Arbonne Got You Covered Mineral Powder Foundation - Ivory

Mineral foundations are as familiar to me as tightrope walking (ie. not familiar to me at all). When I think of powder foundations I have visions of powdery old ladies smelling of roses with wrinkles full of cakey foundation that smears on your gorgeous black dress as they come to give you a kiss. Of course, this is all based on my imagination for I have never actually tried a powder foundation in my life, but prior to receiving the Arbonne Got You Covered Mineral Powder Foundation I really didn't have high expectations.

As usual when it comes to things I have judged before trying, I was wrong, really wrong. This stuff is kind of great, though it did take a bit of experimentation for us to be friends.

When it first arrived I decided to slap it on as I would a normal foundation, though because it was a powder I simply assumed I would need to apply it excessively and with careless abandon...A word of advice - don't do that. As you might expect, it looked awful. My visions of wrinkly grandmas came true and my face was a fluttery mess of strangely coloured splotches where every time I moved my face powder would burst into the air like a mini explosion of skin coloured confetti. It was bad, my god it was bad.

Nevertheless I can be persistent and chose to be more sensible in my application the second time around. With care and a steady hand I was able to create a respectable base that I could walk out of the front door wearing. I found that there were a couple of issues though:
- It wasn't terribly pigmented. Now I'm not a huge fan of full coverage foundation (I only wear it for special events) however I like a little bit to cover my blemishes. This didn't really do the trick though and I ended up using so much more concealer than I normally would to compensate.
- It didn't last very long. After a couple of hours I felt like I didn't have anything on my skin at all which obviously isn't ideal in terms of practicality. I expect all powders are like this because they can't possibly have the staying power that liquid foundations do, but I was a little disappointed.

A little disappointed in the outcome I chose to give it one more crack and use it in conjunction with my favourite BB cream. It's perfect! I always struggled with oil control and coverage with my BB cream. It was a little too light when my skin was having a bad day and after a couple of hours my T-zone felt a little greasy but these products are a match made in heaven. The Arbonne powder adds a little more coverage that looks so natural but also keeps my face matte throughout the day. I also think when combined with the BB cream it lasts significantly longer, so the performance of both products are amplified when used together.

On another note, I just love the packaging of this product because as is the case with all Arbonne products, it's beautiful and classy, sleek and practical. There is a net that prevents too much powder coming out but isn't too controlling that it doesn't let anything through. The screw top lid and clear bottom looks attractive and is very practical.

I can tell that this is going to be a staple product for my everyday routine although I'm not sure that I will repurchase it, simply because I am a poor high school student with no money to pay $53 for a powder. Still, I really like this product and would repurchase it if I could!