Mineral Make-up - so what does it all mean?

These last few days while ironing in front of the tv - there's a lot of ironing to be done you see - I notice that every second advert on tv seems to be for mineral make-up.  So what it is?  Why is it different?  Do I really need it?  Will it get my ironing done any faster and more efficiently?  Will it resist our Australian summers without sliding off my face?  And what if I get caught in the rain - will it form brown sludge marks as it drips off my nose and chin?  Does it stain clothes?  How do you remove it?  What happens to the powder that doesn't stick to your face, will it fall on my shoulders like brown dandruff? Will it create more housework as I try and dust all the powder away? And for those of us lucky to have wrinkles - does this mineral make-up fall into our  creases (laugh lines, actually...) so that our faces look like a topographical map?  I'm really not convinced it's the answer to my make-up prayers, this mineral make-up thing...especially since I have to send away 3 easy payments of upteen dollars, plus postage and handling of course, and then I get all these "free" products to try, lucky me...  Well, the jury's out on this mineral make-up fad.  I haven't come across anyone who wears it or who has tried it.  Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie seems to wear it, but I'm not sure that's enough endorsement for me.

"Pucker" by Josiem. This image kindly reproduced here with permission from the artist.  Visit Josiem here to view her work at RedBubble.