Bare Escentuals (id bare minerals) is sweeping the nation!  As with all popular products, some sellers prey on that and use the Bare Escentuals name to sell knock-offs or fakes.  This guide is designed to help you determine if the products you are buying are indeed Genuine Bare Escentuals products.

Let me begin with a disclaimer...  There are many brands of mineral makeup and many manufacturers of brushes.  Bare Escentuals certainly is not the only one.  This guide was not created to speak about the quality of other brands, merely to help the consumer determine if the products advertised are actually produced by i.d Bare Minerals (Bare Escentuals.)

How does one determine if the "mineral makeup" being sold is genuine Bare Escentuals?

There are a few key things to look for when determining if an auction (or buy it now listing) is for genuine Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals. 

First, read the entire title and description.  If either contain the phrases, "For Bare Minerals/Escentuals" or "Like Bare Minerals/Escentuals", these products are probably not made by Bare Escentuals.  Some sellers use this in their auction to drive traffic to their listings that they would not otherwise have (to have a customer looking for bare escentuals look at their auction when a search would not have normally pulled up the seller's listing.)  This is frowned upon by ebay and is called "keyword spamming", but some sellers engage in this practice.

Second, If the description and auction title are not helpful, look at the picture(s) with the auction.  I have included four pictures below of genuine Bare Escentuals products.  1 of the pictures is an example of the "old" packaging (which is still used by the company on many products).  The remaining 2 pictures (with the opaque labels on the bottle of the jars) is the "new" packaging. 

What about brushes?  A ton of listings say "for Bare Escentuals", are these knock offs or fakes? 

Listings such as those are usually for brushes made by a different manufacturer that the seller feels works well with mineral makeup (such as Bare Escentuals, Jane Iredale, Lady Emily, or Sheer Cover.) 

I cannot speak to the quality of the brushes for sale, but there are many good manufacturers out there that make makeup brushes.  Bare Escentuals is not the only one.  If you would like to try one of these other brands, it may be a great way to save some money. 

However if you are in the market for a Genuine Bare Escentuals product, I do not recommend purchasing a brush that uses those phrases (like Bare Escentuals or for Bare Escentuals.)

What if I am still unsure?

• Check the seller's feedback.  Does their feedback rating reflect disgruntled customers who thought they were purchasing a Genuine Bare Escentuals product only to have a different product arrive at their door?
• Ask the seller.  Use the ask a seller a question button before bidding on the item or completing the buy it now.  Most sellers want their customers to know exactly what they are purchasing and welcome questions.
• Check out other listings.  Does the picture of the item in question match the pictures of genuine bare minerals products?  If so, is this a stock picture?  This could be an indication that the seller is selling something other than Genuine Bare Escentuals.  (Many reputable sellers use stock pictures.  I am referring to auctions where it is unclear if the product is made by i.d. Bare Minerals.)
• If you cannot tell, do not buy the item.  It is better to wait and purchase something you are pleased with than to hope for the best and receive something other than what you intended. 

I hope that you have found this guide helpful.  If you feel it is missing any important information, please let me know and I will be sure to add it!  Thank you!