My first experience with this powder was in my junior year of high school, and at the time, I loved it. It provided an excellent, airbrushed-yet-natural finish and seemed to improve the clarity and texture of my skin at the same time. However, being a product junkie that gets bored very easily, I inevitably gave it up for something else and forgot about it. Fast forward to my freshman year of college: my skin was breaking out terribly (probably from all the stress and the transition) and I was desperately searching for a powder that would both cover and heal my blemishes. While in CVS, I spotted this and, having remembered my great experience in high school, picked it up in the hopes that it would be all that it was. Well, I don't know what changed in those 2 years, but this powder broke me out HORRIBLY...to this day it's one of the worst cosmetic breakouts I've ever had, and I'm going to be 23 in 2 months and trust me when I say, I've tried A LOT of different products. My skin must have somehow become sensitive to one of the ingredients in it, I'm thinking it's the squalane because everything else seems innocuous enough and has never caused me any grief, which is a shame because I really do love the finish of this powder. My bad experience was around 4 years ago so maybe during that time my skin has become de-sensitized to squalane, but I'm not willing to take that risk and try it again. If this works for you, you're very lucky. It's a truly wonderful product that my skin just didn't agree with. ;___;

I wish they made a lighter shade! This might work for me in summer, when I don't mind less-than-perfect matching (in fact I like to add a little colour, which this certainly does). Why so many stars for a non-matching powder? It's a pretty great touch-up or finishing powder, especially for oily or combo skin. It really mattifies, yet is smooth rather than flakey or dry looking. And the effect lasts a long time, much longer than many other powders I've tried.

Others have commented on the soft/loose texture of PF powders, which really can be annoying, but I guess it's a testament to the minimal formula with fewer "fillers". But it does make a mess, and the brushes they include -- which make the packaging bulky -- are atrocious. I throw the brushes away completely, and use that compartment for a powder puff.

The "translucent light" shade is actually very pigmented, compared to most powders, so that's something to note. For me that's a downside, since it's such a poor match for my skintone, but if it works for you, it can not only mattify and smooth out foundation but even add extra coverage.

So, I'm giving this 4 stars even though it doesn't really work for me, because I can see that it's actually quite a good product.

i really love this product. it makes everyone look 5 years younger.
however the only draw back is that the brush is unusable and the powder is a bit loose which means it is wasted. but the price is not bad. it is not dirt cheap though. you don't even need a foundation under it but if you do put it over a foundation you look like a movie star. really!!

I like this over a very light foundation or moisturizer. Also good to top off the ol' SPF. Cheap package and brush, good product otherwise.

Just started using this powder, I purchased because I am trying to find a more affordable alternative to my MAC Mineral powder.

SO far so good, except its a little looser than I am used to and I make a complete mess in my bathroom.

I knew I had a winner when I first put this on and it made my big wrinkle on my forehead less noticeable (my "11s" as they call the forehead wrinkles between the eyebrows, are starting to come out at the age of 46). I am very fair and the Translucent shade suits me perfectly. This pressed powder provides a nice coverage and helps your skin to look smooth and more even-toned. I have nothing bad to say about it except for the brush that no one likes....I agree that the brush sucks but it's worth it to me just to have such a wonderful and concealing powder that does not contain talc! :-)

I bought this in Translucent, the lightest shade they had at Target, as I'm very pale. I wanted a powder to set my makeup but give some coverage as well. And let me tell you, this powder did exactly that and more.
It kept my makeup in place for hours, giving plenty of coverage so I didn't have to spot conceal after foundation. But what really impressed me was how smooth it looked on; not powdery or cakey, just very nice and smooth.
So why didn't I give it a 5, bump it to HG status and sing it's praises? Well, whislt waiting in the hallyways during a competition at school, my friend remarked that my face looked orange. I looked in the mirror, and Snooki stared back. Yikes! I looked at the brush I used to apply the powder when I got home, it too had gone orange. So I washed it clean, then swirled it into the powder, and sure enough, orange it turned. What a shame, I really liked this powder. Can't blame it entitrely on the brand, as almost everything oxidizes on my pale combination skin. Still, I would advise pale girls to look elsewhere. Those with tanner complexions could maybe get away with this product.

this is my fav of all favs, i just LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!:) been using for over 5 years now. best powder you could ever buy, great for sensitve/break out prone skin. covers everthing, dewy, airbrushed perfection what more can i say A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this powder. My first gripe is that this powder is an extremely soft consistency. No matter how lightly I press my brush into it, the powder just lifts out of the pan and goes everywhere. No matter how soft or loosely packed or fluffy the brush I am using is, it's very hard for this ultra soft powder to not just fly away out of the pan for me once my brush touches it. Because it comes off so easily due to its softness, it's really difficult to not pick up too much product on a brush or powder puff. I have very oily skin and I tend to use a puff to powder my foundation and I have to be so careful with this to not go overboard and create an overly matte, dead, powdery looking face. Because I'm so oily, it isn't as big of a deal if it becomes too powdery because in the course of 30 mins, it will calm down.

The soft texture aside, the color for me is a bit too pale for anything except the winter and maybe spring. This powder provides great coverage and is by no means "translucent." It has some serious coverage, especially if packed onto the face with a powder puff (which, despite its heaviness, I can do). I have used this alone as a powder foundation and have found it provides one of the best coverages of any powder I own so if you need the coverage from it, go for this definitely! You don't be disappointed.

Once you wear down the top layer of it that appears like a spackle of two different colors, the shades are less spackled and look more like a mosaic with predominantly the darker shade so that is something to keep in mind. The lighter bits in the powder I can actually use as a brow bone highlight no problem because it is so extremely light (I'd say I'm an NC20).

Really if you don't mind the powder's softness, its pale color (at least the translucent one I believe is the really pale one), and need its great coverage, this is definitely for you! I think it comes in two colors and unless you are extremely pale (NC/NW 15), I'd say skip the translucent unless you plan to use it very sparingly. I can make it work for me but it is too light for summer. It can look cakey because of its softness which is another down side but on oily skin, that tends to go away after about 30 mins to an hour. I am not certain if I will repurchase this--I think I prefer the Rimmel Stay Matte powder over this simply because its packaging is less obnoxious and it's not as soft of a powder so it doesn't fly everywhere while still providing coverage and it comes in more shades to choose from.

These are my two cents! Hope it helped someone out. It's a good quality product but it's definitely not as easy to just slap on for me as Rimmel Stay Matte.

This is a HG product for me.

I use this to "set" my foundation and I use it without foundation sometimes, just to even out my face. Doesn't break me out or bother me, and because it seems to just set right in to my skin, it doesn't look like powder at all. Even, dewy, airbrushed perfection. What's really interesting to me is that the more I blend, the better this powder looks - it's very finely milled and doesn't sit on top of your face like so many do.

I do think the fact that I use this with Lancome Teint Miracle has something to do with it - it truly does look like my skin, only better.

The only tiny gripe I have regarding this powder is that if I drop it, it is a such a mess and a waste. I also this PF's brushes are total crap, wish they would stop putting them in there -