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So, back when I was a magazine beauty editor / investigative glamour journalist (fine, the second part was my title only in dreams), I pitched what I thought was a great idea for a story: The makeup that militantly perfect-skin-obsessed facialists actually put on their own precious faces.

My boss was into it, and I was assigned a roundup: five famous aestheticians (you've probably heard of them -- at least one has her own skin-care line at Sephora), none of whom would have a makeup product of their own to promote. Accordingly, I'd get five different product recommendations, right?

Wrong. I only got ONE, because every facialist in the WORLD (or, OK, the four who got back to me) use the same thing: Jane Iredale Mineral Foundation. I even got identical quotes from everyone: "It's the only thing I ever use on my own face."

And then ...

Well, it wasn't exactly the half-page exposé my boss was looking for, so it never ran in the magazine, but ever since, I have used Jane Iredale mineral makeup, and yes, it's awesome, and yes, I swear by it now, too. I was never a mineral person before, despite knowing that many women and some men live and die for it. (Bare Escentuals fans are particularly fanatical -- devotion-wise, they give Twihards a run for their money.)

Of all incarnations of Jane Iredale, I love the PurePressed Base SPF 20 best. It's got wrinkle-preventing sunscreen and is oil-free and super-highly pigmented, so you can just use the pad thing (it's not quite a sponge) to press it on around your T-zone or under your eyes to set concealer. It applies seamlessly and covers beautifully, with no cakey effect at all.

Yeah, it's almost $50, but one compact lasts forever, since you need so little of it to look good. Also, it's worth-it-worth-it-worth -it, especially if you're at all breakout-prone. I'm the first person to slam an overpriced cosmetic and Ol' Jane could probably afford to skim $10 off of this one, but why should she, when everyone who's tried this once is happy to shell out the cash over and over again? The ingredients really are stellar; they cleared up my persistent adult acne chin breakouts (or allowed it clear up), whereas other makeup products just made it worse.

I wouldn't say spend the money if I didn't believe it. (You'll note that I am not endorsing her $32 mascara, which is perfectly good -- I've tried it, obvs -- but, you know, not miraculous enough to justify the price ... in my opinion.)

Convinced? Would love to hear your thoughts. I know you Bare Escentuals fans have something to say!


Cat Marnell was a beauty editor at a fashion magazine for years before she was a blogger. She knows beauty products better than she knows most members of her immediate family.