Future icon: This BareMinerals product outdoes their original foundation

Their mineral foundation was a game-changer for so many people, but this product is already impressing me more than the foundation ever did…

Lately, ‘clean’ and ‘natural’ beauty products are becoming a rock solid part of our collective consciousness. But years before anyone was singularly focussed on those things, in particular in relation to cosmetics, Bareminerals were doing it. They stormed in with their life-changing mineral foundation, aiming to give the market a product that avoided chemical fillers and binders, and one that was less likely to irritate or clog the skin.

Bareminerals Original Foundation SPF15, €30

They launched in 1995 but didn’t bring out a liquid foundation until 2014, speaking to the success of the original formula. I’ll admit, when it came to my makeup buying days, I wasn’t initially a fan. I was instantly a die-hard liquid girl, and thought a powder/mineral texture would be too cakey and too mattifying. I was, as I so often am, very wrong. When I eventually did try it, the hype was immediately substantiated and I ended up loving Bareminerals foundation for years.

I knew they’d diversified and brought out lots of different cosmetics, and fans of the brand invested in the whole kit. It wasn’t until very recently though that I tried something from them that I genuinely thought outdid their OG foundation.

BETTER THAN ALL THAT CAME BEFORE

The (somewhat long-windedly named) Complexion Rescue Defense Radiant Tint Protective Moisturizer SPF 30PA+++. A name that you need two separate breaths to say, it is impressive in every way.

Complexion Rescue Defense Radiant Tint Protective Moisturizer SPF 30PA+++, €45

FEELING BLUE?

Apparently it’s the first mineral-based moisturiser with cacao extract to help protect against the damaging effects of the blue light from screens and your phone. And based on my usage reports (my iPhone always finds a way to make me feel a little bad about myself) that feature is something I NEED. It’s also formulated with sugar molecules to help block pollution, and a mineral SPF 30 to protect against sun damage. It has a soft pearlescent colour which turns my skin soft focus and glowy, too.

I love it under makeup, I can go out with it on foundation-free and still feel confident (good skin day conditions apply) and I love that it does a heap of things in one fell swoop – glow, protection, pollution defence, priming. I have used it with about 18 different foundations too, and it keeps them all on.

IT ‘NOSE’ BEST

To date, my favourite feature is that it adheres my makeup to my nose. Nothing else I’ve tried will keep my makeup looking flawless in the nasal region. I’m not sure why, it’s no different to the rest of my face. But this does it! And for that reason alone it’s an essential in my daily routine. If I’m running low, sometimes I’ll just apply it to my nose and use other products for SPF protection, purely because of its prowess in that area.

As an aside, I also really like Murad’s Invisiblur Perfecting Shield which blurs my pores and gives the SPF protection you want. But it doesn’t feature the cacoa for blue light protection and it doesn’t give any sort of glow. And it’s €65, so a whole €20 more expensive than the Complexion Rescue. But look, in the interest of fairness, it’s worth a mention.