Ellana Minerals Loose Powder Foundation and Finishing Powder Review

I opted for the oil-absorbing formula and the perfect blend because the Ellana website explains that they are best for oily skin like mine. The smaller jar is actually the awake concealer.

Last summer, I was in desperate search for a great blush. You see, my HG blush was actually from Elianto and when I finding something I absolutely love, I stock up on it. That time, I had already hit pan on my last blush, but I thought I had enough time to shop around for a replacement. Until my friend J dropped it and that was that.

It was only a few days after that I found out that in the past two years that I have been using up my blush stash, Elianto had pulled up stakes in the Philippines. I went on their website and checked how much it would cost to have my order shipped internationally all the way from Malaysia, and said to myself: forget it. In the meantime, I just trolled a couple of beauty blogs and found a few reviews about Ellana blushes.

The blushes themselves were as cheap as P100 each (for 2g jars) so I thought why not? After all, mineral makeup was supposed to be good for your skin, so even though I tended to have reactions to some makeup, I plunged ahead and took a risk.

I also knew (from reading other blogs) that Ellana offered free makeup samples based on your particular skin type. You simply had to answer a few questions that will help them determine the best color choices for you at this page, and submit info such as your address so that they can send you the samples. You did have to pay for shipping but it’s only P50 within Metro Manila.

I love that the larger Ellana jars come with a sifter and a rotating disk-- you can choose to close up the perforated half so that none of the powder gets spilled while in your kikay kit. Unfortunately, the smaller jars just have the ordinary sifter.

You get three samples of various shades of foundation, a sample of a blush, a sample of a powder concealer, and a sample of a finishing powder. All samples were around ¼ teaspoon each and packaged in individual ziplock bags. I requested Ellana to just include the samples with my blush order, and they agreed.

After two days from the date of payment, my orders and free samples arrived. I immediately swatched the blushes and found them nice but to be honest, I haven’t found much use for them. Three 2g pots still reside in the dark corner of my train case, unused except once or twice. One of these days, I may come around to using them consistently. If I do, I will certainly share my impressions.

The samples though, were another story. My samples included loose powder foundation in Café Breve, French Vanilla Latte, and some other shade that I have forgotten. I had a Eureka moment when I realized that French vanilla was the exact shade match for my skin!!! In fact, whenever I wore it, it looked as if I had nothing on. Previously, I always bought foundation which looked more like Café Breve, probably because the makeup counters where I would swatch foundations always used unnatural lighting. 

As for the Espresso con Panna finishing powder which I initially thought looked too dark for me, I found that when set on top of French Vanilla, they complimented each other very well. Long story short, I ended up ordering French Vanilla, Espresso con Panna and Awake powder concealer. I intend to review Awake sometime after.

I wholeheartedly recommend Ellana’s loose powder foundation. If you haven’t used Ellana before, I strongly suggest taking advantage of their samples so you can get a good color match. I have heard that Ellana now has stores in Trinoma and West Avenue but I haven’t been there so I can’t tell for sure. The loose powder foundation gives medium coverage and keeps my oily face under control for a couple of hours indoors. For best results, apply with a kabuki brush.

This ELF flat top brush works great with Ellana mineral foundation. It's only around P200-250 on eBay or in malls like SM where they have ELF stalls.

I really have no qualms about the powder foundation. As for Ellana’s finishing powder, I’m just so-so but it does do the good well. As with loose powders though, it’s kinda messy to be toting around for retouches. I have read that its possible to make your own pressed version of powders using ordinary rubbing alcohol but as my MAC Studio compact serves me well, I see no need to do that.

To sum it up, Ellana’s French Vanilla is HG for me, if only because it exactly and perfectly matches my skin.

Have you tried Ella foundation or finishing powder? Do you intend to? What are your thoughts about it?