There are certain things like primers and water sprays and other steps that can be added to your makeup routine that can often leave you wondering “yeah, but do I really need that?” One of the questions I see floating around a lot is “Wtf is finishing powder?” and “Do I need it?”

What Is Finishing Powder? :

Finishing Powder is meant to be used as your final step of makeup application. It can be something that is meant to blur fine lines or pores, add an ethereal glow or even add a finishing touch of corrective color. What it is not, is setting powder. It’s not meant to keep your makeup in place or set your under eye concealer. Think of it as like . . .a real life Instagram filter, albeit a very mild one.

Some of my favorite finishing powders are the Hourglass ambient lighting powder. More specifically the hourglass ambient lighting palette.

It includes a luminous, but almost matte finishing powder that I used all over. A more reflective shade that I use on areas that I like to highlight and a warm tone shade that I use where I could use a little bronzing. Each one is a little different but they all blur and airbrush the skin to make it look super perfect. I like to push it onto the skin using a buffing brush, but a blush brush works well too. Just make sure to always apply finishing powder with a sort of dabbing or bouncing motion . . .if you swipe it around and ruin your foundation it sorta defeats the purpose soooo don’t do that mmkay? Swiper no swiping.

I also love a good matte finishing powder, and the ones I’m loving lately are in the Anastasia Contour palette.

Yeah I know my palettes have powder all over them. That’s what happens when you use products. A dirty palette is a loved palette I always say. That’s a lie, I’ve never said that before, but it makes sense.

The two on the top left are matte powders that work beautifully to finish the skin. They add no shine or luminance but they brighten and give an airbrushed appearance if that makes sense. The pink toned one is great for any part of the face where you feel like your skin could use a little more lovin’ and the yellow is fantastic for under the eyes. It brightens up any hint that might be left of a dark circle and makes you look wide awake. It’s similar to the ben nye banana powder, but it’s a little lighter in both color and texture, which in my opinion makes it much better.

Again you are not going to want to set your concealer with this, this comes after everything else is already on.

The next big question . . .

Do You Need It?:

Short answer is no. But if you are a makeup lover, perfectionist, artist, connoisseur or hoarder collector you may want it. I don’t use it every day, I usually save it for days when I want to feel extra purdy or if I know I’ll be taking photos or something. I definitely like to keep some in my makeup collection though. It’s one of those things that can take it from really good to bomb.com ya know what I mean?

I hope that helps answer some of your questions if you have found yourself asking “what is finishing powder?” If you have any other questions about it let me know in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer!