I’m a big Bourjois fan. If you’ve got blue eyes like me you HAVE to give their Metallise metallic eye liner in Brun Inoxydable a bash. It’s an uber-creamy bronze-coloured shade that makes your eyes POP! I much prefer it over wearing black which generally looks too harsh when teamed with my pale complexion and there’s going to be dramz if they ever stop making it…) I also adore the brand’s gorgeous cutesy packaging and like the fact that many of their products, from their blush to their foundations, have a soft, pretty scent.

Anyway… a little while back they launched Healthy Mix foundation, a radiance-boosting blend that makes use of ‘fruit therapy’. I’ve yet to try it, but know that its been getting rave reviews online. Now, next month, they plan to launch Healthy Balance unifying powder as a little friend to the foundation. It also makes use of (Asian) fruit extracts – hydrating sharon fruit and mattifying yuzu – and promises to help keep your complexion looking even-toned and matte, never cakey or dry. In fact, they use words like ‘radiant’, ‘hydrated’, ‘supple’ and ‘soft’.

If you look at the ingredients list, you’ll see the fruit extracts come stone cold last, so I doubt they’re doing any of the heavy lifting. It does, however, make use of kaolin, which is fab in regards to sucking up oil. It also includes antioxidant vitamin E and zinc, another good oil-buster with soothing antibacterial properties. 

I’ve been wearing the powder this week and have loved opening the compact in the morning and getting a whiff of its yummy, sweet fruit scent. It doesn’t come with a powder puff, making the compact very sleek and flat, so you’ll need to source your own appicator.

If you apply it with a powder brush, you’ll create a sheer-looking veil, but I prefer to use a thin powder puff-type sponge that you can buy in sets of two at Dis-Chem. They create a nice, even-looking finish with a little more coverage than what you’d get from a brush so I tend to use them with all my compact powders. 

Now let’s talk ‘wear’… I like that the powder immediately mattifies and blurs minor inperfections and pores. It looks nice and natural and fresh – not a drop of cakeyness in sight. In regards to the radiance it promises, it doesn’t seem to contain any luminizers, so perhaps they bang on about that because the powder’s still sheer enough to allow your ‘own skin to shine through’ as such. I find that I can re-apply it about twice throughout the day without it getting too heavy-looking, but after that I switch to blotting it with my MAC Blot powder which doesn’t add to or alter its coverage, it just absorbs shine.  

In all, if you’ve got (slightly) combination to dry skin, this is a lovely face powder. (If you’re very oily, you’re be best off getting your coverage from sheer long-wearing foundation and using a specially formulated blot powder throughout the day). Also, bare in mind that it doesn’t come with an applicator, so be sure to buy your own, be it a sponge or brush. I actually don’t mind this too much; it makes for a nice, super-thin compact that’s easy to slip into your purse.

Keep an eye out for Bourois Healthy Balance powder, R129,90, at selected Edgars and Red Square stores as of Jan.

Love, love

Leigh