Estee Lauder Lucidity Pressed Powder

I have quite bad skin due to PCOS and while I don't like to wear makeup all the time, I do like to make an effort sometimes and I tend to buy the expensive brands of makeup and have found through trial and error that Estee Lauder foundations and powders really make a difference to my skin.

This powder is available in three shades, light, light/medium and medium. When I first bought mine, the consultant at Estee Lauder matched the light/medium to my skin tone and this seems to work quite well for me.

I quite like the chunky packaging on this compact. It is made with thick plastic and feels reassuringly heavy in my hand and I am confident that if I dropped this, it wouldn't completely shatter, though I hope I don't have to ever find out for sure. It is fairly bulky but the inclusion of a sponge and a mirror makes this ideal for touch ups on the move. The compact is made of thick plastic which is reassuring – after all, after you spend almost £27 on a compact you want it to withstand the occasional drop or knock.

You can use a brush to apply this powder but I find that the small sponge supplied with this compact suits me and I get what I consider an acceptable finish using just the sponge. I also find the small sponge makes this very useful for touch ups on the go as I like to make sure that my makeup is in place when I'm out and about and having the small compact means that I can make any touch ups that I might need without carrying my makeup bag around with me. Unlike the Double Wear foundation that I use, I don't think that this powder is transfer resistant though so only use it when I'm in a situation where I don't need to rely on the transfer resistant properties of my makeup.

This has spent the last few months in my bag and there are one or two small scrapes on the compact and there are a few scrapes along the top of the compact where the logo is but these don't detract from the compact. Considering its in my bag along with keys and that, it's withstood some abuse and apart from a few cosmetic scratches, the case is still in good condition and I haven’t had any issues with the powder breaking up when in my bag either as the plastic seems thick enough to withstand day to day abuse in my handbag.

I am almost at the end of my first compact and I found that it is starting to break up slightly but it just means that I just have to be more careful not apply too much pressure when using the sponger that came with the compact. Despite having been washed a few times, the sponge still looks good as new though and hasn't fallen apart like some sponges I have had with compacts in the past. It is slightly annoying that the powder can break up when I'm at the bottom of the compact as there is a little more wastage when using it, however, considering I haven't had any problems during the life of this compact with breakages it's not a big thing and maybe if I had a brush, it would stop this issue.

My first compact cost me £26.50 and while this was initially an expensive outlay, it did last me a year and a half. I recently bought a replacement compact in Jersey where it cost me £20.70, although considering the costs associated getting to Jersey, it wouldn't be a saving for most people! You can also buy refills for this powder for £19 each but when I was buying a new one, I decided to just buy a whole new compact as I wanted a whole new packaging as well as my new powder.

This is an expensive initial outlay but is worth it for me, but I don't wear makeup all the time so it might be a little too extravagant for daily use but I like how this suits my skin tone and doesn't look caked on and I would definitely recommend this powder as it certainly seems to compliment the Double Wear foundation that I use. I'm sure some cheaper compacts are good but I liked the fact this was matched to my skin tone and doesn’t look orange like some other powders that I have bought in the past.

I would recommend this powder to set foundation and while I know it is a little too expensive for some people, I will continue to purchase this as it lasts me a long time and also I seem to have found a powder that really works for me so I am actually saving money rather than spending money on cheaper compacts that might not suit my skin as well.