Naturalla Beauty

Real Purity is a four generation, family-owned, all-natural and cruelty-free company that's been around since the beginning of the natural product wave. The company makes makeup, skincare, and bath and body items, and specializes in products for sensitive and reactive skin.  I was offered the chance to try a couple products from Real Purity's makeup line and I chose the Pressed Powder* and Desert Rose Powder Blush*.  Real Purity's pressed makeup is made with minimal ingredients and is free of both talc and silicones.  Pressed powder makeup is increasingly available in the green beauty sphere, but inexpensive options are still a little scarce, so I was eager to test these two out!  Keep reading for my thoughts on both...



Desert Rose Powder Blush
I tried a sample of this blush years ago and always intended to come back for the full size.  Now that it's back in my life, I remember just how much I loved it!  The color is a beautiful mauve/plummy-pink unlike anything else I own and Real Purity's blush formula is phenomenal.  Desert Rose is completely matte, and is both pigmented and easy to blend.  Because I'm so fair, I like using a stippling brush to control the amount of product and slowly build the color on my cheeks.  It's super pretty and also very long-wearing.  A lot of blushes tend to fade and disappear off my face throughout the day, but Real Purity's is consistently still there at night when I remove my makeup.

The ingredients are super minimal -- just non-nano minerals, vitamin E, and pycnogenol (pine bark extract).  I genuinely think these are some of the best powder blushes in the green beauty realm and with an affordable $14.99 price tag and thirteen beautiful colors to choose from, you really can't go wrong!  Samples are also available for $1.50.

(L to R) Real Purity Medium Pressed Powder, Desert Rose Powder Blush

Pressed Powder
The Pressed Powder -- again made with only minerals, vitamin E, and pycnogenol -- is a great lightweight powder that can be used on top of liquid and cream products or worn alone, as a light powder foundation.  My first inclination was to pick the lightest shade, but the folks at Real Purity suggested Medium based off my photos and I'm glad they did.  The color looks dark in the compact, but it swatches and applies a little lighter, and anything paler would probably be too light for my skin.  Swatched, the color looks very peachy/neutral, but on my face it leans warmer.  It starts out looking a little too yellow initially, but the powder settles and melts into the skin within about the first half hour, at which point the color looks very natural.

 Check it out beside a few other powder foundations for a better idea of how the color compares:

(Top to Bottom) Real Purity Medium, Honeybee Gardens Geisha, Ecco Bella Fair, Ecco Bella Pale, Everyday Minerals 1N Ivory

The Pressed Powder is matte, but not flat-looking -- more of a natural or satin finish.  Coverage-wise, it gives light coverage, but you can build it up to a decent medium coverage with a couple layers.  Whether you wear one light layer or multiple, the powder really does sit nicely on the skin and doesn't look cakey or overly powdery.  Like the blush, it also wears really well and even does a good job absorbing/controlling oils.  My skin isn't super oily by any means, but I usually blot once in the afternoon and I find it less necessary on days wearing the Real Purity  The powder itself is a little dustier than the blush and it does kick up some extra powder as you apply it, but I think that same soft texture is what makes it so great at absorbing oils throughout the day.  

My only criticism is that, like a lot of smaller natural companies, the shade range is pretty limited.  There are shades for both light and dark skin, but with only four colors, I definitely think there's lots of room to expand.  Personally, I'd love to see a cooler/neutral shade of a similar depth to Medium.



The Bottom Line
Real Purity often falls slightly under the radar in the green blogging sphere, but they're a fantastic company with a long history of making natural products.  I love the brand's emphasis on ingredient purity and on using simple, minimal ingredients to suit sensitive skin, and also that they maintain an affordable price point across the entire range.  The Pressed Blushes are truly some of the best out there, and I also really like the Pressed Powder, although I certainly wouldn't say no to a few more shade options.

Real Purity is offering 20% off site-wide until February 28, 2017 with the code WINTRY.  Alternately, you can shop through my referral link and get $5 off your first purchase.  

With three satins and a matte, this is a fantastic everyday palette.  You have everything you need for a complete eye look and while the colors are work-friendly, they aren't boring.  In general, I've found the READY shadows are great quality, but this satin finish formula is my absolute favorite (and since I'm usually all about shimmery eye shadows, that really says something!)  The shadows are buttery, smooth, and pigmented, but they also blend effortlessly.  The colors aren't chalky or patchy and, dipping into them with a brush, they kick up a lot less powder than a lot of other natural pressed products I've used.  

Because sometimes you stumble into silly, slightly artsy photos and you just have to run with it! ;)

Ecco Bella has been around for over twenty years and has been an innovator for both the non-toxic and cruelty free beauty industries.  The company has a diverse product line, ecompassing skincare, body care, hair care, makeup, perfume, and even household products, but what has always stood out to me most is their selection of talc and silicone-free pressed powder offerings.  I've used several Ecco Bella products over the years, most notably the lipsticks (reviewed here) and blushes, so when I had the opportunity to pick a couple other products to review, I was eager to accept.  Keep reading for my thoughts on the FlowerColor Face Powder*, Cover Up*, and Bronzing Powder*.  And, make sure you read all the way to the end for a chance to win some Ecco Bella products for yourself!



FlowerColor Face Powder
I've used the FlowerColor Face Powder both as a finishing powder on top of cream and liquid products and on its own as a powder foundation and I really like it for both purposes.  The coverage is light but buildable, so depending on the brush you use and the number of layers you apply, it can go anywhere from a feather-light coverage, just to set other makeup, to a decent light to medium coverage that you can easily wear by itself.  It does a good job mattifying the skin and evening out skintone and minor discoloration, but it won't completely cover up things like dark circles or larger blemishes without the help of another product.  The powder has a matte finish, but it never looks dull or powdery on my skin.

I tested the two lightest powders, Fair and Pale, both of which lean pretty warm.  Fair, the lightest shade works on my light, middle-of-winter skin best.  Pale, the next shade up, is darker and seems a lot more yellow in tone.  With only four color choices and no shades for darker skintones, the shade range is limited, but if you have light to medium skin and are able to find a color match, I think this is a great product to pick up.  The powders come in sturdy, recyclable paper compacts with a good sized mirror and secured with an elastic.  As you can see, I received two slightly different versions, so I'm not sure which packaging is the most current. 

(L to R) Ecco Bella FlowerColor Face Powder in Fair, Pale

FlowerColor Cover Up
The Cover Up is marketed as an all-in-one concealer for dark circles, blemishes, and any other imperfections that might need covering.  It's a stick concealer that comes in a lipstick bullet and has identical packaging to Ecco Bella's lipsticks.  The formula is thick but creamy, so a little of the cover up, plus a light dusting of powder will keep blemishes concealed all day long.  The lipstick bullet makes targeted application super easy and the cover up doesn't slide around or move at all once set with a powder.  

Unfortunately, I don't find it works as well on dark circles.  Beige, the lightest shade, is very peachy, so it does color correct the darkness, but I find the consistency hard to work with.  The same thickness that I love for spot concealing is just too heavy for under the eyes and it doesn't melt or blend in effectively here, resulting in a slightly cakey look.  I did have some luck thinning the texture by mixing the cover up with both an eye cream and a lighter concealer, but on its own, it wouldn't be my first choice for concealing dark circles.



FlowerColor Bronzing Powder in Hibiscus
I'm no bronzer expert - in fact most days, I don't even use one - but I find Hibiscus leans far too orange to be used as a bronzer on skin as fair as mine.  However, I LOVE wearing it as a blush.  The color is a very peachy or even reddish bronze with a delicate sheen and used this way, it does a phenomenal job brightening up the entire face.  The powder is pigmented, but it also blends out easily, and I can't get over how pretty it is on the cheeks.  Packaging is the same as the Face Powders, and the Bronzing Powder even came embossed with Ecco Bella's initials, which is a cute touch.  It may not be my favorite bronzer shade, but I'm very happy to have it around as a blush.

(L to R) Ecco Bella Beige Cover Up, Fair Face Powder, Pale Face Powder, Hibiscus Bronzing Powder

The Bottom Line
Depending what you're looking for, I think all three of these are great products.  I've been using the Face Powder and Bronzer the most, but only because on an average day, I only really conceal dark circles and I didn't love the Cover Up for that purpose.  When I have had a blemish or breakout to cover, it's worked great, so if your main concern is blemishes and spot concealing, I think the Cover Up is a good choice as well.  Other than that, I'd love to see the Face Powder and Cover Up shade ranges expanded to encompass darker skin tones as well!  

Ecco Bella has also generously offered to give a Face Powder and Cover Up (in the winner's choice of colors) to one lucky reader!  The giveaway is limited to US and Canada, but I promise there will be more international ones in the future.

To enter, you need to subscribe to the Ecco Bella newsletter, like their Facebook page, and follow me on Bloglovin.  Make sure you tick each one off in the Rafflecopter widget below for your entries to count.  There will also be more options if you want to better your chances of winning!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I did a full review of Pure + Simple's Taupe Face Colour shortly after I got it, but I don't think I've mentioned it since, or ever talked about the two other shades I ended up picking up shortly after.  The Face Colours are powder products, pressed without talc or silicones.  Depending on the shade, they can function as blush, bronzer, eye shadow, and perhaps even lip color.  

I have three shades, and while I've never tried any of them on the lips, I can readily attest to how well they work on both the face and eyes.


Glow - is a bright, watermelon pink, with a noticeable sheen.  I barely even need to touch my brush into this color to get enough product to use as a blush.  

Rose Gold - is a bronzy peach, also with a pretty heavy sheen.  I like to use this one on the cheeks - again, with a light hand - and since I also love doing peachy eye looks, I regularly use it as an eye shadow too.

Taupe - is an interesting medium brown shade.  It looks like a cool-toned brown in the pan, but on the skin it has a golden glow that warms the colour up a good deal.  Of the three shades, I've definitely used this one the most.  It's a very versatile, medium crease shade  and works great to blend out almost any eye look.  I find myself reaching for it all the time.  



Pure + Simple's Face Colours are some of the most pigmented pressed makeup items in my collection.  If you're fair like me - and maybe even if you're not - you really need to be careful not to pick up too much product when using them on the face.  Otherwise, you can very easily end up in clown cheek territory.  In all three shades I've used, the shimmer is very finely milled, so while the colours give off a beautiful sheen, there's no actual sparkles or glitter on your face.  They're also buttery soft and blend easily, so even being so pigmented, they aren't a difficult product to work with. 

Have you used anything from Pure + Simple?