Promising skin the texture of velvet and an excuse to play around mixing things, count me in for the Urban Decay The Velvetier Translucent Mix-In Medium. Touted as being dual purpose, this multi-tasker could save you money as both a setting powder & thickening, mix-in powder. At its core the Velvetizer is essentially silica (a mineral, commonly used as a bulking agent and/or to increase opacity), so are they just selling us an overpriced ingredient that many cosmetics already contain?
Price $34
Find it HERE
Tested September 2019
Where to start with this scandalous powder?! It’s marketed as a mixing medium, to thicken liquid products (more on that later) but comes in the exact same packaging as the previous discontinued Naked Skin finishing powder. I peeled the velvet label from my jar and low and behold… it DOES have the old label underneath, what gives? Urban Decay’s official statement is this:
“In an effort to reduce waste, Urban Decay has made it a priority to repurpose surplus unused components for new product innovations, As the Naked Skin Finishing Powder was discontinued, we utilized excess inventory or the product jar to package the newly launched Velvetizer translucent powder.”
I wasn’t able to track down any discontinued Naked Skin powder for comparison’s sake. However, given that the old powder came in 5 tinted shades (choose the one closest to your skin tone) whereas Velvetizer is translucent, it seems like a reasonable claim- that all these two products have in common is their packaging.
I was excited to try this since there’s nothing that I know of on the market like it. Also, Urban Decay had a compact, cream foundation circa 2010 that I LOVED so I was optimistic this might help me recreate it. The Velvetizer is the most finely-milled, loose powder I’ve ever seen. As a setting powder, used sparingly, it’s fantastic. It doesn’t change the color of my concealer or foundation (some powders cause it to oxidize & darken more than others) just the smallest amount from the cap sets my undereye area with zero creasing and it has a slight blurring effect on the pores around my nose. Additionally, I find that if I swirl my brush in the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder (which is sometimes too shimmery on its own) then swirl my brush in the cap of the Velvetizer (effectively mixing the two) shake off the excess and apply to the high points of my face it adds a beautiful but natural glow.
No doubt what you really want to know is how does it perform as a mixing medium? Sadly, not well. I have realized since purchasing, that no one actually needs this product. There’s nothing you’d want to thicken other than foundation. Lip and cheek stain, highlighter, eyeliner,- they’re all liquid for a reason. If you had a foundation that was the EXACT color match for you, that was just a little too dewy, and too thin then maybe I could see a need for this. But at $34 on top of the cost of whatever foundation you’re mixing it with…surely there’s another all in one product that works well enough.
Though it does mix in smoothly (because it’s so fine) the result is a paste, who wants to spend the time trying to smear mud evenly on their face? Yes, it provides fuller coverage but do you really want a thick mask over your entire face? You’d be better off spot concealing with something else. Also, in order to make said paste you’ll need to use 3-4x the amount of foundation you’d normally use and it will adhere more to whatever tool you’re using than your skin.
Despite liking how this performs as a powder, the package is bulky and the velvet label has become filthy. With all the fun powders out there in cute compacts, I won’t be repurchasing.
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