Pur Minerals is one of many mineral based cosmetic brands on the market. As a mineral makeup neophyte I thought I would check out what distinguishes Pur from the other brands.
According to the company's website, Pur foundations are different than other mineral brands in two distinct ways. The first being that their foundation provides a high level of coverage and second, that their formula is pressed and not loose as many mineral brands such as Bare Minerals.
I was given a Start Now Kit in Golden Medium for review. The Start Now Kit retails for $37.00 and houses 4 products: 4-in-1 Pressed Mineral Foundation, Mineral Glow, Universal Marble Powder and a Chisel Brush for application.
First let me preface my review by pointing out a few things:
1. I received this kit while visiting Cath in Toronto. Upon my arrival back home I found the 4-in-1 Pressed Mineral Foundation to have exploded into bits within its packaging. I have not included photographs of this product for this reason.
2. The Golden Medium 4-in-1 Pressed Mineral Foundation is not an appropriate shade for my face. Since this kit was provided to me by Pur Minerals, my review will naturally be limited as to what I can say about it's suitability given that I can't actually wear this shade.
3. The photograph is on NC 35/40 skin (the inside of my arm) taken in natural light. I did not photograph the products on my face as I did not think it would be a fair representation of the foundation given that it did not suit my skin tone.
Pur Minerals: Universal Marble Powder and Mineral Glow
Pur Minerals: Golden Medium 4-in-1 Pressed Mineral Foundation, Mineral Glow
and Universal Marble Powder
4-in-1 Pressed Mineral Foundation
The Golden Medium shade was too light for my NC 35 skin. In general I have noticed that mineral foundations tend to have a whitish cast which is caused by the titanium dioxide included in the formula. Titanium dioxide is the ingredient which gives mineral makeup it's SPF factor (it is also the active ingredient in sunscreen). It is also responsible for that white-blue cast you get from sunscreen itself. That being said, Golden Medium looked very unnatural on my face, too white and a touch too pink.Titanium dioxide frequently gives medium and darker skin tones an ashy look. Therefore, it is my personal belief that paler skin tones will have more success with mineral foundations in general because the inherent white cast of these foundations will not be as noticeable.
The Pur Minerals foundation does provide a good amount of matte coverage and appears very pigmented. You can of course alter the amount of coverage by applying less/more powder. I did find the Chisel Brush to do a decent job of laying down powder - however I found the brush to be too scratchy. I would suggest investing in a softer brush of the same design, like MAC's 182 domed buffer brush ($56.50 CA) .
Disclaimer: I don't typically like powder foundation formulas of any type mineral or not - I find powder foundations don't blend well enough with the skin, they have a tendency to sit on top and look unnatural - slightly too matte and too even leading to a certain amount of flatness, even if the colour is a perfect match. I much prefer liquid foundations because they tend to "erase" less of the natural highlights of the skin. I think natural looking skin reflects a certain amount of light, even when matte, and I just don't find powder foundation products give skin that natural glow.
Mineral Glow
Mineral Glow is a mineral based bronzer with a satin finish. This is a sheer, golden tan colour with just enough shimmer to give the skin a nice, natural sheen. I found that this product was actually very close to my skin tone and so did not give my complexion much warmth or colour per se.
This is a successful product in my opinion and would be a nice bronzer for fairer skin tones and a good substitute for regular powder for medium skin tones. It's sheer enough that it looks natural, but buildable, which is what I think is needed in more bronzers. Bronzer can be a hard product to get right - they are either too orange, dark, shimmery, matte etc. I think Mineral Glow provides a good fool proof option, even for those with a heavy hand.
Universal Marble Powder
The Universal Marble Powder is a medium blue pink blusher. The texture is on the powdery side but I think for fair to light medium skin tones it would work nicely as a day to day blush. It does have a slight white cast and would therefore probably not be good for darker skin tones. On myself it was a tad light, but since blush is not a product you normally load on, it was not a major issue.
General Comments
Powder mineral foundations are just not for me, regardless of brand (I have also tested Bare Minerals). Simply put I find them to dry and obvious looking on the skin, and prefer the finish of liquid foundations. The being said, if you like the finish of powder foundation and can find an appropriate match I think the Pur Minerals Start Now Kits may be great to pick up and try. For $37.00 you get $68.00 worth of product. I'm not a fan of the Chisel Brush, but it does the job.
I found all three products to have a very powdery texture. I suspect that this is in part due to the mineral composition. By far my favourite product was the Mineral Glow.
J
