I was painting my nails one night two months ago and had left YouTube to play from my now massive subscription list of beauty "gurus" and Tati popped up with a "WTF Review" of the new Becca Hydra-Mist Set & Refresh Powder. Though I don't watch Tati's videos quite as often as I used to, her WTF segments have introduced me to some interesting products and though I wasn't looking for a new setting powder, this one caught my attention because it is made of 50% WATER. Like, what does that even MEAN?!
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This is a translucent setting powder for all skin tones that refreshes and sets foundation with a "mist-like" effect on the skin. The result is skin that looks rejuvenated and awakened as if you had just spritzed a fine mist all over. Ever since I started using the IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Poreless Finish Airbrush Powder, which I ADORE, it has been hard for me to fall in love with something else so when I picked up Hydra-Mist, it had A LOT to live up to!
On the outside, packaging is pretty standard and as much as I love the high shine cap, it gets fingerprints and dust all over it which annoys the crap out of me. Where the packaging starts to get a bit different is that there is another cover that must be kept closed and when that gets lifted, there is bouncy mesh layer leading to the powder.
To apply, just press your brush onto the mesh to pick up powder and then brush all over the face. That part, I'm sure we all know what to do, but instead of that usual dry, powder feeling, it feels WET. Like you have dampened your brush. The powder is sort of flying as usual, but the whole time the powder feels cooling and moist, but when you touch your skin it's dry! While I have never seen this technology in face powders before, I have in Korean makeup products, namely the RiRe Lip Powders which start off as a powder and also apply "cool" and as a liquid.
Ingredients: Water, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Polymethylsislesquioxane, Silica Silylate, Glycerin, Dimethicone, Silica, Mica, Dipropylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Potassium Sorbate, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Iron Oxides (Ci 77491)
Looking at the ingredients of three random loose powders at Sephora showed that none have water as the first ingredient if it all so it IS pretty cool that this is a powder at room temperature!
Though there is 10g of product in here, it does not look it. I also found myself using what I felt was more powder than usual as I didn't feel like the powder went a long way on my face. With the IT Cosmetics powder, the silica seems to stretch more across the skin so that I barely have to use any product. I have been using my 6.5g jar consistently for over a year and you can barely tell I have used any! This makes me scared I will go through this $46 jar very quickly!
Final verdict: I will admit that this powder does feel really cooling on the skin and I will hang onto this because I like products that enhance my makeup experience in a fun way, but it didn't really perform any better than what I use now. If anything, I much prefer the smoother finish of the IT Cosmetics powder than this one. I have dry skin and I had hoped that this powder would help with moisture, but it didn't make too much of a difference. I also didn't really much of a visual difference with my skin upon application and though this can also be used to refresh makeup throughout the day, I find it cumbersome to carry a brush with me too as this does not come with a puff. I would much rather refresh with Caudalie's Beauty Elixir or Tata Harper's Floral Essence which actually has biomimetic hyaluronic acid spheres in it so your skin gets a true boost of more than "skin deep" hydration. While this BECCA powder works decently as a setting powder, it isn't enough for me to say I'd repurchase.
You can find the BECCA Hydra-Mist Set & Refresh Powder for $46 CDN at Sephora.
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