REVIEW: Physicians Formula Happy Booster 'Glow & Mood Boosting Powder'

       Hello everyone!  This review is going to be on a product that may (or may not) be making its way out the door soon. It's very rarely now that I see this product in any drugstores, and I certainly hope it's not being discontinued. And that is the Physicians Formula Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Powder, particularly in the color Beige. Seriously, who can forget the adorable, intricate heart balloon detailing embossed into the product? Not to mention the hot pink packaging it's housed in?

These pictures were taken indoors with natural sunlight, no flash.

       This baby and I go way  back, back in my early makeup days when, for a while, this was the only highlighting powder I had in my collection (and now I'm a highlighter junkie; go figure). I've used up two of these, the first being the lightest 'Translucent' shade, then my second slightly darker 'Beige.' I don't know, I just had an inkling of a feeling that these wouldn't be available to purchase much longer, when I was able to score two of these babies for three smackaroos each  on clearance. This was sometime in the beginning of 2013. Since then, this product has disappeared from all the drugstores, leaving behind the Happy Booster Blushes as just a blurry reminder that these once existed. These are, however, still floating around out there. They're still, to my knowledge, available at ULTA and drugstore.com.

      

If you would like to see this product's ingredient list (especially since it is marketed as a lightly scented product), that list can be found here. You get a hefty 11 grams of product (0.4 oz) which is more than an average blush and more like the size and amount you would get with a powder foundation or a bronzer.

The product's official description from their website:

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• Ultra-smooth, perfecting powder in a complementary palette of color blends together to even out skin tone with a flawless radiance.
• Vibrant pink heart gives cheeks a healthy pop of color.
• Infused with our Happy Boost Blend, featuring Happy Skin and Euphoryl, natural plant extracts which have been shown to promote a feeling of happiness by mimicking the effect of Endorphins and helping protect the skin from environmental stress.
• The sweet scent of Violet provides a feeling of joy each time you apply.

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Formula/Finish:

The thing about the Happy Booster Powders that stood out to me from many of the other PF products as I was making my selection, was that they didn't have an overspray of glittery shimmer on the topmost layer of the powder, which Physicians Formula likes to add on to a lot of their other bronzers and highlighters (heck, even some of their blushes have it!). The powder is very creamy to the touch and is very smooth and finely milled. The pigmentation is solid, yet gives a sheer, minimal effect. 'Beige' gives even my fair NW15 skin an apparent, healthy glow, and is not dark, stark, or unnatural at all. It has a soft enough finish so that it can act as an everyday highlighting powder for me. I can even dust this across my forehead, my nose, and other parts of my face where I wouldn't usually put a highlight, and it still looks like a natural 'from within' glow even in the sunlight.

No heavy sparkle or shimmer with this! The light-reflecting pigments are very refined. The overall finish is very comparable to another drugstore powder from Wet 'n' Wild called 'Reserve Your Cabana.' I may do a comparison of the two products in the near future. 

The pink heart in the product that's claimed to 'give cheeks a healthy pop of color' is not very apparent at all; even if concentrated on, little to no pink tones will show up on the skin, as the pink heart is very tiny, and the other shades in the palette, by default, overpower it.

This powder does not, in any way, accentuate my pores or enhance flakiness in my dry skin. The product feels and looks lightweight, and sits extremely well on top of other makeup (never had an issue with cakiness). The scent, described as 'violet,' is quite pleasant, and not overpowering at all.

Packaging:

Cute, but unnecessarily bulky. Clear plastic lid, equipped with a mirror and hideaway for a makeup sponge underneath the powder itself. Aesthetically pleasing metallic bright pink exterior packaging. The compact is not travel or purse-friendly in the slightest, as I have had the contents of one of these powders break and spill everywhere in my purse. I was able to use what was left in the pan (the lid broke right off from the back hinges), but the packaging is overall very impractical, and for the price these were, I would've expected better. An upside to the packaging is that the clasp lid closure is very strong and sturdy, and not one has ever broken off of any of the three powders I've had. The problem lies in the fact that the lid itself is very cheap plastic, and breaks easily. What's the point of having a strong clasp if the lid is weak, and isn't efficient in keeping the product inside the container?

Long-Wearing?

The soft, glowy sheen that this powder imparts on my skin actually manages to last 5 hours on average before my skin eats it up. My skin usually eats up most of my blushes before the 2-hour mark, so a nice surprise to still see the glow from this, even after the faint color of the pink color was already gone from my cheeks. 😃

     Overall, I give this product a 7.5/10. The packaging is what Physicians Formula needs to work on, not just with this product, but a lot of their other products as well. Ditch the compartment underneath, and make it slimmer and the shape less domed. This is the main reason I don't own many Physicians Formula products, because whenever I look at these compacts in my makeup drawer, it just looks cluttery to me. 'Somewhat' streamlined is what I aim for one day, and this packaging, although cute, just doesn't do anything for me, or for the product. However, I adore the product, as it's the perfect highlight for my enlarged pores and dry skin. It's an added bonus that it's drugstore!

💋 xoxo-Cailee