Save VS Splurge: Pressed Powder

Ah the joys of oily skin. My collection of powders is ever growing in my conquest to stop the shine. I'm going to be comparing two powders that I have tried and tested, one drug store and one high end, to see which one worked for me the best.

Drug Store - Rimmel Stay Matte Long Lasting Pressed Powder

The Rimmel website claims that it has "up to 5 hours natural shine control with natural minerals" and "helps reduce the appearance of pores". It retails for $12.95 at Priceline and you get 14g of product. Personally, that is a great price for any product you would buy at a drugstore. But being honest, it is not the greatest powder I've used. I know, everyone else loves it but I found it just wasn't as good as other ones I used. I like it, but I just don't love it. I don't think it lasts up to 5 hours and my face does look a bit cake in areas where I do get a bit of product buildup e.g. on my chin, and around my nose. It works a bit better on BB creams I found than foundations, who knows why. Overall, I found this to be alright but a bit disappointing after all the hype that it gets.

High End - M.A.C. Mineralize Skinfinish Natural 

This claims to have "light coverage" and is used to set foundation and to touch up. This comes in about 15 different shades, so you will find the perfect one for you.  For 10g, $49 is a bit much but boy is it worth it. It gives an almost translucent coverage over my foundation and keeps me matte. you can barely feel it on your skin. It looks like you've set your face with powder but it looks so natural and I find it never gets cake on my face. I honestly have been using this every day since I've got it. I prefer this in the day time as I use my M.A.C. Studio Fix Powder at night as it gives extra coverage. I have never loved a powder as much as I do this one. I am so glad I took the plunge to get this.

If your looking for a pressed powder that doesn't get cakey and gives you a nice light coverage, definitely spend a bit more and go for the SPLURGE option. Trust me, you will not regret it!

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SAVE VS SPLURGE: BB Cream

Ah BB Creams, the previous bane of my existence. With ridiculously oily skin, I could never find a BB Cream which didn't make my face turn into a oil slick. But in the past year I have come across two that almost work with my kind of skin, these are the Garnier BB Cream for Combination to Oily Skin and M.A.C Prep + Prime Beauty Balm SPF 35. I've been using both for over 3 months so I'm going to tally up the pros and cons to help you decide on a BB Cream for oily skin.

TOP: M.A.C     BOTTOM: Garnier

M.A.C Prep + Prime Beauty Balm SPF 35
I got recommend this by a MUA at M.A.C when I was looking for a light foundation for oily skin in summer. I was a bit skeptical because I haven't had a good time with other BB Creams but I took her advice because I thought she must know how it works. This has a very thick consistency as you can tell with the picture compared to the Garnier. Smell doesn't really matter but it kind of smells like Play-doh which I don't really mind. It's a little difficult to blend in and does come out a bit streaky. Throughout the day it tends to move around on my face which isn't good because I also set it with powder. It gathers around the sides of my nose which is really annoying. However, compared to other BB Creams this has a bigger shade range, 9 shades in total which is good for people who don't suit drugstore BB Creams. I got the shade Light Plus which I'm still not sure if it's the right colour for me. It's $42 for 40ml which is pretty expensive for a BB Cream. To sum it up, I don't think I like this BB Cream very much.

Garnier BB Cream for Combination and Oily Skin
I've had this for a while and I hated it, so I stopped using it. It oxidised my skin turing me into a oompaloompa. But I realised this was because I was using a coloured loose powder on top so I decided to give it another go. This is very liquidy, so be careful when opening it as it can just flow out without squeezing the bottle. I'm not sure what it smells like but it doesn't bother me at all. It's super easy to blend in because for it's consistency. I thick the best brush for this is the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. I don't find that it moves throughout the day which is fantastic! I always set it with a translucent powder but my face can get a tad oily during the day but that happens with any foundation I use so I always look past that and touch up during the day. This one only comes in 2 shades, and I use Light. I think this is a tad too dark for my skin but I make sure to blend it down my neck so i don't get an obvious line. The coverage with this is fantastic for a BB Cream! I find it settles into the skin really well after an hour and your face looks almost flawless. It's $13.99 for 40ml, which I find is a real steal for the quality of this!

To sum it up, I think the Garnier looks and feels a lot better on my oily skin. The M.A.C has a better shade range though, so if they combined it would be the perfect BB Cream. At the end of the day, everyone has a different reaction to products so find one that you think best suits your skin tone and always try to try it out before buying.

Happy reading!

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