I love the subtle effect that they can give the skin–just enough natural luminosity can be brought back with minimal effort. Sometimes, though, I feel like I’m just fooling myself since they are quite translucent!
— Christine
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What I don’t like about finishing powders is that I STILL don’t understand what qualifies as finishing vs. setting powders.
I think of setting powders as powders that set your makeup, like absorbs oil, keeps it from creasing or moving, makes your make up wear longer, etc. (My fav is bareMInerals’ Mineral Veil.) I think of finishing powders like Guerlain’s meteorites, where they add some luminosity to the skin or something, to make you look softly lit or in soft focus–I don’t know if that’s how everyone else thinks about it though!
This is what I think as well!
I’m just the same….never quite sure the difference.
What I found out when I was asking myself the same question:
Setting powders go on top of the foundation/CC/BB cream and are supposed to set/keep the makeup in place and mattify it.
Finishing powders go on top of the setting powder and are supposed to have a blurring/airbrush effect. You can use them all over the face or over certain areas that you want to blur (HD powders are part of this category).
Yikes…so, ideally, we should be using TWO powders? So, starting with an essence and then a serum and then a moisturizer, maybe followed by a sunscreen, then a foundation or foundation-type product (maybe one that allows you to skip the sunscreen) – oh, heck, I left out primer – and then setting powder, then blush and then finishing powder….and then some sort of spray to minimize the “powdery look” – is it any wonder women need to sand-blast their faces with Clarisonics to get all that stuff off at the end of the day! I don’t know if my new powder is a setting or finishing powder but I am using it as both. In some ways, I feel like we’re being sold (quite literally) a bill of goods!
This is the same as blush and blush topper 🙂 I for one don’t use two powders for sure. Even one is problematic, given how dry my skin is after almost any foundation/CC Cream. During the cold season (which as you know, for us, Canadian, sometimes goes from late autumn until end of April), I don’t use any powder at all. I started to use foundation regularly only a couple of years ago to cover some redness (last year I found out that it was rosacea). For me, an acid toner or essence or a liquid hyaluronic acid (i.e. Hada Labo) + serum are essentials. Moisturizer is a “must” for me to lock in moisture during the cold season and in the evenings. Sunscreen as well. From this point forward though, if I had good skin, I wouldn’t use foundations or CC creams tbh. I would just use mascara, eyeliner, lipstick and some colour on the eyes. And yes, we are sold for so many (unnecessary) things.
So, I just decided to READ Hourglass’s description of the new Veil Powder that I got and it seems that it is indeed a magical product that does BOTH – “this SETTING powder BLURS the appearance of pores, fine lines and wrinkles for an airbrushed finish” (their words, not mine!). Now, if it would just week my garden and mow the lawn, it’d be perfect!
You forgot the highlighter and contour!! Lol!!!
No! Noooo! But don’t skip the highliter! Please! Lol! When I die they better throw them all in with my ashes I’ll sparkle forever. Lol!
Hahahahaha. So true.
Lol! Love your answer! And I feel the same way. I skip primer many times I don’t really see a difference I’m trying to convince myself they do since I fell for a few maybe specially on eyes but in face they make me brake out. I can’t inagine layering all that stuff in one single outing. Lol! I guess what I use is finished powder God knows? I go fir light foundation and apply a small drop and blend the hell out of everything. I’ll use Cera Vé or the Embroillese moisteriser, mask, primer does it all under my foundation and it works great. After I’m fine with all primers won’t ourchase another one! Only heavily moisterize, slightest bit of foundation and that Physians Formula mineral talc goid enough. Lol! Oh! And I’m not bothering with those finishing sprays either. Too many dam steps.
Yeah, I don’t use a finishing powder. I also stop using contour and I don’t use bronzer…too many steps! I do enjoy a highlighter over my blush and in the inner corner of my eyes though. 🙂
Of course the Hourglass veil powder is 2-in-1. It’s better than the CoverFX Illuminating powder as I find is less drying and has a subtle radiance. Just that in my case, at this time of the year, it was a bit drying after an hour or so. I can’t wait to try it when it’s hot outside.
Same here with the garden and the lawn; once the summer starts, the festival of mowing the lawns starts!
I think the difference between finish and setting powder is function.
Finish powder helps make the skin look smoother by blurring pores and fine lines, like a filter.
Setting powder has film former that sets/holds foundation and concealer.
I use finish powder (appereance) and liquid setting spray.
sephora put up a good video about this on their youtube channel. very comprehensive, u shd go check it out for more info ?
Rant: Got talked into buying Laura Mercier Candleglow Sheer Perfecting Powder in #2. My foundation matches me without it. But once I apply this powder, I look a sickly shade of yellow! When I had told her that I wanted #1, she said it was too light and too pink, however, #1 looks quite a bit like how the original WnW Reserve Your Cabana bronzer had looked. And that *was* my HG finishing/setting powder!
Rave: When it works out, it adds a lovely softening effect to my face. Taking away the flat matte look, and makes foundation look better longer than without.
I guess my biggest issue is that I still don’t understand the difference between setting powders as finishing ones. Are they the same thing,more or less? Are they sometimes one and the same, depending on which product you are using? I recently got the Hourglass Veil Powder and love it but I’m not sure if it’s a setting or finishing powder. Same goes for those I have fron NARS, MAC, etc.
I haven’t found one, yet, that suits my skin tone… they always make my face slightly darker than it really is. But they can have a really pretty effect!
These days I actually set my whole face with diffused light by hourglass with an oil control primer beneath my foundation. It gives a very soft effect to the skin under indoor lighting, however under certain lighting (like sunlight) and if getting too close to my face you can actually see the shimmer particles, which bothers me a little. I don’t particularly like it or hate it, but I’m just waiting to finish the mini sizes in my custom palette (I have to finish ethereal light and mood light as well).
They can add a lovely luminosity to the face, such as with Guerlain Meteorites.
Most don’t really seem to do anything. I think a lot of manufacturers use “setting” and “finishing” powder interchangeably. I didn’t even know they were two different things until next year.
*until last year LOL
Your typo made me laugh out loud!!! I’m hoping I’ll understand the difference between setting and finishing powders by next year!
Too funny, Seraphine! 🙂
Rave: I love finishing powders, at least those that work! I have a weakness for finishing powders and own several. I think the Guerlain Meteorites are my favorite and I use them pretty much each time I do a full face of makeup. I love the luminosity that they bring to my face and when buffed onto the skin they just bring my whole look together.
Rant: Some are just too heavy and I think that many companies are confused about finishing powders versus setting powders. Setting powders are meant to set your makeup in place and keep things from melting or moving. Finishing powders are meant to buff everything together into a seamless finish. I have finishing powders that are really setting powders and they are much too heavy to perform the way that I want a finishing powder to perform. The ones that I don’t like are too heavy and cakey. They can also be too dark for my skin. When you try to buff them into the skin they just cake up. Finishing powders need to be light in texture and I prefer a luminous one rather than something that is completely matte.
I have dry skin and for me powder is almost unnecessary. I don’t need a setting powder in 90% of the time, much less a finishing powder. Usually, if I want to add luminosity, I add a few drops of the Algenist Luminizing Drops to my foundation (KohGenDo Aqua) or to the IT CC Cream. However, I was very impressed with my latest discovery during the VIB sale – the BECCA Hydra-Mist Powder – which melts into my foundation and adds moisture for real to a foundation/CC cream that otherwise would dry my face after a couple of hours.
I summer, during the days when it’s very hot and humid, I use in my T-zone the Clinique Stay-Matte Universal Blotting Powder, if necessary.
Never bothered with them.
I love my Hourglass powders. They seem to blur and bring everything together. I have Mood Light for when I wear my purples and pinks, and Dim Light when using warm colors. I always think my makeup looks “off” when I don’t use them. I also use a setting power (It Bye Bye Pores),
Well, I had to laugh and look meteorites up, since I just started to use it with some regularity. Yeah, bought it when it first came out, 1987, when there was only one color of loose perles, no color/format extensions. Still fine and still smells like violets. My skin tone was much more pink and translucent then (duh!). I thought it did nothing, as it was so close to the tone. Now, with more opaque, warmer skin, red undertones, meteorites actually DO provide a noticeable refinement and luminous quality that is BADLY needed.
I love! Love! Physians Formula Mineral talc in light. I wear it over foundation or without it gives a healthy glow from the galaxies and beyond plus the slightest healthy looking fake tan. Also from WetnWild love Cabana as Powder and Ticket to Brazil as bronzer. Those two are my dearest favorites. Murumuru I find a bit dark on myself and a bit orangey. The shimmer strips from Physicians Formula I adore also under blush, on top or overall.
I love using finishing powders for spot blurring or adding a subtle hint of colour. I can’t live without Hourglass ambient lighting powder in shade Mood Exposure, Laura Geller Balance N Brighten in Porcelain.