Can Smashbox Halo Powder Hydrate Your Skin?
Submitted by Beauty Brains Blog
Tsunamino says…So I’ve heard about Smashbox Halo - a new powder that claims to hydrate your skin with encapsulated water and also prevent aging by using Gogi berries (did anyone else think Golgi apparatus?) as an antioxidant. My question is can your skin actually absorb anything from your foundation? If you use a primer as a “barrier”, doesn’t that defeat the purpose of this product? How can you encapsulate water in a pressed powder that is then shaved to produce a loose powder? Reviewers say that their skin feels hydrated, but the product description only says that the water gives a hydrated appearance. Any thoughts on this? Is this all marketing hype?
The Right Brain responds:
We’ve blogged about Smashbox products like OGlow Blush before and, while they make good products, we’ve found that they tend to over-exaggerate the benefits of their technology. Smashbox Halo seems no different.
Powdered water?
The idea of “encapsulated water” is very very cool, but it’s not a new concept and it wasn’t invented by Smashbox. It’s a simple matter of mixing water with fumed silica under high shear conditions. The tiny silica particles coat the water droplets creating tiny water capsules. When you rub the powder the capsules break and water is released. The cooling effect you feel as the water is released could provide the hydrated feeling that you asked about but it’s not enough to provide a true moisturizing effect. To really hydrate skin you need to add not only water but also an occlusive film that will prevent moisture from evaporating. The discrete particles in a powder can’t be as effective as a uniform film.
Smashbox Halo ingredients
Mica (CI 77019), Coco Caprylate/Caprate, Isopropyl Linoleate, Synthetic Wax, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Water (Aqua/Eau), Zinc Stearate, HDI/Trimethylol Hexylacetone Crosspolymer, Silica, Caprylyl Glycol, Butylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Barium Sulfate, Dimethylacrylamide/Acrylic Acid/Polystyrene Ethyl Methacrylate Copolymer, Ethoxydiglycol, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Lycium Barbarum Fruit Extract (Goji Berry), Trisodium EDTA, Peat Extract, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Palmitoyl Hexapeptide 14, Dimethicone, Gold (CI 77480), May Contain: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499)
The Beauty Brains bottom line
This product may be a perfectly fine perfecting powder but the hydration claim is just a cool gimmick that doesn’t really add much benefit.
