Laura Mercier Oil Free Tinted Moisturiser

Ah, bases… Something I really like to splurge on. Base products are probably my favourite beauty items to buy. Having suffered with acne and really bad skin myself, I’m a sucker for a good, flawless face. Heavy coverage foundations used to be my thing (hello Estée Lauder Double Wear!), but since a year or so I’ve been trading in my higher coverage holy grails for their lighter coverage counterpart. I’ve been sticking with really light, luminous foundations at first, but a couple of months ago, I made my first tinted moisturiser purchase in the form of the Laura Mercier Oil Free Tinted Moisturiser. What my experiences are? Read on…

I’ve always been a little bit afraid of tinted moisturisers. Not only because the coverage is about as minimal as you can get, but because I was also afraid that they would make my pretty oily skin even more greasier. After reading countless reviews on the Laura Mercier tinted moisturisers, and, finding out they also did an oil free version of it, I was kinda tempted to buy it. I did some more research (as I always like to do before I buy something that pricey), I saw someone say that this is the most ‘full coverage’ tintes moisturiser they had ever tried. Needless to say that I was sold.

So, what do I think of it? Well, let’s start with application first, since it’s the most important part of your foundation/BB cream/tinted moisturiser routine. I use the Real Techniques Buffing Brush, as I do with all of my foundation, and it applies like an absolute dream. The product is thick, but blends out really easily and you only need a tiny amount of it. I pour a little bit of the product on the brush and blend it in really well. After I think I’ve blended it in enough, I go over it with my -clean!- fingers. I use patting motions to really work the product into my skin.

The finish it leaves? Really luminous, almost dewy. The coverage? Good, but I do find that I need to use a concealer; it’s still a tinted moisturiser, after all! But I find that this product really evens out my skintone and leaves an almost flawless finish. Perfection is boring after all, right?

So, a short summary: nice packaging? Check! Easy to blend in? Check! Luminous finish? Check! Good coverage? Check! Lasting power? Not so great… Even though it says ‘oil free’, I find that my skin does get a little bit oily after 2-3 hours, so I need to use a primer and/or a powder with it. I wonder what their ‘normal’ tinted moisturiser would look like on me… Moisturising enough? Check. I do, however, like to use a separate, oil-free moisturiser underneath it, just to make it last a little bit longer.

This tinted moisturiser almost ticks all of the boxes, but in the meanwhile, I may have found a BB cream which is even greater… Stay tuned! Have you tried this product? What do you think of it?