Packaging: The product comes in a black plastic compact (12g) with a little divider to house the puff. The packaging surprised me a lot in that it felt extremely cheap. And by looking at the photo of the puff you can see that my nails cause indentations just by holding it to apply the product. They do disappear after some time has passed, but either way, I would recommend to use a large fluffy brush to apply the product instead. While it is possible to blend out the circular rings left behind from the puff when you use it on your face, a fluffy brush applies much better (and evenly) without causing any stimulation to the face.
Price: I bought this on sale for about $22 USD on Jolse. With daily usage, this product should last three months at the very least. And considering that this product does not clog my pores, I think the price is right for what it is (but not as far as the case goes; the case still sucks).
Consistency: It feels so beautifully smooth. It surprised me, actually, because it felt a lot like a light translucent powder. I was expecting it to feel heavy on my skin because of its coverage, but it really feels like nothing is there. That is not to say there are not some downsides, however. As with most powders, I find that the powder will go on patchy if your skin is damp. It seems that the best time to use this is when your face is completely dry. You are able to build this product, but if you have oily skin, it is not advisable to layer the product later on in the day when your shine starts coming through because it is going to look patchy and cakey (even though it is so light). And if your skin is dry, or you have dry patches, it is going to cling – but not overwhelmingly so. As long as you have moisturized well and let your skin absorb everything first, it should go on just fine. It also looks great when applied over a BB cream because it does not darken your skin, but instead it adds to your coverage while at the same time removing any shine.
Scent: It has a somewhat light scent that is reminiscent of a kind of floral perfume. It also does seem to linger a bit, but it is not overwhelming.
Ingredients: A CosDNA analysis revealed that the only two ingredients to look out for is talc and dimethicone (emollient) – both of which only scored a 1 as acne triggers. Admittedly, as far as the ingredients go, there does not appear to be anything really special in this product aside from the fact that it is more pigmented than regular powders (and that was why I bought it). So, I do not have a lot to say in terms of the ingredients when it comes to this particular product, but I did decide to look into talc and silica, which appear in many powders.
According to the FDA:
Talc is an ingredient used in many cosmetics, from baby powder to blush… [Its function is] to absorb moisture, to prevent caking, to make facial makeup opaque, or to improve the feel of a product.
Who knew? Talc tends to be portrayed as some kind of evil ingredient that should be avoided at all costs, but in actuality it is so helpful when you have oily skin like I do.
Silica (or silicon dioxide) is an ingredient that also seems to show up often in powders (this one included). I had no idea what use it had until I found a 2016 paper published by Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia (the Brazilian Society of Dermatology), which established that
silicon is important for optimal synthesis of collagen and for activating the hydroxylation enzymes, important in the formation of collagen network, improving skin strength and elasticity.
Overall Review: As you can see from my face photo above, this product is not full coverage by any means, but it effectively lessened the severity of my redness/pimples, made my tone appear even, effectively hid my pores, and removed all shine on my face. If I am to judge the actual product on its own, I would say that it is a great formula that provides ample coverage without clogging my pores/causing breakouts, but I do think it is a “high maintenance” sort of product. What I mean by this is that it seems as though it takes a lot of work to apply it perfectly. I would not want to use this on the go in fear that it might appear patchy if I used the puff. Even BB cushions require less work than this! The packaging is cheap and the puff it comes with is just useless, but still, I do like the powder itself. Will I be rushing to repurchase this product when it runs out though? Probably not. From my experience, it is better to use a BB cream/cushion for coverage, and then apply a translucent powder on top to control shine without getting cakey. 3/5.
