“Shiny” is the kind of look you want for your car, dress shoes, and phone screen – not your forehead. Use the best face powder for men to ensure that nobody ever catches you sweating while you’re on the daily grind.
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Menaji Anti-Shine Powder (Our Top Pick)
As a brand, Menaji quite literally has it all. Their men’s skincare products are regularly featured in fashion shows. They design their product packaging to work at-home and on-the-go. They put how-to videos up on their website so that you can find the right product for your skin.
And their anti-shine powder lives up to that brand name. It comes in an extremely convenient case with a sponge and a small mirror to help you apply it. You can buy the powder in a few different shades to match your skin tone, which means the powder not only eliminates shine, but it also covers small blemishes and discoloration.
Once you find the right color for your skin, you’ll have more shine coverage from Menaji than you could have ever hoped for.
Pros:
• Provides significantly more shine and blemish coverage than other men’s face powders.
• Comes with everything you need to use it right away. Mirror, sponge, powder all included.
• Offered in a variety of shades to match your skin.
Cons:
• It’s not a translucent powder, so you DO have to match it to your skin tone. Won’t suit all skin types and colors.
War Paint Men’s Anti-Shine Powder
Do you like the look of a face powder, but hate the idea of wearing a product that feels like makeup? War Paint is for you. It’s utilitarian and effective. Their founder, Danny Gray, started using makeup to improve his professional appearance, but wanted to create a brand marketed for guys and made for male skin.
His anti-shine powder has that manly look, but it’s also vegan and cruelty-free, so it’s gentler on your skin than other powders. It does exactly what it promises (getting rid of oil and sweat shine) without looking heavy or makeup-y.
If you’re starting to bald and don’t want to attract any attention to your shiny patches, this is a great powder to run over those spots. Just don’t get it in your hair – it’ll stick to the strands and look like dandruff. For the same reason, I wouldn’t recommend it for dark skin. It’s just slightly too white.
Pros:
• A brand by men, and made specifically for male skin.
• Covers oil- and sweat-shine without looking makeup-y. Great for guys who just want some minimal coverage.
• Best face powder for balding guys who want to run a thin layer of powder over any head shine.
Cons:
• Supposed to be a translucent powder, but it’s a little too white. Not the best for dark skin.
• Does not come with a brush to apply the powder.
Dermablend Translucent Face Powder
Dermablend’s Translucent Face Powder is absolutely the best if you need a powder to pair with your light makeup look. It’s another invisible powder, but by some miracle, it manages to blend any uneven spots left over from your foundation.
If you plan on using the powder without makeup (or if you have a unique and/or darker skin tone), I do recommend color-matching your skin to their “warm saffron” or “cool beige” colored powders. They provide some extra skin protection, slightly more so than the generic translucent powder.
My complaints: the travel-sized product is meant to be used on-the-go, but it doesn’t come with a brush or sponge to apply it, and it doesn’t have a little mirror in the packaging to help you spot-check your work. It’s a great, effective powder, but the presentation is thoughtless.
Pros:
• Small, portable container. Easy to travel with.
• Made for all skin types and tones. Presented as a unisex product.
• Helps cover and protect your light makeup look for all-day clear skin.
• Not only does it prevent forehead shine, but it also covers discoloration and evens your complexion.
Cons:
• No mirror or applicator in the packaging for on-the-go use.
• Small container = not a lot of product.
• Not “easy” to apply. Leave it on for 2 minutes, then brush off the excess, or you’re not guaranteed to get the look you want
Formen Shine Removal
Formen is one of the most low-maintenance men’s skincare brands out there. They’re a smaller company, compared to some others on this list, and they embrace the idea that makeup for men should be so normal that it’s almost mundane.
Their Shine Removal is underspoken. It does it’s job quietly, and it’s so good at what it does that you’ll apply it and forget it exists. That is, until you look in the mirror at the end of the day and go, “Damn! My face still looks great!”
It’s also a bang for your buck. One container lasts about 2 months if you’re using it every day. As a perk, the shine removal comes with a free sample of vitamin C facial cleanser. It’s great for washing the powder off at the end of the day.
Pros:
• Low-maintenance and discreet powder.
• So good at covering shine that you won’t even notice it’s there.
• Comes with a free face wash! Sweet deal.
Cons:
• If you apply it too thickly, it won’t work for dark skin. It’s “translucent,” but only if you put on a thin layer.
Etude House Drying Powder
If you’re positive that the shine on your face is oil-caused, then Etude House Drying Powder can get you looking matte and soft in no time. Their powder specifically eats up your excess sebum without drying out your skin, so you get the best of all worlds.
One thing you should know about Etude upfront is that they’re a women’s skin care brand. Now, I know some guys just won’t enjoy that. But think of it this way: the product itself is gender neutral, and women’s skin care brands have been in the industry for a lot longer than men’s brands. Etude was founded in 1985, the second oldest on this list (only beaten by Dermablend).
They’ve had more time to perfect their formulas and hear user feedback, so if you’re looking for a sure bet, Etude is an incredibly safe option.
Pros:
• Best men’s face powder for oily skin in particular.
• Clears excess oil without dehydrating your skin.
• Founded in 1985, so they’ve had significantly more time to perfect their skin care formulas than other brands on this list.
Cons:
• It’s more of a women’s product. Still perfectly usable for guys (and a crazy good deal), but won’t have that “manly” feel.
Should Guys Wear Foundation?
Don’t confuse face powders with foundation. Most of the face powders on this list are made for all skin tones and types, and they simply dry your sweat and oils to get rid of that shine.
Foundations are actually colored. They come in powder and liquid form, and you typically apply them more thickly than a de-shining face powder. Think of foundation as painting your face to cover blemishes. It’s makeup.
That said, if you’re one of those guys who wouldn’t be caught dead wearing makeup, that’s the great thing about the face powders on this list. Most people (men and women included) wouldn’t really consider these face powders makeup.
And for those of you who are considering taking the leap into the world of light makeup for men, it can give your skin that boost it needs to look great all day long. Foundation alone rarely creates that “heavy” makeup look that so many guys want to avoid. Lots of people won’t even notice you’re wearing it; they’ll just compliment your clear skin, never suspecting.
As for the question of should guys wear foundation or powder, I recommend it at least for those bad-skin, low self-esteem days when you need a little bippity-boppity-boo to refresh your look. You might enjoy it enough to make it a staple in your morning routine. No harm in trying it out.
Can I Use Face Powder Everyday?
You can use face powder every day as long as you’re careful about washing it off at the end of the day.
Breakouts, dryness, and other powdered-related symptoms are easy to combat with a basic skincare routine. When you’re ready to take off any powder remnants, use a good face wash, scrub with an exfoliant, and apply a moisturizer.
You can also use men’s toners, acne creams, oils, and serums to supplement your basic face hygiene items, if you find that you need a little more support.
But most guys don’t experience any powder-related breakouts that are worse than the naturally-occurring breakouts that they already have. In fact, some of the powders on this list that come with some coloration (like Menaji Anti-Shine) can help you cover up blemishes.
As long as you don’t experience any lingering skin irritation, you have the green light to use your face powder every day.
Frank Edwards
Frank Edwards is a men's grooming & style expert who is "internet famous" for being able to simplify complicated grooming routines into easy, yet effective rituals any man can do. As a professional analyst, he has spent years researching the biggest brands, products, experts, best practices, and breaking news in the space. He takes this analysis, tests it out on himself, and then documents everything in his writing. As a result, his experience-based articles are considered by some to be the gold standard in men's grooming and men's style.
