Eco Minerals Foundation, Highlighter and Eyeshadow Review

^{*Press Sample}

Eco Minerals is a Choose Cruelty Free accredited, natural makeup brand from Byron Bay in Australia. They make cruelty free and vegan makeup, use environmentally friendly packaging and ensure that all products are made from ‘ethically sourced 100% natural products’. The philosophy of this brand is right down my alley; I love brands that think both about animals and the environment. I even had a conversation with the founder, Lulu, about what she would like to do with the profits from Eco Minerals if the brand gets big enough, and she said would love to start an animal sanctuary and vegan cafe. So this really is a brand I believe in and want to succeed but I will still give you an honest opinion on the products I have to share with you today. Lulu kindly sent me a full size of the Perfection Mineral Foundation in Perfection Vanilla, along with a sample size of the Perfection Light Vanilla and Flawless Mineral Foundation in Ultra Lite, as well as the White Light Mineral Illuminate, a full size of the Mineral Eye Colour in Indian Summer and a sample size of Middle Earth, along with the Vegan Supersoft Kabuki Brush and the Eco Duo Brush.

The Eco Minerals Perfection Mineral Foundation is described as being a fresh, natural and dewy finish powder foundation with build-able coverage, that is ideal for normal, dry or mature skin. I wouldn’t say this foundation is ‘dewy’ as that to me requires the sheen of water but this mineral foundation is absolutely the least powdery looking mineral foundation I have come across. I can put as much of this powder on as I can, and it will not look dry or cakey – it really is the best powder for dry skin. It gives a natural look to the skin and provides light coverage. I haven’t been able to build the foundation up to get more coverage than that, but I don’t mind as I am quite happy to use a concealer under my eyes and on any blemishes before applying this. Most of the time I just use the foundation and nothing else but if you do have areas of skin that you need more coverage on, you will need to use a concealer first to get more coverage. Eco Minerals make another mineral powder foundation called the Flawless Mineral Foundation that is advertised as being able to be built up to full coverage, but it is matte finish which makes it ideal for combination and oily skins rather than normal to dry. I have used the Perfection Mineral Foundation many times and in many conditions now, and it has held up well every time. I am very comfortable leaving the house without any makeup (chronic illness forced that on me), but it is nice to be able to wear makeup more often because the application of this foundation is so quick. I use the Eco Minerals Supersoft Kabuki Brush and just quickly swipe a layer of the powder all over my skin and I’m good to go. Using powder products normally requires me to do a lot of hydrating skin preparation beforehand and to use a setting spray to take away the powdery finish, but I don’t have to do any of that with this product because it just looks like skin. If I ever need to touch up, the pot is small enough to fit in my bag along with the kabuki brush. Plus the packaging is travel friendly as the container has a sifter that can be opened and closed so that you don’t end up with a whole lot of foundation in the lid when you go to open it next time.

The foundation colour I have been trying is called Perfection Vanilla which is the second lightest shade offered. I have swatches of this shade compared to the lightest shade in the Perfection Foundation range, Perfection Light Vanilla, and the lightest shade in the Flawless Mineral Foundation line, Ultra Lite. You will see from the swatches that Perfection Vanilla is a little but too dark and yellow for me but when applied to the face, it isn’t noticeable at all. My perfect shade is probably a mix of Perfection Vanilla and Perfection Light Vanilla which I can actually get as Eco Minerals make custom foundation blends, but I think I would probably just repurchase the same colour next time as it looks fine once it is applied. For reference, my closest mainstream foundation match at the moment is Blanc from the Hourglass Vanish Seamless Foundation Stick range. I have included two lots of swatches, one with a black background and one with a white background as white backgrounds tend to distort the colours in my photos (possibly because my skin is so light) and make the shades look darker and more different than they are. I don’t own photoshop or lightroom so I don’t have the ability (or energy) to edit the colouring of photos to be able to provide you with just white background swatches but you have the black as a guide too.

The Perfection Mineral Foundation comes in 11 shades and retails for $36 for 5 grams or $47 for 8 grams of product. The Flawless Mineral Foundation comes in 10 shades and also retails for $36 for 5 grams and $47 for 8 grams of product. To reduce plastic waste, Eco Minerals also offer Eco Refills for both foundations where you can buy just the powder at a lower cost, to refill the jar you have from your previous purchase. Foundation Eco Refills cost $35 for 5 grams and $41 for 8 grams of product. If you’re like me and sit between two different shades then you can buy a custom foundation blend for $46 for 8 grams with a jar or $41 for just the eco refill. If you don’t know what foundation shade you will be then Eco Minerals have you covered. They have a foundation finder that you can download for free on your phone and they have various samples that are as cheap as $2 with free shipping worldwide on the samples.  On top of that Eco Minerals guarantee that you can use the foundation for 60 days and return it for a full refund if it is not the right colour for you. I really think the Eco Minerals Perfection Mineral Foundation is worth trying for those who want a light coverage product that is quick and easy to use and looks natural on the skin. It is vegan, cruelty free, suitable for sensitive skin and has a natural SPF of 25 plus the product lasts a long time, so you really do get value for money. (I do just want to note that you should never rely on makeup to be your sole SPF protection – always use a dedicated SPF before applying makeup).

If you’re looking for a 100% mineral eyeshadow then check out Eco Minerals Mineral Eye Color range. There are 8 colours which includes a black, white, browns and even a green and a pink. I have a full size of Indian Summer which is beautiful reflective bronze shade, and a sample size of Middle Earth which is a medium brown, perfect for a transition or all over neutral colour. I always use an eyeshadow primer with any eyeshadow as I have very dry eyelids so eyeshadows have nothing to stick to without that, so my review is based on using an eye primer and my swatches show the eye shadows over eye primer too. I really love the look of Indian Summer, the brown base isn’t too dark and the sheen is looks lovely in the sunshine. I like a subtle shimmer on the eyes but you can certainly amp it up if you spray your brush with water or setting spray before use. Indian Summer applies really well but I had an issue with Middle Earth applying unevenly to begin with, it is easily corrected with a little bit of blending though. I do need to note that it is also a bit of ‘user error’ as I always plonk my eyeshadow in the same spot every time rather than spreading it around to begin with but, I don’t normally have a problem with spreading loose eyeshadow out when doing that. Together, Indian Summer and Middle Earth make a lovely simple eye look with Middle Earth in the crease and Indian Summer on the lid, you can also use the White Light Mineral Illuminate as an eyebrow highlighter to finish the look off. I experimented with the Eco Duo brush which is a dual ended eyeshadow brush with a long flat eyeshadow or concealer applicator and an angled eyeliner end that can also be used as a an eyebrow brush. It works well, but if you have something similar in your collection then you don’t need it. However if you don’t have a makeup brush collection then this is a nice one to buy.

The Eco Minerals White Light Mineral Illuminate is a mineral powder highlighter that is suitable for all skin tones. It has a translucent base but when build up (as in my swatches) it looks white because of all the reflective particles. When applied as a light layer to the skin, it has lots of tiny sparkly particles and a translucent luminous base. I generally prefer my highlighters to have a sheen rather than any sort of glittery component to them but this illuminator looks really lovely on the tops of the cheek bones, it gives a very ethereal look. My camera wasn’t able to pick up the highlighter under studio lights when applied in a sheer layer, but if the sun decides to come out any time soon, I can try to capture a video and put it on Instagram for you – let me know if you want to see that. Eco Minerals also make a cream highlighter called Alchemy but it has an apricot base colour to it so it isn’t suitable for very fair skin like mine, but it sounds like it would look lovely on tanned and darker complexions.

As I stated in the beginning, I love the values of this brand. I love supporting a small business that is cruelty free, vegan and environmentally friendly, but of course the products have to be worth buying. I’m happy to say that I really enjoyed trying all these products from Eco Minerals. I love the Perfection Mineral Foundation, and I think it is a must try for anyone with a drier skin type because I’ve never come across a powder product that actually looks this natural on the skin. If you want full coverage, then this product won’t be for you, but you can always try the matte Flawless Mineral Foundation – if you do, I would love to know what you think about it. The Indian Summer Mineral Eye Color is a beautiful shimmery bronze eyeshadow that will work for night or day. I tend to use pressed products when applying blending and crease shades as they’re all in one place, but I’m happy to use a loose shadow for the main lid colour if it is as pretty as this. The White Light Mineral Illuminate is good for all skin tones with its sheer base, but it won’t suit anyone who doesn’t like to sparkle. It does however look very beautiful in the sunlight if you like that sort of highlighter. You can see and buy the whole Eco Minerals range on their website but they also have stockists like Nourished Life (affiliate) if you’re looking to pick up things from other brands at the same time. I have a few more natural makeup brand reviews coming up so stay tuned for those. If you want to keep up with what I’m posting then you can sign up for email updates to get my blog posts sent to your email inbox or you can find me on social media – Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Do you like the look of these products from Eco Minerals? I would love to know your thoughts on any of the products you have tried from Eco Minerals. I would especially love to know what you think about their concealer and brand new brush cleaner.