Shu Uemura. T.LeClerc. Stila. Becca. Laura Mercier. Etude. Chacott. Skinfood. The Face Shop. Palgantong. MUFE HD. MUFE Super Matte. The Body Shop. Chanel.
I’ve tried them all. And my gold standard in reviewing them all is NARS Loose Powder 
NARS Loose Powder
*Image above is not NARS Loose Powder in Snow.
From http://www.narscosmetics.com:
This powder is triple milled and provides sheer, ultra-natural coverage to set makeup, soften color and smooth the texture of the skin for an overall radiant complexion. The silky-smooth texture blends undetectably into the skin, absorbs excess oils and maintains fresh looking skin with an imperceptible finish. Packaged complete with its own powder puff and both plastic and mesh sifters to provide the finest, most natural application possible.
- Triple-milled powder corrects and softens color
- Enriched with Vitamin E
- Packaged with a powder puff and both plastic and mesh sifters to provide the finest application possible
My Skin Type:
Actually very oily, but surpressed with BHA exfoliator. Results in generally ranging from very dry to normal/dry skin. Generally dehydrated, very sensitive, and acne prone.
My Skin Tone:
Some said I have very fair, Casper-ish complexion. Frankly speaking, that’s what you see in my FOTDs, but I personally think I look (much) darker in person than in those photos. Still, yes, I’m quite fair.
Bottomline: my skintone range is lighter than MAC NC/NW15 to NC/NW20.
I have neutral cool undertone.
Packaging:
Signature NARS black rubber packaging. It comes with a standard plastic sifter and a mesh sifter. Honestly, the packaging is messy. At home, I like the mesh sifter. It allows puff or powder brush not to pick up excessive amount of powder. But for travel, this is such a no no. Nothing will stop powders from spilling all over.
Color Selection:
Only 6 colors available, which may seem small. But for my pale skin, I found a great match with Snow.
NARS LP in Snow
It’s sligtly washed out in the pic, but yeah, it’s pretty pale. It’s very pale cream that looked like it got a bit of pink.
Texture:
Finely milled, but not as fine as MUFE Super Matte Loose Powder or Shu Uemura Loose Powder Matte.
Coverage:
Good, for a loose powder. Much better coverage than most loose powders, but T.LeClerc Loose Powder gives even more coverage.
Still, as a loose powder, it’s not supposed to cover all. It will just help your tinted moisturizer/foundation/BB cream to even out your skin tone.
Blendability:
It’s not very dry to the touch, so I may need to use more to set a greasy sunscreen. However, it can glide on top of greasy sunscreen without caking.
If I use too much though, it’ll become slightly powdery. However, I think it’s totally my fault. Who says you can go overboard with a powder? 
Finish:
Matte.
Oil Control:
I was under the impression that this powder is not a good oil controller. Some reviews on MakeupAlley states that this is not oil controlling. I’ve used this when my skin was very dry, and it didn’t make my skin any drier.
However, now that my skin is back to normal/combo, and I’ve tried several other popular loose powder as well (Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder, Becca Fine Loose Finishing Powders), I realized that it’s good at keeping oilies at bay. May not be comparable with pure silica powder like MUFE HD Loose Powder, but for a talc powder, it’s good.
My General Review:
It’s literally my standard in reviewing all loose powders, so it’s actually very unfair to delay the review for this long. Yes, it’s that good for me!
I first stumbled upon this product on MakeupAlley. At that time, I was finishing my second large tub of MUFE Super Matte Loose Powder. It was very good, very close to HG status, but I was really annoyed by the fact that it oxidizes. I don’t know how, but by reading the reviews, I felt a strong belief that NARS will work. LOL! It’s not even available in Indonesia nor Singapore, so I had to CPed this from US.
I didn’t regret it. Finally, a powder that stayed fresh on my face for hours! Finally, no oxidation! It’s not as finely milled as MUFE Super Matte, but I’ll take it anyway, since it still can be considered finely milled. In fact, I use some greasy sunscreen, and usually only the finer loose powder can set my face without caking up. NARS can glide on top of sunscreen pretty well. Unlike TLC and Shu; both cake on top of sunscreen.
True, since NARS is not so “dry” it may migrate a bit into the pores when used on top of greasy sunscreen, but i can smooth it out with fingers or sponge. By the time my natural oil blended with NARS LP, it’s all smooth.
When I use a non-greasy sunscreen (like Banana Boat Sun Wear Faces SPF30), it’s not a problem anymore 
sets my makeup perfectly.
NARS has better coverage than most loose powders. Out of all loose powders that I’ve tried (and I’ve tried quite some), NARS’ coverage is second only to T.LeClerc LP.
I chose Snow sight unseen. It’s just customary for me to pick the lightest shade available And it matches my face very well. Snow is very pale cream. It looks slightly pink undertoned in the box, but it works well to brighten my face.
As for the oil controlling power, I find it performs just as well as the famed Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder. Which is good.
I have to give out some warning though: this is more powdery than some loose powders. Becca for instance, is creamier. If you prefer creamier loose powder, you may not like NARS.
Application:
I usually pat this to my face using a flocking sponge.
Price:
Quite cheap compared to other high end brand powders! I don’t understand why some ladies prefer Korean low/mid end loose powder like Etude, Palgantong, Skinfood….because they think it’s much cheaper than NARS. While if you compare it by grams, they’re usually only slightly cheaper than NARS. Some Korean loose powders are even more expensive! And trust me, I’ve tried Etude, Palgantong, Skinfood, The Face Shop, and Chacott. On me, they’re no match to NARS.
NARS is not that expensive. It’s USD34 for whoping 45gram. Yes, whole 1.60z of high quality powder for only USD32!
Availability:
Sadly, NARS is not available in Indonesia nor Singapore. I usually ship this from US.
Ingredients:
Talc, Silica, Polyethylene, Zea Mays (Corn Starch), Nylon 66, Isopropyl Myristate, Disodium EDTA, Dimethicone, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylparaben.
May contain: Mica, CI 77163 Bismuth Oxychloride, CI 77288 Chromium Oxide Greens, CI 77289 Chromium Hydroxide Green.
Overall Rating:
5 out of 5. It works like a charm for me. May not be the finest milled, but still fine. Glides on top of sunscreen. Oil controlling. Does not oxidize. Color brightens my face. And it’s fragrance free.
Highly recommended!
*This review will be cross posted in http://www.makeupalley.com under username Crescent_Shadow.
