Product Review: Original Formula Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder

Perhaps I am somewhat 'old fashioned' in my make up preferences. Once I find a product that works, I tend to stick with it. I do love to try new products and am always opened to cutting edge, recently developed trends and ideas. Coty's Original Formula Airspun Loose Face Powder has been around, in its original composition, since 1935, and there really is a good reason for its longevity - it works wonderfully!

Like many women, my complexion is that of a "T" shape: shortly after applying foundation, my forehead and nose tend to become shiny and require a bit of a touch up with powder. There are some interesting products on the market now that claim to combine both foundation and a face 'powder' in one product, but none of the ones I'd used were satisfactory. I have been, and always will, be a big fan of loose face powder. When properly applied, it sets my foundation perfectly, and lasts for hours, only occasionally requiring a bit of replenishment in the evening.

Most women will instantly recognize the original Coty foundation packaging because it's been around seemingly forever, and has always been a staple at places where makeup is sold, including department stores, drug stores, and cosmetics stores. Their closest competitor for this product is that of Maybelline's loose face powder, in its familiar blue-capped container. While Maybelline's loose powder is not a bad product, and I have used it on occasion, it is significantly more expensive than Coty's. Coty's Airspun Loose Face Powder comes in a 2.3 ounce container for $6.99; Maybelline's 1.5 ounce container costs $5.99. Also, Coty gives you a larger powder PUFF with its product than does Maybelline, because of the size of the container itself, so you've got more "room" with which to work, and the Coty puff lasts longer than that of Maybelline's, which tends to pull apart at the top after a few weeks' use.

Coty's Airspun comes in six different shades, including Translucent and shades that match your complexion should you tan. The colors of the different shades are somewhat subtle, but are displayed on the racks which hold each variety so that you can carefully choose which shade would work best for you. (Try the old hand-to-the-shade trick to see what best matches your skin tone.) Translucent, of course, is a very forgiving selection that many women select, as it allegedly will work with all skin tones.

The packaging is charmingly old-fashioned in appearance, not surprising since it's been changed very little, if at all, since the product's inception back in the 1930's: a round plastic container with white inverted flower bulbs on an orange background. The powder puff itself is a very nice 3" in diameter; because of its larger size, it can cover a larger portion of your face when applied as well as last longer, since you have more space on this puff. My personal favorite, Naturally Neutral, #070-11, has a very faint but very pleasant scent to the powder itself. Ingredients, as listed on the label itself, include talc, calcium silicate, isopropyl, palmitate, cetyl, acetate, zinc stearate fragrance, stearyl acetate, imidazolidinyl, urea, methylparaben, acetylated lanolin alcohol, oleyl acetate, proplparaben, and may contain titanium dioxide, iron oxides, and zinc oxides. I'd strongly suggest checking to ensure that none of these ingredients are known skin irritants or allergens for you before you buy.

According to the packaging, Airspun features "an exclusive Microspun formula where loose powder particles are spun and swirled until they reach a cloud-like softness. This ultra smooth powder hides tiny lines, wrinkles and blemishes, and gives a new softness to your skin. Use to set make-up or as a foundation. Long lasting, dermatologist-tested." I've never used Airspun as a foundation, and am unlikely to ever do so. I do know that Coty's Airspun does indeed go on in a very light, soft manner when patted gently over your foundation. It sets my make up perfectly without the heaviness that often accompanies other face powders. Hint: I take a dry make up sponge - the kind that you use to apply foundation itself - and make a 'sweep' of my face after applying Coty's Airspun, just to make sure that I haven't left behind any clumps or ridges of powder that would stick to foundation applied in haste. Works like a charm!

Over the years, I've used many different kinds of loose face powder because for me, the concept works in my makeup routine. And over the years, I've always come back to the Original Formula Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder - because the price is right, it never changes, and it works!