Paul & Joe Face Powder S

It seems like every year, Paul & Joe releases a powder/highlighter of some kind, most often in pressed form and dare I say blah looking, so I always skip. The spring of 2014 though saw a Face Powder S in the shade 001 housed in a 35g paper jar of loose balls with a puff, and it promptly went onto my wish lish. It actually reminded me of a similar powder blush balls in a Disney jar released in 2009! This is my second loose ball highlighter, with the first being The Body Shop Lily Cole Puff On Radiance.

Face Powder S 001. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

This Face Powder S is actually quite pricey, $45 (via Beauty Habit) for 35g of product, versus The Body Shop's $22 for 46g (and even then I got a discount and ended up paying just $10!). So I didn't buy it until Beauty Habit ran a 20% off during July 4th, and needless to say I was a bit underwhelmed with the few paltry balls inside when I looked into the jar I :(


But other than that this face powder is quite nice! It's scented, but only mildly so. I don't use the puff which is cute but not really practical ^.^ Instead, I opt for the Hakuhodo J4001 to highlight or J104 to finish, or Koyudo C019 to highlight or BP002 to finish, depends on my mood.

The balls themselves come in 4 colors: pearly golden champagne, finely shimmery powder pink, matte soft white, and finely shimmery pastel blue, although they all mix to a translucent veil. The powder is very finely milled, and its extremely fine shimmers give a brightening glow instead of a sparkly dewy one, so suitable for both highlighting and finishing purposes. That said, I prefer it as a highlighter, and a shimmer-free powder to finish. Overall, I do like this powder a lot. If Beauty Habit runs another promotion may be I'll get a back up ^.^

From left to right: champagne, powder pink, soft white, and pastel blue.