Ambient Lighting Powder - Diffused Light

Indispensable. Provided for some reason you wanted to sparkle like a disco ball.

What can I say, I’m underwhelmed. It’s a finely milled, soft, translucent, pale, pale yellow finishing powder with a barely noticeable shimmer. The packaging is pretty, and I like the ethics of the company....but I think it’s overpriced for the results. I wear it as the 4th step in my makeup - sunscreen, light touch of foundation, blush, then this. I don’t notice the beautiful, lit from within glow that the product promises. It doesn’t look bad...just isn’t all that exciting. The one good thing about it is that it isn’t heavy, so if you have good skin, and want a soft, barely there makeup look, without a matte finish, this might work for you. I just don’t find it worth plunking down $48 for again. Edited to add: Hmmm...this stuff is growing on me now that I’ve spent some time working with it. The trick at my age is to make it seem like you aren’t wearing too much makeup, and to avoid that dry, matte, mask-like look. I don’t want to be shiny, glittery, or sparkly, I just want to look a little more illuminated. I’ve been experimenting with this by using a light, all over dusting, and then going back in and adding a little more in areas one would usually highlight. It never looks too heavy. I may just buy this again.

Huge regret! If you don't mind shimmery products then you won't have a problem with this powder because it's a finely milled, barely tinted almost tranculent powder. It's not matiffying, it is slightly oil absorbing but mainly it's an illuminating finishing powder. I personally hate shimmery products on my face. This stuff is super shimmery for my tastes and I can see the shimmer on my face, it's like the fairy of glitter farted on my face! I have tried in the past similar illuminating finishing powders from Suqqu and Chanel and I didn't like them either. So I have come to the conclusion that these type of powders are not for me! It was such a waste of money but I try to use it on my undereyes as a setting powder!

So 4 or 5 years ago I purchased Dim Light. I made my skin look fabulous, finish wise,but something was just off. It lasted 5 years for me because I didn't use it everyday, especially when my skin was dry in winter. I just finished it and also finally figured what was slightly off. It was making me look slightly bronzed. Not obvious at all, but to me I noticed it once I figured it out. I am light skinned with cooler undertones....nothing bronze will work on me. So when I went to get a replacement for Dim, the SA at Sephora suggested Diffused. At first I was thinking no way, once she leaves I'm picking up a different one! It looked so yellow in the store. But, she said it would be suited to my pink undertones. So, I figured I would try it out. Looked great on in the store, but the true test would be in other lighting. I bought it anyway because I knew I could just return it if I hated it. So I got in the car. Looking good! The end of the day....still looking good! The best of all is that it is not yellow in real life...more of an ivory with just a tiny hint of butter yellow, but mostly what I would call a deeper ivory? Anyway, I love it. Skin looks great. I don't wear foundation on most of my face (just two small areas really), and I just use primer and this, spray on the old setting spray, and my skin looks great all day. Cool toned gals....don't let the yellow scare you off. It really looks great with cooler toned skin. It's probably all in my head but when I look in the mirror, I look like one of those Instagram girls, but without all the fancy stuff they use to look flawless. I also look older than those Instagram girls, well, because I am older.....but my skin looks great.

This is a beautiful finishing powder. I have super oily, very temperamental skin which requires setting powder to keep the ensuing oil slick at bay. Unfortunately powder is aging BUT with this pan of delight as a finishing powder I regain my youthful glow. I apply it with a dense fan brush and find this gives the perfect finish for me. Have had mine 2 years and with almost daily use I'm only halfway through so realistically it's not that expensive.

Marvelous product. I use it as a setting powder. Gives my face a subtle glow without being sparkly, blurs pores and small wrinkles, tones down redness. Looks good for hours on both oily and dry areas of my combination facial skin. I absolutely hate most Hourglass products but this one is a winner. I hope they never discontinue this!

Edit: I've been experimenting with his and found an even more foolproof way to apply this. I set my under eyes lightly with the RCMA no color powder and then go in with a light layer of this powder. The finish is seamless like this. I purchased this powder a long time ago. I think I used it as an all over setting powder a few times. I don't remember if I liked it, but clearly I didn't like it enough to reach for it regularly. I was going through my stash a few days ago and rediscovered this. I can't believe this gem was hidden in my collection for so long! I've been mainly using it to set my under eye. I'm not a fan of that too-light, huge triangles drawn under eyes look that youtubers go for. I get that it brightens up the under eye, but it can look weird if you want to keep the rest of the face makeup minimal. Usually I prefer concealers that match my skintone, but I also want a slightly bright under eye without looking too cakey or powdery. Looks like I had the right product with me all along. I use my regular concealer and lightly powder this under my eyes and inner corners. It brightens up the area immediately. It doesn't look powdery at all. Just make sure you blend any concealer that settles into fine lines within the first few minutes of applying the concealer. Go in with the powder only after that. It's difficult to get rid of creasing if you set it after it's already creased. I also bring this down lightly to the tops of my cheeks from my undereye so that it's smooth and blends with the rest of my face. It gives a very nice highlighter-like glow. I've tried putting it on the center of my forehead and chin as well and it looks nice. One surprising thing I discovered playing around as that it covers the darkness around the mouth that I have naturally being a medium, olive-skinned person. Yes, it does have a slight shimmer. But you can only see it if you're two inches away from my face. I would repurchase.

Okay so this is an amazing powder. It can be used as a setting powder, but because I have oily skin I use it as a finishing powder on days I want a glow from within look. I absolutely love all the colours but this one drew me in. The powder is finely milled and the shimmer in it looks more like a beautiful glow and not glitter all over. I do find that the quantity you get for the price is exceptionally high so I tend to use it sparingly. I love to add this on no make up makeup days. I have recently come across the Physicians Formula Illuminating Youth Boost translucent illuminating powder and find that this may perform similar to this powder. It is translucent so no wash of colour but a similar sheen to the face. Love the product anyway.

This is an absolute HG for me, and one of the few products that I have hit pan on and will absolutely repurchase. In the pan and swatched, this powder looks like it does nothing. When the original Ambient Light powders were first launched, people were pretty confused about the hype surrounding them since they really don't seem to do a lot. I was one of those people, but I decided to bite the bullet and see what it was all about. While I was skeptical, I found that on the skin this product really is magical. I am quite fair with neutral-leaning-warm undertones, and Diffused Light is absolutely the right shade of this powder for my skin tone. I use this as a finishing powder after all of my other makeup is applied (my last step before setting spray) and it gives my skin a soft, glowy finish. I have a lot of issues with my skin, and while this powder isn't some miracle Snapchat filter IRL, it does absolutely make my skin look a whole heck of a lot better. The packaging is nice, and I am glad that the regular full size of the product lasted a really long time to offset the kind of high price.

I whole heatedly decided to buy both this in the full size product and the accompanying brush for about $90. I thought of it as an investment, but now I see it as a waste. I was looking for a replacement product for the bare minerals illuminating veil I absolutely loved (isn't on here to review). This does help even out my skin tone and adds illumination, but it also clogs my pores and causes break outs for me. The powder looks nice on me but not THAT nice. I much preferred the bare minerals or even physician's formula (and that was like a $10 product). It's kind of on the chalky side and is pretty sheer to the point where you wonder if it made any difference at all. I have not changed anything else in my cosmetic team lately, so I know that this very likely to be the culprit to my recent white heads. I noticed a week after using the product a couple of times my brush smelled really bad. I cleaned it the way I clean all my brushes (with the same mild soap I use on my face), but a few days later after using the product again just once the smell returned. It smells bacterial, and I think this product has somehow become a smorgasbord for germs over night, I have no idea how. Now I have a $90 product bundle from hourglass that I am afraid to use, and I'm constantly washing my brush in paranoia. I was thinking about giving one of their blushes a try, but honestly I think I'll pass on this line for a long time.