Bare Minerals 12-Piece Beauty Surprise Review – January 2018

Every few months, Bare Minerals offers a mystery collection from their brand. This time around, they offered a 12-Piece Beauty Surprise!

FYI - This box is no longer available for sale.

My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

About Bare Minerals 12-Piece Beauty Surprise

The Box: 12-Piece Beauty Surprise

The Cost: $45 + shipping

The Products: “Trust us on this one: our 12-piece mystery makeup bundle is NOT to be missed. It features bestsellers from our Gen Nude® and Lash Domination® families, plus more fan favorites in versatile, natural hues”

Bare Minerals 12-Piece Beauty Surprise Review

Let’s check out what came in my mystery surprise! All swatches will be at the bottom of the post:

The box came with an invoice detailing everything that came in the box. I also got a free mini Buki brush as a GWP, but I chose not to include that in this review.

Lash Domination Volume Mascara Petite Precision Brush in Intense Black, Full size! - Retail Value $19

As I was applying this mascara, it was impressing me. The brush is hard, and I didn't know until I used this mascara that my usual mascara brushes are soft. That being said, it really got to the root of all of my lashes and brought them out. In my head, I was rating it as a B+, which is a high mascara ranking in my mental beauty dictionary.

Then, a few minutes later, I was taking out my contacts and mascara got everywhere. For some unknown reason, this mascara takes about 5 minutes to fully dry. Nope, not happening, I cannot commit to not sneezing for a full five minutes after I apply mascara. Because of this, I am not a big fan.

Gen Nude Matte Liquid Lipstick in Hemp, Full size! - Retail Value $19

When I applied this lipstick it smelled like cookies. Oreos, if you want me to be specific. However, it never felt like it fully dried on me. When I wear a liquid lipstick I want it to stay put and not budge, but this felt more like the way a regular lipstick feels on.

Also, the color Hemp is also not a good one for my skin tone. It is too brown in a not good way.

Gen Nude Buttercream Lipgloss in Snarky, Full Size! (No longer available for purchase)

This lipgloss, on the other hand, is much more my style. It is a soft pink that looks really natural on me, which is usually what I am going for when I wear lipgloss. There is a hint of shimmer that I appreciate, too.

Round The Clock Intense Cream-Glide Eyeliner in 10 AM, Full size! - Retail Value $17

This is a creamy eyeliner, about the same consistency as any good gel eyeliner pencil. It has a lot of shimmer in it that I noticed when swatching, but the shimmer wasn't a thing when I actually applied it. I liked the dark green shade because it looked almost black on my lash line, but added just a hint of color to make things more interesting.

Loose Powder Blush in I’m Amused, Full size! (No longer available for purchase)

I was really excited about this because I’ve never had a product with the fun twisting to disperse product.

Full Disclosure: I am not a blush fan. I have a lot of natural red in my skin, and growing up I was compared to lobsters and tomatoes too many times to want to willingly add pink powder to my cheeks. Plus, when I got this blush, I was so scared! Look how dark it looks in the container! However, in the name of a good MSA review, I swatched it and wore it on my cheeks and I actually kind of… liked it? I used a very small amount with the Flawless Finish brush, and it blended out very easily and gave me a natural hint of color that I always thought looked so good on others and never on me. I think I am actually going to keep this blush around and continue trying it out! I never thought I would become a blush user, so props to you bareMinerals.

Mineral Veil Finishing Powder in Original, Full size! Retail Value $23

In my mind, this was the original setting powder before baking your face became a thing. I remember being 13 and using my moms mineral veil, so I was excited to get to try this full sized version.

This product has been around for so long because it works, Y’all. I loved the way it seamlessly blended into my makeup, finishing up my look. I also really appreciate that it has SPF 25 in it because I am not the best about using sunscreen in the mornings, even though I know how important it is.

Flawless Finish Brush, Full size! Retail Value $25 (found here for $18)

I used this brush to apply both the blush and the mineral veil, and I am really happy with how soft this brush is while still blending the products well. I’m happy to add this to my makeup brush arsenal.

Perfecting Face Foundation Brush, Full size! - Retail Value $28

I have used this brush before thanks to the September 2017 Boxycharm, and at the time I didn't really like it for my liquid foundation. I switched to a different foundation recently, so I decided to try this brush again— and I am glad I did! I couldn't get a good photo, but there is a little crater in the middle of the brush that holds the foundation, with the edges of the brush being taller to keep the foundation in. I dotted the foundation all across my face and then started buffing it in with small circles around my entire face. I am pretty happy with how it worked and will continue using this brush in my morning makeup routine.

Bareskin Sheer Sun Liquid Bronzer, Full size! - Retail Value $28

I wanted to like this product. I really, truly did. That being said, I didn’t. This is a liquid bronzer serum that is designed to give a sun-kissed glow to a variety of skin tones.

However, the product is very watery, and this product would benefit if it was a dropper application rather than just a spout at the top. It was easy to blend with a beauty blender, but honestly, the application process was so unpleasant that I will not be reaching for this again.

All Over Face Color in Warmth, small (Buy the full-sized version here for $21)

Powder bronzer, on the other hand, is more up my alley. This blended well and wasn't too dark on my pale skin, and I actually used it as an eyeshadow and it worked well that way, too.

Eye Color in Bare Skin, small (Not available for purchase)

I thought this would just be a standard pale nude eyeshadow based on the name and how it looked in the packaging, but once I applied it I was pleased to see the pearlescent finish that made this eyeshadow a little more unique. It is obviously an old birthday gift from bareMinerals, but I like the product so I am not fussed about the packaging.

Makeup Bag in Rose Gold (Not available for purchase)

This is a good sized makeup bag in a pretty rose gold finish.

Nothing out of this world, but it looks to be of good quality and Lord knows I can use all the makeup bags I can get considering how much makeup I have.

Nice and roomy!

Here are the swatches! The top row, from left to right, is the bare skin eye color, the serum bronzer, and the lipstick in hemp. The bottom row, from left to right, is the all over face color, the blush, the lipgloss, and the eyeliner.

Here is the look I did using most of the things in this box. Other than my liquid foundation, everything was from this box. I felt it was a really natural look on me, which I appreciated. I even enjoy the way the blush looks!

Verdict: Bare Minerals is a brand that I know of, but don't really have a lot of products by them. I was excited by the wide range of products in this box, and most of them are ones that I will use! I calculated a value of $159 for the seven full-size products available for purchase. The box cost $45 + $6.95 shipping, which comes to a total of $51.95. Since there are 12 items in this kit, that means you're paying about $4.33 per item. Considering nine of the twelve products are full-sized, I think that is an incredible deal. Plus, this box showed me not all blushes are scary! That is a big deal in my makeup world.

To Wrap Up:

Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, this box is sold out.

Value Breakdown: This box cost me $45 + $6.95 shipping, which means that each of the 12 items in the box has an average cost of $4.33.

Check out all of our BareMinerals Mystery reviews the Beauty Subscription Box Directory for more makeup boxes.

What do you think of the BareMinerals 12-Piece Beauty Surprise?