Review: Physicians Formula Super BB All-in-1 Beauty Balm Powder SPF30

Continuing my series of reviews of some of the new 2013 Physicians Formula products, today I'll be reviewing the new Super BB Powder. As most of you know, this is just one product in the Super BB line--there is also a BB Cream and a concealer in this line. 

I purchased the powder because, whenever Physicians Formula comes out with a new face powder, I have my fingers crossed that it can replace my beloved Physicians Formula Healthy Wear Powder Foundation SPF50, which is not yet discontinued but getting harder and harder to find locally. So let's see how this one worked for me!

Physicians Formula Super BB All-in-1 Beauty Balm Powder SPF30 in Light/Medium

(retail: $13.95, 0.29 oz)

This powder comes in two shades: Light/Medium and Medium/Dark.

Keep reading for my full review...

The packaging is very cute (gotta love the holographic design on the front!) but I was surprised to see how bulky the compact was. Here is it compared to my Physicians Formula Healthy Look Powder Foundation compact, which is kind of bulky to begin with:

This is standard two-tier compact. The first tier holds the powder, while the second reveals the mirror, as well as the accompanying brush. My one gripe about the location of the mirror is that, for touch-ups on the go, you have to keep toggling between the powder and the mirror, which is a bit awkward. I wish the mirror were in the same tier as the actual powder.

The brush is identical to the brush in the Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Airbrushed Pressed Powder compact. So if you like that brush, you'll like this one too. I personally prefer a sponge for powder touch-ups, so I replaced the brush with a separate sponge for travel. 

What surprised me the most about this powder is that it actually contains very fine shimmer:

Here it is swiped on the back of my hand--you can really seen the shimmer/sheen here:

Now I'd like to show you some before-and-after pics, wearing this powder three different ways. 

First up, over bare skin:

 BEFORE

AFTER

Over bare skin, you can see that this powder has very nice coverage. It also gives my skin a lovely, air-brushed glow, without looking too shimmery. Unfortunately though, on my super-oily skin, this powder does not wear like a powder foundation. It fades to almost nothing in about three hours on my skin.

NEXT: I tried wearing this foundation over a BB Cream (for these photos, I'm wearing the Rimmel BB Cream, which I'm currently testing for review):

 Rimmel BB Cream + Physicians Formula Super BB Beauty Balm Powder

You can see that this powder gives a nice, air-brushed quality to my skin over the Rimmel BB Cream. However, after about two hours, this happens:

AFTER TWO HOURS

Once this powder interacts with the BB cream and the natural oils of my skin, this combination becomes very cakey and it starts to settle into my pores and fine lines. Not good.

So finally, I tried using this powder over an oil-control foundation (for these photos I used CoverGirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation, which I'm also currently testing for review):

 CoverGirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation + Physicians Formula Super BB Beauty Balm Powder

SUCCESS! Here's another shot of me wearing this combination on a different day:

(You may remember this photo from my Flower blush review)

So here's the deal: this powder didn't work for me on bare skin, over a BB Cream or over any of my more emollient foundations. However, it worked WONDERFULLY over my matte, oil-control foundations (I also tried it over Revlon ColorStay foundation). If you love oil-control foundations but you don't like the matte finish of them, this could be just the thing to give your skin a nice sheen or glow on top of your matte foundation.

Staying power over my matte, oil-control foundations is great. This product really helps set my foundation, while giving my skin a nice glow, for a full eight hours. However, this is NOT an oil-control powder, so if you have an oily T-Zone, expect some breakthrough shine. 

I've been applying this powder with my Real Techniques Multi-Task Brush, and I find it works wonderfully that way. On the go, I use a sponge (like I mentioned earlier) instead of the accompanying brush.

I detect no fragrance to this powder whatsoever. 

FINAL VERDICT: I'm not usually one for shimmery setting powders, but the shimmer/sheen in this powder is so lovely that I'm breaking my own rules here. It took me a while to find a combination that I liked but, for my oily skin, this product works best on top of matte, oil-control foundations. If you use oil-control foundations and you don't like the heavy matte finish they can leave on the skin, this powder could be your new best friend. For my oily skin, this is not an oil-control powder, and I get my usual breakthrough shine throughout the day.  Other than that, I like the coverage, finish and staying power of this powder quite a bit (but only when used with my oil-control foundations). If you have normal or dry skin, you might have much better luck with using this product either on its own or over a more emollient foundation. I think it's definitely worth a shot, especially if you're looking for a product that can give your skin a soft, glowy sheen.

 Do you own any of the Physicians Formula Super BB products? Thoughts?