~Maureen

1. Prep

Your face should be freshly moisturized, giving the powder something to adhere to.  If it’s been over an hour since your a.m. moisturizer/SPF routine, it’s a good idea to put on a little more moisturizer or Skin Tints before putting on your mineral foundation.  Your skincare has everything to do with how your foundation looks!  Using the Clarisonic brush smooths and tightens skin, and the right serum and/or moisturizer will fill pores and plump fine lines.  I find that Epicuren’s CXc (Vitamin C complex) keeps my foundation matte better than any foundation primer I’ve tried.

2. Dip

A small step, yes, but it is important to emphasize that you need very little powder.  The idea is to build thin layers to achieve desired coverage.  If you’re using the pressed powder, swirl your brush a few times and tap off excess powder.  If you have loose powder, swirling the brush in the lid is usually sufficient.  You should never have so much powder on your brush that a small mushroom cloud forms when tapping the brush!  When your loose powder is brand spanking new, rather than peeling away the clear sticker on the sifter, poke 4-5 holes in the sticker/sifter hole to better control the amount of powder coming out (thus minimizing powder spills all over your bathroom counter!) – a tip we picked up from PRIORI.

3. Sweep + Swirl

Apply the foundation with long, sweeping strokes (across the forehead, across both cheeks, down the nose,and chin) to distribute the powder evenly, then swirl the brush in small circles over the area to buff and blend foundation over the entire face.  If you prefer to start buffing in circles and working in one area at a time, just remember to keep the brush moving to avoid a patchy finish.  Reapply to reach desired coverage… dip, long sweeping strokes, then work in little circles.  Normally 2-3 light applications is sufficient (if you’re wearing Skin Tints, you should only need a single application).  Feel free to apply to your neck and decollete as needed.  The TRUE brushes feel so good, people usually lose themselves in the “swirling” part.  It’s okay.  We get it.

4. Mist / Set

Okay, so now you’ve got the level of coverage you like and it’s time to seal the deal, literally.  You’re going to spritz the Transforming Mineral Mist all around your face 4-8 times (like the face of a clock at 3, 6, 9, 12), and use the TRUE sponge to lightly press-and-roll all over to set the mist and foundation together.  The sponge is not used to blend (the buffing took care of that).  Please, don’t skip the mist!!  This is the step that makes your foundation last day-to-night, and keeps skin hydrated thanks to the hyaluronic acid in the mist.  The mist is also key in correcting a heavy-handed dry or powdery finish.

** Since the original blog post, we have introduced PRIORI Coffeeberry Perfecting Minerals which offers another option to finish your mineral foundation application.  Their Finishing Touch Powder is more of a traditional setting powder which reduces shine and fills pores beautifully.  Finishing Touch works with any foundation, minerals or traditional liquid and cream foundation (it pairs perfectly with TRUE Skin Tints).

Conceal

If you have a blemish or mark (or redness in the nose folds, etc.) you’d like to conceal:  fold your sponge in half, dip the tip of the sponge into your mineral foundation, gently pat on your hand  to “load” the powder onto the sponge and prevent loose powder “fallout”, and tap the tip of the sponge over the area you wish to conceal.  The key here is to use a very light touch.

** We have since introduced PRIORI Coffeeberry Perfecting Minerals which offers a mineral concealer for eyes and face.  It’s silky smooth and doesn’t cake under the eyes like most powder concealers do.  For concealing more challenging imperfections:  before applying foundation, pat Perfecting Concealer over the area to achieve 50% coverage, then apply foundation, then touch up areas with Perfecting Concealer as needed.

Please comment if you have questions or additional tips to share, or just to let us know you stopped by!