I really wanted to try out Hide-A-Pore from Sweetscents after reading so much great stuff about it on forums. So I mailed Joan the Sweetscents lady, and she not only agreed to send me a bit of Hide-A-Pore for just the shipping costs, but a bunch of other goodies as well!
I had a lot of fun trying everything out, and I want to share my impressions with you because Sweetscents Green Tea Minerals are really great. This is the first time I was trying out mineral makeup that had ingredients that took care of the skin. Green tea is an amazing antioxidant, and is great for oily skin and impurities.
So, here are my impressions:
I used a Dark, and it fitted my skin tone well (I'm a medium in Lumiere).
I tested out both the dry skin version and the normal version, and found that they do just what it says on the label -- the normal version was too drying for the spring (when my skin is dry) but fine for the summer (when my skin turns normal). It's also great apply on any place that looks like a breakout happening. One night I came home after a night of partying at 4:00 AM with an imminent breakout on my forehead. I removed my makeup and applied the Green Tea Overnight rejuvenation. Six hours later I woke up with a clear forehead!
You can buy all the Green Tea Minerals and much more at Sweetscents.com -- especially lots of coloured stuff. Don't let the website layout put you off -- many mineral makeup brands have clumsy sites because they are usually run by one or two persons. Sweetscents makes great products and has lots of fans on the internet.
Have you ever tried anything from Sweetscents? Are you tempted to now? What looks most interesting to you? Do you know any other mineral makeup brands worth recommending?
I had a lot of fun trying everything out, and I want to share my impressions with you because Sweetscents Green Tea Minerals are really great. This is the first time I was trying out mineral makeup that had ingredients that took care of the skin. Green tea is an amazing antioxidant, and is great for oily skin and impurities.
So, here are my impressions:
Hide-A-Pore
Sweetscents Hide-A-Pore is a concealer and treatment in one: it declogs the pores and it optically hides them. It's meant to be used below makeup, on top of moisturiser. I found that not only does Hide-A-Pore gloss over my skin and make it look smoother, it also makes a great mattifier. Unfortunately the pore-hiding effect is lost when another product is applied over Hide-A-Pore; so I have used Hide-A-Pore as a finisher too. It's also an amazing mattifier -- I don't have oily skin, but it was the only thing that could mattify over-doses of my sunscreen oil.I used a Dark, and it fitted my skin tone well (I'm a medium in Lumiere).
Green Tea Overnight Rejuvenation
This product has very similar ingredients to Hide-A-Pore, but is only a treatment, not a corrector. The Green Tea Overnight Rejuvenation doesn't have a skin-tone colour (it's greenish) so I wouldn't wear it during the day; when I put in on in the evening it disappears by the morning. Unlike the Hide-A-Pore, the Green Tea Overnight Rejuvenation doesn't contain sericite -- the ingredient that reflects light in a way that reduces pores (and fine lines).I tested out both the dry skin version and the normal version, and found that they do just what it says on the label -- the normal version was too drying for the spring (when my skin is dry) but fine for the summer (when my skin turns normal). It's also great apply on any place that looks like a breakout happening. One night I came home after a night of partying at 4:00 AM with an imminent breakout on my forehead. I removed my makeup and applied the Green Tea Overnight rejuvenation. Six hours later I woke up with a clear forehead!
Green Tea Primer
Again, I don't have an oily skin, but tests on my sunscreen oil show that the Sweetscents Green Tea Primer great mattifier. I'm not an expert on primers, but was pretty satisfied with it.Green Tea Finishing Veil
The Green tea finishing veil is a nice finishing powder, adds a very subtle glow to the face. Good at absorbing oil!Green Tea Concealer
I was a bit stumped with this at first. I have only used two concealers in my life, both creamy! The Sweetscents Green Tea Concealer is a powder, and it took me a bit to get the hang of it. I love it on my undereye circles -- it applies evenly and doesn't collect in the creases. It is also great for the dark discolouration on my upper lip -- cream concealers look awful there. I found that foiling (mixing with water) is the best way of using it to spot-conceal small stuff.Rice and Bamboo Silk
These are both meant to be used as primers, and are actually nor minerals but powdered plants. I found the rice silk to be a bit smoother and glossier, but both do the job of smoothing the skin and absorbing oils quite well.
Star Struck Finishing Glow
I love this highlighter. It has the most teeny subtle sparkles ever! Huge sparkles in makeup are my pet peeve, so I really appreciated this highlighter. It's subtle enough for an invisible makeup for the daytime -- I like to put a touch below my eyes and on my cheekbones. Here is a swatch:Green Tea Foundation
This way way too light for my skin tone. It looks like everything turns out lighter on Sweetscents than it looks. Maybe at the end of winter I will be pale enough to use it.Bottom line:
I love the idea that my makeup contains skin-care ingredients! My favourites from the Sweetscents Green Tea Minerals were Hide-A-Pore and the Green Tea Overnight Rejuvenation -- in fact I ordered full-sized jars yesterday! Along with samples of foundations -- I heard they are nicely "creamy" in comparison to other mineral foundations.You can buy all the Green Tea Minerals and much more at Sweetscents.com -- especially lots of coloured stuff. Don't let the website layout put you off -- many mineral makeup brands have clumsy sites because they are usually run by one or two persons. Sweetscents makes great products and has lots of fans on the internet.
Have you ever tried anything from Sweetscents? Are you tempted to now? What looks most interesting to you? Do you know any other mineral makeup brands worth recommending?