First Look| BareMinerals Bareskin Pure Brightening Serum Foundation SPF 20 in Bare Buff 10

 

I waited and stalked this foundation on Sephora, eagerly anticipating its release on May 1st to major retailers with 20 new shades. After all, BareMinerals and "liquid foundation" have never been in the same sentence before.

The BareMinerals Bareskin Pure Brightening Serum Foundation retails for $29 and is suggested with its own brush ($28.) I skipped out on the brush because gimmicks are gimmicky. Any dense synthetic brush would do.

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Look at these claims! If it's not formulated with water, what the actual f*ck? is in it? Furthermore, it boasts a serum of Vitamin C to lighten dark spots, Lilac Plant Stem Cells (freaky naming antioxidant), and Titanium Dioxide for SPF20 sun protection. Because of a lack of binders, you really should follow directions and SHAKE WELL. VIGOROUSLY.

I didn't purchase it just for the serum aspect, but it does make the foundation feel serum-like and much more lightweight than a traditional liquid. I would advise you to moisturize separately beforehand, because you can't trust these hoes.

 

I picked Bare Buff sight unseen from the Sephora website, but BareMinerals has each shade's description online. Bare Buff is for medium skin with strong golden undertones and matches me at NC35.  In the Matte powder formulation I am Golden Medium, so keep in mind these names don't correlate to the original powder foundations.

In the summer I would probably be Bare Cream or Ivory. Those who are around NC25-30 with yellow undertones may match better to Nude.

 

I applied with my UD Good Karma brush (super dense synthetic) and worked in sections, using two drops for each side of the face. In retrospect working it in with my fingers or dropping the product directly on my face first before buffing might have been a better idea.

It doesn't look so happy with dry flakes on my nose and slightly emphasized peach fuzz. It also doesn't seem to hide pores, but those are a very minor concern for me. HOWEVER, it evens out my skin like crazy without feeling heavy whatsoever. My guess is that I have to prime and moisturize very well for my drier skin. This foundation is not for those who are on polarizing ends of normal skin.

I made sure to let it "dry" down before setting it with powder. Not very convenient, but then neither is a weird dropper system (the hard plastic packaging makes it hard to over-squeeze, or even squeeze out a drop in the first place!)

 

Here comes the plethora of selfies. This first picture is the foundation freshly applied on the skin. The color still looks rather neutral and lighter than my neck and very, very dewy (borderline wet!) The consistency of the liquid isn't as runny as I thought and forms droplets as promised on my brush.

 Oh god, so close to my face. You can see that it is a slow drying foundation that requires patience. You can't quite tell in this picture, but it is advisable to blend downwards to avoid catching peach fuzz. There are also little flakes on my nose that the foundation will pick up. (Don't worry, every other foundation does that on me so I use Hourglass No. 28 Serum to prime my nose. Not this time though.)

After 15 minutes, I gave it a light setting with Urban Decay's Naked Skin Ultra Definition Loose Powder in Medium only in the T-zone. That really helped to take down the oily factor to dewy.

 At this point the color is adjusting even better to match my neck and chest. My question is, do you have 15-30 minutes to let the foundation sit before you set it and head out the door? The reason I waited is because I have heard stories of the foundation caking up if you try to layer it or even set it too quickly. 

Important to note: the serum factor of the foundation makes it sink into the skin and meld beautifully once it does dry down. You can't feel anything sitting "on top of" the skin, if that makes sense.

Now that the foundation and powder has had time to set, my face is no longer a floating white mess above a tan body. I got a medium coverage with 4 drops as advertised. BareMinerals states 2 drops is light, 4 is medium, and 6 is full coverage. I didn't have to use a separate concealer for my scarring or undereye circles, though I could have just for good measure.

I look like I'm about to punch someone but I really love the natural finish and blendability (not a word according to Google) of this foundation. Not to mention, the color match is impeccable and BareMinerals realizes that people can have light or heavy yellow undertones. Wow, mind blasting. The best part is how much it looks like real skin. You can still see pores and some spots peeking through while the overall tone is smoothed and evened out.

 

The foundation and powder combination wore for around 4 solid hours before looking faded. My biggest gripe with it is how it emphasized dry patches. On the other hand, its finish on the skin stays natural for the rest of the day. By 8 hours I could tell that it had faded out completely. I won't comment on the wear time as I touched my face very often during the day.

Overall, the Serum Foundation is a solid performer that reminds me of Revlon Nearly Naked, MAC Face and Body, and other foundations that are watery and lightweight on the skin. The winning factor comes from its opacity and ability to cover minor flaws and hyper-pigmentation on my skin and the fact that you can build it up to be full coverage without trouble. 

A small gripe I have with this foundation is the SPF factor. It would be such a lovely foundation for going out at night and taking pictures if flashback wasn't an issue. There are also many mixed reviews out there. I believe a majority of people who dislike it are using it incorrectly: trying to build it too quickly, not shaking it up, and not working in sections. Others found that their skin was too dry or too oily for the foundation to sit well on the skin. 

It's not a low maintenance foundation in the slightest, nor is it difficult to work with. I predict that this foundation will perform much better when my skin becomes normal to slightly oily in the summer.

xo Be