Todays post is for the benefit of those of you who really think about where you spend your money, what you spend it on and the benefits of said products. There's the age old argument in the beauty blogging world about whether or not high end makeup is worth splashing out on; today I'm going to compare two pressed powders; Rimmel Stay Matte (Pink Blossom) and MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural (Medium Plus).
As you know I have major issues with oily skin so I really need a good mattifying powder just to set my makeup and reapply during the day without it looking awful and cakey. Also instead of using liquid foundation I'll often use a powder alone when I'm on holiday abroad because I find that liquid is just too heavy when it's so warm.
Price
MAC: £20.50 from Debenhams
Rimmel: £3.99 from Boots
A massive £16.51 difference in price so it's really important that you know whether it is worth buying MAC or not!
Packaging
MAC: A classic flip top pan, one issue being that the clear plastic probably wouldn't take much pushing out, one drop at the wrong angle and I'd imagine it'd be out, I've never had an issue with it but it's worth noting the potential for breaking!
Rimmel: Pull off lid, very much a budget design but doesn't impact the product in any way.
Product Performance:
MAC: In the pan the powder is so unbelievably soft and easy to get onto your brush, if anything I'd say it was bordering on a bit messy because it is so soft. You don't need much on the brush to get a full face of product on.
If I apply this in the morning it gives me confidence that I'm going to be shine free for at least 2/3 hours after which I usually apply some more if I have it with me. What I will say is that if you are someone who constantly reapplies during the day, do be careful that this doesn't make you look cakey because it will build up fast on your skin. I'd recommend a spritz of a makeup refresher before you dive in with this for the 3rd or 4th time in the day just to see if that makes a difference.
I'm NW18 and the shade medium plus seems pretty perfect to me, Light would be too light I think but any darker and it'd look orange.
Rimmel: I found this really difficult to get onto the brush and after a few uses the product like clumped up to form shiny patches in the pan which do need scraping off if you want to get some product onto the brush; this might be something to do with the fact that it's flat rather than domed, or maybe it's just the product, I'm not sure. However, because not much product goes onto the brush it is less likely to look cakey on the skin so quickly.
I didn't think that this was as good for use alone without any foundation underneath, I really did feel completely bare. However I would say that this would definitely be worth trying if you don't have spots and you are just looking to even out your skin tone and mattify your skin.
Overall which one am I most likely to rebuy?
For what I use it for and how often I use it I'm definitely going to rebuy MAC Mineralize Skinfinish because it just totally does the trick for me whereas Rimmel just doesn't do enough, even though there's a massive price difference, in this case it's worth it for me to splash out.
What I will say is that if your skin isn't too oily and you only have a slight shine after maybe 4 hours, try Rimmel first before you jump in with MAC but unfortunately for those with darker skin tones you might not find a Rimmel shade that suits your colour because they all seem very light ('beige' is their darkest shade) whereas MAC's shade selection seems to suit a wider range of skin tones; definitely go to a MAC counter if you can and get matched.
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