W7 Banana Dreams Loose Setting Powder - Weightless Yellow Blurring Powder For All Skin Tones

Bought this for a special night out when I wanted my makeup to stay on for hours. It felt nice on my skin and not drying.

Before you think that banana powder is what you add to milk to make a Nesquik banana milkshake, think again. The Ben Nye banana powder was made popular by Mario Dedivanovic, the make up artist behind the masterpiece that is Kim Kardashian’s face. After the now infamous picture of Kim donning what looks like tiger stripes went viral, contouring as we knew it went bananas (literally) as units of this wonder product flew off the shelves. Mario gave away the secret of the uniquely bright under eye triangle which has been imitated and duplicated across blogs and YouTube alike, and thus a phenomena was born.I ordered this dupe for original Ben Nye product, the W7 Banana Dreams Loose Powder. The likes of MUA, Kiko, ELF, NYX, MAC & Stila all offer colour correcting powders in their base collections. These powders are either individual coloured powders designed to target the specific areas above or a mosaic powder which combines them all for an all over correcting powder.It’s all well and good to talk about colour correcting, but was it exactly? Isn’t that what concealer is for? Well, kind of.Green (Concealers & primers): cancels out rednessOrange/Salmon (Concealers) : brightens dark under eye areaPurple (Concealers, primers & powders) : brings life to dull yellow/sallow areasYellow (Concealers and powders) : brightens areas where appliedBanana powder has a yellow tone to it which as per the above gives brightness where it is applied.Typically a highlighting concealer is applied in an upside triangle beneath the eyes and then the powder is usually pressed under the eyes, left to “cook” on the skin for 5-10 minutes and dusted off with a light fan brush (I use the one from the Real Techniques Sculpting Set). This is called “baking” and is favoured by drag queens and celebrities to achieve a dramatic contour. The banana powder is also applied to the centre of the face.The ingredients of the W7 Banana Dreams powder differs from the Ben Nye Luxury Powder in that this notes Silica as an ingredient. Silica not only helps with oil control but is also proven to provide a blurring of pores and fine lines, as well as being extremely comfortable to wear – its an ingredient found in the likes of the Make Up Forever HD Powder which contributes to achieving flawless skin. This finely milled powder is velvety in texture, which when applied as a dusting under the eyes or on the t-zone as a highlighter provides a non cakey setting.So how does the Banana Dreams powder fair as a setting powder? I like it. It’s much finer in texture than loose powders I’ve used in the past, in fact it’s very similar in texture to the Bareminerals powder foundation. Instead of altering the shade of your foundation or giving your base a cakey finish, this powder only adds a smooth as a babies bum finish to the skin and does magically brighten sallow looking skin. I’ve not yet tried out the baking technique, but I’m sure I’ll pull out all the stops once I have an occasion worthy of a contour fit for royalty…or Kim K.

Nice powder but was far too Matt for me. Think the shade I purchased wasn’t quite right for my skin tone which didn't help.

Perfect

This setting powder is absolutely beautiful. The finish it gives you is unbelievable and it doesn’t leave a yellow tint on your face, instead it leaves a nice colour blend and softens the concealer out. I have had no issues apart from the fact it is super messy and if you get it on ur clothes it is super hard to get off until you put them in the wash, besides that i would recommend.

True to photos

Lovely product, but can be pigmented for fair skin shades so be mindful of your fairness is fair skinned.

This is a fab powder. I am very pale, and it works brilliantly as an all-over powder for me. It doesn't cake, or crease, or look flour-y or powdery on the skin, and gives a lovely, light finish.I don't know how it works as a standard banana powder - that is, to provide areas of highlighting and to brighten skin tone - as I have such pale skin, and with a yellow undertone, that this is really more the colour of my actual face than anything which may brighten it. As a standard setting powder however, to finish make-up and take away shine, this is brilliant.The only issues I could raise with it would be that it's quite bulky to carry around (although, on the flip side, you get plenty of product for your money) and the fact that, as a loose powder, this can be a bit messy to apply, so if you're baking your make-up, it's probably worth doing so *before* you get dressed, or things may get a bit 'rained on'. But this is true to most loose powders - for touching up throughout the day, be sure to dip your brush into the powder only lightly, and perhaps tap it against something (the lid is good, though sometimes with a loose powder you need to tap it a bit harder than that) before bringing the brush over your actual body.