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Do these powder do what they claim?
  • rozy
    There is this product called Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light that claims to... "capture, diffuse, and soften the way light reflects on your skin",
    "illuminating particles are one of the first ever to exhibit both
    photoluminescence and color-correcting capabilities", "photoluminescent technology" etc. I dont see how its different than other shimmery powder products.
  • Right BrainRight Brain
    If you can post the ingredients I'll take a look at it. 
  • alchemist
    They appear to contain an ingredient called Polymethylsilsesquioxane/benzimidazole/diamond copolymer. My guess is the "diamond" part is would be a very small industrial dimond that serves as a seed for the polymer to condense around, the siloxane bit provides an interesting backbone/light diffuser and it's the benzimidazole bit that does the interesting new bit.

    It works the same way as optical brighteners in laundry liquids or black light ink/paint in that it will absorb light in the UV range then remit it in the visible spectrum, giving off a bluish glow, so will appear brighter than it really is.
  • rozy
    Wow alchemist that sounds really cool because a lot of these products that claim to diffuse light are actually just normal shimmer products.

    Mica, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Boron Nitride, Hdi/Trimethylol
    Hexyllactone Crosspolymer, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Octyldodecanol,
    Silica, Benzimidazole Diamond Amidoethyl Urea Carbamoyl Propyl
    Olymethylsilsesquioxane, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Magnesium Aluminum
    Silicate, Phenoxyethanol, Dimethicone, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Sorbic
    Acid, Olyacrylamide, Benzoic Acid, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Potassium
    Sorbate, Dehydroacetic Acid, Laureth-7, Ethylhexylglycerin,
    Trimethylsiloxysilicate. May Contain : Ci 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), Ci
    77163 (Bismuth Oxychloride),Ci 77491 (Iron Oxide),Ci 77492 (Iron Oxide),
    Ci 77499 (Iron Oxide),Ci 75470 (Carmine).

    http://www.sephora.com/ambient-lighting-powder-P377723


  • Right BrainRight Brain
    In addition to what alchemist said, note that the product also contains Hdi/Trimethylol 
    Hexyllactone Crosspolymer which is a powder consisting of tiny (12 micron) spherical particles which scatters light, reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
  • rozy
    So is that the only ingredients to look for in these "light correcting powders"?
  • Right BrainRight Brain
    I'm not saying it's the ONLY ingredient, I'm just saying it's one ingredient used for that purpose. 
  • rozy
    So theres more?
  • Right BrainRight Brain
    Any ingredient that reflects light will do this to some extent. 
  • rozy
    So this product could be any shimmer product? It is not special?
  • Right BrainRight Brain
    Remember that there is a spectrum of functionality for products like this.

    On the low end, "any shimmer product" could be just something that contains talc and mica. That kind of product would cover wrinkles to some extent but it wouldn't diffuse light very well because because the particles are not optimized to fit inside wrinkles.

    On the high end you have products like this that contain polymers that ARE optimized for wrinkles and that would do a better job of diffusing light. 

    Without extensive testing all we can really say about this product is that it looks like it contains state-of-the-art ingredients but these ingredients are available in other products that you might be able to get cheaper.

    It looks like this is one of those cases where you'll have to try it to see whether or not it meets your expectations.
  • starchild
    Maybe you could write a article called ingredients to look for in light correcting products to help more people that were confused by this issue. This certainly helps me. Thanks.
  • starchild
    Does the gold in this product make it work similarly to the hourglass one? http://www.sephora.com/absolutely-invisible-candlelight-powder-P241300?skuId=1189133
  • rozy
    That Too Faced product doesnt have anything special in it that you couldnt find for cheaper and they make a false claim that the gold is for its "skin firming" properties.
  • Right BrainRight Brain
    I love the way the claim is phrased on the website: "Pure Gold has been praised for its reported ability to tighten skin and reduce the appearance of imperfections." 


    "Praised for it's reported ability??" How lame it that?
  • rozy
    LOL agreed, is my observation correct right brain?
  • rozy
    If I remember correctly it had silica but that can be found in many cheaper products though I'm pretty sure it does reflect the light.
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