Soap & Glory... oh how I love you, yet forget about you at the same time. Without wanting to brag, I have so many items from their cosmetics range that it's a little overwhelming, and I struggle with giving each item a proper run so I can review it for you guys. So, why did I decide to add to my collection with yet another item? I can't give you a reasonable answer for that one but once I heard about it, I was desperate to own it... read on to find out my thoughts.

One of the latest products to be added to Soap & Glory's cosmetics line is One Heck of a Blot, a translucent mattifying powder. When I got an email saying that this powder was due to be released I let out a little squeal of excitement. I was hoping that Soap & Glory would add an oil-controlling powder to their line, and my wish was granted. Claiming to offer "world-class shine control and oil-absorption", I was so desperate to get my hands on it that I visited three Boots stores to get it, and when I did I bought two - a pretty bold move (Although admittedly one was free).


This compact is slightly different to its other powder counterparts; the packaging is made out of plastic this time around, not cardboard and I have to say that I prefer it. It feels secure in the hand and good quality, with a full mirror in the lid and a powder puff included. I always use a brush to apply my powder so I discarded my puff, but it was a nice touch and is a good idea for using on-the-go. The powder itself does echo the other Soap & Glory powder cosmetics with a stamped "POWder" on the surface, which looks great even if it does wear off very quickly.


The shade of the powder is very pale - much paler than I was expecting and even paler than my Rimmel Stay Matte powder (Also labelled as translucent). Having a look at the ingredients, the first one listed is talc - which definitely explains how it can be that pale. Unfortunately this means that using it for nights out is going to be a no-go, as any photographs taken of me will show me to have an incredibly pale t-zone! However, for day-to-day use this is perfect. This surprised me by being very powdery when picked up with a brush, and even though you can't see it I reckon there must be quite a bit of fall out. It does apply powdery too, especially because I have to apply quite generously but as time goes on, it settles and looks much more natural. The image below shows my skin just after application - as you can see my skin does look a bit too powdery. Because of this, I would recommend not using it to touch up during the day unless you can leave time for it to settle.


So, the billion dollar question is... does it work? It does, but not quite as well as I'd hoped. The rave reviews on Soap & Glory's website claim completely matte skin for the entire day but that's definitely not the case for me. However, I wasn't expecting it to last all day, as my t-zone is quite an extreme case. On my nose, it lasts for about three hours before the shine becomes unbearable, which is about the same amount of time I get out of my Rimmel powder. On other shiny, but less extreme places such as my forehead and chin it lasts much longer, and I never feel the need to reapply during the day so that was impressive. But for the price, I was expecting better results than my Rimmel version and it hasn't pipped it to the post - sorry Soap & Glory!

Final verdict: If you have slight to moderately oily skin, this will probably work very well for you but for oilier skin types I wouldn't recommend - you can buy better shine control powders for much less.

Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot can be bought from Boots for £12.