Anyways on with the review, the first item I picked for my September / October review was a make up product. I've recently talked to an increasing number of people who are looking towards trying out more "natural" based make up products. My Pure offers an array of natural and organic make up brands including Alva. Established in Germany in 1988 as predominantly a skincare brands, they've recently branched out into natural and certified organic based make up, which is also Vegan, and both talc and carmine free. All the Alva Coleur make up products also include a exclusive complex called Wellmune, a patented beta glucane that aids the immune system making their cosmetics suitable for those with sensitive skin conditions including eczema and dermatitis.
The product that I chose was the Alva Coleur Organic Baked Foundation Powder in Light. Packaged in a shiny black compact with a mirror and a separate section for the sponge, this powder is a similar product to the MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural, a baked, domed powder which you can use either on it's own or over a liquid foundation
As well as the patented Wellmune formula the powder also contains extracts of Evening Primrose. Red Grapevine, and Macadamia Nut Oil.
The first thing I noticed about this product was the smell - it has a nutty creamy smell almost a bit like cocoa butter - it was quite distinctive but not unpleasant but it did have a tendency to linger on the skin
Like a lot of baked powders you do need to scrape a tiny bit off the top to really access the powder properly but when you do it has a light texture that isn't as powdery as some I've tried - you have a choice of 2 colours I chose the lightest which is surprisingly enough called Light, and there is also a Medium shade - it's a pretty good match to my skin normally but I have a tan here so hopefully you'll be able to see it a bit better
Hopefully as you can see it isn't a completely matte texture it does have a slight bit of sheen to it which unfortunately does tend to emphasize your pores a bit.
Although it does come with a velour puff I found it much easier to apply it with a kabuki brush. The velour puff didn't seem to grab enough powder compared to the buffing action I used with the kabuki.
Now a few first of all a scary, no make up picture :)
Afterwards with just the powder foundation , the redness has pretty much gone and the skin tone is much approved
This picture was taken the following day and shows the powder used to set a liquid foundation, again a decent coverage and you can probably see a little bit more of the glowy finish here
So what do I think well this is certainly a decent product, as with a lot of baked products it takes a little bit of perseverance to get it going but the coverage is good and I actually like the fact that it isn't as powdery as some, I also don't mind the smell, what I am not so keen on is the eventual finish. If your like me and you like a true matte finish this probably isn't for you, despite been described by both Alva and My Pure as a matte finish I do find it a bit glowy and sheeny, this isn't a bad thing but it does tend the emphasise the pores a bit. This is one of my first forays into natural make up and based on this it certainly won't be my last. Any questions please ask.The Alva Coleur Organic Baked Foundation Powder retails at £18.50 for 9g from My Pure.
*Sample
Great reveiw, Thanks!
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