In the summertime one of the products I find myself reaching for more often is body powder. Now I don’t mean glittery bronzing powder designed to highlight collar bones with a delicate glow (although I do like those as well). Nope, this is the general body powder that goes in places not meant to be seen by the general public.
At least I don’t think that anyone is really looking at the backs of my knees or under my breasts.
Especially as I am not walking around naked.
Now, while I recall my grandmother always using body powder after a bath and keeping a lovely glass container in the bathroom for it (currently my mother uses the same one) body powder has fallen out of favor for a lot of people. It doesn’t seem to be a hugely touted product any more. Which is a shame as if you live in a warm humid environment it can be a life saver.
No matter what I wear on my walks, I will be sweating and the cloth will rub. When I come home, I cool off, take a shower, massage body lotion or oil (usually oil in the summer as it tends to absorb faster) and then at the end I take a little body powder and add it to the places where my skin may have been rubbed a little by the sweaty clothing to ensure the fresh clothes I put on won’t irritate that skin. I also add a little powder to the parts of me that are likely to sweat. Like the backs of my knees, under my breasts and at the small of my back, especially if I know I am going to a meeting.
Most of the places where I have meetings in the summer have overly air conditioned meeting rooms so I will wear slacks in the summertime (oddly I wear the skirts more in the winter but that is another story). The slacks keep me from freezing in the meeting but moving between indoor and outdoor air, sweat rises. The powder absorbs it and keeps it from leaving damp spots on the clothing.
So despite not being a popular touted item, it is quite a useful one. Now I always get the powder that is talc free and I also go for unscented where possible. Because it is such an old-school type of beauty product, the scents for it tend to remind me of the older ladies of my acquaintance. I do have a lovely powder from Too Faced that smells of Gingerbread, but it also has glittery bits mixed in. I still use it but the glitter is wasted on the backs of my knees.
With powders you generally get a large plastic bottle with a few holes that you squeeze out or you get a box with a cut out that has a small puff with it. I do like to apply powder with a puff as I find it makes less of a mess. The boxes that plan on you using a puff always make a mess. So I picked up my own container. This pretty little box came from Amazon. This is the link. They have many styles and colors. I’m sure similar ones can be picked up in a lot of places, but I wanted to highlight the features I really like about it.
First of all the metal lid seals really well. The jar is a light weight metal so it can go from bathroom to luggage easily. I have never had it spill in my luggage, but i do put it in a plastic bag for traveling just in case. It is easily wipeable. This particular one came with a powder puff. I use the puff until it needs to be replaced and then I buy replacement puffs. Generally they are sold in bags of 10-12 and I generally replace them at most two times a year. So the bag lasts a while. This one came with the jar (Because I had to order a new one since I left mine at my mom’s when I was down in May and she loved it so much I told her she could keep it).
The puff doesn’t fit inside of the jar because of the internal lid, but I am okay with that. I would rather have the internal lid than not so I will accept the puff not fitting. It is the one thing i would change though. I would make the lid high enough to accommodate the butt. Because it needs the handle. I love the internal lid as it means I spill less. Sometimes when you pull a lid off a jar you tilt things. the internal lid means the powder stays sealed in while i take the lid off and then I just lift it up to expose the powder.
Because body powder isn’t as widely used (or at least not talked about as much) it is a little difficult to find containers that look nice in modern bathrooms, but it is worth the effort. After a work out it can keep abraded skin from becoming rubbed raw. It absorbs excess sweat so you have fewer seat stains on your clothes and you feel a little more comfortable in your own skin on a hot day. And there is something about it that just makes me feel a little bit glamorous when using it. Perhaps it is that powder and powder puffs tend to feature in 1950s era adverts and bathroom design, but it is a small thing that helps my skin out and makes me feel a little bit special all at the same time. And that is not a bad thing to add to a daily routine.
Ms. Mimsy Reviews 