Laura Mercier Real Flawless Luminous Perfecting Pressed Powder Versus Hourglass Cosmetics Ambient Lighting Finishing Powder
What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Mica
Cosmetic ColorantZea Mays Starch
Absorbent
Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate
Emollient
Hectorite
AbsorbentOctyldodecanol
Emollient
Dimethicone
Emollient
Lauroyl Lysine
Skin Conditioning
Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract
Masking
Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil
Emollient
Rosa Moschata Seed Oil
Emollient
Ethylene/Acrylic Acid Copolymer
Emulsion StabilisingCaprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Masking
Water
Skin ConditioningZeolite
AbsorbentPolyglyceryl-3 Diisostearate
Emulsifying
Tocopherol
Antioxidant
Benzyl Alcohol
Perfuming
Dehydroacetic Acid
Preservative
Sorbic Acid
Preservative
Tin Oxide
Abrasive
Iron Oxides
CI 77891
Cosmetic ColorantMica, Zea Mays Starch, Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate, Hectorite, Octyldodecanol, Dimethicone, Lauroyl Lysine, Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil, Rosa Moschata Seed Oil, Ethylene/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Water, Zeolite, Polyglyceryl-3 Diisostearate, Tocopherol, Benzyl Alcohol, Dehydroacetic Acid, Sorbic Acid, Tin Oxide, Iron Oxides, CI 77891
Mica
Cosmetic ColorantSynthetic Fluorphlogopite
Boron Nitride
Absorbent
Hdi/Trimethylol Hexyllactone Crosspolymer
Polymethyl Methacrylate
Octyldodecanol
Emollient
Benzoic Acid
Masking
C13-14 Isoparaffin
Emollient
Dehydroacetic Acid
Preservative
Diamond Powder
Abrasive
Dimethicone
Emollient
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningLaureth-7
EmulsifyingMagnesium Aluminum Silicate
Absorbent
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Polyacrylamide
Polymethylsilsesquioxane
Potassium Sorbate
Preservative
Silica
Abrasive
Sodium Dehydroacetate
Preservative
Sorbic Acid
Preservative
Sorbitan Sesquioleate
Emulsifying
Trimethylsiloxysilicate
Emollient
Mica, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Boron Nitride, Hdi/Trimethylol Hexyllactone Crosspolymer, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Octyldodecanol, Benzoic Acid, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Dehydroacetic Acid, Diamond Powder, Dimethicone, Ethylhexylglycerin, Laureth-7, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Phenoxyethanol, Polyacrylamide, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Potassium Sorbate, Silica, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Sorbic Acid, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Trimethylsiloxysilicate
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Dehydroacetic Acid is a synthetic preservative that keeps your products safe from microbes.
As an organic acid, it penetrates microbial cell walls and disrupts cellular metabolism. This makes it effective against bacteria, yeast, and mold.
It is effective at low concentrations (<0.6%). Clinical studies have found it to be non-irritating, non-sensitizing, and non-photosensitizing.
Learn more about Dehydroacetic AcidDimethicone is a type of synthetic silicone created from natural materials such as quartz. It is also known as polydimethylsiloxane.
What it does:
Dimethicone comes in different viscosities:
Depending on the viscosity, dimethicone has different properties.
Ingredients lists don't always show which type is used, so we recommend reaching out to the brand if you have questions about the viscosity.
This ingredient is unlikely to cause irritation because it does not get absorbed into skin. However, people with silicone allergies should be careful about using this ingredient.
Note: Dimethicone may contribute to pilling. This is because it is not oil or water soluble, so pilling may occur when layered with products. When mixed with heavy oils in a formula, the outcome is also quite greasy.
Learn more about DimethiconeMica is a naturally occurring mineral used to add shimmer and color in cosmetics. It can also help improve the texture of a product or give it an opaque, white/silver color.
Serecite is the name for very fine but ragged grains of mica.
This ingredient is often coated with metal oxides like titanium dioxide. Trace amounts of heavy metals may be found in mica, but these metals are not harmful in our personal products.
Mica has been used since prehistoric times throughout the world. Ancient Egyptian, Indian, Greek, Roman, Aztec, and Chinese civilizations have used mica.
Learn more about MicaOctyldodecanol is a fatty alcohol sourced from plant oils like coconut or palm (or made synthetically).
It is:
You'll likely see this in many BHA products because this is the go-to solvent for salicylic acid.
This ingredient is typically used at levels between 2-20%.
Regarding fungal acne:
In 2019, this ingredient was tested against multiple Malassezia species (the yeast that causes fungal acne) and showed no growth.
Sorbic Acid is a preservative that stops your product from spoiling by stopping microbes from growing.
As a preservative, it's kind of a specialist: it has a broad spectrum of activity against yeast and molds but is weaker against bacteria. That's why it's often paired with another preservative to cover that gap.
This ingredient is also pretty picky about pH; it performs best at pH 6.5 or below.
At the right pH level, sorbic acid is "active" and can slip through the outer wall of a microbe. Once inside, it turns the cell's interior more acidic to shut down the microbe from the inside.
The EU caps this ingredient at 0.6% while the CIR has concluded it's safe at concentrations up to 1%. It's most often used around 0.05-0.2% in cosmetics.
Though this ingredient is considered low-sensitizing and well-tolerated, a very small number of people may have a contact allergy to it. Be sure to patch test if you have a history of allergies towards preservatives.
Learn more about Sorbic Acid
