The Power Of Powder

When I was curating twtmakeup_my a while back, I notice that the number one most popular question that every single girl simply had to ask was in regards to foundation. What’s the best foundation for oily skin? What’s the best drugstore foundation? What’s the difference between a HD foundation and a regular one?

Now I am not going to instantly shut down the importance of foundation, no. I take my foundation very seriously – but if there’s one thing that disappoints me slightly is the fact that not as much emphasis is being placed on powder! Are powders not important too?

My wild guess is that too many women in our community are too focused on getting the PERFECT foundation, that they forget that foundation needs to be set with the perfect powder! Powders aren’t interchangeable– it would just be a waste to use an expensive foundation but to set it with just baby powder. This is more common than you think! People don’t properly set their foundation with the right setting powder, then get their foundation gliding all across their faces – and at the end of the day, look like a mess.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to find the perfect bottle of foundation, but take note that powder is as equally important! #Justice4Powder

“But putting on powder will make me look like a tepung!”

That’s where you’re wrong! My personal routine would be a thin layer of foundation, a little bit of concealer and then the most important part of it would be perfecting the base with a moderate amount of powder. Trust me, that will totally help you avoid looking like a tepung.

Anyway, let’s not waste too much time and take a look at my personal Top Five in the powder department – these are actual products that I use in real life and I feel like they’ve worked well for me so read on to find out why!

1. Physicians Formula Happy Booster Powder

Before we get down to business, let me warn you that this powder’s aim isn’t to mattify your face. I actually bought it out of impulse – I read on the packaging that it helps to color correct, and seeing how cute the hearts are; I headed straight to the cashier without having second thoughts. When I got home, I was pleasantly surprised to discover how nice it smelled. Apparently the scent helps promote a feeling of happiness (hence the name ‘Happy Booster’). Anyway, as I said earlier on, it doesn’t mattify your face upon application. Instead, it’ll give you a fresh looking glow and subtle highlights on the high points of your face. The pink tones that it has can also substitute as blush, so I’d say this powder is perfect if you’re going for the “effortless” kind of look. I only wear this on a good face day and by good face day, I mean sans breakouts.

2. Missha The Style Fitting Wear Cashmere Powder

This, to be honest, is the first ever loose powder that I purchased during the time when absolutely everyone was into baking their faces. I tried baking mine too, and although I felt like it did help make my face matte and oil-free forever, I eventually grew out of it. Who has the time to bake every single day? I know I don’t. I’m a very busy working woman. Fortunately, I was smart enough to not let this powder go to waste and throw it into my makeup dungeon (aka the section of my makeup box where I put all my unused products). I used it like any other regular powder….and then I realized, it wasn’t the baking process that set my foundation for hours and hours – it was this powder on it’s own!

3. Innisfree No-Sebum Mineral Pact

If you think I won’t be making any mentions on Innisfree in this post then you are so, so wrong. Shout-out to Jo for introducing me to this product! Jo is the salesperson at Innisfree who eerily looks like my youngest sister – but she’s a total sweetheart and knows her stuff so the moment she asked me to give this mineral pact a try, it was an immediate yes from me! But I guess I say yes to most of the products salespeople try to push at me. No wonder I have that unused products section in my makeup box….. Oh, but this product is definitely not “unused” in my book! I use it all the time. Small and portable, I think this is the powder most regularly carried around in my handbag. Everytime I take it out to touch up my face when I’m out, I can sense the ladies who normally have with them their expensive compacts judging my tiny, mint-green, little mineral pact. Joke’s on them!

4. Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder

Unlike the Miisha powder that I mentioned earlier on, I did not buy this loose powder with the intention of baking my face. I actually don’t know why I bought it initially – but it has turned out to be one of my most used powders. It leaves my face feeling silky smooth, I just want to touch my cheeks all day after applying it on! It’s transparent, so whenever I get a tan or want to look as natural as possible, I wear the Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer (because in terms of mimicking my natural skin color, this tinted moisturizer is numero uno), and set it with this loose powder. It definitely helps me feel good about being in my own skin, considering how this is the closest to “au naturale” that I can possibly get with makeup!

5. Marc Jacobs Beauty Perfection Powder

It’s Marc Jacobs – could you ever go wrong with Marc Jacobs? Putting labels aside, I have to admit that this powder is amazing! I only wear it on special occasions, though because personally I feel like it makes my face feel plastic-y? And for long hours too! It makes my face feel matte forever, I swear. Imagine that it’s Hari Raya and you have to hang out with your family all day with barely enough time to touch up your face? This Beauty Perfection Powder might be able to save your oily face! Does it make you look natural? It totally depends on your foundation application beforehand. But does it make your face look great in pictures? You’re damn right it does, and they know it too! No wonder they’re always pushing the #InstaMarc hashtag at us!