Lancome La Roseraie Illuminating Smooth Powder

I actually bought this Lancome La Roseraie Illuminating Smooth Powder for my mum, but with her permission took pictures and even a swatch of it ^.^ She always complains of a dull complexion, and she wears blushes and highlighters faithfully everyday so I bought this for her to try out.

Lancome La Roseraie Illuminating Smooth Powder. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

This is going to sound mean, but I'm actually glad I got this for my mum, because I would probably hate it myself LOL! I've seen pictures of this powder online, but once I take it out of its box, the very first thing that struck me was how gigantic and bulky the compact was! Sheesh! The worse part is that there is actual quite little powder in that giant compact! Look at the pictures below, you see more black surface than the powder! Urgh.

But the powder is finely milled, smooth, and is rather pretty to look at. There is a faint scent of something rather, I don't quite remember. Note this is an "illuminating powder," so a highlighter of sort in a combination of a soft focus white  and a pale shell pink. If the swatches look sheer, it's because it's not meant to be use exclusively as a blush. You may be able to layer on the pink for a flush, but probably not much else. My mum does like it a lot, so at least it's not a waste.