Laura Geller Filter Finish Setting Powder ($32.00 for 0.24 oz.) is a translucent beige with subtle, warmer tones and a pearly shimmer-sheen finish. MAC Too Chic (LE, $22.00) is less shimmery (95% similar). Cle de Peau Delicate Pink (14) (P, $55.00) is less shimmery (95% similar). Cle de Peau Bal Masque (LE, $120.00) is more shimmery (90% similar). Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight (P, $44.00) is darker, warmer (90% similar). Urban Decay Luminous (P, $30.00) is more shimmery (90% similar). See comparison swatches / view dupes side-by-side.

It’s new to the Laura Geller range, and it’s supposed to be a “sheer silky powder [that] creates soft focus perfection.” It “sets foundation” while “color-correcting pigments blur imperfections” and “looks naturally radiant.” I think it makes for a lovely, light-medium intensity highlighter, but there are other setting powders that do more for longevity and for blurring the skin and its natural texture. I actually found that by dusting this all over the face, my face was more textured than it was normally (both just dusted over bare skin as well as over various liquid foundations). It seemed far too shimmery to be applied all-over–it competed with the average highlighter I’d dust on cheek bones and other high planes on the face. When I applied it with a highlighting brush on cheek bones, it emphasized pores slightly.

It’s more semi-sheer than sheer, and the shimmer is larger and more noticeable in the product, which doesn’t make it inherently poor for setting one’s base (but it wouldn’t be for everyone), except that the amount of shimmer seems to draw attention to areas of the skin that I didn’t even realize were a little drier or had more noticeable pores–not good when it’s supposed to do the exact opposite. I applied it with a fan brush and a light-hand, which is about as light as one could dust it on, and it still didn’t seem to blur or give me any Photoshop-esque effect but at least didn’t make me look worse. When applied so lightly, it did nothing for longevity (foundation lasted as long as it normally did). When I applied with a more traditional powder brush (like I would use with a multitude of other setting powders), it extended the wear of my base by an hour and a half or so, but it was very, very radiant and I was self-conscious about my skin all day due to how much it brought out every imperfection on my skin.

I’ve really enjoyed a lot of Laura Geller products that I’ve tried recently, so I had higher hopes for this one, but it was a major miss. The brand actually says that one can “swirl it on liberally over your makeup–there’s no such thing as too much” but that was the opposite of my experience. I think, at best, it would work for highlighting specific areas or very lightly dusted over setting powder as a finishing powder, but I felt it fell very short of a setting powder.

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Laura Geller Filter Finish Setting Powder

Laura Geller Filter Finish Setting Powder

Laura Geller Filter Finish Setting Powder

Laura Geller Filter Finish Setting Powder

Laura Geller Filter Finish Setting Powder

Laura Geller Filter Finish Setting Powder

Laura Geller Filter Finish Setting Powder

Laura Geller Filter Finish Setting Powder

Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Foundation | Ultra HD + Laura Geller Filter Finish Setting Powder (your right)

Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Foundation | Ultra HD + Laura Geller Filter Finish Setting Powder (your right)

Laura Geller Filter Finish Setting Powder (your right, as a highlighter)