Battle of the Mineral Foundations!!! Bare Minerals VS. Laura Mercier minerals

Laura Mercier (gift set size) Mineral Powder, Bare Minerals Original Mineral Powder

About a year ago, my friend started going on about an amazing new foundation she had started using, and  how she thought everyone should try it. Needless to say that we ended up at the Bare Minerals counter that day to get me colour matched. I ended up buying their starter kit, which I think was about £45 for 2 shades of foundation, a concealer, mineral veil and 2 brushes. I used this continuously over the summer (I had to purchase a full size one) and found the effects on my skin to be amazing. My acne started to heal, I didn't notice as much redness on my face and it gave my skin a brilliant finish. I did however stop using this over the winter, as my skin was too dry and it seemed to show up all the horrible bits of my complexion. Fast forward to February 2012 and I was back on my minerals (the makeup kind obviously). I had noticed since I had stopped using it, that my skin was flaring up again (although this is no doubt in reality, down to a variety of factors) and decided to give it a try again. The dry skin was still there and I was having the same problem, which was when I heard about the Laura Mercier version. So off I went into the city to pick up a sample. I am officially now hooked!! This makes my skin look flawless, natural, its helping with my acne (in my opinion) and most importantly it doesn't cling to my dry patches (this amazed me)!!
So I thought to myself why not do a post comparing the two foundations. Below you will find both pros and cons of each and my personal preferences. I hope you enjoy it (sorry for the massive, silly ramble you have just read haha whopseee. You have to set the picture though haha)!

Laura Mercier Mineral Powder £31.00 for 9.5g :

Pros:

• Provides a buildable, medium coverage.
• Covers up redness and evens out skin tone beautifully.
• I personally cannot feel this on my skin.
• Provides a natural finish (so many people have commented how naturally pretty my skin looks with this- even my dad, which says a lot as he hates makeup).
• Provides SPF 15.
• Lasts for roughly 7/8 hours on my skin without having to touch up.
• I can use cream products such as blusher and concealer over the top without it going cakey or looking funny.
• This is also a treatment (so the sales lady told me) so it wont aggravate your skin. She also told me if your one of the naughty people that doesn't take your make up off before you go to bed (tut tut) this wont clog your skin as it will act as a treatment over night. I think this has a really positive effect on my skin.
• The swivel insert in top of the pot makes it easy to close off the minerals to stop it coming out. The ridge in the middle is really easy to hold and turn.

Cons: 

• If you want full coverage, you have to use quite a lot of product. 
• Its a little on the pricey side, but you do get a lot of product for your pennies.
• To my knowledge this only comes in about 6 shades in the UK. 

Bare Minerals Original Minerals £24.00 for 8g:

Pros: 

• Contains SPF 15.
• Provides a buildable, medium coverage.
• I felt my skin looked really natural (although I didn't get any comments on this, unlike the L.M). 
• Lasts for about 7/8 hours on my skin without touching up. 
• This is also sold as a sort of treatment. The minerals are supposed to improve the appearance of your skin over time (which I think it does).
• There is also a mineral, powder concealer which comes in the starter set. This covers well (although I wouldn't advise using it under your eye as it really creases). 
• This is available in about 20 shades, varying from very pale to darker coloured skin, which is brilliant. 
• This is an expensive, yet affordable mineral foundation, coming in cheaper than the L.M. However you have to bare in mind you also get 1.5g less of product with this cheaper price. 

Cons:

• Unlike the L.M one the swivel insert in the top of this is rubbish and really hard to swivel back round. I found it so hard that I don't even bother now and the minerals just float around in the top, which can be very messy!!
• I found this shows up dry patches really badly : (. 
• This can go cakey if you use a cream concealer or blusher over the top.

The travel size L.M (came in a gift pack) and the full size B.M

As you can see both of these products have pros and cons and in my eyes are good for different things. I am currently using the L.M one as I find it slightly more diverse because I can use it with cream products.  

If you were wondering which shades I use I have the shade 'Real Sand' in the L.M and Fairly Light in B.M (I am an NC15 in M.A.C). 

The only thing to keep in mind is the price point as L.M is £7.00 more expensive for an extra 1.5g. However I personally am prepared to pay this as I think the product is slightly better. 

So which one is you favourite? Do you like mineral foundations?! I would love to know your thoughts!! 

Laura Mercier: Mineral Flawless Face Kit

Heelloooo!!!!!
So I went shopping to get the Laura Mercier Mineral powder today and managed to pick myself  up a little bargain!!! I LOVE Laura Mercier products and was also looking for a new concealer as well. I have heard to many good things about LM products, but they are quite expensive and so had been putting it off. Up until now I have been using the 'Bare mineral foundation' in fairly light, and I cannot express how much it has helped my skin. However after seeing a YT video from the hilarious Estee (essiebutton- if you haven't seen her, you need to get her in your life right now), and seeing how much she loved the LM one, I decided to take the plunge (my Bare minerals one is pretty much empty anyway). The only thing I was slightly dubious about was the price (it retails at £31) and I was worried in case it broke my skin out and ended up being a waste of money. So when the sales lady told me about their starter kit I became rather excited. So what's in it??

Well to say your get your moneys worth is an understatement! This pack contains a full size secret concealer, 2 full size brushes, Mineral primer (30ml), Mineral powder (4.8g) and Mineral illuminating powder in starlight (4.8g). 

Mineral Foundation 4.8 g (Normal price £31 for 9.5g):

This is a travel size version of this highly praised product and is perfect for a trial period. It will also be brilliant to decant some of the full sized one into when it runs out and use that for travel purposes or to have in my handbag for touch ups. I have the colour 'real sand' and cannot wait to try this properly. The lady in the shop put it on me and I couldn't even feel it was there, it looked gorgeous!

Secret Concealer- Full size

This product by itself usually retails at £18.50 for 2.2g. The sales assistant told me this is a really good under eye concealer as it contains oil (which our under eyes don't apparently- I didn't know this). LM concealers are highly praised among lots of professional makeup artists, so I cannot wait to try this out!! (I also brought the Secret Camouflage concealer for a facial concealer as I have been wanting it for ages. That's a whole different blog post though).

Mineral powder foundation and Secret concealer 

Mineral Illuminating powder, starlight 4.8g

I don't think you can buy this product separately, as I couldn't find it on their website, and to be honest it is simply stunning!!! It can be used as a high light on the cheek bones, on your decolletage or anywhere you just want a gorgeous glow. It does contain tiny glitter particles, but they catch the light beautifully and doesn't leave you looking like you just stepped out of Twilight. It really is gorgeous!! I tried to do a swatch but its so light (and my camera is so rubbish) that you couldn't see it. 

Mineral illuminating powder

Mineral Foundation Primer 30ml (normally £28 for 50ml)
I cannot wait to try this primer. I have heard so much about their normal foundation primer, and I didn't even know they made a mineral version!!! WOOOHOOOOO. Enough said!!

Blending Brush (normally £31) and Secret Camouflage brush (normally 22.50)- both full size.

I cannot believe these 2 full size brushes came in this pack (I also didn't realise how much they usually retail for until I sat down to write this post). Such a bargain!!! The buffing brush is really soft and feels so smooth when you use it with the foundation. It is one of the shorter brushes they sell, so don't be put off by thinking its not full size, because it is!! 

The secret camouflage brush is also full size and is the perfect size for carefully applying your concealer. 

Top: Blending brush.
Bottom: Secret Camouflage brush

This kit comes inside a clear makeup bag with an instruction leaflet on how to use everything!! What more could you want?!!

All in all this kit is amazing and is incredible value for money!!!! I brought this kit for £50 from Jarrolds in Norwich but I cannot find it in any major on line suppliers. I did however find it on a different website being sold for £94 (crazy)!! I was told this is a limited edition thing so once its gone, its gone!! My advice would be if you see it, snap it up!!! Below I have broken down how much the kit would have been worth if I had brought these products individually for the amount of product I got.

Mineral Powder : 4.8g £15.67 (usually £31 for 9.5g)

Foundation Primer. Mineral:  30ml £16.80 (usually £28 for 50ml)

Secret Concealer: Full size £18.50

Mineral illuminating powder: 4.8g (not sure how much this would be as I don't think you can buy it separately 

Secret Camouflage brush: Full size £22.50

Blending brush: Full size £31.00

Total cost (excluding mineral illuminating powder in starlight): £104.47

If I brought these all full size and payed full price: £131

Remember I only spent £50 on this!!

So my verdict: If you want to try LM products this is a brilliant place to start!!!! If you see it, snap it up and enjoy it!!! 

I think after a while of wearing these I may compare the powder to the Bare Minerals one. Let me know if you would like me to do this?!

So have you tried any of these products? What did you think of them? Would you like a review on them?