Review: Youngblood and Making Faces

I have been having tons of fun with my new makeup line, Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics.  After using it exclusively for the last couple weeks and even traveling with it at one point, I am happy to report that I’ve been thrilled with my purchases.  I discussed earlier how I was first introduced to the company and how it was going to take me a while to get that makeup artist look.  I haven’t gotten there yet, but I’m getting closer.  Below, I’ll review some of the Youngblood products I’ve used the most.  Inevitably, since I’m switching from Jane Iredale to Youngblood, I’ll be making comparisons between the two product lines.

1. Mineral Primer, Regular Retail Price: $37.50. As I mentioned before near the end of my first Youngblood review, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to invest in this product.  I decided to go ahead, and I’m thrilled that I did.  Makeup primer does for skin a lot of what paint primer does for walls (about which, btw, don’t ever go cheap and not prime your walls when you’re painting in your home — totally not worth saving that money).  When you prime your walls, you are 1) filling in the cracks and holes on the surface, and 2) helping the paint adhere to the surface even better.  Youngblood’s Mineral Primer has the same effect, but this time the surface is your face.  The mineral primer is a silicone-based formula (specifically, dimethicone) that helps fill in your pores and wrinkles and allows you to use less makeup for a flawless effect.  It has a very silk-to-powder feel, and it is pleasant to have applied to your skin, acting like a second level of moisturizer.  Youngblood does not create a tinted primer (though they do have Mineral Radiance Moisture Tint, if you’re interested in a tinted base), but the translucent solution does not affect any color formulations, so you’re good to go with your own blends with or without the primer.  The product also contains antioxidants and Vitamin E, thus adding some protective benefits from the sun.  But what do I love the most?  I need less than one pump to cover my whole face!  Since I don’t use the mineral primer every day, I can only imagine when the whole bottle would eventually be used up, some long time in the future.
2. Mineral Rice Setting Powder (Loose), Regular Retail Prince: $22.00. When I used Jane Iredale’s product line, the setting mist/ hydration spray was an absolute must if you wanted the minerals to look flawless on your face.  So, when I saw that Youngblood had Minerals in the Mist, I naturally assumed it was a similar product.  However, as I learned more about Youngblood, I found that the “equivalent substitute” was not a liquid spray, but a powder.  You can use this powder before (as a primer), with (creating a matte look), and after you apply foundation (to help it last longer).  The powder is fantastic for people who suffer from oily skin; the mixture of rice starch, corn starch, and minerals can absorb the oil (sebum) produced from your face, without drying it out excessively.  Based on this product alone, I prefer Youngblood to Jane Iredale.  When using Jane Iredale’s products, I often felt that my makeup could not stand up to my face’s oil production throughout the day. With Youngblood’s line, I still have that matte finish I want even when I’m leaving work to brave the LA freeways.  Another useful aspect about the rice setting powder is that you can adjust the amount based on your personal oil production.  If you’re only oily in the T-zone, concentrate more powder in that area.  Jane Iredale has a product called Absence, which is very useful for controlling sebum, but in my opinion it does not last as long as the Mineral Rice Setting powder.  It is also more expensive ($35.50), which is a big no-no for a grad student who wants to be glam.  I love multitaskers at a good price!  You can get the Rice Setting Powder in three different shades (fair, medium, and dark) to complement your foundation.
3. Natural Mineral Foundation (Loose), Regular Retail Price: 38.00. I can’t describe how much I love Youngblood’s mineral foundation.  This is the item that turned me away from my former brand.  When I was using Jane Iredale, my normal color, Latte, was just not working out for me anymore, but I couldn’t find another shade that would match very well.  When I went to the Youngblood event, my makeup artist only used the mineral foundation Coffee, in conjunction with the Mineral Rice Setting powder.  I definitely had had some issues with the foundation, as I was putting too much on and getting darker than I really am.  The Coffee is a fantastic bronze — I’ve learned,  in lieu of blush, I can apply more of it to my cheeks to create that sun-bronzed natural look.  Because of a sale, I bought some of the loose Toffee foundation (well, Heath Bar ice cream is my favorite; if I like a mix of toffee and coffee in my mouth, why wouldn’t I like it on my face?!).  It seems to me — though I need to work with it some more — that it’s a better match for me, now that my skin is lightening up as we enter the fall season.  For now, I blend a very small amount of Toffee with Coffee to create my perfect shade.  I went back and looked at my samples from Jane Iredale, and found that I’d never gotten the right color family for my skin.  So, if you’ve got a global ethnic skin and you’re not satisfied by even Jane Iredale’s line, I would totally recommend the family of darker colors from Youngblood.  (It’s true, Jane Iredale has a *lot* more shades, and you can mix the loose powders, as well, so if you found something that works from them, great!)  Both companies create silky formulations for their foundations and both are pleasant to touch.  I think I just prefer Youngblood’s now.  I use less, it’s cheaper (Jane Iredale’s Regular Retail Price: $42), and matches my color better.  I have been nothing but thrilled with the switch. One quick note: Jane Iredale puts an SPF factor on her products and Youngblood does not.  When inquired, the company explained they do not put SPF ratings on their products because your SPF protection “increases” with as you increase the coverage.  For people like me who lightly brush foundation on their face, it would mean I have less protection from UVA/UVB rays compared to someone who puts on a fair bit more.  Note that the active “sunscreen” ingredient titanium dioxide is present in both companies’ products, though zinc oxide, a very powerful sunscreen agent, is only present in Jane Iredale’s loose foundation.
4. Crushed Mineral Blush, Regular Retail Price: $20.00. Before Youngblood, I hadn’t used a “loose” mineral blush powder.  Jane Iredale has some lovely pressed blushes that I wouldn’t give up, but I *adore* the Cabernet shade from Youngblood.  What blew me away was how little I needed to use.  I barely tapped a “speck” or two out, and it was almost more than enough — I may have even looked a little red-faced drunk the first time!  When applying the blush to the cheeks, it’s better to use a contour brush than a flat or kabuki brush.  If you have a fan brush, you may find it easier to blend up the cheek and jawline.  I have some of the lighter shades as well, like Sherbet, which I think for my dark sin would act better as a highlighter than some rouge-like blush.  Youngblood does offer pressed blushes, and I do have some at my disposal, but I haven’t used them just yet, so I can’t compare the two items.  Between the Coffee bronzing foundation and Carbernet, I think I’m set for my “standard” cheek color (though “someone” may have put the Adobe color on her Amazon wishlist… heehee!).
5. Travel! I recently traveled up to San Francisco and took all my new makeup with me.  Part of the glory of Jane Iredale’s pressed products was that they were so easy to move around with.  (That said, I’ve had some of my pressed eyeshadows “break” in my bag, making a very pink mess.)  Needless to say, I wondered how all of Youngblood’s loose foundations would hold up.  I am happy to say that most of the products passed with flying colors.  If you look at the containers for the loose foundation and blush, you may notice that there is very little vertical clearance between the holes of the sifter and the top of the jar.  This aspect is brilliant not only in that it’s space saving, but also it prevents anything from getting shaken loose from the jar and into the cap by accident.  For some reason, however, the rice setting powder is in a more “standard” sift jar, so a lot of it fell “out” into the cap.  I was not very pleased with this, but it took very little effort to open up the plastic cover and put all the loose setting powder back in the jar, then close the whole item shut again.  I was a bit stunned by the decision to use a regular jar after observing the brilliance of the other containers, but, ::shrug::, I’m sure it was some business decision in some meeting.  In the future, I may opt for smaller travel jars, because I am deathly afraid that some idiot flight attendant will break everything in my suitcase, and I’ll be left without any makeup.  ::sniff:: Just thinking about that possibility makes me sad!

So, those are my basic thoughts after using Youngblood’s products for the last several weeks.  The colors are just beautiful, the feel is silky, and it’s ending up with a more natural finish on my skin.  It definitely has a “new” appeal, too, but what I’m truly digging is the lower cost for longer-lasting makeup!  I still think Jane Iredale makes fine, excellent products, but the cost difference as well as Youngblood’s final product makes it harder for me to put any more money into my old company.  I still have a bunch of awesome items from Jane Iredale that won’t be ignored in my makeup drawer, including the awesome cream-to-powder eyeliner, my pressed blushes and eyeshadows, and lipsticks & glosses.  Gorgeous is as gorgeous does, and I don’t regret anything I’ve bought from them (Jane Iredale) in the past, even if I don’t get anything new from them in the future.  As for Youngblood,  I continue to be impressed with them.  As a SoCal company that I get to support now, I welcome trying out all their new products in the future.