Sleek One Waterbased Finishing Powder

I was having slight problems with my foundation lasting a full days wear so I wanted to get a setting powder to help it along so that it didn't slip off or fade too much. I mean I don't wear a lot of foundation but for me it needs to last from around 7am when I put it on until about 6pm when I get home so 11 hours wear, that is a tough ask for any foundation and I expect it to fade a bit but I just wanted it to last a bit longer than it was so by the time I got home it still looked half decent. I'm not one to top up my makeup throughout the day, I just can't be bothered. The only thing I will top up is lipstick/gloss. I decided to go for a cheap brand - I can't remember where I saw this or if I just decided to go to sleek for some reason. But something made me go pick this up as I went to Superdrug specifically for it. It was about £7 so quite inexpensive to the MAC or Laura Mercier powders I'd been looking at previously - I mean, it is just powder to set my foundation to last a bit longer. I don't need anything fancy and just wanted to try something out to see if it made the difference.

So I picked up this. It says it is 'an oil absorbing sheer finishing powder rich in anti-oxidants with botanical extracts to help provide an immediate cooling sensation'... well whatever, I don't care as this just sounds like mubo jumbo to me, it is just a flaming powder. It has some shimmer in it but it didn't show up when I tested it on my hand. I tested it on my face the next day and it did give this strange 'wet' feeling on my skin but nothing that lasted longer than a second and I still don't understand the point of it. I was happy with it at first, I got home and my foundation looked pretty good. I thought, well that's that sorted! I was looking forward to giving it a good review and told my boyfriend that I thought it was really good.

However... a few days later I noticed how dry my skin was becoming. My skin is on the dryer side and can go a bit flaky at times but this was pretty rough looking. My foundation was oxidising in the powder, like it was being sucked up and turned to crust and my skin looked terrible. I hadn't changed my skincare but I wasn't sure if this was the culprit or whether the cold weather was to do with it. I went to stay with my boyfriend for the weekend and left this powder at home in favour of fading foundation. By the time I got home (3 days later) my skin was back to normal. I didn't use a thick moisturiser for my dry skin, just carried on with my usual products and everything was fine again.

Now I'm really worried about using it again so I think it will just end up at the back of the drawer and never be used. It might be great for people who have oily skin though so if you fall into that category then by all means, give it a go as I do think it is due to my dry skin that it reacted the way it did. After all, it does state it is oil absorbing.

As for the packaging, it is nice. The lid screws off and there is a sifter jar inside and the powder is translucent so any skin tone can use it. I was disappointed that it didn't work for me though. I'm currently testing out a Collection 2000 powder which only cost me £2.99 so expect a review of that at some point.

- Jennifer