Cory Cosmetics Mineral Foundation

I used Cory for years, and while I've been happy with the product (mostly), her customer service sucks. She gouged on shipping ($10 to ship one jar of makeup?!) and she refuses to answer emails. I bought my last purchase from her back in the Spring and it never came in. The site is still up and running, but she's not fulfilling orders anymore. I also had to file with Paypal to get my money back.

I can't use mica makeup, so this was a big loss for me. The other big brands, like Sterling Cosmetics, were just too expensive for me to continue buying, and their product wasn't cutting it for my needs. I have cystic acne and scarring that can require a heavier application of makeup. Sterling Cosmetics requires a wet application which just makes you look ashy.

HOWEVER, I did start making my own makeup based on her formula. All you need is titanium dioxide and iron oxides (red, brown, and a true yellow (some yellows are warm and turn pink on your skin)). Add about 2T titanium dioxide and then start adding your iron oxides a little at a time. I was the absolute cream, and I ended up using about 2t yellow iron oxide, a pinch red, and about 1/4t brown oxide. I put them in a small glass jar and shook them until it was incorporated. If I had little clumps, I smashed them with the back of a spoon and shook more. To get all of the ingredients (which I purchased from Etsy) cost me about $25, and I have enough ingredients to make about a three year supply (I'm a daily user). The ingredients also allowed me to make my own blush customized to my color needs. If you're like me and this was the only brand of makeup you could use, try out making your own before you give up. It's not nearly as hard as you think. Had I realized how easy it was to make my own, I would have stopped using Cory's stuff years ago.

DO NOT BUY FROM HER! She will take your money and never send the product. I've been waiting months for my order, which I now know will never come. I filed a dispute with PayPal, so hopefully I'll be able to get a refund. Wish I read these reviews before buying.

As with some of the ladies here, i have bought mica free make up from cory cosmetics.

Unfortunately the last 2 orders were not fulfilled and couldn't get through to cory via emails as her inbox was full. So i had to file a claim with paypal to get my money back. I think she might have gone out of business and she should close down her website if that was the case.

Customer service is dreadful but i put up with it as her products were really good especially the bronzers and blushes. I've recently orderd samples from another mica free mineral make up supplier in the US called nudiskin and will review their products once I've tried them.

Never received my order from Cory. I have bought for several years from her but now she doesn't answer e-mails, just took my money and never sent my product. I finally called my credit card company today and filed a dispute. This is really a shame, she had very good products.

Seeing that Cory is still taking everyones money but not sending their order or returning the money, not answering e-mails, etc. I think it's time everyone that has paid Cory and not received their product contact their Attorney Generals office. She needs to shut down her website and stop accepting payments if she is no longer in business. This is fraud and illegal.

When I run out of the old batch I still have, I won't be ordering again. I ordered back in April. Her website says to expect shipping in about a week, so when I didn't get any info about shipping 5 weeks later I emailed to ask about the order. I've emailed three times since and have yet to get any response from Cory. Either she's no longer in business or she just didn't feel like filling my order. Would love to hear from anyone who's actually received any product from her website recently.

I ordered from cory cosmetics a whole month ago.... I emailed her emails on the website, but got a return saying it was undelivered. Then, I looked at the paypal transaction and there was a different email on that for her. Anyway, emailed that email address too, requiring about my order. It sent, that was about ten days ago..still no package, no response. I honestly wonder if she is still open? Its very misleading to have a website up, get peoples money. Just wondering has anyone received something from her recently?

I ordered from Cory over 20 days ago. Since then I've written multiple emails to inquire about shipment. None have been returned. Then I wrote an email from a bogus address asking if she was out of business. She immediately wrote back saying no I'm not out of business. But won't return my emails on my order. Which makes me wonder if she's stealing money...Worst service ever. Will update when received products, but as of now, NEVER again!

Just started using the MICA FREE (non rice starch) samples of this foundation. I decided to order this because I have a sneaking suspicion that I am highly sensitive to mica and that it had been causing breakouts and irritation to previous breakouts.

So far I have only used it once, so I can't report on the breakout situation just yet (it takes me about 3-5 days for me to determine) but I decided to actually put it on at night and sleep in it. This is not recommended with any makeup, but I thought it would be a good idea to test staying power and acute sensitivity. Here are my thoughts:


Price: Stuff is cheap as far as MMU goes (or should I say adequately priced, as MMU is dirt cheap to produce and is highly overpriced from most retailers) the samples are also very affordable at about 45 cents a sample.


Finish: Surprisingly smooth and light, though a bit... sticky/tacky? I have tried EDM and Alima previous to this, and they felt so dry, gritty and heavy. No settling into fine lines, and my face was not shiny, streaky or dry when I woke up in the morning - super impressed. I can't imagine it would be that great in warm weather, or folks with super oily skin, but I can't say for sure.


Staying Power: Lasted all night without smearing off my face. I have a feeling that it might slide right off your face during a hot humid day, but it's winter now so I can't really test that theory.


Coverage: A little goes a very long way, whereas I noticed I had to pile on EDM and Alima to get any coverage, or use a concealer underneath. This stuff? You need nothing else. Everything was covered without feeling heavy at all.

Colors: One downfall of this foundation is that the colors are super strange. They do not coincide at all with any other mineral foundations out there, so you should really consider buying as many samples as possible to get your match. I'm a pretty typical white-girl skin tone and I found that the cream colors were closest match to me. The colors do seem to walk the line of being too light or too dark, and I'm not sure how they oxidize but I've heard that they do.


Smell: I am one of the many people who have noticed a strong cigarette smell from a few of the baggies I've received. I'm not sure what this is from. I'm thinking of writing to Cory about it to determine where it comes from, because it seems a bit odd.


Overall: I like this stuff, but as much as I like it, I really need to make sure I don't break out from it. Will update when I do find out (I've heard she uses a ton of titanium dioxide, which gives more coverage but can aggravate oily places on the skin.)

EDIT: Apparently my skin can't handle titanium dioxide either. Getting under the skin little bumps.. very frustrating. Probably the worst reaction to MMU I've had so far. Also noticed that the makeup gets... liquidy during the day. Don't think I will keep subjecting myself to this, it's very painful. The hunt continues.

I never thought I would switch from a liquid makeup to a mineral powder makeup, but Cory's MMU is so good I have! I always used liquid because my sensitive skin can get dry, but Cory's doesn't dry me out. I also have had red blotchy reactions to the couple other mineral makeups I've tried (it seems to be a reaction to mica), but if anything, Cory's makeup makes my skin look better even once I wash it off. Since it only has two ingredients (titanium dioxide and iron oxides), it doesn't irritate my skin at all. I do have to use a moisturizer under it, but I've always had to wear moisturizer anyway.

A few tips—I use a powder puff to apply rather than a brush (brushes always seem to irritate my skin more somehow and waste product). This may be why I have an easier time applying this than some others (although I've occasionally gotten a red streak, it's super easy to buff out with a powder puff). I also like to apply it when my moisturizer's still a bit damp - one to two minutes after I've applied the moisturizer. This helps keep it from being cakey I've found. It's very full-coverage without looking unnatural—once you've found the right color that is. I generally have to mix two. The coverage is so good, I don't have to use concealer or powder anymore! I always had to use concealer and powder with liquid foundation. Some people mentioned the shiny-ness; I like to blot throughout the day, and this works fine, or for occasions when I want a more matte look, I've found I can put a translucent pressed powder over it (I like Lorac's) and that works well too. I tried her rice powder finisher but it didn't really help with the shine.

Despite the minor flaws I've mentioned, my favorite part about using this is that it actually seems to improve my skin (less blotchy, no breakouts) and that is worth it in my opinion! The samples are cheap, so order a bunch to find your shade. Also, her blushes are the best I've found (and I am very picky about blush). Give it a try!

Update: Well, almost 5 years, I've found something much better. What happened is, I went to order some blush and the site was down. So I messaged her on Facebook and she didn't know the site was down and put it back up, said some nice things, etc. Well, the next day when the site was back up, I ordered my blush, but in the meantime, in a panic, I had ordered some mica-free mineral powders from other sites. Then, the package took over a month to arrive! And I emailed, messaged, etc. with no response; I had practically given up on it. Meanwhile out of the samples I received, I fell in love with a mica free makeup from Beauty Bliss Cosmetics. You can read my review about it, but in short, it has much better staying power, color options, and a more natural coverage than Cory's, which I was trying to mix two or more colors of to match my skintone (I'm just a medium-toned white girl). I don't need that much coverage and no matter how hard I tried, it was either too light, too dark, too orange-y or too pink for my skintone. I do still love her blush though! I just doctor it up by mixed it with half face powder because other-wise, it's way too pigmented, and you can easily end up looking like a clown. But toned down, it's perfect.

I really like this foundation, as I have extremely sensitive skin that is combination and likes to break out. This has cleared up some of my breakouts, has not clogged my pores, and does a pretty good job of keeping shine at bay. The coverage is great... no extra concealer needed, and a little bit goes a long way. In fact, I have lived off of one little sample baggie of foundation for almost three weeks. Many have complained of a cigarette smoke smell with her products. I noticed the smell, but it is actually the rice starch she works with a lot, and not tobacco. Also, people complained about shipping. I must admit I was a little bummed by the $8.95 shipping charge for something I could have mailed for $3 or less. However, two things keep me from being upset: the makeup price itself is so dang cheap that even adding a couple dollars per product (from shipping) still makes it very affordable. Also, shipping two days to me (in Kentucky) is cheaper than shipping five days to California, so she probably breaks even on the shipping charges.

Anyway, I have been an Alima girl for years, and I still do love Alima. However, I have developed a sensitivity to Mica, which means, sadly, I can only use Alima on my eyes and lips. If you want great coverage, staying power, decent color selection and all at an affordable price, Cory Cosmetics is great. Definitely use with a light hand though, as the product is extremely concentrated.