bareMinerals Bareskin Pure Brightening Serum Foundation: My First Impression

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bareMinerals Bareskin Foundation is all the rage lately, and I’ve been reading about it everywhere. Today as I took a break from unpacking boxes, I thought I’d run to the store to check it out. The city we moved to has a nearby shopping center with lots of cool stores and when we stopped over for a Mother’s Day coffee and a sandwich yesterday, I knew I wanted to check out the stand alone bareMinerals store in the shopping center. I jetted over there and the lady wasn’t too keen on helping me out, but I was able to snag a sample, and then walked to the Ulta across the way to see if someone there would be more helpful and let me try it.

I was surprised by the sheer amount of colors they have in the range. There are 20 shades of the Bareskin Foundation. There are lots of options from light to dark and everywhere in between. This is where it also gets tricky. If I was shopping online, I would have chosen a color 3-4 shades into the range. When checking them out in person, I noticed the shades are much darker on the skin than they appear in the bottle. I would’ve placed myself in Ivory, but as it turns out Shell, the second lightest shade in the formula, was my exact match.

If you try this on your hand you will notice the texture of it seems very watery. In reality, there is no water in the formula at all. The base is coconut-derived with jojoba-coated mineral pigments and brightening ingredients. It’s marketed as a pure brightening serum foundation. There is no silicone, no oil, no water, no parabens, and no fragrance. It’s hypoallergenic, non-comedogenic, and dermatologist tested.

The formula is different than anything I’ve tried before in a foundation. You’re supposed to shake before using it, which is an important step because the ingredients separate themselves in the bottle between uses and need to be mixed up. You then put a single drop of the foundation in the center of their Bareskin Perfecting Face Brush that they have created entirely for the use of this foundation. The key is in the buffing of the formula into your skin. If I applied this directly with my hands I think it would look very streaky, and if I applied this with a Beauty Blender sponge I think the formula would be so thin that it would soak right into the sponge and disappear. In fact, I used about half a pea-sized amount on their brush, and I almost think that that tiny amount was too much to start with. I had to buff this for a good minute before I was happy with the sheer coverage and felt the streaks were starting to even out.

The nice thing about this foundation is that the coverage is buildable. I’ve been really into customizable foundation lately, ever since trying Ardency Inn’s Custom Coverage Concentrate (review to come very soon). I like being able to get different coverage out of the exact same formula. I went back in and applied two more layers around my nose and under my eyes to get what I would describe as more of a medium to full coverage. I have a bit of redness in those areas and some freckling and the extra couple layers really helped to even things out.

The result was a matte finish that left my skin with some moisture in it rather than completely flattening my complexion. I really like how it looks and feels like a second skin. I had to use very little of the product overall and I’m sure the bottle would take an eternity to get through. I’m also a skincare junkie and love that this has serum in it. I’ve been a fan of this line forever but prefer liquid foundation so this was a great find for me. It also lasted hours without any fading and I didn’t feel the need to set it with a powder!

Although my first impressions were mostly good, there are a few downsides. I could see how this formula could get cakey quickly if you weren’t careful to take your time and buff it in with the brush like crazy. This is not a formula I would turn to if I was in a hurry because it takes some time to get it looking good. I wish there was SPF in the formula, but I get that from my skincare so I’ll live. I really don’t think you could get away with buying this foundation and skipping the brush because it’s so unique, so if you’re interested in the foundation, it’s not going to cost you $29. It’s going to set you back the price of the foundation plus the $28 brush, so more like $60. The woman at Ulta told me you really need a synthetic fiber brush that’s dense and flat on the top and I after trying it I can totally agree that not much else besides the provided brush is going to really work.

All in all, this was fun to try! I did pick up a little sample and I’m excited to give it a go and see if I can make it work with any of my brushes at home. Will I be purchasing this in the full size? Probably not. I liked it, but I didn’t $60 like it. My birthday’s coming up so if I get a gift card I just might make the splurge.

Is this a product you’ve seen in stores? Have you tried it?