Highlight Powders: Ben Nye Banana Powder vs Black Opal Deluxe Finishing Powder

One element to the achieving that perfectly chiseled face is  knowing how to highlight the face correctly. Today I'm going to talk about the Ben Nye Banana Powder, which has taken the beauty community by storm recently and an old favourite of mine the Black Opal Deluxe Finishing powder in Medium. I initially heard about both these powders through Youtube, so here are my thoughts on each of them.

Ben Nye Visage Powder in Banana

Price: USD$7.95 for the 1.5ounce bottle at www.makeupmania.com

Amount: I purchased the 1.5ounce bottle but there is also a 3 ounce bottle available


Packaging: small conveniently sized plastic container 
                 has a small sifter barrier at the top
                 there is no powder puff

Texture & Appearance: finely milled, smooth texture but with a light yellow 'banana' tint to it.

Application: I will either use a makeup sponge to pat on the product in the appropriate highlighting areas for a more intense finish then I'll dust off the excess with a powder brush, or I'll use an eyeshadow blending brush for a lighter application for an everyday look. It applies very smoothly.

Results: The yellow tint of the powder gives me that perfect bright under eye look. In the initial application it appears very light, almost white against my dark skintone, but when blended in it gives a bright highlight to the face, without looking too overbearing.

Final Thoughts: it is an excellent powder and the price can't be beat. I see this powder working great for a variety of skin tones. I must mention that Ben Nye also makes other shades of highlight powders for WOC if you're not too fond of this one such as Sienna and Topaz. The Ben Nye Visage Powders can be used as all over face powders as well.

Rating: 4.5/5

Black Opal Deluxe Finishing Powder in Medium

Price: I estimate that I paid around JMD$1000

Amount: 1 ounce

Packaging: small plastic container
                 has a sifter barrier
                 does not come with a sponge

Texture & Appearance: similar texture to the Ben Nye powder but this has a more 'skintone' colour as you can see in the swatch below.

Application: I use a similar application technique as I do with the Ben Bye powder.

Results: As I had mentioned this powder has a more skintone shade which actually blends in to my complexion a little bit better than the Banana powder. It highlights the face just as well and it also has oil controlling properties.

Final Thoughts: This is a great highlighting powder if you are around my complexion ( for reference I am an NW47 in MAC and shade 178 in the Makeup Forever HD foundation). This powder is readily available for us Jamaicans in pharmacies and beauty supply stores so it may be the better option for most of us in terms of availability. The Deluxe Finishing Powder is made to be used as an all over face powder so it does come in a variety of shades for WOC.

Rating: 5/5

Here are the swatches:

Ben Nye & Black Opal Powders Heavily Applied

I honestly love them both and will use them interchangeably, I can't choose between the two because I get great results with both, so I will leave it up to you to decide ;)

I hope this was helpful to you guys and I'll see you in my next post...take care
Debbie.