If any of you have been asking yourselves on how to save money on makeup without looking like a hot mess with super cheap products and fakes, some of you may try to skip applying powder to your liquid or cream base and try setting your face with setting spray at most.
The reason why setting powders are rather important to applying makeup is because even if you set your foundation with a setting spray, it will have a tendency to still move around and make a mess.
In addition to this, people who don't have time and apply foundation makeup by dabbing the brush or sponge around their faces will end up with uneven patches and streaks.
Many Filipinas have instead resorted to using powder foundation to save time, but for some people, this cannot be possible for them as they have blemishes on their faces which most powder foundations cannot hide, even if they apply so much on their applicators and dab it on their faces.
Thus, they are obligated to use liquids, creams, or mousses to hide their blemishes and add powder to hide things if the coverage is not enough.
Many beauty influencers these days, such as Jeffrey Star and Nikkietutorials who are famous for their works on YouTube have advised using powders to set their foundation. This is a good strategy as the powder helps in absorbing oils and puts the liquid base in place.
One of the added advantages that setting powders have is that it adds an added coverage to your face that can hide blemishes if your base has not been able to hide them.
The question now is this: which powder should you use?
If you are one of those who like to watch said online celebrities, your first answer might be loose powders. Indeed, there are many advantages to loose powders such as being able to set your foundation more evenly without having to use so much to set your base, but some would like to have a more travel-friendly option such as compact powders.
Because I have recently gone into the world of makeup and experimented with so many types of products, I happen to have experienced this type of predicament.
I usually use a powder foundation to cover my blemishes and let it serve as my setting powder, but I recently ran out of the stuff and had to use my loose powder instead.
It was rather predictable that I would not get the same results because powder foundations often have a greater amount of coverage than loose powders, but I did not mind at the time since I was strapped for cash and thought that I needed to use my loose powder anyway.
I also knew that if I go to the office, I might need to reapply because as opposed to using powder foundations, loose powder may not absorb as much oil.
Eventually, I knew that I had to hunt for a more compact option, because as you can see on the photo of the product I use, the container can take some room in my bag.
I don't really see this as a major negative factor, but I thought that if I wanted to have more room for other products, I may need to get a bigger space just so they can all fit. It was also not really a great idea that whenever I had to use my loose powder, I would need to shake it just so I can get the amount I really need, and if I shake too much, I would end up with excess that ends up as waste.
Today, I looked at the makeup aisle and bought a compact powder. Instead of buying a whole new product container that I was not really going to use, I bought the refill option since I knew that they would fit where my foundation used to be placed.
These two brands are battling in terms of affordability, but they have a similar caliber in terms of powders. The only difference that they have (and why many Filipinas choose one from the other) is that they offer products that the other does not often have on the shelves.
Here's what my take on when I decided to compare the coverages of the powders that I have in possession right now: Nichido Final Powder, unsurprisingly, has less coverage than Ever Bilena's.
Nichido might be your best choice if you are looking for a final touch up should you still insist on using it, or if you wish to go for a light option, but I don't recommend it for users who wish to touch up if they have dark spots on their faces. If you bought this for the purpose of setting in the process of doing your makeup or using it as a base, this is rather impractical unless you have a clear face: I used 5 full-face strokes just to get to Ever Bilena's amount of coverage and dabbed multiple times on problem areas to decently cover them.
Ever Bilena's Face Powder, on the other hand, is also unsuprisingly light as opposed to its powder foundation incarnation. It took me 2 full-face strokes to cover the foundation strokes, and additional dabs to decently cover my blemishes so it won't look as dark.
Here's how my face looks: bare, with foundation, and with powders. Notice the differences. On the right side of my face is Ever Bilena, and on the left is Nichido.
I did not bother to take a frontal picture with both powders on since they look similar, given that I had the latter try to imitate the former's effect just to see how much it would take to get the same look with a brush.
Why did I bother comparing the two products? Well, most Filipinas use these products because they're very cheap, and some of them might not know the difference if they have both products in their arsenal and might use them for work.
Should you not care much about the technicalities of makeup ingredients and their specific uses since they essentially do similar things, then this post is for you. I am well-aware that compact powders and loose powders have differences, but this should not prevent you from buying a product just because they are supposed to work differently.
There are some things that are a matter of practicality, and in some cases, people cannot afford to buy so many products just so they can look presentable. Depending on the kind of look that you want to get, you can take whatever information you want from this post.
After all, the most interesting thing about makeup is that everyone has their own unique look.
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