Ruje Cosmetics Mineral BB Lucent Powder SPF50 PA+++

I've never heard of this brand Ruje Cosmetics before, but then again, I certainly don't know every Japanese cosmetic brands out there. This Mineral BB Lucent Powder SPF50 PA+++ isn't so much an impulse buy as it was a brain-washed buy: every time I pulled up Rakuten JP, ads for this powder would pop up. After the umpteenth time, I was curious enough to buy it. I didn't actually click on the ad, just searched for it and picked a seller who offered the best price.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

This is 7g of translucent loose powder with high sun protection. I paid about 2,000JPY plus shipping, which is actually quite pricey in comparison to other powders I've bought, many containing the same amount of product for about half the price. Anyway, this Ruje powder boasts 99.5% mineral content, with sun protection active ingredients being titanium dioxide (酸化チタン) and zinc oxide (酸化亜鉛), which means decent UVA protection. It's also free of fragrance, colorant, mineral oil, talc, parabens, and alcohol. Oh, and it doesn't require any special cleanser and washes off with water and soap, although this is nothing special as most sun powder doesn't require a special cleanser anyway.

One thing to note is that the included puff is really quite pathetic. You'd think for 2,000yen they'd include something that resembles a sponge, where as this "puff" here is really way too thin and flimsy to be of any use. This may be trivial to me since I already have my own brush, but if you plan to give the powder a try, you should plan to have your own puff or brush also. Just sayin'.

Anyway, the powder is okay, nothing special. It's light, it stays on, and it doesn't crease, but it's nothing impressive or wowing. Seriously, no Japanese or Korean powder I've tried thus far comes any close to Privacy UV Face Powder in any aspect: texture, finish, performance, sun protection, and price! Some tough competition right there I tell you! Speaking of which, I'd better stock up some more on that Privacy powder ^.^