Which face powder should you use?

Whether it’s used to dull any shine on your skin or to help hold your makeup in place, face powder is essential to every makeup routine. But with so many types it’s not always easy to know which kind is best for your needs.

What’s the difference between loose powder and pressed powder? And what about setting powder vs. finishing powder? Rick DiCecca, creative director of makeup design for the Artistry™ line in North America, helps examine some of the definitions and uses to help you choose the best powder makeup for you.

Setting powder vs. finishing powder

Both a setting powder and a finishing powder will remove any unwanted shine, but their main purposes are different.

What does setting powder do?

A setting powder is aptly named. It “sets” your makeup in place, such as your foundation and concealer, helping it resist smudging, running or caking. It also helps remove any unwanted shine. They can be tinted or translucent and almost always come in loose powder form.

An example is Artistry Ever Perfect™ Loose Setting Powder. It locks in your foundation, providing a matte finish with no creasing, caking or settling into your pores for more than eight hours. This super-fine powder helps reduce shine and the look of pores, fine lines and wrinkles to keep skin looking soft and healthy.

“Artistry Ever Perfect Loose Setting Powder is free from the binders found in pressed powder that inhibit a good, solid set and create an unstable finish,” DiCecca said. “This loose powder binds with the foundation to set it, making it more resistant to movement, perspiration, etcetera, so your makeup feels fresh all day.

“It comes in three shades: light-medium, medium-deep and highlight,” he continued. “You can choose one of the tinted powders to match your skin tone and the highlighter powder to accentuate your favorite features.”

What does a finishing powder do?

A finishing powder is the “finishing touch” to your makeup. It goes on at the end of your makeup routine and is used for touch-ups during the day. It sits on top of your skin to enhance your look, blur imperfections and reduce the appearance of pores and fine lines. They typically work to reflect light, providing a filter-like effect in real life.

“Finishing powder may be used to set foundation, but it will inhibit a strong, long-lasting set and the foundation will be more likely to fade and dissipate,” DiCecca said. “Setting powder and finishing powder are best used in conjunction with each other to ensure that the makeup lasts throughout the day without fading.”

Artistry Future Glow™ Pressed Powder is ideal as a finishing powder, he said. “It’s airy and translucent and blurs the look of pores, providing a fresh, filtered look with a matte finish. It’s also great for touch-ups throughout the day, taking away shine and allowing you to re-blend your foundation.”

Pros and cons of loose powder and pressed powder

At the most basic level, face powders fall into two key categories: loose and pressed. A loose powder is usually found in a jar and has finer particles than the pressed powders that you find in compacts.

Both loose and pressed powders help control shine and can extend the wear of makeup. The main difference is in their formulas. For example, Artistry Future Glow Pressed Powder is densely packed, providing more coverage, while Artistry Ever Perfect Loose Setting Powder is finely milled, translucent and even more lightweight for a transparent, buildable finish.

“The Artistry pressed powder contains binders, which allows for a smooth application that is ideal for touching up foundation that has been set with loose powder after the usual daily wear,” DiCecca said. 

Many people prefer a loose powder for setting their makeup at the beginning of the day, while pressed powders are ideal as finishing powders, on-the-go touch-ups and shine reduction.

Clean makeup: Face powder ingredients

Another thing to consider when choosing face powder, or really any makeup or skin care product, is whether it is clean makeup that is free from harmful ingredients. The Artistry™ brand has a goal to formulate every product according to the Artistry Clean Guidelines with pure and safe ingredients.

That means formulas that are safe, effective, vegan and never tested on animals. They meet a rigorous set of guidelines that specify more than 1,700 ingredients to avoid, including mineral oils, parabens, phthalates and sulfates.

Under the Artistry guidelines for clean makeup, every ingredient has a purpose. Those that are included have traceable proof that they’re pure, safe and effective. The origin of a botanical ingredient is tracked from the seed that was planted all the way to the finished product in a consumer’s hand. If something doesn’t meet Artistry standards, it’s not used.

Artistry Ever Perfect Loose Setting Powder and Artistry Future Glow Pressed Powder are on the clean makeup list, meeting the Artistry Clean standards. The Loose Setting Powder includes pomegranate extract to help protect against environmental stressors and soothe skin as well as antioxidant-rich acerola cherry extract.

The Pressed Powder also includes pomegranate extract along with white chia seed extract, which helps calm and soothe the skin. All three extracts were cultivated from plants grown on certified organic Nutrilite farms.