A day in the country for your skin - Dusty Girls Makeup

"Have you ever noticed how after a day in the country your skin always looks great? It might be a bit dusty, but the colour and tone is always better than after a day in the office."

This is the exact reason why Dusty Girls was created. If you haven't yet discovered them, they are a gorgeous Australian brand created by skincare range MooGoo that use clays and minerals to create their products. As they have recently been launched in the UK, they are currently only available online at www.dustygirls.co.uk and in all honesty, they are some of the best products I have ever used.

The lovely Dusty Girls team very kindly sent me their mineral foundation*, multi-tasking Earth Cream* and mineral blusher* to try and I have absolutely fallen in love with them.

First off, due to the fact that they base their makeup on natural minerals with just a few extras to make the products work as well as possible, they are very skin friendly. If you are like me and have always felt a little bit guilty for using makeup to cover up imperfections when you know full well it would be far better to let it breath sometimes, this makeup is the answer to your prayers. While silicone based products can make application a doddle, it does have the tendency to clog up pores which in itself can cause trouble for skin. This can lead to breakouts which then results in higher makeup use to hide it and hey presto, hello vicious cycle...

So, while I'm not saying I'm going to give up all silicone based products because...well that would be a lie...the three products that I'm going to talk about in this post have become part of my daily routine for the last couple of weeks and they are fabulous.

First up I'm going to talk about their Earth Cream. This beauty is a multi-tasking bottle of gloriousness. It comes in two shades, light and medium and has a neutral base to suit a huge range of skin tones. I am of the rather pale skinned variety so I opted for the light shade. It looked a little dark upon first applying and I wasn't entirely convinced but it blends out and matches my skin perfectly. I'd imagine if you have a particularly dark skin tone then the medium shade would not be dark enough however so hopefully in time they will bring out a larger shade range because frankly everyone should be able to use this! 

Take a look at the difference it made in the pictures below. On the left is my naked skin in all its patchy glory and on the right it looks visibly smoother and far less blotchy. Thank. God.

At only £11, the product is priced incredibly reasonably and is marketed as not only a replacement for your foundation, but also your primer, moisturiser and sunscreen! Considering it doesn't advise what factor of sunscreen is included, I would probably still choose to use a separate product just to be on  the safe side but it certainly reduces if not entirely negates the need for primers and moisturisers. I found it really evened out my skin tone but without any heaviness at all. My skin can still breath while wearing this even on humid days so I think it would be perfect holiday makeup! 

I tried using brushes but found that it works best if you use your fingers to work it in and gives a light to medium coverage. It does build up quite nicely though if you needed a little extra. Not only does this product give great results, it's loaded with ingredients that sooth and repair such as Manuka Tree Leaf Oil for it's antibacterial properties, Magnolia Acuminata Extract for soothing and Chaulmoogra Tree Seed Oil for skin repair. The only tiny downside I found with this product was that it did have a slightly odd smell but that disappears pretty quickly so it's certainly not something that would put me off.

If you fancy a little more coverage, Dusty Girls has a lovely mineral foundation (£17.50) that you can use either in combination with Earth Cream or on it's own. Similar to the Earth Cream, it contains no nasties that can cause irritation so it's great for those with sensitive skin. I used this with and without Earth cream as a base and found it so easy to use. If you aren't a fan of liquid foundations, this would be a perfect option. There is a pretty good range of shades covering cool, warm and neutral undertones so it also might be a little easier to find a shade match with this foundation if you are struggling with the Earth Cream.

Pink Ladies Blusher swatch on the left and blended out on the right

Last but not least is their mineral blush (£15). Dusty Girls have two equally gorgeous shades, Golden Delicious and Pink Ladies. I opted to try Pink Ladies and couldn't be happier. It's a subtle, dusky pink with a light shimmer that's perfect to sweep across the cheeks for a touch of colour. It has great pigmentation without being overpowering so no clown faces here, just a lovely rosy glow.

Since these products seemed like the perfect combination to create a soft, natural look, I gave them all a try and was very happy with the results!

Thanks to the wonders of oily skin, I am usually used to looking in the mirror and being greeted by a shiny mess by about 11am but this combo held strong all day. Not only that, but it actually seemed to look better as the day went on! Suffice to say I am in love with this makeup and it has replaced my previous foundation / powder combo that I was using. Sorry Benefit and Nars, Dusty Girls has stolen my heart. Now, please excuse me while I go and purchase the rest of the Dusty Girls range...

*This post features a PR sample, however the post is entirely my own opinion. For more information, please read my full Disclaimer  here