Super balanced is a line of foundations by Clinique that are good for combination skins. The line has been going for many years and has had a few different incarnations, the most recent being the introduction of a mineral power version. The super balanced name comes from it’s purported ability of to provide liquid foundation cover and oil absorption where needed. It also comes in an oil free formula, which makes it suitable for use on rosacea or eczema prone skin which can be irritated by oils.
I remember trying the clinique superbalanced make up range way back when, I can’t remember which year exactly but it was quite a while ago. I used a compact with a refillable solid cake of the makeup. I actually refilled that compact about three times which is a sign in itself that it is fairly decent makeup. Back then the things I liked were the good coverage, moisturising and minimal clogging of pores; it did have that balance of providing enough coverage without feeling too heavy on the skin. That said it could still get a little oily after a while if your skin is prone to t-zone oiliness, but other make ups are worse in this respect so I think it is providing some oil minimising effect. In any case I found I needed to use powder on the t-zone areas if I wanted to keep my skin mat.
The mineral make up version of the superbalanced line surprisingly has the same pros and cons for me, however the added benefit here is that you can use the same make up powder to touch it up. Being a mineral make up, it also is more on the ‘oil absorption’ side of the spectrum than providing sheer (liquid-like) coverage. Even so, it does seem to be able to balance out dry and oily areas pretty well and provide a good sheer coverage.
One of the neatest things is the dispenser, turning the container lifts a small amount of powder to the top part, keeping all the unused powder locked in the bottom so you never have an excess of powder sitting in the top ready to spill. The brush that comes with the makeup isn’t so great, although it could be used for touch ups. To apply it evenly you need to use a larger make up brush.
Mineral powders with yellowish tones tend to be good at covering skin redness like rosacea. The colours available tend to be on the yellow side of the colour spectrum for this reason, as the line is designed to cover skin redness and blemishes. In fact there is a sheer yellow only powder available specifically for masking redness (that I haven’t tried) called redness relief. Because of the abundance of yellows, If you don’t need the red coverage you may have more trouble finding a good match for your skin tone without the need to mix two colours. I ended up trying the 02 natural shade which was a good match for medium-fair skin with red undertones.
Overall this is a decent mineral make up that doesn’t seem to irritate the skin, although I would avoid using it on broken or healing skin. Like most mineral make ups this provides sun protection; It has SPF 15 although for it to be effective throughout the day you would need to top it up or use a SPF base cream as well. The coverage is good and it doesn’t feel to heavy. This would be a good match If you’re a fan of mineral make up and have combination skin, need redness coverage and need something gentle if you are prone to rosacea or eczema.

You can get this make up on Amazon

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