It's been a very long time since I bought anything from Skinfood. I think the last purchase I made was a repurchase of their signature Black Sugar Serum (and that was back in 2014!). South Korea is well known for their cutesy packaging and beautifully designed products, and more importantly, for how effective their products are. It takes just a moment of looking around at the women here to be able to see how beautifully cared for their skin is. A large reason their skin looks the way it does is because of protecting their faces (and every other body part) form the sun, but they also spend a lot of time and effort on their beauty routines (do you remember my post on the 10 Step Korean Skincare routine?).

There are so many Korean skincare and beauty brands, and each of them is associated with something unique. Etude House is know for it's very cutesy and girly packaging, Missha is seen as a higher end brand, Tony Moly is what all the school girls favor and Innsifree is seen as the Eco-friendly flagship brand. I always saw Skinfood as one of the cheaper brands, more so when it came to quality than actual price. Most of the products from Etude, Tony Moly and Skinfood are actually priced very similarly but from the look of their packaging, I wasn't really blown away.

I am a HUGE fan of Innisfree (click here to see all my beauty reviews and you'll notice a LOT of them are for Innisfree products) as I find their quality is amazing and they are such good value for money. I also like each brand for a different reason:

• Tony Moly: their bunny perfume sticks & ridiculously cute signature items (like the Panda Eye Cream)
• Etude House: their range of eye shadow shades & pigments (even though they aren't the best quality I love the variety of shades) and 90% of their products are PINK!
• Innisfree: Facemasks, quality nail polishes & great skincare products
• Missha: Beauty Milk Suncream 9not just because it's PINK!) & their Time Revolution Essence (this stuff is amazing for brightening your skin!)
• Klairs: I love their staple beauty products like the black sugar oil cleanser and face scrub

I was intrigued by this loose powder my Skinfood, not just because my old Yardley powder is about 5 years old and I'm sure is long past it's shelf life! I couldn't decide between the two products, and even though I went in for the translucent, slightly skintone shade powder, I came out with their shimmer powder too. I am leaving Korea soon and want to make sure I have lots of Korean beauty products to keep me going until I can find a way of stocking up from South Africa.

I wasn't expecting miracles from this powder and I think that's a good thing. Loose powders are used to set your foundation, and generally don't give much coverage. There is a big difference between a loose and a pressed powder (I am still loving and using my Innsifree Mineral UV Whitening Powder which provides light to medium coverage depending on how much I apply). This loose powder is designed to 'set' your makeup, giving light coverage. It can also be used throughout the day to combat oil and shine, but it's not the most practical of containers so would be a bit of pain to carry around in your bag.

I wasn't sure of the makeup sponge that came with the jar. I first tried to use my favourite Real Techniques buffer brush but after making such a mess (there are too many holes in jar and not enough bristles on my buffer brush) that I decided to revered back to the puff that came with the jar. And now that I have gotten used to it I like it a lot! It take a few more dabs to get the powder to set in and blend with my skin, buit it leaves my skin feeling and looking matte and shine free. It's not very long lasting, but my skin has been less oily these days since I changed up my suncream (I was using the Innsifree Eco Safety Perfect Sunblock) and I am now using the Missha Beauty Milk (review to come soon!).

I bought the Buckwheat Loose Powder in the darkest shade (No 23) and the Rice Shimmer Powder in the silver shade (No 80). The shimmer powder is a light reflecting white and silvery pigmented powder that give a soft pretty glow. 

Both loose powders come in round plastic jars and each contain 23g of product. These are going to last me a VERY long time as I use such a little with each application. 

I find I use the Buckwheat powder when I use foundation, which I don't use everyday. I liked how it set my makeup when I used both the Klairs Illuminating Supple BB cream which is a natural and lighter coverage BB cream and my current favourite (heavier) BB cream which is the Etude House Precious Mineral Cotton Fit BB cream.

For everyday use I love my Innisfree Long Wear BB Cushion (review to come soon) which I have used just about everyday for the past year. If I want extra coverage for going out or for special occasions then I use a heavier foundation (like the Etude House Precious Mineral Cotton Fit BB cream) and then I use the Skin Food Buckwheat powder on top.

The powder itself is a lovely silky & luxurious feeling powder with a finely milled texture that’s so soft. It has a delicate rose/floral scent, I can't pick up any traces of buckwheat in it. It's a light and refreshing scent that isn't cloying at all.

The powders come in 4 shades, 3 lighter sheer shades and then the Rice Shimmer powder which is a light, shimmery shade. The Buckwheat Powder is a really great, inexpensive setting powder and I am very happy with the purchase.

Each powder costs W6 000 in stores here in Korea.

Do you have any favorite setting powder recommendations?

I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!