What is the guiding make-up idea of the Careup collection?

Careup is something we have dreamed about at Ministerstwo for a long time - foundations for people who genuinely choose skincare. For those who want to nourish and moisturise their skin every day, who want to wear make-up and at the same time like to look natural. The Careup foundation line is professional make-up with good coverage, but with a finish so natural it is as if it were not there at all.

What was the inspiration for creating a new line of foundations?

The need for a highly natural foundation that is comfortable to apply, that goes on well, looks after the skin with lightness and care, covers what needs covering and all the while looks as though it were barely there.

We were looking for a solution that would meet the demands of professionals and at the same time work even for people who do not wear make-up day to day. The Careup line of face foundations is therefore perfect both for make-up masters and for amateurs who need a product that will not do them any "harm", that will not look like a mask and will not rob the skin of its texture and expression.

We wanted our fluid to have a slightly "wet" finish, to shine ever so lightly - with the kind of glow you get after a rich cream or a face oil.

We avoided the effect of mattifying the skin, because that can be achieved by finishing the make-up with loose or pressed powder (but more about those soon ;)). We were looking for the kind of glow that gives the face radiance and lets it be itself.

What consumer needs are the Careup face foundations meant to meet?

Above all the need to feel good in your own skin. The need for a well-cared-for, moisturised complexion that looks healthy, with the skin tone evened out at the same time and a very natural effect.

The need for make-up that looks good not only from a distance. Naturalness, lightness, breathability, but with the possibility of building up coverage, which makes it a very versatile product.

What makes the Careup foundations different from others available on the market?

Above all the high naturalness of the composition and the concentration of caring active ingredients.

In the fluids we find over 14% aloe gel, almost 10% light sugar cane squalane, a stabilised version of vitamin C, a moisturising Yerba Santa ferment and an active concentration of a masterful ingredient called Pentavitin. On top of that, a complex of amino acids used in luxury creams and, obtained by supercritical extraction, resin from the endemic tree Pistacia Lentiscus, which stimulates fibroblasts to synthesise KLOTHO - the protein of youth produced by the skin.

This fluid is a skincare cocktail with full covering potential. So it is neither a cream nor a BB or CC cream. It is a product we had to name anew, hence the term Careup, which defines a new category on the beauty market.

Are the foundations suited to different skin types and skin tones?

The Careup face foundations are for everyone who likes a natural look and a discreet glow. Any skin can take to it, as long as its owner likes a creamy luminosity on the face. This line will work whether we have oily, dry or combination skin - in the case of the first, we can simply finish the make-up with a mattifying powder.

As for colours, introducing as many as 6 shades in the palette was quite an effort. Choosing them was the most laborious stage of the work on these formulas. We were looking for universal, natural and lively shades and for a base that would allow them to change and adapt to the tone of the complexion. In the end we created a palette of 6 colours which, once applied, take on different shades depending on the skin tone they are applied to.

Since this is the beginning of the colour cosmetics line at Ministerstwo, we focused on local complexions.

From number 10 - Rose Macaron - the lightest, cool beige with a pink-grey undertone, all the way to the darkest, warm colour number 60 - Cinnamon Roll. In the range of natural Careup foundations you will also find beiges with a yellowish or slightly orange undertone.

Because these cosmetics "work" with the skin, we decided to introduce an unusual system of indicating the colour on the labels placed on the fluid cartons. Each of the 6 colour versions of the foundations is marked with a sticker in two colours. A given colour sits somewhere between those two shades - it may perform differently on the skin depending on its natural tone and the degree of coverage, but also, for example, on the individual pH of each of us. The best solution will of course be samples or a personal trip to our shops or those of our partners and trying the colours directly on the skin of the face.

What effects can you expect after applying the foundation - matte, glow, a natural finish?

It depends on how much coverage you build up. Light: the foundation will cover redness and blemishes but will not weigh the skin down. The finish is very natural, the skin tone even, the foundation invisible, and the skin stays as if after a cream - moisturised and glowing.

Stronger coverage: it will even out the skin tone and will be an excellent base for contouring and for further, heavier make-up.

What message lies behind the campaign promoting the new Careup line of foundations from Ministerstwo?

Careup - makeup reinvented.

We have something completely new for you - luxurious skincare and natural make-up in one little bottle.

What did the process of creating the foundation formula look like - from idea to finished product?

A line of colour cosmetics always seemed to us a natural direction of growth for Ministerstwo, which for a decade has focused its research work on creating highly natural and effective skincare.

We were fully aware, however, that colour make-up is a narrow speciality in which you need enormous knowledge and experience to construct and then produce formulas that are stable, repeatable, caring, easy to apply and pleasant to the senses. Working with natural raw materials is particularly difficult in this respect - the bar is set even higher, and manufacturers often fail to reach it, creating formulations that are unstable in colour, that separate or that are hard to apply.

We knew that to create a colour line we needed a strong, experienced partner who would at the same time trust a small brand and take on the challenge of creating something unusual, in line with a precise, very specific brief.

After many years of searching we managed to meet a trustworthy Polish manufacturer with over 30 years of experience, with whom we sat down at the table and promised each other to create a line of exceptional products that would combine our knowledge of skincare with a long tradition of creating colour formulas.

Months passed before we managed to reach the final formula and match the 6 colours of the current palette, but we do not regret a single day of that work - the results are exactly what we dreamed of.

Did you work with make-up artists or consumers during testing?

A team of technologists with many years of experience in the industry worked on the formula of our Careups.

On the Ministerstwo side, the Careup line of face foundations was looked after by Aleks San Sebastian - a make-up artist with 20 years of experience, on film and photo sets as well as in occasional and everyday make-up. Aleks understands perfectly the needs of both professional make-up artists and individual clients.

The final formulas were tested dermatologically and instrumentally by an external laboratory. We also analysed the application and sensory experiences of the Careup fluids with test subjects.

Of course it did not happen without testing on ourselves - the foundations had their premiere at several parties and galas many months ago and, most importantly, they always performed brilliantly.

Were there any challenges that particularly stayed in your memory while working on the line of natural face foundations?

Everything was completely new to us and probably the entire creation of this product, from beginning to end, will stay in our memory for a long time. The particular challenge, however, was choosing the colours.

We had to narrow an infinite number of possibilities down to a few basic shades and it seemed an essentially impossible task. How do you choose 6 colours universal enough to take care of European skin tones across the widest possible group of clients?

For months we searched for the most beautiful, natural and elegant tones. They are so well matched that they can be mixed together to create further, unique variations and adapted to the colour of the complexion depending on its condition and the season.

How do you fit into current make-up trends? Or perhaps you want to set them?

We definitely want to set them!! Careup is something different.... It is not a CC, nor is it a BB. It is something that looks after the skin and takes care of it, and on the face looks a little like a cream. It evens out the skin tone and covers what needs covering, but with subtle application it does not stand out like a mask on the face.

Natural foundations often smudge, stick, roll up and are hard to apply. We wanted to apply our natural fluid without streaks or rolling, and we paid particular attention to that too.

Where did the idea for the sweet shade names come from? In the palette we find, among others, Vanilla Pudding, Sweet Cheescake and Pumpkin Spice Cookie.

We will confess without being asked twice - we love sweets. Day to day we try to limit them - so we thought that sweet accents could accompany us while doing our make-up. Please do not be misled, though - the fluids of the Careup line are fragrance-free products. We deliberately do not use any aromas in these formulas - thanks to this they can be used even by people with sensitive skin; after all this is an everyday product and we wanted it to be as gentle on the skin as possible.

Which other products from your range go best with the Careup foundations?

That depends largely on the current needs of our skin. The finish of the Careup fluids is wet, so if you like richer creams or our oil serums (Rose-Raspberry or Rice, for example) it is worth waiting a moment after applying them so that they absorb well before we start applying the foundation.

For oilier skin, the Sugar serum and the light H2O cream make an excellent base.

In the autumn we are expecting the launch of new creams from the Sugar and Rice lines, which have already passed their first tests as pre-make-up care and with which we are very pleased.

If we are thinking about the next steps in make-up, we leave room for experiments: bronzers, blushes and concealers, colour cosmetics for the eyes, fixers - look for what works best for you.

We, meanwhile, will focus on working on the next products in our colour line.

But that is another story, a dessert one ...