(Review & Swatch) POND'S Magic Powder BB & Angel Face Powder in Pinkish White Glow & Natural Mattifying

Let's take a break from lipstick review and visit other popular category in makeup department: Setting Powders! To be honest, I'm actually less adventurous in trying new powders because I'm scared new face product will break me out. I'm pretty loyal to my normal powder: Mineral Botanica Original Loose Foundation. I've been using it for more than a year now, having finished 6 or 7 jar of it. However, there's this new viral face powder that intrigues me: Pond's Thailand Face Powder.

These powders are sold in minimarkets and supermarkets in Thailand for a super affordable price, around Rp15,000-Rp20,000 per bottle. However, since I bought it from reseller in Jakarta, I paid Rp45,000 for each bottle, a still affordable price in my opinion.

Many people and beauty vloggers said that this Pond's powder has really good oil control and can be used as setting powder. There are three variants in total: Angel Face Pinkish White Glow, Angel Face Natural Mattifying, and Magic Powder BB. I decided to get all three since I'm pretty curious to know what are the differences between each of the variants.

First, let's talk about the packaging. The powders are housed in a baby powder-like plastic bottle with twist-screw cap. Almost everything written on the packaging is in Thai, so I get very minimum information from it since I don't speak Thai haha. However, I notice that the Angel Face variants offer UVA & UVB sun protection, even though there isn't any info of how high the protection is, so I would still advice you to use your SPF!

When I just got them, the caps were all sealed with stickers to protect the powders from leaking. Each bottle contains 50gr worth of product, a generous amount since normally face powder only comes in 30gr packaging.

I have love/hate relationship with the packaging. On the bright side, I found that bottle packaging like this is the perfect packaging for loose powders compared to jar since it's very easy to pour and control the amount of product that I want to use. However, I found that the packaging is not travel-friendly since the twist-screw top doesn't come with a cover, making it very easy for the cap to twist open by itself when I put it in my makeup bag.

Texture-wise, they are all finely milled. There is a strong floral scent to all three, and it lingers for quite a while before it finally disappears. As for the differences between the three variants, I believe the differences lay in the shades and finishes: the Pinkish White Glow comes in bright pink color and has soft glow finish, Natural Mattifying comes in pale baby blue color and has natural matte finish, and the Magic Powder BB comes in light beige color with matte finish.

For application, I like to pour the powder onto my (clean) palm, and then use powder brush or kabuki brush to apply it on my face as setting powder. To cover my whole face, I normally need to shake the bottle 3-4x to dispense enough product.

Swatch

As you can see from the (messy) swatch above, these powders really have unique shades except for the Magic Powder BB 😅  I was surprised to see the pink & blue shades, and initially I thought the Angel Face variants are gonna make my face looks very weird. On the other hand, the BB variant has light beige shade which seems like it's gonna suits me just fine. You might want to reconsider trying these powders if your shade is darker than the common Korean cushion no.23 though, since perhaps all three variants are gonna be too light for you.

Blended

Luckily, once blended all of the shades don't look weird on me. The pink & blue powders turned to have brightening effect while still looking natural and don't leave any white cast on me. They kinda remind me of Anna Sui purple powder, which also has brightening & color-correcting effect. 

The Natural Mattifying & Magic Powder BB both have soft-matte finish, while the Pinkish White Glow has glowy finish. The difference between the Pinkish White Glow and the Natural Mattifying is that the Pinkish White has pinky-brightening effect, while the Natural Mattifying has white-brightening effect. The Magic Powder BB looks just like normal loose powder but with sheer coverage, in my opinion.

Staying power wise, these powders are not very long-lasting on me. I have super oily skin, and on me all of the three variants only lasted for 4 hours and then I already need to blot my face. For oil control, I find that Korean sebum drying powders are more superior in controlling oil production.

To summarize, what I like about these powders are since their coverage is pretty sheer, they don't look cakey on me. They also don't break me out, thank goodness! Also, for the price and the amount of product that you get, I still think this powder is worth to buy. My favorite variant is the White Pinkish Glow since its brightening effect looks lovely and natural on me. 

However, I need to underline that the fragrance amount in these powders are INSANE. Sensitive skin might not like it since heavy fragrance has tendency to irritate skin. Beside the scent, I also think that the shade selection is very limited; only people with fair to medium skin tone can wear this in my opinion. 

Hopefully Pond's will improve their shade selections and also their formula so it has subtler scent! I'm crossing my fingers that due to its popularity, Pond's Indonesia will bring this locally so we can get it easier without relying on online shops hehe. I purchased the Natural Mattifying & Magic Powder BB from Tokopedia btw, while the Pinkish White Glow was given to me by a friend.

(UPDATE)

After two weeks using these powders alternately, I had a pretty bad breakouts on my chin and jaw areas. After I stopped using these powders and went back to my Mineral Botanica loose powders, my breakouts diminished, so I guess my skin don't like these Pond's powders after all :( My guess is that the strong fragrance made my sensitive skin angry sigh.

I hope this review is helpful for you Loves, thanks for reading and talk to you soon! 😘