Everyday Minerals • Pressed Powder in Fairly Light Golden • Powder

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*TOP REVIEWER* stellina on 1/25/2008 10:13:00 AM more reviews by stellina

Age: 44-55   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

In my ongoing quest for the perfect foundation, I came upon this and I must say that I'm liking it. I have refillable compacts, including those beautiful Stratton metal ones, so the packaging wasn't an issue. The pwoder itself is smooth and silky with that lovely slightly glowing finish typical of MMU and it covers very well. There's a faint earthy/plant-like scent but it fades right away. The shade might be a smidge dark for my pallid winter skin so I'm going to try the Fair Yellow next. The price was right, that's for sure. Hopefully EM will introduce more pressed products soon!

Edit: I'm downgrading this for a couple of reasons. First, the color turned after a while & it became a very sickly yellow - I can't imagine anyone having that shade of skin. Second, it crumbled into pieces after a couple of uses. Perhaps the manufacturing wasn't up to snuff. I might try it in one of the Olive shades if they introduce more, but not the Yellow range.

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*TOP REVIEWER* sharis on 1/18/2008 1:27:00 AM more reviews by sharis

Age: 36-43   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair-Medium   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Brown    

I just got this and while the color is too dark for me I like the product. (I wear Fairly Light in the loose) It does give a heavier coverage than the loose but it still looks natural to me. I don't have any complaints about the container. I might prefer a more traditional compact but this is fine with me. I will have to wait for some lighter colors to come out so I can find a better match but I will definitely repurchase.

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egyptomaniac on 1/12/2008 11:48:00 PM more reviews by egyptomaniac

Age: 25-29   Skin: Oily, Medium   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Green    

I'm a big fan of all EM's products, and I really love this one too! As far as color matches go, in EM's loose powder I can wear light olive, golden medium (olive), beige neutral, light neutral, and depending on the day, winged butter. I thought that the Pressed light golden might be too light, but so far it's the best match I've found yet! As for coverage, I would say that it is better that EM's intensive formula, and yet, somehow feels more light-weight on my face. It gives my skin a glow, without making it look oily at all. Also, I use EM's new flat top brush to buff it in (amazing brush!!) I can put this on in the morning, followed by a dusting of EM's silk finishing powder, and I don't have to touch-up my face until after I get home from work in the afternoon. (For reference, I have oily, acne prone skin. Age: 28, Hazel Eyes, light brown hair) To address the packaging, it wasn't really a problem for me. I received my powder with 2 of EM's flocked sponges already in it, and that seemed to work well to protect it. I went so far as to superglue the sponges together, and then glue them to the lid. It keeps everything tightly in place, and I've carried the powder around in my purse for a month with no problems. True, there is no mirror, but I've found the powder works so well, I don't need touch-ups as often, so I don't even miss a mirror. Now that I've tried EM's pressed powder, I find that I never use my loose powder anymore. The pressed is a lot less messy, seems to offer better coverage, and is much easier to travel with. For the price, and considering how pure and natural the ingredients are, I don't think I'll find a better pressed powder out there!!

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nightlightkid on 1/5/2008 4:46:00 AM more reviews by nightlightkid

Age: 25-29   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair-Medium   Hair: Black   Eyes: Black    

(For swatch comparison pic and easier reading with formatting, click "continued" to view in full version.)

UPDATE on March 12, 2008: Opinions have pretty much stayed the same since first reviewing this item over two months ago. The only change is that Alima seems to wear slightly better on me throughout the day (eventually, I get a bit of oil break-through and caking with EM, which I don't get with Alima).

Packaging: Like other people have mentioned, this comes in a laminated, cardboard pot. The compact comes with a round sponge (latex-free, I'd heard, but haven't confirmed it). Unfortunately, the sponge has nowhere to sit except inside the pot, right on top of the powder. The cardboard of the pot isn't quite as plasticized as, say, the laminated cardboard of TF's Quickie Chronicles palettes or Benefit's Dandelion (etc) blush. It's more like Stila's old cardboard pots & l/s tubes, but with much thinner cardboard. I can see why people are hesitant to carry it around in their purses. Unlike other people, though, I haven't had any problems with the lid or the pan feeling loose. Quite the opposite, actually--my lid fits so tightly that it's a little hard to get back on without using some real pressure, to the point that I wonder if I'll crack/fray the cardboard eventually. In short, the packaging is just serviceable, & while it's not a deal-breaker, I'd love to find another compact of some kind in which to depot the pan. (Btw, this pan is just about 2 1/4" in diameter, which is just a bit too big to fit in a Stila IPF compact, which a kind MUAer measured for me at 2 1/8". Boo.)

Color Match: I've never used any of EM's other foundations, so I can't compare to other EM shades. In MAC's StudioFix powder, I'm a C3, but my very best foundation match is actually Alima's W3 Coriander, which is the foundation I've been using for the past year. My color match with Alima's W3 is so good that I literally cannot see where I have & have not applied foundation if the area doesn't have red discoloration. MAC's C3 is close to my skintone, but I can see a slight color difference between the applied area and bare skin (I can't get away with spot-applying the C3).

EM's Fairly Light Golden pressed is a fair bit yellower than C3. People who can wear both C3 & NC30 could probably get away w/ wearing this shade, but those firmly entrenched in the NC-N range might find this too yellow. Depth-wise, it's comparable to C3, though I think it might be about half a shade darker.

When swatched side-by-side, the C3 is very peachy looking, Alima's W3 is a creamy yellow-based beige, & EM's Fairly Light Golden looks like a more-tan mix of the two. Note: EM's foundation does not apply nearly as dark as it appears in this swatch.



Coverage/Application: As expected, I get much fuller coverage w/ a sponge than I do w/ a brush. With a sponge, I can get very full, opaque coverage, but it also means that I notice the slight color difference between the foundation & my skin. It can also look a little cakey and powdery with the sponge. With a brush (EM's long-handled kabuki, incidentally), I can still get medium-full coverage by building up layers, but the application is slightly sheerer, so the color difference isn't as noticeable & it's not powdery looking at all.

Finish: When I swatch this on my hand, it's frosty and almost metallic looking. When I apply it to my face w/ a brush, though, I get an amazing, beautifully glowy, illuminated, soft-focus look. It's very smooth (like StudioFix, but less powdery feeling) & manages to make my skin feel non-sticky to the touch w/o making me look powdery. Overall, I love the way this makes my skin look, BUT, I do notice that, when I look really close in the mirror, this powder does seem to accentuate my pores and settle ever so slightly into the texture of my skin/very fine lines on my forehead. (This is not a problem I've ever had with either StudioFix or Alima's foundation.) It's not horrible, and certainly not noticeable from a foot away, but I just wanted to mention it for people who are wary of this.

(Also, I haven't photographed it yet, so I don't know if it leaves a white cast.)

Lasting Power: I've been trying this without a primer (just using my Olay Complete moisturizer underneath), & it's lasted quite well on my oily-prone skin. It does fade on my t-zone after about 8+ hrs & I have to blot once during the day, but that's normal for me. Fortunately, it doesn't make me oiliER throughout the day, unlike StudioFix. I'll try this w/ a primer (Fyrinnae's Rice Primer Powder) in a few days.

Price: To note: it's actually about the same price as StudioFix. EM's is US$12 for 8g of product, & StudioFix is US$25 for 15g. StudioFix also comes in a sturdier, plastic compact w/ a mirror & separate compartment for a sponge.

Overall, I like this foundation quite a lot so far. I'm not breaking out from it, it doesn't make me oilier (provided I remember to use a bit less moisturizer), it wears well throughout the day, the coverage & finish are great, & the application is slightly faster & more portable than loose powder. The only real downsides are that I'm not in love w/ the color match, the packaging isn't as sturdy as I'd like it to be, and there's no place to put a puff. There's also that funny smell others have noted, but it doesn't bother me too much & does fade upon application.

I'm not quite ready to give up my Alima foundation completely, but I'm more than willing to keep trying this one out!

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