I come from camp “no powder unless I really need it,” and believe me, my combination skin needs it more than I’d like to admit. However, if I’m going to swipe something over my dewy glow, I don’t want it to instantly disappear, which happens with too many powders. I want something that lets my skin—the skin I work so hard to keep healthy—shine through, sans grease. Cloud Set Setting Powder, debuting today, does the trick.
The latest addition to the brand’s cult-favorite “tinted skin-care” lineup, Cloud Set ($34) is the perfect name to describe the pressed powder’s ultra-fine, super-soft texture that sweeps over oily spots like a dream to blur, but not mask. “It’s full of skin-care actives like bamboo stem extract, which helps control excess oil production—it makes skin matte, not flat. Other key ingredients are passion fruit extract to help hydrate skin, and Chinese peony, which helps detoxify pores,” says founder Sheena Yaitanes on a Zoom call. “It’s also silicone-and talc-free.”
The powder features the same baking process used to create the brand’s Sun Show Bronzer (also a personal favorite if you haven’t tried it). “It starts as a mousse and the liquid active ingredients are infused into the formula and baked in Italy,” says Yaitanes. “Italy is the only place that makes these unique baked formulas.” It should be applied with a fluffy, tapered brush so that the powder evenly diffuses onto skin. Yaitanes has had many requests for the perfect brush to pair with it, so don’t be surprised if you see that coming from the brand down the road. And in the meantime, we recommend the Spectrum MA04 Tapered Finisher.
The 10-shade range is one of the largest for pressed powders in the prestige market, and Yaitanes says the Kosas team focused on making the assortment as inclusive as possible. “We created a product development testing panel with 35 members of our community to evaluate shade ranges for new and existing products—Cloud Set was one of the first projects our testing team got to work on,” she says. “They are all members of our community who have impacted the brand, and who we trust to give honest feedback. Our panel tested shade variations and shared photos and written feedback. We analyzed this information, made adjustments and retested the shades on each until we landed on our final shades.” And it’s important to note, the panel is not based on free products in exchange for reviews. Yaitanes says the members are paid for their work, and we really appreciate the transparency.
