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Face powders perform several tasks. Some face powders are used to lock makeup in place, so you don’t need to apply regular touch-ups; these are known as setting powders. Other face powders add a sheen or add bronze to the face, and these are known as finishing powders.
Many face powders are on the market, and knowing what product to purchase can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. To help you make the best possible purchase for your needs, we will discuss some of the factors and features you should consider later in this article.
Before you spend a lot of time researching and looking for a great product, you should check out our list of the leading face powders in 2024. We’ve done some extensive research to bring you an excellent selection and are sure you’ll love our recommended products as much as we do!
Detailing the Leading Face Powders of 2024
Coty Airspun Powder — Best Overall
Key Features
- Lightweight loose powder
- Can be used alone or as a setting powder
- Climate pledge friendly
- Available in various shades
Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder creates translucent coverage by reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, scars, and acne. If you want to cover blemishes without feeling bogged down, you should try this face powder.
This powder will make your skin look smoother and more radiant. Plus, it can be used as a light coverage on its own or as a setting powder over a cream or liquid foundation.
This product is dermatologically tested and climate pledge friendly, meaning it predominantly uses ingredients from responsible sources. What’s more, with six shades, it can suit a variety of skin tones.
Sacha Buttercup Powder — Runner-Up
Key Features
- Flash-back safe setting powder
- For all skin tones
- This is a cruelty-free product
- Airbrushed matte finish
Sacha Buttercup Setting Powder is a great face powder to use if you love taking selfies. It is flashback-safe, so you will not look ashen when using a flash or a bright light. In addition, this product has a yellowish tone that will give you a warm and healthy glow.
This powder melts into your skin and will stay put for most of the day, so wearing it will make you look energized and fresh-faced. This finely milled powder effortlessly blurs lines and hides pores. It also acts well as a contouring and highlighting tool, absorbing oil. You can even enjoy this product guilt-free, knowing it has not been tested on animals.
Elizabeth Mott Powder — Contender
Key Features
- Finely ground powder
- Lightweight with great staying power
- Will provide a summertime glow
- Absorbs excess oil
Elizabeth Mott Bronzer Powder is vegan and cruelty-free, meaning you’ll feel good about what you’re putting on your body. This bronzer can be used as a blush but with a more natural-looking skin tone compared to a traditional blusher. In addition, the powder is finely ground and is lightweight enough to wear comfortably all day long.
This product blends easily into the makeup you wear beneath it and is easily buildable. In addition, using bronzer powder makes your foundation look more sunkissed.
Milani Powder — Honorable Mention
Key Features
- This product is vegan and cruelty-free
- Made from bamboo to tighten your pores
- It can be worn over foundation or alone
- Lightweight powder with medium buildable coverage
Milani Conceal and Perfect Shine-Proof Powder will absorb excess oil and mattify any underlying cream or liquid makeup. It is available in 10 colors, suiting a variety of skin tones, but we recommend using a shade lighter than your foundation for best results.
If you are looking for a vegan and cruelty-free product, you should consider buying this lightweight powder. It is made from bamboo and will tighten pores, so they do not become clogged. This compact powder is even excellent for blending makeup and creating a smooth and flawless finish.
L'Oreal Paris Powder — Also Consider
Key Features
- Effective setting powder
- Creates a soft-focus look
- Translucent and loose powder
- Oil-absorbing and mattifying
L’Oreal Paris Makeup Matte Setting Powder was inspired by professional make-up artists. It is a loose setting and translucent powder that locks in your makeup all day and reduces any shine from oily skin.
Using this product will reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, as it is a fine powder that reflects some of the light on your face. It will also hide large pores. In addition, this powder creates a soft-focus look that is perfect for softening aging skin.
How to Find a High-Quality Face Powder: A Buyer's Guide
So you’ve got an idea about which products you should buy. There are still many things you may need to know, however. Check out the rest of our article for some helpful face powder information, so you can find the right one for you.
Things You Should Consider When Buying Face Powder
There are numerous things you need to keep in mind when choosing a face powder. These include:
Setting powder
Setting powder ensures any cream or liquid makeup products are in place all day long. In addition, setting powder holds and locks everything in, so you don’t need to spend a lot of time touching up your makeup throughout the day.
If you have mature skin with fine lines and wrinkles, you may want to avoid using a setting powder. Instead, it is better to use a foundation with a self-setting mechanism. Setting powders can make the skin a little dryer, and it is better for mature skin, especially, to remain moisturized.
Finishing powder
Finishing powders are either aluminized or mattifying. They can blur fine lines by illuminating the face or make liquid makeup look less dewy. Finishing powders are effectively used to smooth makeup out.
Full-coverage powder
Full-coverage powder is a setting powder and foundation powder all in one and is ideal for anyone with greasy skin. When looking for an excellent full coverage powder, look for one that is labeled as non-comedogenic. This means that it will not block your pores.
Reflectiveness/shininess
Some finishing powders offer more luminosity than others. They achieve this look by using reflective materials. Before you purchase a finishing powder, consider how reflective you want the powder to be. They are different from highlighters because they are slightly mattifying and, similar to a setting powder, they will offer some slight hold to the rest of your makeup.
Color
Setting powder is often in skin color or a pale neutral color. A setting powder color is designed to fade into whatever other makeup you have. It doesn’t add anything to your look and only maintains it.
Finishing powder, on the other hand, adds something to your look. This is often a slight sheen. The sheen itself is often slightly colored, therefore you’ll want to look for a color that suits your skin tone and matches your foundation, rather than choosing one that clashes against it.
If you have a cool undertone to your skin, choose a finishing powder with a pinkish or silver sheen. If you have warmer skin tones, opt for a bronze or gold sheen.
Skin type
It is difficult to find a setting powder for dry skin, but there are some out there. If you have dry skin, choose a setting powder that is loose and in a translucent shade. It also needs to be lightweight. Finally, select one that is advertised as non-drying.
Apply only under the eyes and around the nose if you have dry skin. If you want to use face powder as a base, you should also budget for a hydrating spray to ensure your makeup doesn’t look flaky.
No flashback
When buying shimmery face powder, consider how it will look in photos. For example, if you love taking selfies, you may find the powder reflects too much light and will make you look strange in a photograph.
If you want to avoid looking ghostly in a photograph, avoid products containing zinc or titanium oxide. That said, if photographs aren’t important to you, many powders containing these ingredients can make you look great in the flesh.
Size
You should look for a product that offers you a decent amount of powder in one container. However, you’ll also want to look for a powder that will fit in your purse, so you can make necessary touch-ups throughout the day.
Mirror case
Similarly, you can save some room in your purse by purchasing a face powder that comes with a mirror in the case. Some also have a space in the container where you can keep a powder puff.
Loose format or compact
Loose format powder spreads more easily over your face than compact powder. Compact powder, however, allows you to carry more products in a smaller space. A compact powder has more oil, so it is not great to use on very oily skin. If you use a full coverage powder foundation, a compact powder will spread better and offer more coverage.
Cruelty-free
You can purchase vegan products containing no animal derivatives, as well as cruelty-free products that have not been tested on animals. A bunny symbol signifies a cruelty-free product in the US and many other parts of the world.
Ingredients to avoid
About 60% of the products we put on our skin are absorbed, so it is better to avoid certain ingredients in your skincare products. Some ingredients are known pathogens, interfere with hormone production, or cause irritations to the skin. Some ingredients to avoid include:
- Aluminum
- Mineral oil
- Parabens (Butyl, Methyl, Ethyl, Propyl)
- DEA, MEA, and TEA
- Imidazolidinyl
- Phthalates
- PEG
- Siloxanes
- Propylene glycol
How We Chose the Perfect Face Powders
To choose the perfect face powders, we considered the ingredients used to make them. We also considered how well the setting powders held our makeup in place and how fabulous we felt in the finishing powders.
We opted for powders with a subtle finish that was either odorless or had a pleasant scent. We only chose products we felt were good value-for-money and products with plenty of positive customer reviews.
Face Powder Price Range
Face powder can cost as little as $2 and as much as $60. You can find decent face powder for anything within this price range. We recommend reading plenty of customer reviews rather than judging the quality of a product by its price.
