The New Powders

Powders have had a makeover. No longer the heavy textured, forgotten compacts languishing in the back of your makeup stash; they’re wising up – bringing light-injecting, skin perfecting formulas to your dressing table with an impossible to detect finish that will have you nose to mirror trying to pin-point it on your complexion. Heads up: you can’t. I’m not really a powder gal these days, a few years ago I had quite the addiction to MAC’s Mineralise Skinfinish Natural, easily going through one every three months and dusting it on at every occasion but it was a phase that I grew out of after making peace for my naturally sheeny (read: oily) complexion and now only ever reach for the stuff in times of teetering on oil-slick territory or on nights out. But two newly released formulas are changing my mind on the matter. Enter the new-gen powders…

Now I’m a wee bit late on the CHANEL Les Beiges bandwagon. Having hit counters a month or so ago, these powders are designed to impart a sheer and luminous healthy glow to the skin without a hint of heaviness. Available in five shades, a complexion congruent colour will act as a setting powder, or light dose of coverage over bare skin or an option or two above your natural tone can be used to lightly bronze and add warmth to the face. After a swatch-a-thon on counter, I set my sights on B20 – the puuurfect match for me. I’ve since become a bit of a CHANEL stalker and race up to the stand to enquire of B20‘s presence and am always hit back with a downbeat ‘It’s out of stock’. But the yearning for the beiged-cased compact just wouldn’t go away so instead I plumped for B40 – think CHANEL Tan De Soleil but in powder form and you’ve got it in one. No glimmer, no shimmer, just a slightly glowy sunkissed cheek – how do they do it? I’ve stopped questioning and instead have been dusting this on each morning as my bronzer of choice.

A launch that I’ve been crossing the days off till its release in the UK is that of the Hourglass Ambient Light Powders, so when they finally dropped into Space NK I was elbowing my way to the front of the line. Promising to change the way that finishing powders capture, diffuse and soften light on the skin and bandying the term ‘photoluminescent’ around which describes the technology of the formula that refines the complexion and filters out harsh lighting, I was practically salivating to get my hands on these. This video from Josh Collier describes them best and most certainly will wet your whistle for them. Offered up in six shades that you can pick between to create you desired  finish I decided upon Diffused Light – a pale yellow with a slight shimmer that helps to counteract redness while imparting a skin-like glow. And it really does do exactly what it says on the tin. I sweep over my cheeks where I suffer from bouts of ruddiness from time to time and the redness dulls, a touch of glow appears and after spreading a light dusting all over my face it just feels ‘complete’, you know?

Both pricey options with the CHANEL Les Beiges setting you back a hefty £38 (still available at House of Fraser) and the Hourglass’ Ambient Lighting Powder retailing too at £38 from Space NK, but I’m justifying these purchases to myself as the new stash staples. A powder product being billed as a stash staple for moi? And for this reason – yes, the hunt for the elusive B20 will go on and I will continue to eat baked bean dinners for the rest of the week. Priorities, eh?