Bare Escentuals Get Started Kit - Fairly Light/Light ($181 Value) Light

I was a little skeptical when I bought this since I saw it on an infomercial, but I have to say it surpassed all my expectations. The coverage is awesome, and sheer. I don't feel like I'm wearing any make-up at all and even my husband's eyes lit up when he first saw me wearing it. I actually bought the starter kit off the website which included a bisque concealer, which covers more naturally and completly than any other concealer I've used.

To address a complaint that seem fairly common. As far as the dry skin goes, I also suffer from dry skin (my hubby and I were stationed in North Dakota...enough said). Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize! If your skin feels tight 5 minutes after you apply moisturizer it's not effective enough for your level of dryness. As long as I apply my moisturizer, which I do twice a day anyways (I use Ponds for extra dry skin) I have no problem with this product making my skin look or feel flaky, which I did with traditional liquid foundations.

My face broke out all over in little red bumps after using Bare Minerals for only a week. Since I have a little acne anyway, I wasn't sure if the Bare Minerals was the culprit, so I kept using it for a couple more weeks--plus the advertising was so convincing about how good it's supposed to be for your skin. I researched online and found that other people had had similar or worse (cystic acne) reactions to this product. It turns out that it contains Bismuth Oxide which causes some people to break out in an itchy red rash within minutes of applying it. So I finally wised up and quit using it, and my face cleared up within a few days.
Even if I hadn't broken out, I didn't like that the foundation was so shiny--it's impossible to achieve a matte look. I'd rather have a matte foundation and apply something shimmery where I want it. If you're looking for a good mineral make up, I recommend J. Lynne instead (available through their website).

I am very fair and have pink cheeks or ruddy skin. The Light is almost too dark for me but the Fairly Light is exactly my skin color. I do like to blend for a little more color.

I have used the Bare Minerals for about 3 months now and absolutely love it, Mineral Veil has to be some sort of pixie dust - it works magic on my skin.

I can not wear the Warmth, its too red and dark but the Clear Radiance is wonderful.

The downside.... My skin has dried out over the past 3 months and I have had to switch to my standby liquid foundation for a while until my skin restores some of its moisture.

Nothing is perfect but Bare Minerals is honestly the closest my face has ever looked to flawless and as soon as the moisture in my skin is restored I will return to using it.

The brushes alone are worth $60 if you bought them separately. they also sell the primer but I use Monistat chafe relief cream, someone told me about this product and it works really well at controlling oil and it's a whole lot cheaper than buying the primer. I use the light one because I've noticed that their line of color tends to run darker, so if your skin is medium shade, buy the light kit like I have. This product does have Bismuth Oxychloride, so if you have sensitive skin, it may make your skin itch so you would be better off with different type of mineral powder that doesn't have it.

The mineral veil contains cornstarch and it helps to absorb oil.

Overall, this does cover up red spots and does a wonderful job.

We recently had a Sephora counter added to our local JC Penney's store, and I went in to look at what they had to offer. I am a very fair skinned woman, who has had no luck with liquid or mousse foundations. The liquid ones never blended correctly with my skin, and the mousse ones ended up looking like stage makeup. Being of Norwegian/Hungarian stock, I cannot go out into the sun for fear of burning to death like a vampire so I also needed something with sun protection. I also have periodic patches of dry skin. Anyway, I was recommended to try Bare Escentuals "get started" kit, in fairly light/light. She demonstrated the powder foundation, mineral veil, blush and I found myself falling in love with the way it made my skin look and feel, and how simple it was to apply! I am not one to spend an hour getting ready, if I can't do it in less than five it's not going to work! The kit comes with brushes also, which really feel wonderfully calming on my face. Its like a mini massage really. For 5 months now I have been using the kit , and now have graduated to just buying the product individually, it was completely worth the 60 bucks to "test drive" the makeup. It has changed my life, and I know that sounds all QVC drunk call in but it has!! It's the only makeup I have ever used that lived up to its commercials.