Monave Mineral Cosmetics is my first "Featured Brand of the Week!" I am starting this new feature, wherein I will select a brand and, every day of that week, review a different product from the line. I am pleased to make Monave my first featured brand, as it is a Baltimore-based, woman of color-owned business and is devoted to creating cosmetics suitable for women of all colors.
Monave is owned by Deborah Bilezikian, a woman of Armenian and Caucasian parentage. Her clientele is about 50% African American, as Baltimore is a majority Black city. As Deborah grew up being unable to find products suited for her olive skin, she has made a conscious effort to address the needs of African American, Middle Eastern, Latino, and Asian women, as well as Caucasian. She has created a brand that truly suits our needs, and manages to do so at a price that is affordable for most, if not all. For those of you who are environmentally-minded and health conscious, Monave products are absolutely not tested on animals and 95% of the products are vegan. All packaging materials and paper are recycled.
I have tried a few different colors in the Monave foundation line and finally found my perfect match, Beverly. I love this foundation! Like all loose mineral foundations, it can be messy to apply, however, it comes nicely packaged and I have not found it to spill out in my make-up bag during the day. The powder buffs on smoothly and silkily and stays put during the day - I have not found that I need to add a finishing powder to keep it in place, nor does it add any oiliness to my already oily skin. However, for those of you with extremely oily skin, Monave does offer setting powders that will give a matte finish. Keep in mind that each Monave foundation does have a slight glow, so if you're one who truly wants a matte look, a setting powder would be in order.
Also, for all you dry-skinned gals who shy away from mineral cosmetics because you're worried that you'll wind up looking flaky, Monave offers cream and mousse formulations of the foundation, as well.
I purchased a full-size Beverly foundation from the website, but, for those of you who aren't certain about your shade match, you can order samples from the site - they come in sets of four and each jar holds enough product to last you a while as you make up your mind. I have called into the office and have found the customer service to be friendly, efficient and knowledgable. For all you Maryland ladies, you can walk into the Fells Point location and have a consultation right then and there.
Monave Foundation can be purchased for $25 for a full-size or $35 for a full-size and refill on www.monave.com. If you want to try the sample sets, they retail for $10.
As I unwrapped the last product I'd bought to try from the 100% Pure Cosmetics line, I was filled with trepidation. I'd not loved the lip glosses, mascara, or cheek gels, what made me think I would like this? Well ... I do like it. I guess. I mean, I'm wearing it today and it doesn't look quite as artificial as the Darac Beauty Sifted Blur, but it, too, doesn't have as natural a look as I'm used to. It goes on looking ... powdery ... as powders are wont to do. Still, once my skin's natural oils mix with the product a bit, I find that the Peach Pigmented Healthy Glow Powder looks fairly nice. It's an okay lightweight powder, which feels very nice going on, thanks to the included extra-cute kabuki brush. I do like that this powder comes in three different shades - I bought Golden Peach, which is for darker skintones. It doesn't have the same grayige effect as the Darac Beauty Powder. I do really like the ever-so-faint whiff of peach scent that you get from the powder. I like the darling compact. And I really love the SPF 20.
