used to yammer on and on about facial symmetry, now it turns out “the evenness and glow of a woman’s skin” are the key factors.  It all comes back to reproduction: those with glowing skin must have better genes, so think modern-day Neanderthals, and are therefore worthy of mating with.  (Whether all of these highly picky men peering at your pores are worthy in return is another story.)

Bueno!  Yet another reason to get on board the Bare Escentuals Express: a little Bare Minerals followed by Clear Radiance (my holy grail product for fabulous-looking skin and an airbrush-miracle in a jar), and you’re good to go. 

And T-minus 1 month until JolieMD Metamorphosis is released, which was designed to (gasp!  how timely!) make skin more radiant, even-toned, brighter and all-around healthier.  It will not do your laundry and it will not snag you a man, but at least your complexion will look freaking fabulous.

E. writes:

Hi Nadine,
I’m a big fan of the books and the blogs. I have two questions. I finally got nice makeup brushes from Bare Escentuals, but I was wondering how often and how I should clean them so I don’t ruin them. Also I use Bare Minerals foundation and I used to use fair but noticed that I looked really pale in pictures.  I went up one color and it looked good during the summer, but now it seems to make me look yellow, so I went back to the lighter shade. Do people often need a different shade for winter and summer?  Thanks so much.

Hi E,
Unless you are incredibly vigilant about sunscreen and live in a climate with the same amount of sun year-round, most women will need two different shades of foundation depending on the season! It’s for that very reason that the Bare Escentuals starter kit include 2 shades. Make sure you’re using SPF 30 sunscreen in the summer, so that your skin tone doesn’t get too much darker from sun damage…but it’s natural and reasonable that you’ll get a little extra color here and there, and will therefore need a slightly darker shade to blend into your skin.

As far as cleaning your brushes, I recommend soft cleaning them on a daily basis with a product like MAC brush cleanser  (sprinkle a little on top of the brushes, and then stroke the brush back and forth across a washcloth, tissue or paper towel before rinsing clean).  Meanwhile, deep clean them every other week using baby shampoo (lather up the brush with the shampoo and swirl it in the palm of your hand, rinsing several times until the water runs clean). (more…)

You already know that I’m a huge Bare Escentuals fan.  (We’re talking epic adoration, favorite-brand-of-all-time here, people.)  What you might not know is that Leslie Blodgett, legendary CEO of Bare Escentuals, has just released a fragrance–and it smells divine!  It’s called Leslie Blodgett Perfume Diaries, and the scent is very soft, sexy, subtle…like warm skin, a tropical beach, a summer night’s breeze.  I received a sample a few days ago and have been wearing it non-stop.  If you like musky, sensual fragrances, I think you’ll agree that this perfume is tops.  (It makes me wish it were still summer…but chilly autumn nights can be pretty sexy, too.)

And how’s this for exciting?  Leslie Blodgett Perfume Diaries is sponsoring a massive contest (it ends today at 5pm PST, so get cracking) to send one lucky winner on an all-expenses paid trip to Honolulu, Hawaii!  Click here for all the details; maybe you’ll soon be saying Aloha and Mahalo!

Bare Escentuals’ Buxom glosses are my absolute favorites: they come in flattering, anybody-can-wear-’em shades, have a little plumping action, and aren’t too sticky–praise Jesus!  If you’re a lip gloss aficionado (seriously, I can barely remember the last time I wore lipstick) you’ll love Buxom Babes About Town, a collection of 4 lip glosses and 4 chubby lip pencils.  The pink, mauve, plum and spice offerings are super pretty, and at $39 for the whole set, the price is very nice.