The warmer weather is kinda…sorta coming our way. It’s about bloody time! So we all need to keep the shine at bay a little bit more throughout the day. For oilier skinned girls like me it means packing even more on, but don’t fret it means you’ll have less wrinkles as you get older apparently if you have oily skin 😛
I am going to list in this post my most used setting powders. I personally think it’s good to have a range of powders in your stash. Your skin likes to keep you on your toes and some days are different than others, so you might want more coverage perhaps if you are going to be out all day or it’s that time of the month and you’re looking more flushed than normal. Or maybe you’re having a good skin day and you just want a light powder, or if your going out on the town you might want a different coloured one (to match the tan) or one with some luminosity. I think I cover all the bases here without breaking the bank.
First up is my very well loved (and battered) Stay Matte Pressed Powder by Rimmel.
I have about 4 of these floating around including one in my handbag. This is a great everyday setting powder. It’s light in texture so does not give any real coverage, but mattifies the skin without looking cakey and lasts really well.
This has a number and colour (005, silky beige), but I feel like it’s pretty transparent on my pale skin anyways. The best thing about this powder? Not only is it great, but it’s a steal at 5.99 from Boots
Next up is a bit more pricey, but it’s good at its job, I promise:
This is Mac’s Studio Fix. This is actually a pressed powder foundation, which means it gives extra coverage on the days when you need it! My one here is NC20
This matches by natural skin tone, but I usually have a darker one knocking about too for when I’m a bit more (fake) tanned as this is a great powder to bring on a night out for touch ups. I love this powder it’s nice and smooth and smooths over pores and fine lines rather than settling into them like some others can do. You can get this in any Mac store. They sell it in Brown Thomas and on their website for 31.50.
I have two choices next:
These are two Ben Nye Luxury Powders. Ben Nye is a brand of makeup designed to be used in theatre and film. I love these powders, and these 42gram pots will last me a lifetime.
The Ben Nye Powders are really finely milled. The Cameo Powder has a slight pink tint to it which is good for my pink toned complexion on a normal day to day basis. The banana powder is yellow toned so is a great all over powder for someone who has a more sallow complexion. If I am going all out with my makeup and am heavy contouring I like to use Cameo under my eyes and anywhere on the face I want to lighten and then I’ll use the Banana Powder wherever I am creating shadow and darkening. These powders are a lovely texture, do not cake on the skin and do not clog pores and they definitely set your makeup as well as adding a hint of colour, just use a light hand 🙂 The only irish website I can find these on is Sunaura for 21 euro which I think is a bit steep as I got my Banana one last year at Imats for 10 pound. They are fab products though.
So yes you want powder to mattify and set your makeup, but this doesn’t always mean you need to use a matte powder. I have two options here that you can pick in Boots, that cover this:
This is the Bourjois Java Rice Loose Powder, how pretty is this old school packaging? This powder smells amazing too by the way, added bonus 🙂 For me and my skin this is not an everyday powder, but if I am looking for a bit of a glow I dip into this pot.
This powder has light reflecting particles in it, it just borders on glitter so use with caution. Brushed lightly over the skin this gives a lovely glow without having to use cream products to achieve it. I like to use this in the inner corners of my eyes too for a subtle highlight during the day. You can buy this from Boots for 13.99 This is a more pinky powder. If you are looking for something that is perhaps a bit more warmer in tone and has a more gold sheen to it Sleek Makeup have a powder for you:
This also has Spf 15 so it may have some flashback if you are thinking about it for a night out. This is Sleek’s Luminous Pressed Powder.
I have the shade 01 which I believe is the lightest shade. It doesn’t give any coverage really in my opinion, but it does set your makeup and has a subtle gold shimmer running through it, to liven up your face and give it some luminosity. I love using this powder when I am finished my makeup and have used a setting powder (because I am super oily) and this is a light powder, just lightly all over my face, to give an extra glow. You can get this in Boots too, or on Cloud10beauty, or the Sleek website itself and it’ll set you back 8.99, not too bad at all 🙂
So there you have it, a few powdery options for you if you are looking to switch it up or just add to your collection for different makeup tasks. A girl likes to have options!
Thanks for reading,
Gemma
xxx
