Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused Review

This is a review covering Hourglass' Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused Light. I know just about everyone has reviewed these but I had been sighing over this for years and now I feel I have to add my voice to the chorus.

Close-up of the powder in Diffused

The ambient lighting powders are supposed to be finishing powders that mimic different lights upon your skin giving your complexion the best possible appearance. There are six in total in the main line (there are some in palettes that were limited edition or only available in the palette) each representing a different light. Diffused the one I have is the second palest of the collection, and a very pale yellow supposed to represent clean morning light.

What the powder is said to do is not only slightly combat redness due to the slight yellow tone, but also add a glow to the skin and blur imperfections including pores and fine lines.

The packaging is light-weight plastic but it looks more expensive with the lovely bronze mirrored shade and sturdy design. That said I've tried to be very careful in the handling of my powder as it comes with a warning that the powder itself is fragile- which for me makes this something I won't be traveling with.

Hourglass description of the powder along with the ingredients list

In Canada these powders retail for $55 CND, and don't include a brush. The brush is sold separately and although it looks lovely I couldn't justify another $45 CND on a brush just for a powder. 

When I use this powder I actually find that I prefer to use this with a puff, rather than a brush. Personally I find that this gives the most product per area on my face but it easily can be used with a brush too if that is your preference for a less glowy look. One thing to make note of though is that this product is powdery, so either make sure you have a moisturizer on underneath, or blend well.

For the powder itself I broke down it's performance into four sections: the ability to blur pores, glow, colour-correcting ability, and longevity on my face.

First however here is the powder applied on my face where the only other makeup is a tiny bit of concealer on my under-eye circles as this isn't supposed to have an effect on them. I even left my acne and acne-scarring uncovered except for the hourglass powder so that you could really see any coverage.

Left is bare, Right is covered with Diffused light.

As you can see there is a slight difference when comparing the two sides, but it is subtle. It's not something you're going to be able to pick up really unless your looking for it. 

For it's ability to blur pores and fine lines I think is the weakest point for this powder. It does blur them the tiniest amount but not enough that if someone were talking to you they would be able to truly see a difference. As this was what I was hoping would be it's biggest strength I disappointed in this aspect.

I do think this product has fairly good colour-correcting abilities however, especially for a mostly translucent powder. If you look around the base of my nose you can see the redness I get on the left where it's much reduced on the right. Not perfect for acne by any means but for basic redness I do think it's decent.

As for glow this is another subtle one. I do like the subtle glow that this gives, and there definetly isn't a glitter problem which I know some people complained about, at least not with this shade. It does have a subtle brightening effect for the whole face, like you drank that water you were supposed to.

However the real kicker for me has to be the longevity of this powder. I'm still playing around with it but this stuff seems to disappear within about an hour for me. Yes, an hour. Granted this is with my combination-oily skin, but as I usually layer a foundation underneath this and concealer, I expect it to last at least three hours. It honestly just seems to disappear, it is very frustrating. 

I'm actually kind of broken-up about this powder. I want to love it. It was a gift from a loved one and the packaging is gorgeous. I like that it colour-corrects and adds a subtle glow. The fine-milled powder makes me feel decadent and special when I apply it with the puff. But it just doesn't hold up and the effect is so subtle I feel let down. Especially as you can't travel with it anywhere due to it's fragile nature, plus the price is so high. Overall I might have to return this.

Sprite Rating: 5/10

It lost two points for longevity, and a point each for minimal blur, fragility, and price (which I wouldn't have minded paying if the product lived up to it's claims).

Disclaimer: I received this product as a gift from a family member.