Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder - Dark Skin

To date this is one of the most confusing things I've had to test out for review, when I heard about the hourglass lighting powders I was super excited (sad right?) and couldn't wait for them to come to the UK. I wanted to see them in person, being a darker skin girl when you hear 'universal shade', you're always sceptical. I called my local Spacenk and was informed the powders were not in store until May and I could join the waiting list (WHAT???), the beauty consultant however reassured me that she had seen them on all skin tones and they were fine. With this information and armed with £5 Ndulge reward I ordered Dim light online, the one that seemed to be the most suited to darker skin tones with minimal shimmer. This powder costs £38 for 10 grams, which for hourglass is not too bad, it's paraben, talc, fragrance, gluten and nanoparticle (whatever that is) free.

Box

Hourglass' claims:
A wardrobe of six universal finishing powders that recreate the most exquisitely flattering light, powders capture, diffuse and soften the way light is reflected on skin, brighten the appearance, and conceal skin imperfections infused with technologically advanced soft-focus particles that help make skin appear younger, even-toned and radiant. Unlike traditional powders that use opaque pigments, Ambient utilizes “photoluminescent technology” – micron-size spherical particles that refract light and create transparent coverage, while each can be worn for day and night.

ETHEREAL LIGHT is an opalescent sheer, cool white powder that mimics a moonlit glow – even in broad daylight
DIFFUSED LIGHT is a soft, warm, pale yellow powder that conceals redness and gives skin clarity – like a soft ray of morning light
DIM LIGHT is a neutral peach beige powder that blurs imperfections and highlights a radiant complexion with the perfect balance of warm and cool tones
MOOD LIGHT is a soft, sheer lavender pink powder that mimics the softest most forgiving light and reveals your brightest complexion
LUMINOUS LIGHT is a champagne pearl powder that creates a soft, incandescent candlelit glow – day or night
RADIANT LIGHT is a sun-kissed golden beige powder that enhances the overall complexion with believable, subtle warmth, and also extends a summer glow.

Compact

The packaging is nice, but not as heavy as I was expecting from the luxury brand, and it's very susceptible to finger print marks. Each time I used the powder I felt differently, sometimes I felt I could really see the blurring and soft focused effect and other times I wasn't so sure. I used it to set my make-up, but also as a finishing powder after make-up had been set with another powder (worst result), it seemed to work best for me as a setting powder. My combination skin is currently normal to dry at the moment and this powder gave a nice satin finish to the skin, not as glowing as I was expecting, but great for all over the face and something I'll appreciate once my skin gets oilier with the changing season. I tried this over different bases, Sleeks BB cream, lancome's teint visionnaire and my maqpro palette (click the links to see reviews), but I really noticed exactly what it was doing to my skin when I tried it on alone.

 

PowderNo Powder

Above is the powder on my skin with no other make-up on whatsoever (Scary!!!), I noticed how it really blurred the imperfections and gave a lovely satin finish to the skin, it doesn't flashback or leave a white cast on my deeper skintone.



 

This is a picture of the powder over my maqpro palette foundation. I am really loving this powder, my first hourglass product and now want radiant light, hourglass also have a brush they are selling with the powders for £30, but I have been using Elizabeth's Arden mineral powder brush (had it a while) and its been fine. The idea is you lay the powder across the skin, rather than buffing it in, so it can reflect light.  

 

Have you tried any of the ambient powders, what do you think, which one did you try.

 

Thanks for visiting the blog today.

 

Alex.