Product Review: Lumiere Veena Velvet Mineral Foundation

Name: Veena Velvet Mineral Foundation
Brand: Lumiere
Size: 4gm
Price: $12.00

From Lumiere’s website:
All of our loose mineral foundations are finely milled and have a soft, silky smooth, almost “creamy” like texture that will provide a medium to heavy buildable coverage that will meld with your skin to create a flawless natural finish as though you have no makeup on at all, just beautiful skin!
Veena Velvet
Skin type = normal to oily
Coverage – buildable light medium to heavy
Finish = matte

What I liked:
- medium buildable coverage
- evens out skin tone
- covers redness and blemishes
- matte natural finish
- natural ingredients
- the price

What I didn’t like:
- doesn’t last all day

Lumiere cosmetics makes four different types of foundations: Veena Velvet with a matte finish for normal to oily skin, Flawless Face with a matte finish too and suitable for normal to dry skin, Luminesse with a glowy (not shimmery) finish for all skin types and Cashmere with a mostly matte finish and suitable for all skin types too. They all come in a wide selections of shades organized by undertones (neutral, cool, warm, beige and golden).

I had the chance to try the Veena Velvet formula which worked well for my combination skin. The powder is finely milled and feels silky to the touch. It provides medium coverage which evens out the skin tone, covers redness and small imperfections. The powder can also be layered to achieve full coverage or applied with a light hand for a light coverage.

The foundation has a matte finish, which looks very natural and not dull at all. It didn’t dry my skin nor cause breakouts. It also kept my t-zone shine free till about noon, which impressed me. And although the foundation didn’t last all day, it stayed put for most of it and it was only towards the end of the afternoon that I needed to retouch it.

I also like the ingredients used in the foundation: premium grade serecite (colorless mica) is a base ingredient very used in mineral makeup that has the ability to reflect light so that pores and wrinkles appear smaller. In addition, it feels silky to the touch, but may be irritating for people with sensitive skin.

Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide are whitening ingredients that provide coverage,  a matte look, adhere well to the skin and add some SPF protection. However sunscreen in powder form can easily slide off skin and you’d need to apply A LOT of foundation to have adequate protection from the sun. So using a sunscreen with this product is still necessary. Zinc Oxide also has some anti-inflammatory properties.

Avena Sativa (oat powder) softens the skin while helping absorb excess oil and soothe skin irritations. Magnesium Stearate provides a matte finish and good adhesion, while Iron Oxide is just used as a coloring agent.

The large jar contains 4gm and retails at $12.00, while the XX large jar contains 12gm and costs $18.00. A refill vial containing 9gm of product is also available for $18.00. In addition, you can also try the foundation by purchasing sample baggies (1/4 teaspoons) for just $1.00 each.

Summary
Lumiere Veena Velvet is one of the best mineral foundations I have ever tried. It provides medium buildable  coverage with a matte finish that gives a natural and flawless appearance. It doesn’t last all day, but kept my oily patches shine-free for several hours.

Rating: 4/5

Disclosure: a sample of this item was sent by PR for consideration. The review is based on my own personal and honest experience with the product. For more information, please see my disclaimer.

New Collection: MAC Flirt With Fall

We’re dramatically lashing out with the help of a pre-eminent authority on the subject: Academy Award-nominated Hollywood makeup artist, Christina Smith, who’s developed this innovative collection of glamorous Silver Screen lash looks just for M∙A∙C!

FALSE LASHES ($12.00)

43 Lash: natural length and wispy bundles that provide an everyday flirty fringe.

44 Lash: unique combo of separate bundles at inner corner and dramatic winged outer corner for a full effect.

45 Lash: half-lash featuring bundles of long lashes. Highlights the outer corner of the eye to create a look that’s wispy and dramatic.

46 Lash: full with short lashes to add instant definition and depth to the lashline.

47 Lash: extra long side swept hairs combine with fullness at the base to provide a unique and edgy look.

48 Lash: longer wispy bundles with an even edge create a flirty fringe that verges on the dramatic.

Sunday Beauty Reads

Hi everyone,

here’s my fave posts from the blogosphere from the past week. Enjoy!

My Women Stuff explains the proper way to apply moisturizer.

Bella Sugar shares four beauty uses for honey.

Viva Woman talks about what to check for in water resistant sunscreens.

A Mom In Red High Heels explains how to get smooth and straight hair with a flat iron.

Temptalia reviews MAC Nail Trend F/W ‘09 Collection.

Source

Know You Ingredients: Dicaprylyl Carbonate

What it is
Dicaprylyl Carbonate is a solid fat that can be derived from vegetable, synthetic or animal  sources.

What it does
Dicaprylyl Carbonate is an emollient. It spreads easily and makes skin feel soft to the touch without leaving any oily residue.
In addition, it helps other ingredients penetrate the skin better.

Side effects
Dicaprylyl Carbonate doesn’t have any side effects.

Looks: Orange

Hey ladies,

time to show you another EOTD. This time I wanted to do something very wearable using orange and copperish-brown shades. I don’t really like how the look came out though, as I don’t think this color combo suits me. It actually makes me look washed out and sick. Do you have any suggestions on how I could improve it?

Products used:
- Urban Decay Primer Potion
- Sleek Chaos eyeshadow palette (orange and white)
- Sleek Original eyeshadow palette (copperish shade and black)
- L’Oreal Telescopic Explosion mascara

Directions:
Apply Urban Decay Primer Potion all over lid as a base.
With an eyeshadow brush, apply a matte orange shade (I used the one in Sleek Chaos palette) on the lid and crease.
Using a crease brush swipe a copperish shade (I used the one in the Sleek original palette) on the crease and darken the outer corner with a black shade.
Apply a white shade on the browbone to highlight.
Finish off with mascara.