Colourpop No Filter powder review

Are you a dry skinned person like me? Then you may know the struggle that is finding a good face powder. Often they are not too flattering if you have dry skin as they can make your makeup look cakey and accentuate dry patches. Powders that don’t do that can be hard to find. So when I wanted to do a full face of Colourpop I decided to try one of their powders. How successful is the Colourpop No Filter Sheer Matte Pressed powder in the shade fair?

Review: Colourpop No Filter Sheer Matte Pressed Powder Fair

Colourpop is only available from their official website if you live in Europe. In the US the brand is more widely available. So availability can be an issue. Add to that the fact that you need to spend over $50 to get free shipping and you have to take into account that you are likely to pay about a third of the retail price of you package in customs fees. So is Colourpop affordable? That depends on where you live. This particular powder retails for $10 and is available in 6 shades.

What does this powder have to offer?

This review is for the pressed version of the powder. It is also available in a loose powder. Since I find it difficult to control how much powder I pick up, I prefer using pressed powders over loose ones, which is why I bought that. This powder promises to reduce shine and blur imperfections. The website doesn’t say anything about how matte this powder is or what skin type it is right for. Another good thing to know about this powder is that it only comes with 5 grams of product. That is not a lot for a face powder.

What is the shade like?

As mentioned this powder comes in 6 shades. Fair is the lightest shade available. The shade range is therefore not the best. I prefer mu powders to be transparent or colorless so that they don’t really add too much color to my face. This powder is one that is luckily quite sheer. So while it comes into a shade range, I feel the shade doesn’t really alter my foundation shade. That I feel is a plus: the texture is lightweight enough for this to work as a lightweight powder that has a color to it, but the color doesn’t really influence the rest of your makeup.

What does this powder look like in a swatch?

When I say this powder is sheer: this powder is sheer. This barely shows up in a swatch. For a face powder that is a good thing! If a face powder is too thick, it will instantly be more likely to look cakey and heavy on the face. This powder is finely milled and is easy to blend onto the skin. The downside to that? This is so finely milled that it has quite a lot of kick back when you stick your brush in. Applying this when you are wearing a black shirt is therefore a bit of challenge and sometimes it can get messy. Another downside to that is the speed with which you can use this up. With a light hand and a light brush, this still only lasts about 2 months or so. Mine is almost used up.

What does this powder look like on the face?

Let’s do a before and after shall we? On the left is my face with just foundation. You can clearly see that that powder most definitely alters the look of my makeup. Not necessarily shade wise, but texture wise. It is a very mattifying powder. On my dry skin that is not the best. Luckily I have been using this powder during summer when my skin isn’t as dry. In the winter time this would be a train wreck. After it is first applied it looks okay, but I feel it does emphasize texture especially as my makeup breaks down throughout the day.

My final thoughts?

I really wanted to like the Colourpop No Filter powder, but this is not my favorite. It is okay enough to use it up as it doesn’t emphasize any dry patches, nor does it make my makeup look super cakey. It just isn’t my favorite. It is a bit too matte for my liking and I can only see this working for me in the summer time. For how much product you get (5 grams) I find this quite expensive, considering how much effort I have to go through to get this. This is an okay powder, but it didn’t wow me.

Would I recommend the Colourpop No Filter pressed powder?

Yes and no. I think many people might like this. The fact that it comes in 6 shades is a nice touch and it is sheer enough that many skin tones are able to use one of the 6 shades. In terms of what powders need to do, this gets the job done and while a bit expensive for how much product you get, this still doesn’t really break the bank. Still, the fact that this powder can easily be too much and too matte if you have dry skin means that I cannot recommend this without having some reservations. If an affordable powder is what you are after than I much more prefer the Catrice 5-in-1 setting powder. That comes with 9 grams of product, is much better for dry skin and retails for the same price point.

What is your favorite affordable face powder?