The fact is, I’ve been eyeing on ZA Groovy Smoovy Oil-Blotting Powder everytime I’m at Watsons for the past few years. It’s always a “buy or don’t buy” question I ask myself because Groovy Smoovy is such a small face powder but with a higher price tag. I really couldn’t justify the price I’m paying against the size of the product. Really. I’ve lost count on those days where Groovy Smoovy was on 50% sales but the manufacturing date is like two years ago? So yeah, that sort of hold me back from purchasing ZA Groovy Smoovy Oil-Blotting Powder.

Besides that I couldn’t figure out if I needed this. It may look like a face powder but in fact this Groovy Smoovy is an oil-blotting powder. You see. A few years ago I don’t carry any makeup with me once I left the house with makeup on. I don’t do touch up during the mid day at all. Now that I carry a few makeup products with me when I’m out, I still don’t have the habit of touching up the powder on my face due to the obvious reason – oily skin. So the “buy or don’t buy” dilemma continued for a good few years 😛

When I found out that there’s a Cosmetic and Fragrance clearance at Isetan KLCC end of December 2013, I had to go. Usually these type of clearance is held at Isetan Lot 10 (I went a few times before) so it’s more convenient for me if it’s at Isetan KLCC. I sort of knew what brands will be there as it’s always the same company that are present for the clearance. I was pleasantly surprised to find this ZA Groovy Smoovy Oil-Blotting Powder on sale for just RM10 each. The stock for this is not that much but it’s all quite new looking with 17/01/2012 manufacturing date. I managed to choose one that is not dirty looking. Score!

When it comes to oil blotting, one would think that this product were to be used directly onto oily face to blot away all the oil on the surface of the face but not with this ZA Groovy Smoovy Oil-Blotting Powder. I have always think the name “oil-blotting powder” for Groovy Smoovy is a bit misleading and I still think it is. What I have been advised by ZA’s BA before this and at the sales is to blot away the excess oil on the face first before using this Groovy Smoovy. Why the heck would you need to do that if the product is an oil-blotting powder eh? It makes sense when I’m told that the puff included will be all dirty and oily if I were to use it directly onto my face to blot. So it’s not really the product issue, it’s the description on it.

There is only one shade available – Transparent. It makes sense again since it’s a product to keep sebum at bay as well as a touch-up powder. It’s not really meant for you to set your foundation but I’ve heard people doing that. I wouldn’t do that because this is really small and expensive. However with the powder texture and oil absorbing ability, I think it would be superb to set foundation though.

The powder is soft to touch and densely pack on the pan itself. It doesn’t break and have any fallout when I swatch it with my finger. The sponge puff included works well with the powder. Do take note it’s not the softest sponge ever. Maybe because of the rough surface of the sponge it is able to pick up sufficient powder, without over-powdering the face. The powder is also scentless.

On my last day at work, I was so busy running around with farewell lunch, backing up my MacBook Air and rushing home to bring my mum to the doctor that I didn’t have time to bother how I look. That day was hot but my makeup stays on put and my face only start to become oily when I reached home from the doctor. I took this opportunity to do a Before and After comparison for this ZA Groovy Smoovy Oil-Blotting Powder review 😀

This is normally how my face is in the afternoon if I forget to blot. In real my face doesn’t look as oily as the photo.

As advised by the BA and on the product box, remove excess oil with tissue before application. Tissue paper may not be the best oil blotting tool as you may risk lifting too much oil from the face surface resulting with more oil secretion but it is also the most convenient and fastest method. Hey, I’m just following instruction on the box 😀

I’m going to do half of my face only so that you can see the difference. Oppss sorry the lighting changed a bit.

You can roughly see now that half of my face is more matte after the powder. I would prefer to use the sponge puff included to pat the powder onto the face. There is no need to use any other sponge or brush. I believe there’s a reason why they include a sponge in it. It’s only touch-up. However, the powder itself is in a small package so the sponge is also very small. I need to repeat the application step several time to cover the whole face.

You know what? I absolutely love this thing! I’m kicking myself for getting this only now. My face instantly look fresh and powdered up as if I just put on makeup. When I use this after lunch, my face continue to stay shine free for at least another 2 – 3 hours. Just nice to last me until 5pm before I got off work. I couldn’t think of anything that I don’t like about this ZA Groovy Smoovy Oil-Blotting Powder except for the germs issue of dipping used sponge onto the powder again and again.

Another thing that I regret now is that I actually thought of returning the next day to grab another one as back-up even before using it because it’s just RM10 each but I was staying so far away so the plan was cancelled as it wasn’t feasible for me to do so. I kinda regretted that because I found out a few days later from ZA Malaysia Facebook page that this Groovy Smoovy was discontinued because Japan discontinued the production. So I’m using this sparingly only on certain days. I do hope ZA will do another clearance sales with this on the table.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored review. I bought the product on my own.