Before deciding what type of powder you need or want, you need to know what each one is and does. 

Loose powder is basically tiny particles that are in a jar sealed with a piece of plastic with small holes to control the amount that you use. I would save these for home because even at home they tend to get messy. Loose powders such as the Shiseido Translucent Loose Powder tend to be light in coverage.

Pressed powder is the solid version of this, particles are stuck together, which makes it easy to carry around in your purse for touch-ups. Chanel’s POUDRE UNIVERSELLE COMPACTE NATURAL FINISH PRESSED POWDER for example, still has a semi-light coverage but is used for touching up your T-zone throughout the day.

Setting Powder is used to make you look less shiny and comes in different shades, including a color free translucent option. This is usually used to “set” wet foundation. Kat Von D Lock-It 
Setting powder is a great translucent option that can be used for any skin tone.

Finishing Powder, just like the name suggests, should be used at the end. After setting powder, use this as an extra step to perfect your makeup for photography etc. So what if you skip right to finishing powder? You could, but just make sure you blend it out really well since it has a heavier coverage. Urban Decay Naked Skin Ultra Definition Pressed Finishing Powder is great because you can control the coverage by what you wear underneath as your base.

HD Powder is a finishing powder as well, but a special type that looks good on high definition film. The most popular one you have probably heard of is by Make Up Forever.

Aline Agopian