Loving Cory Mineral Foundation and A Mostly Mineral Makeup Look

I think most of you know that I am a mineral makeup junkie. I discovered mineral foundation in 2005, and I've never looked back. I mean, I might have been swayed by strong marketing and raves about the Makeup Forever HD foundation, and it was the only non-mineral foundation I'd bought since switching to mineral makeup, but I eventually went back to mineral makeup. The liquid foundation was indeed flawless, but I didn't like the feeling on my skin the longer it sat on my face, and as I had feared, it broke me out that very day. My skin instantly knew it wasn't wearing mineral makeup, and I felt that I wanted to claw my face off because the feeling was very heavy and mask-like, even though I used my MAC 187 stippling brush to apply it in very light layers. Sadly, my MUFE HD foundation sits unloved and unused on my countertop after only being used twice. My skin loves only mineral makeup, until maybe some company creates this miracle liquid foundation that would agree with my skin.

Anyway, back to mineral makeup. My face can take all sorts of cosmetic ingredients (that's why I still love traditional makeup like MAC), but the first makeup to touch my skin has to be the most unadulterated mineral makeup possible, to sort of act as a "barrier" for other cosmetic components I slap on my face. Although some are sensitive to it, I am not bothered by bismuth oxychloride, the ingredient found in most drugstore and department store mineral makeup, but I would like my foundation to contain as few ingredients as possible, ingredients I know to be very gentle on my skin. That's why I mainly get my foundation from small, mostly women-owned online companies that offer the purest mineral makeup available, that mostly contain only the following ingredients that are gentle on my skin: titanium dioxide, iron oxides, ultra marines, mica, zinc oxide. Ingredients you can count with one hand; the fewer, the better. These ingredients rarely break me out, are very gentle on my skin, and even help combat the flare-ups.

I also mentioned in my Comprehensive Review Of Mineral Foundations I've Tried that I don't use just one brand of foundation everyday 365 days a year. Different seasons, different skin situations and different moods make me switch foundations according to my needs. I have a summer foundation, a winter foundation, an "I need coverage" foundation, a "light-as-a-feather" foundation, and all cater to my different needs everyday, throughout the whole year. That said, Cory is my favorite winter foundation. I get a lot of flakies because of the dryness of the weather, and also because of my retinoid regimen, and yet it gives me the best coverage, the creamiest finish - almost like liquid foundation but without the pore-clogging gunk. It is also mica-free, which is perfect for mica-sensitive skin. Without mica, the ingredients for this foundation are now down to four at the most, and maybe even just three. And as I said, for me, the fewer ingredients, the better.

Here is a look featuring eyeshadows from MAC (Warming Trend) and Coastal Scents 28 Neutral Palette, but the rest of the face are mostly mineral makeup. I used O My! mineral blush from Valerie Beauty, a beautiful coral shimmer, and from the name, it can be gleaned that they wanted it to look like NARS Orgasm. O My! even looked better on my skin than Orgasm!

I used Cory mineral foundation in Beyond Cream, and the flash made it look a shade lighter than it really is on my skin, although only in these pictures, because I looked fine in this shade in other photos. Nonetheless, I am getting Caramel Cream, a shade darker, to mix with Beyond Cream for spring. I used Indelible gel liner in Tidal Wave on upper lashline, and used UD Zero to tightline and on waterline.

On the lips, I used Silk Naturals' lippie in Jaybird, topped with MAC lipglass in Trifle.