My skin is far from perfect, but I like to pretend it is. I’m constantly searching for foundations and tinted moisturizers that will give me that perfected, smooth, glossy look to my skin. I always gravitate towards lighter coverage and dewier formulas. Despite having consistent breakouts, I prefer to use a lighter product all over my skin and go in and spot conceal where needed with something heavier. Lately I’ve been rotating between just a few formulas: the Milk Makeup Flex Foundation Stick, the Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer, and the Surratt Beauty Dew Drop Foundation.
Milk Makeup Flex Foundation Stick, ‘Fair’
Much like its predecessor, the Flex Conealer, the Flex Foundation Stick has become a fast favorite and one of my most-reached-for products. It’s my go-to on especially rushed mornings because it’s so easy to swipe on and blend out effortlessly. It’s creamy, but not too creamy. It gives a solid medium coverage, is very smoothing, and has a skinlike satin finish, neither too dewy nor too matte. It’s probably the most perfect foundation for me. It has great weartime on me too, lasting throughout my whole workday. If I didn’t love testing new products so much, I’d probably just stick with this one forever.
Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer, ‘Cameo’
When I first started this blog five years ago, the Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer was one of my favorite products. Once I ran out I didn’t repurchase and used lots of other things, but their recent reformulation had me jumping at the chance to try it out again. If I’m remembering the old version correctly, the new version definitely feels more weightless and hydrating on the skin. It leaves a lovely glow that isn’t greasy, and it has a beautiful light coverage that subtly evens out the skin while looking very natural. I find my skin drinks this one up by the afternoon (that’s still about a solid 6 hours of weartime), but it fades evenly instead of becoming patchy. I reach for this one over the Milk Foundation Stick if my skin is looking pretty clear, if I want a dewier finish, or if I need something more hydrating.
Surratt Beauty Dew Drop Foundation, ‘1.5’
This is the latest addition to my base collection. Extravagant? Yes. Beautiful? Also, yes. The Surratt Dew Drop Foundation just screamed my name when I first saw it announced. It sounded like it checked every box I have when looking for a new foundation. It promises light-medium coverage and a dewy, hydrating finish. The delivery system here is quite unique, too. It’s housed in a dropper-tipped bottle that instead of squeezing, you press a button on the bottom to deliver a small dollop of product at a time. I do like that it’s easy to control how much you’re getting, but sometimes I have to press the button quite a bit to get any product out. I typically use about three “drops” for my whole face, and it gives me the exact coverage I’m looking for. This one is definitely the dewiest of the three listed here, but it doesn’t feel too greasy or wet on the skin. It doesn’t slide around on my skin, and it lasts throughout my whole workday. I reach for this one when I want something glowy and with more coverage than the Laura Mercier, or when I just want to feel fancy.
Concealers
Like I said, I like to use a light coverage foundation and then spot conceal where needed. My most-used concealer will forever be the Milk Makeup Flex Concealer (I use the shade Fair). It gives good coverage, is easy to blend out with my fingers, and looks natural on the skin. I don’t like my concealers to be too dewy because then they draw attention to blemishes, but anything too mattifying will cling to my dry patches. The Flex Concealer strikes the perfect balance. I’ve also gotten back into using the Surratt Beauty Perfectionniste Concealer Palette (shade 1). This is like the cult classic Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage where you get two shades of heavy duty concealer to mix to your perfect shade, but this formula is creamier and doesn’t cling to dry patches like the Secret Camouflage does on me. The palette also comes with a setting powder that blurs out my pores, sets the concealer well, and doesn’t look dry. I don’t know why I ever stopped using it! I’ll reach for the palette instead of the Milk concealer on days where I really need coverage.
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