The Ellana Mineral Concealer and Foundation is all about COVERAGE
The first time I got to try Ellana was through winning a contest sometime in 2008 or 2009. I joined the giveaway of a now retired beauty blog called Kikay Exchange and won a few pots of this proudly local mineral makeup brand. I was still in college then so I didn't have enough money to buy a lot of makeup; Project Vanity was very young, and I was obsessed about finding new products to try and review. And so this is how my love affair with Ellana started.
Ellana was the first local brand to have mineral makeup when MMU (as the fans called it) was at the height of its fame. If you're younger than I am, you won't remember how crazy everybody was over MMU; today, it's pretty common as mega brands absorbed the concept into their own lines. Back then though only indie brands had mineral makeup. I remember saving up my allowance just to get free yet generous samples of pigments from the US (I still had to pay shipping lol)! You can only imagine how happy I was the Ellana provided local options.
Fast forward to today - I'm friends with the founder, Theresa Carbonel-Buenaflor and her husband Diego Buenaflor who runs the business. I've also worked on the brand a few years ago as their PR and social media manager. Ellana was quiet for a while, but now it's back with a vengeance! They have new packaging, more counters (they're now in some SM Beauty stores and all Landmarks), and even better formulation (if that's even possible).
I have most of the products in the line which I've shown live in this video as well as this one, but today I'd like to focus on my absolute Ellana favorite at the moment: the Mineral Concealer and Foundation (P499 for 8 grams, P199 for the jar).
Ellana's loose foundations come in a sachet. You can reuse the jar every time you run out.
I actually tried this 'round 2010 and blah, didn't like it. I didn't understand the concept of a powder concealer. It didn't quite stick to the skin correctly and the coverage was too opaque to use all over the face! The secret, however, is using a primer. By itself this concealer foundation powder is just a good powder foundation. With primer though - oh, it's something else!
If you've been watching my live videos on Facebook (you should if you haven't yet! I make it a point to show new products and looks a few times a week) then you know I've been plagued by nasty dark blemishes on my chin recently. I had a massive breakout! I love my liquid/cream concealers, but the Ellana works just as well and with much less the effort. Here's proof:
I primed my face first with the Becca First Light Priming Filter then blended the Ellana concealer foundation on top with a dense brush. That's it. See that crazy full coverage? I love that I don't need to use fingers, and don't have to layer any more foundation on top if I don't feel like it. The rest of my face is pretty clear so most casual days, I just use the Ellana powder where needed and I'm done! If I want more coverage, I use their Loose Mineral Foundation (also P499 at 8 grams) all over as it has a better coverage level - not too heavy compared to the Concealer and Foundation powder.
Ellana Mineral Concealer and Foundation in Smile
Staying power is pretty good at 5-6 hours on my combination skin. Remember, the key is to use a good primer! I like hydrating primers, but go for mattifying ones if you have oily skin. This Ellana concealer powder is prone to caking so you have to be careful to use only a small amount and to buff it onto the skin properly to prevent this.
There are five shades available; I use the one called Smile, which matches my NC35 skin perfectly as you can see.
So what's the catch? For me, honestly, I can't think of any. The Mineral Concealer and Foundation has a great price and works so, so well. I haven't tried anything like it! It might be difficult to find a shade though, so it's still best to go to their counters in Landmark and in the SM Beauty Department store in Mall of Asia (they're opening Makati and Megamall soon). I'd also recommend picking up their Dual Head Brush (P899) to apply this powder most efficiently.
Let me know if you've tried this, and what you thought of this concealer/foundation! Do you remember the MMU craze?
