Elemental Beauty Mineral Foundation

RRP: £0.85 per sample canister (0.5-1g); £10.99 per full size pot (9-10g)
# of shades available: 15 in sample size; 20 in regular size

--What does the promo say?--
"At Elemental Beauty we know that not everyone has the same type of complexion or skin qualities, so we have created a range of Soft Focus and Healing mineral foundations to help meet your skin’s individual needs. Our Healing mineral foundation contains Allantoin to help heal and regenerate damaged or irritated skin and therefore a good choice for those suffering from acne or rosacea. Our Soft Focus mineral foundation contains a much larger content of Silica Microspheres. These have light scattering properties and a silky feel to reflect light away from lines and wrinkles and give a soft focus appearance. Our mineral foundation powders are soft matt in appearance and can be layered and built up effortlessly to give your required coverage."

--Packaging--
The full-size pots are in keeping with the usual pot design used by Elemental Beauty. The sample sizes (of which I was kindly sent four, in an adorable little chiffon bag) come in tiny plastic vials with flip-top lids. The sample sizes are extremely practical for travel, so this is a viable option in many respects, whether you're off on holiday or just want to try out some shades.

--Application--
Load up your brush with a little of the powder and sweep it evenly over the face. Several lighter layers will look better than one heavy one. The Elemental Beauty site also suggests applying them with a damp brush or sponge to give fuller, complete coverage of blemishes and dark circles, meaning that in fact you have a dual-use product (foundation and concealer) all in one pot. Nice.

--Appearance--
As mentioned, I was sent four shades: Luminous (Soft Focus), English Rose (Soft Focus), Nude (Healing) and Barley (Healing). Barley was a tad too dark for my liking and Luminous almost made me look ghostly (rare in a foundation! But nevertheless, it's probably fine for me for the winter months). In terms of colour match, English Rose and Nude were probably the best for me. Truthfully, I did not notice any difference in the finish between the Soft Focus and Healing variations: both finished soft and matte as promised.

--Texture and consistency--
As with all of the Elemental Beauty products that I have tried so far, my foundations were non-irritating and were pleasant to use on the skin. All good things.

--Coverage--
Excellent; I couldn't wish for better.

--Longevity--
Use of a finishing powder of some description is advised just for general hold (for the sake of the foundation itself as well as to help the company's mineral concealer along a bit). However, the results were generally good.

--Effects on the skin--
My skin has improved lately, but I can never tell what has affected it, especially since I have also been using a few different skincare products, so I don't feel that I can attribute any improvement solely to the foundation, but I'm sure that it didn't do any harm either (particularly since the Soft Focus versions also contain kaolin, a healing clay, which would have also helped any skin recovery).

--Value for money--
Marginally cheaper than Lily Lolo's foundations, which are £12 for the same amount of foundation, so the price is certainly competitive. You need such a tiny amount each time that I'm sure one full-size pot would last months (I've used each of my vials several times and it barely seems like I've made a dent in them). This, combined with generally good coverage and durability, would make this a sound choice for any skin-conscious female.