| Review | La Mer The Radiant SkinTint SPF 30

| Review | La Mer The Radiant SkinTint SPF 30

Another luminous and luxurious skin tint I couldn't resist. La Mer really knows how to do luxury foundations and base products in a way that is unlike other brands on the market. They tend to have a cult following for their bases and it's easy to see why if you've ever tried their range before. I have been a long time fan of the La Mer Luminous Lifting Cushion (full review here) and I couldn't resist adding another luminous base product from the brand to my collection. This long-anticipated release has given me quite high expectations for this formula and here are my full thoughts.

The La Mer The Radiant SkinTint SPF 30 retails for $95.00 USD and is available at Sephora and other retailers. This skin tint has very practical packaging that is easy to travel with and store. The slim and soft tube allows you to easily control the amount of product being dispensed. The reflective packaging looks modern and attractive but it is prone to fingerprints and smudges. Overall, more practical and luxurious. 

SHADES

This formula comes in 7 shades, which as you can imagine is a very limited shade range. While the formula is a little more flexible, allowing for a few skin tones to use one shade, it is by no means an inclusive shade range. This is very typical for luxury brands and makes it harder for many people to find their match. I went for shade 04 Medium, which seems to be the best match for my skin.

04 Medium - This shade is a warm medium beige shade that doesn't lean too yellow. This formula does seem to oxidize just a touch, which for my skin, works but it can look a bit too warm and deep on another skin tone. I am approximately a MAC NC30-35 and this is a pretty spot-on color match.

Swatched straight from the tube

Heavily Swatched

Blended heavy swatch

Fully blended

Fully blended

FORMULA 

This formula is a slightly balmy tinted moisturizer and it blends into the skin easily but leaves a balmy pigment veil over the skin. It doesn't disappear completely into the skin like a moisturizer; however,  the texture is very light and comfortable on the skin. The coverage starts out quite sheer and the first layer will only cover light discoloration and redness. 

I find the second layer adds enough pigment to cover most redness and pigmentation but it's still quite sheer. You will still see your skin and I find my natural flushed cheeks will shine through. This isn't necessarily a bad thing if you don't have a lot of redness because you don't have to wear blush. This formula is very buildable and I often add additional layers where I need it to give a bit more coverage but I think it really only builds to light-medium coverage.

You will really have to love a sheer and natural coverage to enjoy this base. It is truly a skin tint but unlike other products that are under the tint category, this one has a bit more coverage. I think this will be appealing to most people because we don't all want the barely-there look. This formula doesn't set down and will transfer throughout the day if you don't set it. 

This formula also isn't great for hot and sweaty summer days. I find that this formula will breakdown fairly easily from sweat and you end up smudging and smearing the product around, as well as, removing much of the product from your face. I would recommend wearing this formula more towards the fall and winter months when your skin is drier and needs more nourishment and you don't have to deal with sweat breaking down the product.

The formula is very hydrating and feels very luxurious on dry skin. It provides a very fresh and very radiant finish to the skin without looking too greasy or oily. I think many people will still like to powder in the t-zone because this radiance will only become more radiant throughout the day. On an ideal, not sweaty day, you can expect this formula to wear a solid five to six hours without a lot of fading if you choose not to powder the skin. I personally think that if you're going for a radiant finish, powering the whole face, defeats the purpose of a radiant finish.

THE LOOK 

The skin tint is applied without a primer and is not powdered. I only applied a bronzer but you can see that it appears I have blush on, this is because the skin tint is quite sheer and my natural flush is coming through because it's quite hot in the room I wash shooting in. If you have more redness than I do, you will want to layer on more product and possibly even conceal your redness. The formula is quite sheer even when layered.

FINAL THOUGHTS 

This is a lovely skin tint and the finish is really beautiful but I have a hard time recommending it because I don't think the formula is that unique or worth the price. For a tinted moisturizer, it is luxurious, creamy, and offers a beautiful finish but it doesn't stand out to me from other tinted moisturizers I've tried, affordable or inexpensive. I think the standout feature of this formula is the finish and feel on the skin. It's an incredibly fresh finish with a comfortable hydrated feel to the skin. Other than that, it's not anything to get too excited about. There are many radiant tinted moisturizers out there that are just as good. However, if you just love a good luxury tinted moisturizer, you can't go wrong with this one. 


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