After 22 hours of research evaluating 156 products, we picked Clinique Stay-Matte Universal Blotting Powder as our top choice.
Ever wonder why your makeup suddenly comes off right around 2pm? Well, you can blame oil for that.
According to dermatologist Leslie Baumann, everyone’s skin produces oil, some skin types naturally produce more than others.
Many factors influence oil production. Genetics, hormones, stress, diet, time of day, and climate all contribute. The good news is, by investing in a good setting powder, your makeup can last all day.
Here’s what we mean:
A top-notch translucent powder can make foundation last for hours. The powder formula works to absorb excess oil, eliminating shine so your makeup stays put.
The best face powder can also minimize fine lines by essentially filling them in and preventing foundation from settling into the creases.
Want to know the best part?
To make your life easier, we spent hours researching setting powders for your skin. And, we created a list of the 6 best ones out there.
We’ve tested them all, from translucent powders to full-coverage pressed formulas. Whether you want your powder to set your foundation, bake your concealer, or mattify your t-zone. Finally, you can say goodbye to shine.
#1 Best Powder for Combination to Oily Skin Overall
Clinique Stay-Matte Universal Blotting Powder
- A translucent, non-comedogenic pressed powder for a flawless matte finish
- Sets, blots, and mattifies without cakiness
- A mess-free pressed powder compact with sponge included
Pros
A translucent pressed powder that blots oil, mattifies, and smoothes the skin without accentuating lines or feeling cakey.
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#2 Best Drugstore Powder for Oily Skin
Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Pressed Powder
- Smooth, buildable texture and medium coverage to even the skin tone
- Wide range of shades for most skin tones
- Very affordable, and a holy grail powder for shine-free beauty fans
Pros
A smooth, medium-coverage pressed powder that gives a velvety matte texture and even tone to the skin.
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#3 Best Cheap Mineral Powder for Oily Skin
ETUDE HOUSE Zero Sebum Drying Powder
- A loose translucent powder that sets and mattifies the skin
- Free from mineral oil and talc, great for sensitive skin
- Super affordable
Pros
An 80% mineral powder containing cassia bark, sugar polymer, and cotton extracts that absorb excess oil and reduce sebum production.
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#4 Best Talc-Free Mattifying Powder for Oily Skin
Innisfree No Sebum Mineral Powder
- A translucent loose powder that mattifies and blots oil
- Free from parabens, talc, fragrance, and dyes
- Really affordable (and even comes with a puff)
Pros
A colorless loose powder with gentle, sensitive-friendly ingredients that set makeup, mattify, and blot oil. One of the best powders for oily skin that doesn’t include talc.
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#5 Best Translucent Powder
Kat Von D Lock-It Setting Powder
- Leaves your skin matte and smooth but not dry
- Doesn’t leave a chalky finish
- More lightweight than many other powders
Pros
A weightless translucent loose powder, formulated with Micro-Blurring Technology™ and formulated without parabens, sulfates, and phthalates.
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#6 Best Setting Powder
Sephora Collection MicroSmooth Baked Foundation Face Powder
- Coverage can go from sheer to full depending on the amount used
- Can be used alone or to set foundation
- Lightweight and lasts all day long
Pros
A buildable, ultra-lightweight setting powder foundation that comes in a variety of gorgeous shades.
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#7 Best Face Powder for Sensitive Skin
bareMinerals Mineral Veil
- Blurs pores and gives an airbrushed look
- Looks natural on your face
- Formulated without parabens, sulfates, fragrances, or dyes
Pros
A weightless, sheer mineral setting powder that blurs and minimizes the appearance of fine lines and pores and leaves skin with an always photo-friendly, soft-focus finish.
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#8 Best Healing Powder for Acne-Prone Skin
Mario Badescu Special Healing Powder
- Formulated with healing ingredients such as sulfur, kaolin clay, and zinc oxide
- Clears and purifies clogged pores
- Soothes red, angry, acne-prone skin
Pros
A skincare treatment in powder-form that dries, clears, soothes, and disinfects clogged pores and acne.
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#9 Best Setting Powder for Special Occasions
Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder
- Absorbs excess oil and reduces shine
- Award-winning and clinically tested
- Light-weight; does not look cakey on skin
Pros
This translucent powder from Laura Mercier is the best of the best. We know because we’ve tested it ourselves. It’s great for blending, baking, and setting your foundation. Why we love this product so much? Its formula is ultra-lightweight and gives you a natural (never cakey) look.
While there are so many things we love about this powder, the formula is maybe our favorite of all the products on this list. Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate has a very similar consistency to sand, which gives this powder a natural, light-refracting sheen. The Borosilicate combined with the Silica create a softer glow than you would expect with pure Silica, which is perfect for special occasions and flash photography (no white out effect!).
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#10 Best Non-Comedogenic Setting Powder for Oily Skin
Dermablend Loose Setting Powder
- A translucent loose powder perfect for setting and baking
- Non-comedogenic and dermatologist approved for sensitive skin
- Cruelty-free and free from fragrance, SLS, and phthalates
Pros
A clear setting powder with skin-friendly ingredients and very long-wearing performance. One of the best powders for oily skin that won’t clog pores.
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#11 Best Drugstore Setting Powder
e.l.f. High Definition Powder Sheer
- Feels light on your face and doesn’t settle into creases
- Cheaper alternative to more expensive brands
- Keeps you oil free all day long
Pros
This e.l.f High Definition Setting Powder is cheap and just as good as expensive setting powders.
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#12 Best Pressed Matte Powder with Salicylic Acid
LORAC POREfection Baked Perfecting Powder
- A pressed powder with excellent coverage and a silky matte finish
- Contains salicylic acid to help treat acne-prone skin
- Ideal for all skin types (including acne-prone)
Pros
A skin-smoothing, mattifying pressed powder with buildable coverage and a flawless, high-glam finish for all skin tones.
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#13 Best Face Powder for Oily Skin
Urban Decay De-Slick Mattifying Powder
- Mattifies right away and keeps your makeup in place all day
- Easy to take on-the-go for touch ups
- It will take away all the shine on your face
Pros
A translucent finishing powder with Amazonian clay to lock your makeup in place and reduce the look of imperfections.
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Face Powders for Oily Skin Tips & Advice
How to choose the best face powders for oily skin
When searching for the best powders for oily skin, there are a few key things to consider:
- Start with the basics: what kind of powder do you need? If you’re looking to set a full face of makeup and add a little extra color to even your skin tone, a tinted pressed powder is ideal.
However, if you’re a no-makeup-makeup kind of person who loves to look matte and velvety at all times, a translucent powder does the trick. If you’re a baking queen (no, not cakes), you need a loose powder. Still wondering? Baking is when you pack on a heavy layer of powder to set areas where you’ve added a brightening concealer.
- Next, think about packaging and application. For example, a loose powder tossing around in your work bag is a disaster waiting to happen. For these on-the-go moments, a pressed powder is best.
- One of the most important factors is ingredients, especially if you have acne-prone or sensitive skin. Many powders offer a “glowy” or dewy look, which is the last thing us oily folk need. Look for ingredients that absorb oil, such as kaolin clay and rice powder. If acne is your main gripe, salicylic acid and sulfur are great as they kill bacteria and draw oil out of clogged pores. If your oily skin is also inflamed and red (it happens!), keep a lookout for oats and aloe.
One of the key terms you should look out for is “non-comedogenic”. This means that it has been dermatologically proven that it won’t clog your pores and cause even more breakouts. Some of the best non-comedogenic face powders are under the “mineral” category, made from natural ingredients like zinc oxide. These powders not only make you look flawless but they can soothe that sore, inflamed feeling and even reduce acne breakouts, the definition of multi-tasking!
Tips for applying powder for oily skin
Most powders are pretty fool-proof, however, there are some tips and tricks to ensure you achieve that smooth, flawless matte look.
- A velour puff is great for packing powder onto the skin without disturbing your foundation underneath. You simply press the powder onto the skin in a rolling motion, then dust off the excess with a fluffy brush.
- The “puff” method is great for touch-ups throughout the day when your makeup is done but you see that pesky shine coming through.
- For setting the entire face after applying your base, swirl a large, fluffy brush into the powder and tap off the excess. Dust the brush over your face, focusing on the oiliest sections such as the nose, forehead, and chin.
Always make sure to apply your powder after cream products. While some creams and liquids are designed to work well over powders, most of them will “bunch up” when applied to dry products.
Common Face Powder Mistakes
Applying face powder sounds easy in theory. However, if there is anything celebrity powder blunders will teach us, it’s that bloopers can happen even to the best of us. Practice makes perfect, for sure, but you can speed up the learning process by avoiding these common mistakes!
Mistake #1: Applying powder on the outer perimeters of your face. Unless the outer edges of your face get extremely oily (which is highly unlikely), you should stick to powdering just your T-zone—and maybe a little bit on your cheeks, if necessary. Applying powder on your entire face—even on the areas that don’t need it—can make your skin look dry and tired.
Mistake #2: Using the wrong shade. This should be a no-brainer, but surprisingly, many people still use face powders that don’t match their skin. Remember, ladies: face powder may not have as much coverage as a foundation, but that doesn’t make the look of mismatched shades less unflattering!
Mistake #3: Using cream and liquid products on top of powder. When it comes to layering different types of makeup, follow this rule of thumb: Cream and liquid products first, powders last. This means you shouldn’t use cream blushes, bronzers, and highlighters on top of your face powder. Doing so will make your makeup look patchy AF.
Mistake #4: You don’t clean your tools. Our brushes and sponges get exposed to all sorts of makeup every single time we use them. Even if you have a dedicated brush for face powder, it’s still bound to get in contact with your foundation and concealer as you layer powder on top of them. As these other products build up on your tools, they tend to mess up the formula and consistency of your powder. Needless to say, you should be cleaning your tools for hygienic reasons, anyway.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can these face powders help reduce my acne?
Certain powders (such as the Mario Badescu Healing Powder) on the list contain ingredients such as salicylic acid, sulfur, clay, and zinc oxide. These ingredients have antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and oil-absorbing properties that can help to soothe and possibly reduce existing acne. However, most powders should not be seen as an acne treatment, but as a way to absorb sebum and its associated shiny appearance. Your skincare routine, lifestyle, and possibly even medical treatments are the best ways to reduce your acne.
Can I use moisturizer before applying face powder?
Absolutely. Moisturizer is a very important step in any skincare and makeup routine, even for oily skin. Moisturizers restore the moisture barrier after cleansing and help to control oil production. Plus, the right moisturizer will help to prepare the skin so that foundation, concealer, and powder can sit beautifully on the skin. After applying your moisturizer (and any other base makeup products), wait a few minutes for it to sink into the skin before applying powder.
What is the best face powder for oily acne-prone skin?
If you want a powder that actively dries, soothes, and heals your acne, the Mario Badescu Special Healing Powder is ideal. However, it is not technically a face powder in the makeup sense. For setting, mattifying, and baking, the Etude House Zero Sebum drying powder would be excellent as it doesn’t include known irritants that may aggravate acne-prone skin.
Which face powder is best for daily use?
For sensitive or acne-prone skin, the Innisfree No Sebum Mineral Powder is great for daily mattifying without added color. For combination-to-oily skin, the affordable Maybelline FitMe powder leaves your skin looking velvety, even, and flawless with added coverage.
How do I stop my face from being so oily?
It all depends on the source of the oil. Certain hormonal cycles (especially if you’re a teen!) can lead to an increase in oil production. In this case, you should use an oil-controlling cleanser, toner, and oil-free mattifying moisturizer. Make sure you don’t go overboard with the oil-controlling products, as overkill can actually cause the skin to produce more oil to compensate. Plus, you run the risk of having oily and dry skin, a fun combination (note the sarcasm). Look for products that clear pores and control oil while maintaining the moisture barrier. Pick a matte foundation and, of course, set your face with an oil-soaking powder. If you find the oil is extreme or leading to acne, it’s a good idea to chat to your doctor or dermatologist to discuss possible medical routes.
