Hello beauties!
How are you doing today? So navratri are almost upon us; what are your plans for this year’s dandiya? I am all set with my hairstyles and ethnic wear this time. Moreover I have my army of skin care and makeup products to look tinch pinch in every inch of lens! 😛 I am not very comfortable with foundation and concealers, except on special occasions as my weird oily skin and summers are not best combination to play with makeup. After primers I went on a shopping spree for a decent face powder for my trip as well as for the upcoming winter season and this Lorac Perfecting Powder was available on sale along with its primer. I hold no guilt for stacking these goodies as my oily skin is itself like a sponge that can soak up as many powders as possible.  Let’s read more about it!
Price:
$33 for 0.32 Oz, I bought it for $19.80 a while back, lucky me
Product Description:
Perfect with POREfection Baked Perfecting Powder for a silky-smooth, poreless-looking finish. This non-drying, fragrance and paraben free formula is infused with salicylic acid and antioxidants to help skin appear youthful, healthy and clear. Get a flawless, smooth, matte finish and achieve complexion Porefection with LORAC! Good for all skin types, including sensitive, oily and acne-prone Vitamin E acetate. Well known, anti-aging anti-oxidant benefits include:
• Protecting the epidermis from early stages of ultraviolet light damage
• Reducing the formation of free radicals upon skin exposure to UVA rays and other sources of skin stress
• Reducing transepidermal water loss from skin and strengthens the skin’s barrier function
• Protecting the skin barrier’s oil (lipid) balance during the cleansing process
• Jojoba oil is emollient and moisturizing
My Experience with Lorac POREfection Baked Perfecting Powder:
The pressed, baked powder comes in a sleek, shiny, metallic compact packaging with no sponge applicator, and just a mirror attached to the cap. I really miss a decent sponge applicator, considering every brand accommodates an applicator now a days. Overall, it is quite sturdy yet delicate packaging which might be travel friendly as in my case it didn’t show any damage or spillage, thankfully.
The Lorac baked powder is available in total 8 shades ranging from fair/pale, light/medium to medium beige/dark, tanned skin, and I am sure every fair/light/pale beauties will get their shade irrespective of the undertones. I picked the shade ‘PF2 light’ considering my pale skin tone, but it also looks tad bit lighter on my skin these days especially after my trip, as I am badly tanned. The difference is not well visible, but I need to be really careful with its application as a little goes a long way with this product.
The texture of powder is silky soft, but not hydrating which does not dry up my skin, but it may look harsh on my skin when applied generously. Hence, using a fluffy brush with gentle strokes is the key, especially when using it over a foundation or even primer. Like my primer, gives almost sheer to medium coverage with a subtle glow. Using this powder with light hand strokes will be good enough to blur my pores, acne scars and uneven skin tone up to great extent without making me look like a ghost in photographs.
While using it alone on bare skin might not be good idea for me as my skin is tanned, hence it may look like white cast on my skin tone. I feel that these issues arise with almost every decent pressed powder, hence a primer is recommended even if we use it alone on bare skin. Moreover it may start highlighting our dry patches and/or flakes considering it soaks oil off skin and is not very hydrating for our skin. Though I did not notice any oil control property beyond 5-6 hours, when used over porefection primer followed by foundation, its longevity gets increased.
But it has the tendency to slightly change the finish of foundation as it imparts coverage, hence I prefer using a bit darker foundation (whenever I choose to wear foundation) with this powder to overall balance the outcome, especially for summers. For winters I had to think of hydrating options though as it might highlight my dry skin issues. The dome shaped pressed powder looks very attractive unlike my boring compacts, but I would have appreciated a decent sponge with its packaging.
Even using a brush with this powder seems messy as it is a finely milled powder in pressed form which easily come out with one gentle stroke. Hence I just cannot tap the brush onto packaging to get rid of excess product as the dome shape won’t retain any product; it will all fly away. Moreover even a decent sponge takes lot of powder which can easily make me cakey. Yes gals, as I told earlier, we need extra care with this powder as a little carelessness may take a toll on our efforts. But I am
glad that it did not accentuate or aggravate my acne prone skin. Even it did not aggravate dryness on my skin. It is just that it won’t provide any hydration and might highlight our flaky skin which needs to be taken care of.
I think it is definitely not suitable for even normal dry skin considering it does not have ‘oh so buttery soft’ texture. It will be ideal for combination, very oily skin in summers exclusively though we won’t get more than 6-7 hours of matte skin in any case while it will best suit very oily skin in winters provided you use it in moderation. Personally, I am happier with other options, hence it would be a skip for me.
Let’s sum up pros and cons:
Pros of Lorac POREfection Baked Perfecting Powder:
• A lightweight, matte finish pressed powder which is formulated with skin friendly ingredients such as: salicylic acid, vitamin e acetate, jojoba oil etc and sans parabens
• It keeps oil at bay for decent 5-6 hours alone while when used on top of makeup it can definitely increase the longevity of face makeup for additional 2-3 hours
• It does provide sheer to medium coverage concealing large pores, light acne scars and uneven skin tone gracefully
• When used with a fluffy brush, it almost gives an airbrushed finish
• It does not accentuate or aggravate my oily, acne prone skin
• It does not cause any further dryness
• It is best suited for oily, combination skin for its amazing matte finish that stays put for good 5-6 hours alone
• Quite attractive packaging
Cons of Lorac POREfection Baked Perfecting Powder:
• The dome shaped compact packaging does seem appealing, but it is not user friendly considering it even lacks a basic applicator
• The dome shape does not hold product efficiently as compared to flat compact size which often results in wastage of powder
• It is not a very hydrating powder as it has the tendency to show up on dry flaky skin
• It may interfere with our foundation shade considering it imparts sheer to medium color payoff on skin
• 5-6 hours of wear time and/or oil free coverage is pretty average, not great
• I didn’t notice any anti-ageing results
• Presence of mica, talc etc may not sound fine to sensitive skinned beauties
Well honestly, I don’t think I necessarily want it in my life as my decent primer and other perfecting powder does a fair job of blurring, perfecting my look. Moreover this powder will last me years since I use it in moderation, that too occasionally. Hence it might be skip for me. If I had to make choice between It cosmetics bye bye pores and this Lorac one, I would always go with It Cosmetics. I will recommend it to very oily, oily skin type, others can skip it without any guilt.
IMBB Rating:
3.8/5
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