The hack
Smashed your favourite powder compact? Can’t find a loose powder you like? A homemade version could work, says the online DIY beauty movement.

The promise
With a torrent of blogs offering recipes, making your own face powder from unlikely baking cupboard essentials like this could replace compacts.

The test
Of the hacks I’ve tried so far, this one hits closest to home. In my early teens, getting face powder for my skin tone was not happening in Wales, so I tried creating one for my oily teenage skin using Bournville cocoa powder – and was left with a face covered in grim chocolatey paste. I have upgraded my method, applying pure cocoa powder over my foundation with a big brush. The result was patchy and a smidge too dark, so I added a little cornflour and arrowroot powder, as recommended in the online recipe, and that was pretty mattifying – like traditional loose powder. At a push, I could use this, but the cornflower does make me look a little grey and deathly. Even as a goth, I want to look semi-alive.

The verdict
It works, but not very well. And applying it makes me feel sad for the young me (and others who went through this), because we deserved better back then – and we certainly do now. So for a translucent, non-cakey, setting powder, I prefer MAC Blot Powder (£24).