Review - Laura Mercier Mineral Powder

I'm a nightmare when it comes to foundations - too much coverage, too many ingredients that I can't pronounce or, should all other requirements be met, the shade is almost always wrong.

So enter the Laura Mercier Mineral Powder in Soft Porcelain - not too dark, too yellow, too pink, too heavy, containing too many weird ingredients which I can't pronounce, or too messy to apply. I've been wanting a new mineral foundation for a while, having settled into just using a bit of concealer set with translucent powder - I was looking for something to give me a little bit more coverage, but still look natural. So I wandered into Space NK and had a cursory glance around, before finding this powder on display. I was matched to Soft Porcelain - the lightest, neutral shade - and bought the pressed powder - as one of the sales assistants pointed out, I'd probably have ended up hoovering out my handbag every week if I had the loose powder knocking around in there.

I apply this over my under-eye corrector (Bobbi Brown Corrector) and concealer (Collection Lasting Perfection), using a Real Techniques buffing brush, and it gives just the perfect amount of coverage - it's difficult to describe, but it gives a pretty flawless finish on me, whilst still looking incredibly natural and "glowy". Because I have slightly oily skin, I like to mattify my T-zone using Vichy Dermablend powder, but if you have drier skin than me, this wouldn't be at all necessary - the glow is beautiful, but it's not a look that really suits me!

The mineral powder has wonderful longevity - I took the dog on a three hour walk in the countryside, and when I came back, only my hair looked like I'd been dragged through a hedge backwards; my makeup still fully intact. It contains SPF 15, which is enough for some people on a daily basis, but I do prefer to apply a higher factor beneath my makeup because I'm as pale as a ghost, so I burn pathetically quickly.

My only issue is the price - £31 for 8.1 grams seems a bit steep to me, but I'm willing to let that slide due to the fact that a little of this product does go a long way, and I'm sure my little compact will last me a fairly long time due to this and the staying power of the powder.

So overall, I'm very impressed with my first foray into Laura Mercier products - the shade is perfect, and it looks incredibly natural for a foundation. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anybody on the lookout for a new foundation!