Physician’s Formula Youthful Wear powder review

I am picky when it comes to my face powders. I have dry skin and so powder can be tricky as it can easily emphasize fine lines, dryness and texture. Most powders I have tried were unsuccessful as they just made my makeup look like a cakey horrible mess. Still, I want to use powder because it makes your makeup last so much better throughout the day. I have a few firm favorites, but I am not averse to trying new things. So on a trip to the US, I bought myself a Physician’s Formula powder. Here is how that went for me.

Review: Physician’s Formula Youthful Wear Youthboosting Illuminating Finish

Physician’s Formula is one of those brands that seem to have a few stellar items in their line and then the rest is a bit forgotten about. It is a brand that is hard to get if you’re in Europe. I have found Iherb to be the best place to try and find their stuff. They don’t sell everything, but they still offer a good selection. This powder is currently not on there, but this seems to retail for around the €13 mark. If the powder is good, that is definitely not a bad price, but it is at the higher end of the drugstore price range.

What does this powder have to offer?

This powder is available in different renditions. I got the Illuminating Finish version upon the recommendation of Jessica Braun on Youtube. She recommended it as a dupe for the Hourglass Ambient Lighting powders. Since I love those, but they are hella expensive, I thought I could try this. This powder promises a ‘youth-boosting’ effect that extends the wear time of your makeup but also gives you an instant makeup facelift. Now I know why this product is not for sale in Europe! Claims like that are not allowed to be put on product by the EU I am pretty sure. Anyway, this claims to make you look younger by 10 years, blur lines and plump the skin over time. A powder? Skin-plumping? Don’t think so.

What is the powder like?

As is the norm with Physician’s Formula the packaging of this compact is unnecessarily bulky. It has a compartment where you can find the brush and mirror, which makes the packaging extra thick. The powder itself didn’t fair much better for me. This comes in just one shade. Just one and it is way way too deep for my skin tone as you will see in the picture below. Physician’s Formula claims that adds to the youthful look, but on me it just reads orange. The texture of the powder was quite nice though and it did make my makeup wear for longer.

What does this powder swatch like?

This powder looks quite thick and powdery in a swatch. This is why I was apprehensive about trying it for a long time. I prefer my powders to be airy and lightweight. Usually, the thicker the powder, the worse it looks if you have dry skin. However, I found that this powder worked well on my skin. It didn’t leave my skin looking cakey or overly dry, but it definitely mattifies the face. It definitely adds color, but as I said it made me look orange almost instantly. I had to be very careful with this and how much I applied it because I think that when you go in too heavy-handed this can look cakey more quickly and of course it darkens the color even more.

What does it look like on my face?

Hi, my name is Maaike and I am paste face central. My skin tone is fair to light with a cool to neutral undertone. So when the powder you are using is more warm toned and aimed at light to medium skin tones, what happens is what you can see in the pictures above. Yes this adds color, yes there is still an itty bitty amount of shine, but this powder makes my face look 5 shades darker than it did after foundation. And that in itself doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but now my face no longer matches with my neck. Such a shame.

My final thoughts

The Physician’s Formula Youthful Wear Youthboosting powder in the Illuminating Finish is not a bad powder at all. It does what I like a power to do, but the bulky packaging and horrible shade just means that I will never reach for this again. I used it for a month straight and while a good product I just know that this will end up in my next round of declutters. It is just not for me. Please Physician’s Formula, if you were to come out with a translucent version of this powder it would be a dream come true.

Would I recommend the Physician’s Formula Youthful Wear powder?

No I would not. I honestly do not know who to recommend it to. It only comes in one shade, which means only so many people can get away with it. Also, I used it for over a month and those plumping qualities the packaging boasted about? Non-existent. I also feel this didn’t blur any lines, at least not any more than any other powder I have tried. I am not saying you need to stay away from this, but I have tried powders that do the exact same thing for a much more affordable price point.

What is the last disappointing product you tried?