What: Angela wades through some of the mineral makeup offerings from the drug store beauty aisle.

The Lowdown: Make-up marketers are savvy folks—and so anyone who makes regular visits to the beauty aisle knows there’s always something new being touted. These days? It’s mineral make-up—and plenty of the major make-up brands are jumping on the mineral bandwagon. What the heck is mineral makeup anyway? Here’s the scoop: mineral makeup is made of natural, finely ground natural minerals, without the requisite chemicals, dyes, etc. The buzz is that it’s better for your skin (natural, and let’s the skin breath) and adds a natural glow. Um, we’ve heard that before. So which one of these new mineral products, if any, is worth parting with your hard-earned money for? I checked out a few, and here’s what I found:

~Sonia Kashuk for Target Mineral Face Palette, $14.99 This product came in a set of three—blush, powder foundation, concealer. Let me just say that I was very leary about power foundation—my skin tends to be uneven and red in places, so I had little hope for good coverage, but I’m now eating my words. It actually goes on evenly, covers surprisingly well, and stuck around. Just about all day. My liquid foundation doesn’t even do that.

The color had me worried too—I have olive skin, and typically struggle to find a good match. I picked “warm tawny” and crossed my fingers, and it was great. Minerals, it seems blend much better with your actual skin tone than traditional liquids (we’ve all seen it—the foundation “mask”—and it isn’t pretty). Loved the blush, too, and I don’t even like blush (it’s a hold-over attitude from the overdone 80s).

Yea or Nay?: Oh Yea. Strangely, this doesn’t seem to be available online, so get to your local Target (Kathryn loves her make-up brushes, too—read more here.)

Neutrogena Mineral Sheers, $11.99 for .18 ounces: Just tried the Powder Foundation here, in “light to neutral,” and had high hopes because I generally love Neutrogena products. The container is genius—powder and brush applicator all in one convenient piece—but the results? Just so-so. The color blended fine, but didn’t cover as completely or stay in place as well as Sonia Kashuk.

Yay or Nay: For the money, a Nay—functioned more as a glorified face powder than a true foundation.

Jane Be Pure Mineral, $6.99 for .18 ounces:: Again, just the powder foundation, this time “colorless.” And again, great container (this time with a puff instead of brush), which gave better coverage than Neutrogena’s. Being that it goes on almost like a pressed powder, I’m actually using it to cover shiny spots—but as a mineral foundation? It’s just okay.

Yea or Nay?: It’s inexpensive, so I’ll give it a Yea for affordability, but I’m on the fence for quality.

A word of caution: While mineral makeup is great in terms of being natural and easier to match for color, we have to note that it can be drying to the skin, which is not particularly good for those of us over 30. The mineral powder does settle into lines a bit more readily, as well. My thoughts? If nothing else, it’s a great option for summer, especially for those of us who live in humid locales where that liquid foundation just seems a bit too heavy.

~Angela