by Rachel Green

Created on: September 23, 2008   Last Updated: May 21, 2009

I bought L'Oreal Bare Naturale Mineral Makeup at Rite Aid, a couple months ago. I have been using it on-and-off, when I feel I'd like a little more coverage. If you have light skin with fairly neutral tones, soft ivory #456, might be a good shade for you.

I had been lusting after a mineral makeup after seeing the infomercials for Bare Escentuals Mineral Makeup (The before-and-after pictures are pretty impressive, especially the people who have Rosacea), yet I wanted something a little more affordable and easy to get. I wanted to be able to just pick up the makeup at the store, instead of having to order it, wait for it, and have to pay shipping.

After seeing what was available in the local drugstore, I did a little research. One place I looked was on Makeupalley.com. Their product review section is pretty comprehensive. I highly recommend people go there before buying makeup to see other people's insights on products they've already tried. A decent 62% of 608 reviewers would buy this product again. Also on Walgreens' website, there were 92 reviews for the same product I use and it received 4 out of 5 stars.

One thing I liked about L'Oreal's makeup, besides its convenience, was that the makeup has SPF 19. I try to apply sun block before going out to avoid premature aging, and thought a powder-based sun block might be faster to apply than the cream sun block I usually use. I also have blackheads on my nose that I like to cover. Luckily, I find the Bare Naturale does the trick with that.

On one hand, Bare Naturale makes my skin feel itchy sometimes, and I find it doesn't have all the coverage I need. I have some darker acne scars that it doesn't cover all the way, even when I apply several layers. And, if you have a new breakout or a very red pimple, don't expect this makeup to cover it. It will show through. On the other hand, it does offer some benefit in that it provides you with some protection from the sun and I would say, light coverage (It was able to cover the blackheads on my nose quite nicely) and a matte finish. I don't find this makeup gives you the "glow" that mineral makeup often claims to give. That could be a good or bad thing in your opinion, but if it were possible, my ideal makeup product would give me a glowy radiance, without any icky oil slicks. Even though mineral makeup commercials tend to espouse the virtues of how their makeup does not cause breakouts (My mind immediately goes to the Bare Escentuals infomercial quote, "So pure you

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