One day I was catching up on twitter and I caught a tweet from Make Up For Ever, defending false accusations of their HD powder causing Celebrity makeup mishaps. Soon after I saw gossmakeupartist do a video on this to put the claims to rest.
Needless to say, his video proved it was, indeed, the MUFE HD powder that caused the flash photography "white cast" under Eva Longoria and Nicole Kidman's eyes.
Well, I decided to test this for myself, but take it a step further and test some other HD/Invisible loose setting powders, as well.
Products I'm Testing In This Review:
1. iT Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores (NEW)
2. E.L.F (eyeslipsface) HD Powder
3. Benefit Powderflage
4. MUFE (make up for ever) HD Powder
5. NEW- Laura Mercier Universal Invisible Loose Setting Powder
6. Bare Minerals Veil (regular and hydrating)
In the heavy swatch above (and I mean heavy like full on eyeshadow swatch just to be sure), I wouldn't blame the flash. I think it's proving this powder to be more opaque than a full on transluscent powder. I could visually see it without flash
Photos Above: Just to show you what it looks like swatched incredibly heavy without flash.
As you can see, once I took that swatch and buffed it with the brush (same brush used in the video review) you can barely see it. Definitely less than the MUFE HD even when I used a light hand with the MUFE and buffed it out really good (see bottom photo of this post).Bye Bye Pores is almost invisible with flash, but left behind the area somewhat brightened (not white), which as I mentioned, helps with tired skin.
This proves the iT cosmetics has some coverage to it and may play part in how well it blurs. If you can see it in person, then you applied too much, so I think it's safe to say it passes the Flash test.
Here's another photo.
At Slightly Different Angles (to make sure)
By FAR the MUFE was the biggest culprit in causing a white cast on the skin. Second was the ELF HD, which I consider a great dupe to the MUFE, but now I say it's better because it's white cast isn't as offensive.
The other two powders (Powderflage and Laura Mercier) barely showed up, if at all, with the flash.
Which invisible loose powder wins? UPDATE
In my opinion, iT Cosmetics bye bye pores! It works amazingly on the face AND under the eyes. Second is Laura Mercier Universal which I do believe it's a new release (I got a sample w/ my order at Sephora).
The Powderflage is great, too, but meant just for under the eyes. I'm relieved to see that it doesn't cause the flash photography "no no", though!
Bare Minerals Added 1/27/11
I realized I didn't include my Bare Escentuals invisible powders! DUH me! The original mineral veil is completely invisible like the Laura Mercier, and the Hydrating one shows up slightly as there are tiny shimmers in it, but still pretty close to invisible.
A wonderful MUA and subscriber by the name of made a suggestion as to showing the results using a light handed approach, as all powders should be applied with a light hand. I couldn't agree more and having dry skin I learned to apply powders gingerly pretty early on.
In the photo above, I'm not sure I could see it if I didn't already know where I applied it, but knowing it's there I can detect it ever so slightly. It's more brightening instead of a full on white cast. I used my fluffy eye blending brush from flirt, which is what I use with my powderflage, for reference.
Here's a photo just at a different angle. I can still see it, but again, it's not nearly as offensive or garish as the celebrity red carpet mishap photos. I would still err on the side of caution, though, and go with other options.
Again, with any powder, silica based or not, always use a light hand. Never use a dense brush like a Kabuki, etc.
