This is the most natural looking foundation i've ever had! Maybe it's because the colour match is great, but even the finish looks natural and not cakey on my skin. I was told this is a medium to full coverage foundation, but i don't see that. It's quite light in my opinion, which is great for every day use. It just looks really natural.

I hv the same problem w the review below. This powder accentuated all my pores n makes me looks 3 yrs older, honestly. I thought it might bcoz of the buildable coverage, as it suppose to be, but no... it doesnt blend w my skin very well n it feels like wearing a mask. N the color is so off!! It"s not about putting the powder too much or too little >> it's the powder!! I don't like the texture, color, oil-control quality, coverage.. or anything about it.
My color matches r between 'tender rose n real sand' - i choose real sand as i was suggest it will look more natural w my yellow-based asian skin tone... it is not! It looks funny, unnatural, n layered.
I've been using Nars for years (n few other brands before that). But I was just wanna try sth new... shouldn't hv :( I use the color - 'dauville' (a bit brighter) n 'sweden' (more yellow n natural for my asian skin). N it smooth on my face very well, both color. My dry/combination/no break out skin love it, my sister's oily-acne prone skin also love it. A lot better quality, color matches, texture (lighter n smoother w more coverage n natural than LM)... n twice the amount w the same price!! I'll go back for Nars or maybe try on Chanel. continued >>

I usually love Laura Mercier makeup. I've been using the tinted moisturizer for years but also wanted a blot powder with an SPF. The powder settled into all of my pores and accentuated my pores as well. I don't really have large pores but this product surely magnified them. If you're looking for a pressed powder with an SPF try Dior.

The color matched my skin nicely and it provided a very nice matte finish. Unfortunately, I made my skin break out pretty severely. It may be the humid weather, its tough to say for sure. I have switched back to bare escentuals, which I think I have better luck with.

I use this as a setting powder instead of MAC's msf because it has SPF 15 which I love. My color is Natural Beige and it matches beautifully. I love the packaging because its portable and has a mirror (unlike its MAC counterpart). However, I don't care for the sponge it comes with and apply is with a regular powder brush. I'm almost done with my first one, and I will definitely repurchase.

Amazing, just like the loose version. This is the only brand I will let touch my face from now on

I have to agree with gingerrama, I rather enjoy this product. I had been very devoted to MAC Studio Fix Powder ever since I can remember wearing makeup.. maybe ten years or so. I will still continue to use it in conjunction with this product, alternating, of course. I am a MAC junky by nature, so it really takes something special to divert my attention.. and after using the Laura Mercier Pressed Mineral Powder for about a month or so, I really wish I'd discovered this stuff sooner.

I think most of all I love the diversity of it.. you can use it in a flash if you don't have time for primer, foundation, concealer AND powder. You can wake up in the morning, dab on some moisturizer and throw this on. Better yet, you can use a concealer brush for any extra coverage you may need. I have combination skin with a little extra shine in the t-zone area and normal/drier cheeks, and I find that using this more liberally in my t-zone and less so elsewhere works magically. It works hard to soak up oil where it has to and doesn't dry me out elsewhere.

I appreciate the SPF 15 quite a bit as well as it seems many other powders don't seem to try to utilize any sort of SPF, and every last bit of it you can get is helpful (unless of course you want to age prematurely.) I could continue to sing praises for this stuff but I will simply say that if I were forced right now to throw all my makeup away (heaven forbid) I would keep this over all else cause it really does it all.

UPDATE (05/2010): breakouts around the nose; returned to TheBalm's Sexy Mama for a pressed finishing powder. Which is 100% failsafe on me.

It does remain true, though, that (unlike most of the reviewers here) I prefer the Pressed to the loose version.

Used lightly and selectively, applied with a brush (EcoTools kabuki). Mainly for touch-ups, LM Mineral Finishing Powder (#1) as principal powder [05/2010: back to using Sexy Mama for that too].

The lightest, Soft Porcelain is a fraction too yellow for me, but pale enough in intensity (a welcome rarity: NW5-15ish, between freckled and non-freckled parts). Fair range of shades available.

Pros of the pressed compared to the loose: I found it easier to apply as a sheer thin layer. More natural in effect. Doesn't collect in pores. Much less dry and drying. Mind you, used *very* lightly indeed, sheerer than sheer, and not all over my face.

Costs CAD40.00 for an 8.1g compact. Which is about par for the course for a decent-quality pressed powder, whether dept-store or smaller eco-company plus shipping (worse still if coming here to Canada from the US). [Sexy Mama: 7.08g for CAD26.00]. Nice packaging: dark brown with a slight burgundy glimmer to it, tasteful silver lettering in a tall sans-serif, doesn't bring out all my Cayce Pollard allergies. Fragrance-free, talc-free, oil-free (but with rice lipids and jojoba esters), zinc oxide rather than titanium dioxide based, and cruelty-free. May contain bismuth oxychloride; there's unlikely to be much in a pale non-pinkish shade, but worth knowing if you're very sensitive. [slight suspicion it was enough for me, I've had issues with the stuff in the past]

INGREDIENTS: (Soft Porcelain, Warm Chestnut, Golden Suntan, Classic Beige, Rich Vanilla, Natural Beige, Tender Rose, Real Sand): Active Ingredients: Zinc Oxide. Ingredients: Silica, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Lipids, Jojoba Esters, Pearl Powder, Lauroyl Lysine, Copper Gluconate, Zinc Gluconate, Camellia Sinensis (White Tea) Extract, Lycium Chinenesis (Lycii) Berry Extract, Silybum Marianum (Milk Thistle) Extract. (+/-): Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Mica (CI 77019), Bismuth Oxychloride (CI 77163), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, 77492, 77499), Ultramarines (CI 77007). continued >>

Much like a reviewer a couple down, I was told it was exactly the same product as the loose minerals. It wasn't. It felt like a talc based product, rather than the mineral that I'm used to using.
I definitely won't be buying again as I got dreadful spots, and the skin above my top lip was left very dry and flaky, and around my nose completely dried out.
To achieve the coverage level possible with loose minerals, I found I had to use double the amount with the pressed version.
I also found it very matte, and unnatural looking- something I hadn't found with the loose (which has light reflecting properties).
Do not buy, even for ease of use when touching up throughout the day. Seriously.

I will keep buying this product again and again. I have been through several mineral powders and none of the colors looked good. I have too much pink in my skin and with being a redhead it looks terrible. With the Soft Porcelain color I look evened out and the color lasts all day. There is no need for a veil. The foundation is buildable so you can put a light application or make it heavy. I was a bare minerals user for years but now I've found the perfect color and will not go back!