Sheer Cover Mineral Makeup
30 Day Introductory Kit - R.R.P. £29.99
What Do I Think?
First thoughts upon receiving the Sheer Cover kit were that it was packaged really well, which counts for a lot in my book, efforts made on presentation tick boxes! I was also impressed at how much you receive in the intro kit -
kind of obviously perhaps because the point of an intro kit is to introduce you to the products - and I liked that there is a little information/instruction book which guides you through each product and how to use them - nice touch. This kit is designed to be a 30 day introduction, so bear that in mind when thinking of the sizes/quantities of the products. You get two skincare items - the Conditioning Cleanser (60ml) and the Nourishing Moisturiser SPF15 (30ml), which are obviously designed to be used in prepping the skin prior to make up application - we all know good make up starts with good skincare, so I liked the fact these products were included. You get two 1.5g pots of Mineral Foundation (you chose your colour range when ordering, from light, medium, tan and dark) and a 1.5g Concealer Duo (again, colour is specified from the colour range you chose). There is also a Mascara (4ml) and 7 bonus gifts which include a Colour Compact and four Make Up Brushes (2 x face brushes, one eye brush and one concealer). At the moment I have a cleansing and moisturising routine/products that I like, is working and I'm not inclined to deviate from it, so aside from trying these out the two skincare items for a couple of days I didn't use them: they were nothing special, the moisturiser was a little too greasy for my skin, and I actually didn't think that it left a good base for the mineral foundation. The two Foundation shades for 'light' skintones are Bisque and Nude, both of which are unfortunately upon reflection just to dark and yellow toned for my skin. I did try out both shades for about 7 days (not consecutively) and enjoyed using them, but ultimately the colours were not a good match for my skintone which was disappointing. Personally I feel there should be more choice with the foundation colours for the kits, it is very unlikely that everyone with a 'light', 'medium', 'tan' or 'dark' skintone is going to match exactly to one or both of the two shades. In terms of coverage I was really surprised with this Foundation, I've never dabbled too much in mineral make up, purely because I was of the assumption the face would look powdery and cakey, and I'm sure there are mineral products that would do that, but the Sheer Cover foundation applies and blends nicely, covers blemishes and imperfections and has a nice natural finish (if you look beyond the yellow tone on my skin!). I was impressed, but perhaps not impressed enough because it is hard to judge a foundation correctly when it's simply the wrong shade for you. The Concealer comes in duo form, with a lighter and darker shade, and out of all of the products in the kit, this is the one thing I'd be tempted to repurchase, because it's a great creamy consistency, not too thick or too thin, it doesn't cake or settle into lines, and it helped to conceal my (awful) dark circles and blemishes/redness really well. In my opinion the mascara isn't worth dwelling on, I didn't expect it to be any good, and it wasn't...it's not that I'm picky about mascara per se, but I know what I do and don't like! I decided not to use the Colour Compact because I knew that a friend would like to try it out, but from other reviews I have seen, there are no stand out products/colours from it that I missed out on - plus, I feel good for sharing! The four brushes I have mixed opinions on...the face brush, which I used in place of a kabuki, for applying the mineral foundation is a decent size, and picks up a decent amount of product, but it's just a bit too scratchy on the skin, and I really had to work at blending the product in with it. There is another face brush that has a compartment for filling with your foundation (or a mix of the two shades) but I didn't use that, the brush looked too small and again, quite scratchy. The concealer brush is nice for applying concealer to blemishes or other areas you may need to conceal, but not so good for the under eye area, but then I prefer to use my fingers to apply and blend my concealer anyway! The large eye brush (well, that's what I use it for!) is really, really nice, a lot softer than the other brushes, and is perfect for an all over wash of colour, I use this pretty much everyday. This is a pretty hefty review, so I'm not going to bog you down with much more, I will just say that my overall opinion of the Sheer Cover products is immediately tarnished by the fact you have to sign up to a monthly payment plan if you wish to use them, or buy the products individually but I personally think they are overpriced for the quantity and quality. I think this is a good starter kit to mineral make up, if you can find a shade to suit your skintone, and I do like the concept of mineral make up, and will endeavour to use it again, I just don't think Sheer Cover is for me.
Where Is It Available?
Sheer Cover is available to buy in some department stores (my friend has seen it in Debenhams) and on the Sheer Cover website. Click here for more info from the site itself.
How Much Will It Cost?
This introductory kit retails for £29.99.
Would I Recommend It?
In theory yes, and no! In my opinion it's a good coverage foundation, the concealer is brilliant, and it is all presented beautifully, but there are a lot of products in the kit I just didn't like, or that I think were not of a high enough quality. If you want to try mineral make up then look into Sheer Cover, but I won't be using it again for all of the reasons I've stated above.
Star Rating:
3/5
I found it quite hard to rate this, because whilst I like some of the products, the foundation colours did not match me exactly and the brushes were quite poor quality. I really don't like the idea of the plan you have to sign up to, I wouldn't want to be tied to a payment plan, so for that reason, I felt I couldn't rate this any higher than a 3.
*Disclaimer: I was sent these products to review by Sheer Cover's PR company. I chose what I would like to receive from a list of products, and having always been interested in trying mineral foundation properly, I opted for this kit. I'm not affiliated with Sheer Cover or the PR company. As always, all views expressed are my very own :)
