Setting Powder

What does setting powder do, and where should it go?

Set where the face moves and shines: the centre of the forehead, the nose, the chin, under the eyes. Leave the cheekbones and the outer face alone — powder there kills the dimension you just built and flattens the skin.

Pressed and loose do different jobs. Loose gives a finer, more invisible set and is better for baking; pressed travels, survives a kit bag, and can be handed to the client for the evening.

How to use it, step by step

1. Set cream products with a puff, not a brush. A brush drags the cream underneath; a puff presses powder on top of it.
2. Press and roll rather than sweep.
3. Wait a full minute, then dust the excess off with a clean fluffy brush.
4. Only the centre panel. If you are powdering the whole face, ask why.
5. On a balm powder like Yummy Skin, press it in with a fingertip — sweeping wastes the balm texture entirely.

The mistakes that cost you

• Powdering a radiant foundation flat.
• Adding more powder at every touch-up, which is what makes makeup look old by hour eight.
• Using a heavy translucent powder under the eyes on mature skin.

In Morocco specifically

Casablanca is humid and coastal; Marrakech is dry and reaches 44°C. Both destroy a matte base, for opposite reasons. A blurring balm powder holds the T-zone in either without the chalky look a traditional mattifier gives under lights.

The setting powder in this kit

Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin Balm Powder

Full specification, how it is used, and where to buy it in Morocco.

Make Up For Ever Compact Powder

Full specification, how it is used, and where to buy it in Morocco.