Rituals Gemstone Compact Powder

I’m always on the hunt for a ‘holy grail’ compact powder to keep my epically shiny nose matte during the day. Typically I blot and powder 3-4 times a day (and yes the rest of my face is still dry and flaky. My skin is teh aswesomz). I was given this from my husband for Christmas who gets full marks for remembering my enthusiasm for Rituals after I discovered them in Heathrow.

I love the packaging. It's a sleek black plastic with a good sized mirror. It feels hefty and well made. You get a little powder puff with it but I prefer my retractable kabuki. The box it comes in mentions all sorts about amethyst doing wonders (not sure about this myself) but for me the most important claims are from the site:

• “Ultra light, natural compact powder for a radiant and even skin
• Gives a naturally even result and keeps the skin perfectly matte
• Enriched with the ancient gemstone Amethyst for inner peace and creativity, relaxes the skin and makes it smooth and supple
• Mild formula: natural gemstones - no talc - no parabens - no perfume
• Feels sensationally soft on the skin
• Dermatologically tested”

Nothing nasty in it to irritate the skin and promises to prevent shine? Yes please! The powder looks lovely with Rituals embossed in it. The first thing I  noticed was how soft it is. The aforementioned kabuki is very dense so this kicks up a lot of powder and can be a little messy. The trade of is that is glides beautifully onto the skin. I find it actually quite high coverage for a blotting powder and it does a good job of helping disguise any patches where my foundation has melted off without looking cakey. It works very well on my pale skin and doesn’t oxidise at all on me. This might mean it won’t work as well on darker skin tones though.

This really does a fab job of controlling oil. It leaves a lovely soft matte finish and I don’t need to powder again for at least 3 hours which is very good going for me. I really do like this apart from two tiny little niggles. The mess and the fact that you only get 8g of product. I can see myself using this up very quickly! You can find it online here for £16.90 xx