You know when you get hoodwinked to buy new make up products that you don’t know if you need? Setting powders are the death of me. Recently, I’ve been wanting to get that airbrushed Instagram baddie undereye look. On my quest to find it, I ended up in the under eye setting powder algorithm, which convinced me that I need an undereye powder. In my investigation, I learned that loose powder is the way to go. Apparently, the goal is to get rid of your pores, which I didn’t know were a problem. Like isn’t that just what skin looks like? Whatever.
Unfortunately, since the Bare Minerals days, I’ve developed a deep distaste for loose powders because they get EVERYWHERE. Why can no one design an applicator that dispenses a small amount & doesn’t get everywhere. AHHH. I imagine loose powder technology has advanced since those days, so I decided to give loose powders another shot.
Here are the powders I tried and what I think of them.
Huda Beauty - Mini Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder: Banana
I initially really like the packaging of this powder because it prevents stuff from spiling all over the place. Often times, I find myself wasting powder, so I liked how it was compact and came with an applicator. However, in practice, I felt that the applicator was a little bit difficult to use. The powder is GREAT though. Finely milled and it does what it says it does- it brightens the eyes right up.
Huda Beauty - Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder: Banana
This is a bigger version of the one above, but it doesn’t have the applicator. I really like that instead of little holes to dispense the powder, there’s a mesh sieve. It does the trick.
Givenchy - Prisme Libre Loose Setting and Finishing Powder
I wanted to love this powder because it is a cult classic. It has 4 separate colors to address specific color correction needs, but - to me- this is all unnecessary pomp and circumstance. I saw one girl on socials say “if you only need to correct X only use the Y color powder”. If I’m paying $59 for a powder, you best believe I’m going to use every since one. Anyway- I tried it and it was nice and soft. It covered my pores- which the under eye baddie rule, but it also highlighted any bumps I had on my face. Like not super noticeably, but there was something that didn’t white sit/set well with me. I think I just had the preconceived notion that it was gimmicky and I didn’t want to like it.
Pat McGrath- Sublime Perfection Blurring Under-Eye Setting Powder: Yellow
This powder is not a loose powder, but it is really nice. The texture feels so smooth. It does the job very well, but I read a review or two that it broke for some people. Because the powder was so fine, I believed them. I didn’t want to test my luck and find out, so I returned it, but I really liked it. I also read that this product was primarily for the under eye & I am a girly that likes multi-tasking products, so that was another reason it had to go back. If you’re looking for an undereye powder - this one DOES work.
NARS - Soft Matte Advanced Perfecting Powder: Bay
I really loved this powder. It was soft, smooth. It worked. I really liked how it felt, and I feel like you can use it in lieu of a foundation. However, in my mind, it felt a little heavy for setting powder. Remember- I was on the hunt for a loose setting powder. I might totally buy this after I use up some of my compact powders.
Chanel - Poudre Universelle Libre: 30
So this is the powder that I ended up going with because I am a Chanel girly in the sense that most of my make up is Chanel. I wanted to make sure that the foundation, concealer and powder gel-ed and this seemed like the safest option. The powder works and it works well & for me - it did not cling to the bumps on my face like the Givenchy did. It also felt like it was less likely to spill all over the place if you kept the puff in it. We shall see.
Chanel - Les Beiges Healthy Glow Sheer Powder
I’m actually mad that I got convinced to buy this shit. It is very sheer and light & it oxidizes like a mother. It is straight trash. I can’t even remember if it works well because it oxidizes so fast- and I treat my make up well.. ALSO I bought this thing twice, so this is now personal.
RMS Beauty Unpowder
I had this powder for years because I think there was an article that Emma Watson used it. This powder- despite being super old actually still worked nearly as well as the new powders. Unfortunately, the powder is many years old and I must put it to rest. I didn’t really reach for it often, but when I tried it recently, it works in a pinch. It is a bit drying though.
Honorable Mentions: I didn’t try these on my face, but played around with them at the store.
Charlotte Tilbury - Airbrush Flawless Finish Setting Powder
This powder was really nice, but did not have a huge shade range. Also, Charlotte has so many different types of powders at Sephora that I felt super overwhelmed.
ONE / SIZE by Patrick Starr - Ultimate Blurring Setting Powder: Sweet Honey
I really liked everything about this powder: the feel, the applicator, the fact that there was a plastic piece that prevented it from getting everywhere. Because this product is fairly new, I wanted to wait to see what other people said about it (after the TikTok hyped died down). Like- I want to find out if it molds or gets hard with age. Yaknow? I would definitely try it for the next Sephora sale.
Laura Mercier - Translucent Loose Setting Powder: Honey
I know everyone loves this but I was not super compelled to buy it. Probably because there were a lot of options and I got confused. Also, it just looked like it was going to get all over the damn place.
I think I’m going to stick to the Chanel Powder for now and see how it works for me. For every day make up, I don’t think you need a setting powder. I have a little secret. I do something bad. I used powder foundation as a powder over my concealer. Someone told me that this was WAY too heavy, but … it works! Like better than the powders. I’ll do a little day test and see what the winner is. My next adventure is to determine if I need a setting spray. Do I need both? A setting powder and a setting spray? What about primer? I feel like the beauty industry is really getting me these days.
