Mineral make up has become extremely popular over the past couple of years, with almost every cosmetic brand selling their own variation. I only started noticing this just under a year ago- if only I had discovered it sooner...
I am one of the 80% of teens that suffers from acne. I would usually just get the occasional break out but last year I started to suffer from more severe break outs. A couple of visits to and from the doctor with different creams, gels & tablets showed only a tiny bit of improvement, and I still wasn't happy. I went back to my doctor again a was put on the pill along with Acnecide gel. This combination seemed to help a lot but now I was left dealing with what I didn't know at the time was cosmetic acne.
I was using the best foundation that I found worked for me- Revlon Colourstay. At the time all I wanted was my foundation to cover up my hideous skin as much as possible. To be seen with no foundation on was my worse nightmare, only in the company of close family did I feel comfortable in taking off the mask. It hadn't occurred to me that I was wearing way too much make up, and more importantly making my skin worse. At the time I was pretty damn obsessed with my skin. It would always be on my mind, was forever googling & youtubing for reviews and tutorials on how to apply the Revlon Colourstay, acne remedies, how to get rid of acne etc etc.
It was through all that googling and youtubing that I discovered mineral make up. I started to read how it was good for your skin, as it didn't have the harsh chemicals or bad unnessecary ingredients that other foundations have which cause reactions in the skin. I read how people said they were finding their skin to be improving as they use it, and their acne actually clearing up.
After reading this I had to try it. I settled for English brand, Lily Lolo and ordered a sample of their foundation and was extremely pleased to see that the colour was pale enough for me! All the foundations I had used before always turned slightly orange... I went back online and ordered a full size foundation and a concealer- one that was green (yes, green!) to cancel out any redness in the skin, ie. red blemishes. Later on I went on to buy the regular concealer, again light enough for me- hurrah! It took a bit of getting used to using mineral powders, at first I was using too much so I looked like a powdery ghost, but I quickly found that a little went a long way. At this point I was using the mineral foundation, but using it with a liquid concealer to cover up all my spots. Which was why I didn't see a proper improvement of my skin until I realised the liquid concealers were actually the cause of my break outs.
Now I love my all-mineral foundation routine, I don't have to wait for any foundation to dry like with a liquid, or feel like I'm wearing a heavy mask. My skin looks so beautiful now because they blend into the skin so well, making it look glowing and amazing but not like you have any make up on! It feels good to know that I'm putting something onto my skin which isn't doing it any damage. Now I have no acne at all, and only get the odd spot as your average teenager does, and I can definately deal with that.
I found a skin care routine was also crucial in getting rid of my cosmetic acne. I didn't have a proper skin care routine at that time, and was using harsh products on my skin, causing more spots. Now I exfoliate with St. Ives facial scrub every morning before applying my hypo-allergenic moisturiser by No7 and then if I'm wearing make up that day, a face primer to help with my oily skin. At night I use Simple face wash, my acnecide gel and then my Boots' night moisturiser for sensitive skin. This routine along with my mineral routine helps keep my skin so healthy. Before my skin actually needed a foundation as I wasn't letting it breathe and was ridden with constant break outs, now my skin looks great with or without make up on.
