Stila Hydrating Finishing Powder

I have been using Stila powders, foundations and concealers for years. In my opinion, you get a flawless finish without feeling like you're wearing tons of makeup. Lately, Stila has been promoting their 4 Simple Steps to Complexion Perfection, a routine that involves primer, foundation, concealer and a finishing powder. Yeah, nothing really new for those who have been doing something similar to their faces every morning since they were wearing braces, but that's not the interesting part. It's that coinciding with the four steps promotion, Stila has launched a fantastic new finishing powder.

The Hydrating Finishing Powder is a finely milled translucent powder which provides even, sheer coverage (some would feel it's too sheer to wear on its own, and it's designed to be worn with foundation, but with a little concealer, I love it). It not only absorbs oil, but also contains micro-encapsulated ectoin for time released hydration. Ok, when I first read that, I thought, what the heck does that mean? Well in a nutshell, it means that the powder also keeps your skin hydrated throughout the day, so places like the under-eye area don't get all dry and creased. The powder also has anti-oxidant properties as well, to help protect your skin from harmful environmental factors.

When I applied the powder to my face, it almost felt as if it had a cooling agent in it, but that's actually the moisturizers in the powder - it was such a weird feeling, in a good way. And after dusting it all over my face, I adored the almost air brushed appearance of my skin. It's seriously one of the best powders I have tried.  I was a bit worried about my skin becoming uber shiny over the course of the day, because I wasn't sure how the hydrators were going to work with my oily skin. But I needn't have worried, the powder controlled my oiliness, leaving my complexion looking great all day long. 

My only complaints about the product are twofold: firstly, it only comes in one shade. As I have mentioned in other blog posts on products that only come in one shade, this is going to be problem since there is such a huge variety of complexion shades out there. My complexion works great with the powder, but I can't guarantee it for everyone. Secondly, the packaging is cumbersome, and a lot of the product is wasted between getting the powder out of the container, and getting it onto your brush. It does have a neat little spin dial to control how much of the powder you shake out, but it's still messy. I guess, when you're getting a loose powder, you kind of expect a bit more mess. And I have to say, this powder is definitely worth a little inconvenience. To learn more about the Stila's 4 Steps, or the Hydrating Finishing Powder, visit the Stila website.