Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation Mineral Makeup SPF 15

What Bobbi Brown says:

• A unique blend of mineral powders perfects skin's appearance without leaving an unnatural and artificial looking sheen.
• Vitamin C & E Complex helps protect against skin-aging free radicals.
• Glycerin, Soybean Extract & Ceramides help soften and smooth skin.
• Sodium hyaluronate helps prevent dryness and caking.
• $38.00

I have very few experiences with powder foundations. Bare Minereals mineral powder is the only other loose powder I have tried. Make Up For Ever powder compact and Chanel Double Perfection compact are the two pressed powders I have used in the past. I have combination-dry skin so liquid foundations tend to look more natural on me. But after going on a long makeup hiatus, I somehow convinced myself that I needed a powder foundation.

I got "Extra Light" which is the second to lightest shade in the range.
Here are the liquid foundation colors I have used that I can remember:

• Bobbi Brown Oil-Free Even Finish Compact Foundation in Warm Ivory 1: true yellow undertones - perfect match.
• MAC NC20: leans slightly pink.
• Hera HD Foundation (Moist) in 21 and 15: Combination of both give me the right color but it does lean pink.
• Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua in B10 Beige pastel: a tad too dark/pink.
• Nars Sheer Glow in Deuville (light 4): a tad too dark/yellow.
• Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream in No.21: too grey? then oxidizes into pink.
• Make Up For Ever HD Foundation in 117: Perfect match in the beginning and oxidized into pink.
• Chanel Teint Innocence Compact [discontinued] in Cameo 1.0: Slightly pink.
• YSL Teint Resist in 02 Blond: Perfect match - maybe even a little too light.
• Givenchy Photo'Perfexion Light Foundation in #4 Light beige: Slightly pink.

As you can see, I am very critical of anything that makes me look pink. I have acne scars and redness around my cheeks so I do not like any pink in my foundations. I find that many French brands' yellow-based colors are still too pink for my liking, such as Chanel, MUFE, Givenchy and Lancome. I believe the lightest yellow-based Lancome shade is too pink for my liking. Bobbi Brown's "Extra Light" is suitable for someone who would wear Warm Ivory 1 in Bobbi Brown shades.

Applied on left, bare faced on right. Taken under sunlight.

Applied on both sides. Taken under sunlight.

It is light coverage - just enough to cover redness of your skin. No, it does not cover your pores or acne scars, but it leaves a nice sheen on your face without making you look caked on. Surprisingly, the sheen doesn't accentuate the pores, but rather it enhances some glow at my cheeks. In the picture, you can see that the sheen bounces light off my face, whereas my barefaced section looks dark and sallow.

Instead of removing the peel-off sticker, I pierced holes through the sticker so it wouldn't cause too much of a spillage. I tap this onto the lid and  apply this with a kabuki brush. The MUA said, "a little goes a long way!". Well I don't know what she's smoking because I pour this stuff on my face. You can never achieve full coverage or caked-on coverage so it was nice to see a natural finish after buffing it in a million times onto certain areas on my face. My mouth area is on the dry side but it doesn't crease or accentuate dryness as much as other powder foundations. Actually, I would say it looks the same around my mouth as when I put on liquid foundation. This is more finely milled than Bare Minerals because yes, it is possible to cake Bare Minerals on your face.

As for oil control, it is quite a nice surprise to find my face to not feel so sticky after 5 hours of wear, which is what happens with use of liquid foundation + finishing powder. As I mentioned before, the powder doesn't cover my pores. So when I start getting oily near my nose (about 6 hours after application), I can see my pores as large as their usual size in the mornings. So I can't say its oil control is the best BUT the most important point is that the powder doesn't crease when oil comes at bay... MUFE Compact, I am looking at you...
As the powder wears off after 6 hours, my redness tends to come back slightly but any woman with a social life would probably go to the ladies room and touch up anyway. As a caution, I have worn this during my gym workouts and I end up coming out with no sign of makeup on my face.

I highly recommend this if you have redness, oily skin, and slight imperfections that you don't care too much to fully cover up. The color range is extremely yellow-based and it can go light without going pink or ghastly white. If you prefer medium-full coverage, this is definitely not for you. I chose this primarily based off it's natural finish with nice sheen that doesn't emphasize the pores, and its perfect color match.

MakeupAlley has it currently rated 4.0 with 30 reviews.