Note: Loving Minerals is no longer in business
Mineral Makeup is all the rage. Just look at L’oreal and Revlon and even The Body Shop jumping on the Mineral Foundation bandwagon. When big companies start getting onto something, you know it’s a big market! I previously lamented that part of the reason I was less enamoured with mineral makeup was because of its inaccessibility. This is because many mineral makeup companies are USA based and shipping time plus the possibility of packages going missing (It happened to me) is a huge deterrant.
However, local online store LovingMinerals.com will change all that. LovingMinerals.com is based in Malaysia and they presently stock mineral makeup from Lumiere Mineral Cosmetics and some of the more popular kabuki brushes from Everyday Minerals.
From my previous experience, Lumiere Cosmetics’ Mineral makeup was the only brand that did not cause me to break out and which had the best colour match. Also, the Lumiere Mini Kabuki brush is a delight! They don’t stock this yet, but I hope they do. As for brushes, Everyday Minerals’ brushes get the thumbs up from many users, especially the flat top brush (RM38). No excuse for me not to try it now!
LovingMinerals.com has just opened its virtual doors last week, and they are offering some special offers on Lumiere Cosmetics products up until 31 October 2008. Even after this promotion period is over, you can still pick up great deals and specials under the Loving Specials category. If you are new to mineral makeup, a good kit to start with will be the Lumiere Sample Kit (RM30). You will get 3 sample jars of foundation, 1 sample jar of blush or radiance powder and 1 sample jar of finishing powder. My recommendation for the finishing powder is to get the Sand Silk Powder. It is super awesome at controlling oil. Whilst it might say “sample” it is a pretty substantial amount of powder that you get which will last you quite a while. It’s the best way to know if mineral makeup will work for you or not.
LovingMinerals.com currently ships to Malaysia and Singapore. I think it is awesome because shipping from the USA takes up to 2 weeks and I had a package go missing from Lumiere before. They refunded my money but the hassle and waiting time was not fun.
Shipping rates are fair in my book. Presently LovingMinerals.com ships within Malaysia for a flat rate of RM8 for orders below RM100 and to Singapore for a flat rate of RM25. For orders RM100 and above, you get free shipping within Malaysia! So, that is pretty good incentive for you to share your orders with friends or family to take advantage of the free shipping.
You can also opt to pick up your order at designated pick up points and you can even pay cash upon delivery. The best part I like about Loving Minerals is the fact that the representative who brings your order will be able to help you colour match your foundation! So, no more wasted money and time hunting down your colour match. This is as good as shopping in a store as far as I’m concerned.
If you are on Facebook, join the Loving Minerals facebook group and receive some freebies. I love it that they have made use of an online social network like this.
Loving Minerals is still new but their website is professionally designed and easy to navigate with the essential information in the easy to locate side bar and nice big banners to get their important messages across. They offer a good guide to mineral makeup and I like moving around the site because no page or bit of information is more than 2 clicks away. Very useful for me.
Above all, I don’t think their prices are very inflated at all, everything considered. A full jar of mineral foundation (12g) retails at RM60 (now RM55 promotion discount) which isn’t expensive considering the price is about US$18 (RM64) if buying from the USA. Plus shipping, its US$24 (RM85.30) compared to RM68 if bought locally and you save the 2 week waiting period too. All in all, it looks like a winning combination buying locally than from abroad.
The only thing is that Loving Minerals, being new, does not stock many varieties of the foundation. Lumiere had Luminesse, Flawless, Veena Velvet and Cashmere but for now, only the Cashmere Foundation formula is available. Perhaps they’ll bring in more of the others soon.
Sample jars of foundation are available at RM7.50 each. It’s a good way to test for colour match before you buy. A personal recommendation is the Sand Silk Finishing Powder. It is very nice and even if you are very fair, Sand Silk works as it is a very light beige shade that doesn’t add much colour to the skin. What the Silk Powder does is to retain moisture of the skin so it doesn’t dry out and also keep oilies at bay. It works! Of all the many mineral products I’ve tried, this is my favourite. I’m happy that its actually available locally now because I gave up ordering another after my package with my replacement tub went missing before! Now, I have no more excuse not to stock up on it 🙂
Loving Minerals is at LovingMinerals.com. Go on and indulge, your skin will love you for it! 🙂
Oh goodness, I resisted this when I saw the offer on FB….
Now you have me thinking AGAIN!!
You ordering anything…? Combine order…?
:-b
@Monstro: Haven’t really decided – thought of getting the flat top brush. It’ll be handy for loose powder.
aaa i saw this on facebook too! I just got my package and although i haven’t had time try it yet, i must say the packing its pretty! Got some free gift too 🙂 so far so good 😀
oh god! i want that flat top brush!
Ohh I can see someone trying out those brushes and minerals AGAIN 🙂
this is a great news. time for me to pick up something 😀
Oh awesomeness! 😀 I absolutely LOVE the brushes from Everyday Minerals (I have 2 of their long handled kabuki brushes, 1 of their flat top brush and 1 of their baby kabuki brush) and now they’re more accessible. Too bad I’m currently saying goodbye to mineral makeup though so I probably won’t be trying their products 🙁 Although if they do stock on Silk Naturals Oil Control Primer I would buy from them!
i dont think im ready to jump into minerals bandwagon yet….im such a clutz! and i imagine powder flying everywhere staining my make-up table and causing me to sneeze if i were to use em….
Wow! the site looks very nice. The design is fresh and lovely. Luv those swirly hearts. I wonder why many Malaysian e-commerce sites do not design their pages like this. Sad sad.
I just got their sample kit today. Soooo colourful. Gonna try them out now 🙂
I know about this website too! I am waiting for them to bring in mineral makeup from EDM^^ Love their flat top, it is so soft!
cool!
I got the sample of sand silk powder and i love it!
I wonder if they accept paypal.
Can we combine orders if anyone plans on ordering anything? I want a flat top kabuki! 😉
Nice! I’m so glad that someone came up with this idea to make mineral make-up more accessible in Malaysia. You betcha I’ll be hanging around the Loving Minerals website! 😀
@Raine : Its good to know their service is examplary!
@plue: So do I!
@Nikki: Maybe brush but not so much minerals.
@prettybeautiful : Haha… yep! Great excuse eh?
@Stephanie:Its good to know the brushes form Everyday Minerals is good. Been wanting to try it.
@Fashionasia: Haha… you won’t sneeze but it staining the makeup table is always a possibility.
@elisha : Yes I love the design of the site too. Its so refreshing to find a local site that looks good!
@cyndi: Ah another one who likes the EDM brush!
@Ms. Blacklace : Yep, its really good! I don’t see paypal as an option just yet.
@YZ : If there are any takers I’ll pass their contact on!
@rinnah: Yep! It was about time they were brought in for people who don’t want to wait or pay for overseas shipping.