Earth Minerals Foundation Sample Video Review

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfj5iEPbIq0

 

I've been experimenting with the Earth Minerals Foundation by Annmarie Gianni sample kit for a few weeks now, so I thought I'd share some photos of the kit, and how the foundations look.

  I hope you'll also take the time to watch the video review above (apologies for the abrupt ending. My camera died right near the end, so I didn't make a PT.2 since it was so close to the end.)

Me wearing the "honey" shade of Earth Minerals Foundation

In my palm is the "Pearl" shade of Earth Minerals foundation and on my upper arm is "Olive." The darker shade seen on my wrist is "Honey" and beside it, the lighter shade is "Pearl," the same one in my palm.

Inside the sample kit -- the herbal facial oil and 4 shades of mineral powder (honey, sand, olive, and pearl)

Wearing the Olive shade from the Earth Minerals Foundation Sample Kit

Closer-up wearing the shade "Olive" Earth Minerals Foundation

Another shot of me in different lighting, wearing the shade "Olive." Turns out, I like this shade the most and have been wearing it for the last couple of weeks. It's a bit darker than sand and honey -- both of which were a tiny bit pale on my skin, although at the beginning, when I judged the shades on my wrist, I thought the Olive shade and the Honey shade looked way too dark for me. Turns out, my wrist is far paler than my facial skin! I think Olive suits my tone the most, don't you?

This is the "Sand" shade. Not as dark on my face as it showed on my wrist, but a smidgen darker than Olive. Once I've had a little sun on my skin, I think Sand will work out just as perfectly for my color as Olive does.

It doesn't appear that there are any shades darker than these in the Earth Minerals collection, and I do hope they are able to add darker shades to the line. If your skin is significantly darker than mine (I typically match the medium shades of most every brand of foundation) then all of these in the Earth Minerals line may be too light for you.

Conclusion

Overall, I have become increasingly fond of this makeup. It took some experimenting with the various shades as well as with how much oil to powder ratio was just right every day, but I have become so fond of this that it's my absolute #1 favorite foundation ever.

I found that the lighter shades did kind of look cake-y on me, but once I used the olive shade for a few days, I liked it more and more. It gives me the perfect coverage. With all the breakouts and scarring I've accumulated over the last year (which has left me a bit devastated over my skin's appearance), it improved how I felt immensely. To be able to cover them so well without the many cons that most foundation has (further breakouts, harmful ingredients, etc.), felt amazing to me. 

I especially love that as long as I use the correct oil to powder ratio, I can actually look at my face in the mirror and feel happy about it. 

I have used too much oil quite a few times, which some of my photos show, but even then, it's better than the flaking that I commonly have as a result of using most foundations on my combination skin. Especially since I've been working on clearing away the breakouts and scarring on my cheeks, which leaves the area really dry and flaky. I'm happy that even with combo skin, I can have the best of both worlds -- not extremely oily, but not dry and flaky. 

Most people with combo skin like me know that you usually have to trade one for the other -- either oily areas or dry ones, and foundation often enhances both of those cons. That is probably what I'm the happiest about with this foundation -- that I get a decent balance and never have dry flakes showing and even with it being oil, it still leaves my forehead less shiny than my other foundations.

I have found that as I've gotten used to mixing the foundation up and wearing it more regularly, I can apply it fairly quickly and without taking a lot of time to perfect. It absorbs perfectly and super quickly! I don't have to spend hardly any time rubbing it in or blending it with a brush. I can actually achieve my preferred result with less time than it takes using my drugstore foundations because they require a lot of blending and rubbing in.

Of course the all-natural, all-safe ingredients makes me feel so much better about wearing foundation. I hated applying harmful ingredients to my skin, just to cover the "flaws" and having that awful knowing that I'm still doing damage while trying to cover damage! That felt so bad. 

Needless to say, I'm unusually satisfied with the Earth Minerals foundation. I would love to toss every other foundation I own and use nothing but this forever. I love that no matter what, I always end up happy with the result after applying, even if I do it in a hurry, even when my skin is looking its worst -- I'm always satisfied with the end result.

To give you a rating to go by, I give this foundation a 5/5 rating.  It's perfect. 

I never recommend foundation makeup because there are so many differences between every person's skin, but I feel pretty comfortable saying that I would recommend this to anyone who wears foundation and wants a safe ingredient foundation that will work well for combination skin. 


*You can find the sample kit here. You can also get a bigger sized bottle of any of the colors. 

Disclaimer: I am not a specialist, expert, professional or doctor of any kind. Content on this blog is not intended to be taken as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment or advice of any sort. I'm simply sharing information about my own experiences and results from use of a product or activity in hopes of providing useful information to readers, not to be taken as a patient/medical adviser relationship. I am not responsible for what readers choose to do after viewing the content here. Furthermore, I do not hold an "exceptional" or other special relationship with any company mentioned on this site. I'm simply a consumer who worked with the company on a review that is in compliance with FTC's guidelines. That means, everything you read here is my own words, not anything of the company's. I was not provided with monetary compensation for my review. All information posted has been done so with complete honesty. No action should be taken based solely on the content of this publication ( I'm not responsible.) Readers who rely on the information in this blog to replace the advice of an appropriate health care provider assume all risks of such behavior.

AVP Pet Water Filtering Fountain

The whole shebang -- The brochure featuring AVP products and the actual fountain, in its box shown in photo

 

For my pet-lovin' readers (and I know most of you are), I've reviewed this awesome water fountain system called Nature Spa Pet water fountain from AVP Pet (American Valley Pet). 

 This fountain is so exciting to me that I have done a 2-part video showing you a few things -- how it's setup, what it looks like in-use)! Oh, the only reason the video is a 2-part is because my camera died in the middle of filming... Yea.. I'm not a good video-reviewer just yet.

 P.S. The video above is "Part 1." 

Below is "Part 2" of the Pet Fountain review (thanks to a dying camera battery). In Part one, I talk about setting up the filtering system and in part two, I discuss the complication I ran into and what the fountain looks like in-use, which is pretty fabulous, I must say. 

So I hope ya'll take a few minutes to watch those. Further down is the "written review" where I go into more detail about the product, company and how my pets are liking the fountain, etc.

How much Waer does the Basic Nature Spa hold?

The "Basic Nature Spa Pet fountain and the Nature Spa that comes with a UV sterilization light both hold 1.8 quarts.

I have 3 pets -- a weiner dog, and 2 cats. Obviously, they're all pretty small. Well, Fuzz is chubby.. But, being that they're small, they don't drink a whole crazy amount of water, so the "Nature SPA Basic" was a great size for them.

If I fill the NatureSPA up completely, it will last my pets for around 3-4 days, sometimes longer. It only lasts about 2 when I get the urge to stick my water bottle under the stream. Hey, what can I say, I get thirsty at inopportune times.

For someone who had large dogs, you'd probably need more water to keep from having to re-fill it multiple times a day. The Nature SPAs come in different sizes -- and as I said, mine's the "basic," so it's the smallest. However, you can purchase an "Extra capacity reservoir" for $12.99 to get  double the water space. 

This would be really handy if you were going out of town and wanted to make sure the fountain would stay filled for at least several days, or if you just have large pets who drink a lot.

On the other hand, there's also a UV sterlilization NatureSpa!I think that's just awesome that the UV light sterilizes the water and definitely see myself "upgrading" to that one eventually.

 Aside from the different Nature Spas you can get, AVP Pet also has something called a "spill mat" that you place the entire shenangian in and it catches any spills. When I first filled the Nature Spa up, and moved it onto the floor, it spilled water all over the place and I was sure I'd need one of those mats. 

On the other hand, I'm happy that the Pet Fountain "Nature Spa" doesn't leak water as one of my older pet watter bottles did. It was one of those you get at Wal-Mart that was shaped like the water containers you see in some stores where you can fill up a paper cup, and tipped upside down, placed into the bowl-thing. It had a tendency to leak all over the floor.

Thankfully, there aren't even little dribbes that leak from the Nature Spa. 

If your cat likes to play in the water, though, then something like the mat might be useful. Our youngest cat went through a phase where she'd sit at her water bottle (the one I explained that holds like 3 cups of water at once and just flows out as they drink) and use her paws to scoop out all the water! It would soak the kitchen floor. She'd spend hours doing this.

BPA-Free  Materials

I love that the company AVP Pet kept animals' health in mind throughout the entire design-process, as the container is BPA-free, which is obviously important to you if the cleanliness of your pets' water is. 

The Nature Spa is made of ABS plastic. ABS is dishwasher safe and non-porous, which is important because that means it will not harbor bacteria over time. 

The "UL listed Transformer" is low-voltage and considered "energy saving."

 Are the Pets Afraid of The Water Fountain?

Mine are not.  They were curious at first and all of them except the dog slowly approached it, sniffed, backed away, and then  drank  it in seconds.

The dog caught on instantly. 

What's cute is one of my cats licks straight from the stream! 

Note: If your pets have a tendency to chew on cords, you'll want to be very cautious, and perhaps do a good job of somehow concealing the cord on the Nature Spa, if you use it. This problem didn't occur to me until my grandmother saw it and said her dog would elecrocute herself because she chews cords.

Ya'll know I couldn't resist showing pictures of Fuzz drinking from it!

Look! You can even see what I call her "water beard," the water drip on her little chin! I've yet to snap one of the other pets drinking. They get suspicious when I watch them drink.

Oh, and as for noise, the description on the AVP Pet site, and the Nautre Spa's box was right -- it's virtually silent, which made me wonder if it was shut off when I first got it. I kept expecting to hear a sound while it runs, but it's noiseless. Every once in a while, if it's dead quiet, I'll hear a splash.

However, while your pet drinks, it may be loud! It depends if your pet is a loud drinker. Not that the fountain makes them drink any louder than normal.

The youngest cat drinks so loudly that it wakes me up. I think  it's because she lets the stream hit her tongue rather than drinking right out of the bowl area like the rest.  

What do the Charcoal Filters do?

As per AVP Pet: "the filter traps bad tastes and  odors while spout constantly aerates the water increasing  oxygen levels which enhances
pet health."

Basically, to put it briefly and simply, charcoal filters, due to the charcoal's porous nature, filters out impurities in water.  These mostly filter out chlorine and organic impurities and not things like heavy metals (lead, or sodium fluoride, etc.).

This produces a different tasting water -- one with less of a metallic or chlorine taste.

 How long do the Charcoal Filters Last?

Just like with our own charcoal water filter-systems, the Nature Spa pet fountain also uses a charcoal filter that requires replacement after so long. 

AVP Pet recommends changing it every 3-4 weeks.

The replacement filters come 4 to a pack (the fountain comes with one) and can be found and purchased for $9.99 here. 

I am not a specialist, doctor or any kind of expert. Content on this blog is not intended to be taken as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment or advice of any sort. 

I'm simply sharing information about my own experiences (or my pets') and results from use of a product or activity in hopes of providing useful information/suggestions to readers, not to be taken as a patient/medical adviser/vet relationship. I am not responsible for what readers or pets choose to do after viewing the content here. 

Furthermore, I do not hold an "exceptional" or other special relationship with the company mentioned. I'm simply a consumer who worked with the company for a review that is in compliance with FTTC's guidelines. That means, everything you read here is my own words, not anything of the company's. I was not provided monetary compensation for my review. All information posted has been done so with complete honesty. No action should be taken based solely on the content of this publication (I'm not to be held responsible.) Readers or pets who rely on the information in this blog to replace the advise of an appropriate health care provider assume all risks of such behavior.

 All reviews, including this one are in compliance with the FTC guidelines. I recieve no monetary compensation, but my pet may receive prouct in exchange for a completely honest review (that part's done by me, not the pets, just FYI). Each review is my honest opinion.  See my disclosure page and honesty pledge for more info on sponsored reviews!