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Newsflash: It’s (still) hot. While in some areas of the country summer is winding down, no one seems to have told the heat index. Humidity, shiny skin and heat are still the main culprits why by 5 p.m. makeup can look faded, greasy and patchy all at the same time. But, using one of the best settings powder can make all the difference.
No one likes looking in the mirror and seeing that makeup has settled into fine lines, transferred to areas it shouldn’t or is smudged beyond recognition, but setting powders used to have a bad reputation. Some looked cakey, others left a white cast (especially in photos) and too many left skin dry and uncomfortable. Today’s formulas aren’t those. Setting powders now are weightless, buildable and loaded with skin-enhancing ingredients that smooth skin for a real-life filter effect.
To keep your makeup exactly where you applied it, check out 18 of the best setting powders we love for dry skin, mature skin, blurring, under-eyes and more.
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Best Clean
Whether used to set a full makeup look or just in oily areas, this talc-free, never-creases powder creates an airbrushed look before your eyes.
Key ingredients
Bamboo Stem Extract, Passionfruit Leaf Extract, Peony Extract
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Best for Under-Eyes
If you’re going to launch a powder designed for only one area, it better be good. Tarte delivers. Set Sexy is a triple threat; brightening, blurring and setting the under-eye area with a no-flashback formula that smooths imperfections and stays in place for up to 16 hours. Plus, its trampoline-inspired puff allows you to reach the corners of the eye area mess-free.
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Best Glow
Instantly lock in makeup with a luminous, lit-from-within glow with Cover FX’s Illuminating Setting Powder. A finely-milled formula with vitamins E and C and green tea extract blends in seamlessly over makeup on all skin types.
Key Ingredients
Green Tea Extract, Vitamin C, Vitamin E
4 / 18
Best for Sensitive Skin
Tower 28’s new pressed powder has already wow’ed our beauty editor and Hailey Bieber’s makeup artist, Katie Jane Hughes. “If you use just a little bit, you can create a demi-matte finish, but you can also choose to really bake it for a full matte look. I love how versatile it is, offering blurring, brightening and filtering benefits that last (ideal for when I’m on set).”
Key Ingredients
Kaolin Clay, Squalane, Hydrophobic Silica
5 / 18
Best for Photos
Rihanna would never create a setting powder that isn’t camera-ready. This superfine, mattifying and blurring loose powder comes in eight true-to-you shades for a perfect, zero flashback match.
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Best Feel
The talc-free setting powder was a welcome update to Laura Mercier’s iconic original. Infused with hydrating hyaluronic acid for a never-cakey wear, this blurring powder feels like you’re wearing nothing at all and leaves skin so soft with zero shine.
Key ingredients
Hyaluronic Acid, Amino Acid and Silica Powders
7 / 18
Best Versatility
Delivering just the perfect amount of coverage atop foundation or tinted moisturizer, this blurring and setting powder (it’s available in four shades) can be applied with a fluffy brush for a lighter look or with a dense foundation brush for a heavier effect. Either way, whatever’s underneath isn’t going anywhere.
Key ingredients
Rose Wax, Almond Oil, Light-Reflecting Pearls
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Best Budget
For less than $10, this loose setting powder from Wet n Wild is a fantastic find. It’s lightweight, absorbs oil instantly and leaves skin looking smooth, not powdery.
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Best for Uneven Skin Textures
Enhanced with skin-protecting vitamin C, probiotics and quinoa seed extract, this featherlight setting powder goes the extra mile in the skin-care department, visibly improving skin texture over time.
Key Ingredients
Quinoa Seed Extract, Vitamin C, Probiotics
10 / 18
Best Smoothing
While it looks stark white in the pan, this powder goes on silky-smooth with no chalkiness or visible color to be found on most skin tones. Sporting glycerin and vitamin E, this cream-meets-powder formula keeps skin hydrated yet matte, hiding fine lines, wrinkles and pores in a flash.
Key ingredients
Micro-fine Mineral Powders, Light Reflecting Complex™, Photochromic Technology, Glycerin, Vitamin E
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Best Shade Range
Available in 24 second-skin shades, this superfine powder can be applied with the provided sponge or a brush to set under-eye powders, blur the look of pores, mattify shiny areas and more.
Key ingredients
Perlite Mineral Technology
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Best for Dry Skin
With squalane, a superstar hydrating ingredient with plumping powers, and mica, an ingredient that helps maintain skin elasticity and suppleness, Saie’s loose setting powder is a dream for dry skin types.
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Best for Mature Skin
For mature skin, a weightless setting powder is key. Hourglass’ formula of ultra-fine loose powder and light-reflecting particles instantly blurs imperfections and smooths skin without feeling heavy, dry or cakey on skin.
Key ingredients
Diamond Powder, Soft-Focus Light-Reflecting Particles
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Best Long-Lasting
Expect 24-hour shine control and filter-like smoothness when you use ONE/SIZE’s Ultimate Setting Powder. Available in seven shades, Ultra Pink and Sweet Honey also double as complexion-brightening highlighters.
Key Ingredients
Performance Powder Microspheres, Surface-Treated Pigments, Soft-Focus Powders
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Best Splurge
With a one ounce tub of powder, CHANEL’s setting powder is a worthy investment. The ultra-soft, lightweight formula delivers a beautifully natural matte finish and is available in eight flexible shades.
Key ingredients
Photo-Reflective Pigments, Silica, Mica
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Best for Deep Skin Tones
Designed to give even the deepest skin tones an undetectable filter-like finish, reviewers love this superfine talc-free powder for its ability to blur and soften skin, plus its non-drying formula, which doesn’t leave them looking “ghost-like.”
Key Ingredients
Hyaluronic Acid, Baobab Seed Extract
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Best Natural Finish
A hybrid between a pressed powder and finishing powder, this buildable formula sets your base makeup while delivering a little more coverage where you want it. Pro tip: Apply a layer over your favorite tinted moisturizer for the ultimate no-makeup look that lasts.
18 / 18
Best Performance
Talc free and infused with nourishing and shine-controlling ingredients, this blurring tinted powder was created to extend your makeup look for hours while still letting your skin look like skin.
Key Ingredients
Squalene, Kaolin Clay, Vitamin C
