If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Robb Report may receive an affiliate commission. Tinted moisturizers are severely underestimated by skincare consumers, especially men. Here is a product that “blends” your complexion, helping to neutralize inconsistencies like dark spots or redness.
Lately, they’re also one of the best products you can use for defense against high-energy visible light (HEV light), which is the light emitted from our electronic devices, and that can cause oxidative stress to the skin . The key ingredient in the best tinted moisturizers is iron oxide, which is proven to deflect most HEV rays. (Though it’s not in every tinted moisturizer.
) “Iron oxide is pigmented, which is why it could not be added to a colorless or white product,” explains board-certified dermatologist Carly Roman, M.D., of Modern Dermatology in Seattle.
“Iron oxide is great for those of us that are prone to pigmentation or melasma as blue light can worsen our pigmentation.” It can be daunting to apply a tinted product like this to your skin—especially if you aren’t applying any makeup or concealer after the fact—but these soak uniformly into the skin, and won’t melt down your mug to stain your white shirt collars. And lately, brands are better at offering a wider variety of tones with their tinted products.
“The formula may also contain bonus benefits that can treat blemishes or resulting redness,” says Roman. Some tinted moisturizers also promise UV defense, doubling as mineral moisturizers. If so, they likely use titanium dioxide or zinc oxide as their sunscreen ingredient, but Roman only advises using ones with zinc oxide 10 percent or greater.
“Tinted moisturizers also tend to rub in more easily around the beard [compared to regular white mineral sunscreens],” she adds. You might see tinted mositurizers advertised as BB creams and CC creams, too, which stand for “Beauty Balm” and “Color Correction” cream respectively. BB creams often provide more skincare benefits and foundational coverage, and are likely to have SPF defense; CC creams are most about soothing skin and balancing redness and patchiness; tinted moisturizers can fall anywhere in terms of their nourishing levels, they often have SPF defenses, and provide the lightest blurring effect of the three.
(Many men will probably be fine with tinted moisturizers, or CC cream at most.) Since it can be hard to match your color online, Roman says to pick a company with a good return or exchange policy. “But if possible, try to get color matched in person.
” Armed with niacinamide for skin brightening and hyaluronic acid for a potent dose of hydration, Apostle’s tinted moisturizer isn’t just a cover-up. It’s legitimate skin care. Buy Now on Apostle: $26 Typology’s tint is a Vitamin C serum masquerading as a way to hide your blemishes.
It’s also laced with aloe vera, which gives it non-comedogenic hydrating properties that’ll last all day. Buy Now on Typology: $42.90 This ultra-hydrating option from Bare Minerals has the added benefit of SPF 30 protection.
Its plant-derived squalane and hyaluronic acid are designed to keep your skin feeling hydrated for up to 24 hours. Buy Now on Bare Minerals: $39 It can be hard to find exactly the right tint for you. Fortunately, Lab Series’s Instant Fix is designed to match a wide variety of skin tones, and offers SPF 35 protection to boot.
Buy Now on Lab Series: $53 This fantastic product checks every requisite box on the tinted moisturizer “must haves”. Not only does it offer 14 different tones, but it also combines 15 percent zinc oxide with iron oxide to provide ample defense against UV rays and HEV light. It wears light and gives the wearer a nice radiance, too—you might get compliments straight out the gate.
Buy Now on Sephora: $36 Here’s another product that provides ample zinc oxide defense against UV rays (12 percent for an SPF 50 shield), plus that iron oxide shield against blue light emissions. While it only comes in four shades, they do cover the spectrum of skin shades, and Colorescience has engineered it to withstand moisture for up to 40 minutes. So, if you are sweaty or are wearing this in the hot sun, it’s likelier to withstand sweat and moisture, at least in terms of its UV defenses.
Buy Now on Amazon: $49 Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty is known for its huge selection of skin tones and has really elevated the bar for other brands in this space. With 25 tones in this tinted moisturizer, it leads the pack in terms of customers finding a perfect match. It’s also one of the most resistant to sweat, oil, rain, and the like.
Buy Now on Sephora: $35 With 12 tones and a formula that minimizes the appearance of pores, Glossier’s tinted serum is terrific for oily skin types. It uses diamond powder to provide this blurring effect, while still giving skin a radiant effect—but not one that looks like too-oily skin. Buy Now on Sephora: $26 Live Tinted has bucked the rules with this product: While most brands rush to provide dozens of shades for every skin tone (which Live Tinted offers across its assortment), Hueguard is a single orangey-tan cast that blends cleanly into all skin tones.
It won’t leave darker skin tones (or even lighter ones) with a white cast on the skin, and shields from UV rays with a generous zinc oxide 18% base. It’ll bounce HEV lights from your devices too, with the requisite iron oxides. Buy Now on Ulta: $58 Look, while this one’s SPF defenses are chemical (as opposed to zinc oxide), and while it may only have four tones, there is something to be said for the top name in sunscreen having tinted facial SPFs.
Supergoop gave this one a water- and sweat-resistant UV shield (up to 40 minutes), and it even mimics moisturizer by fortifying skin with niacinamide and hyaluronic acid. Buy Now on Sephora: $38 Adam is a South Dakota native with a New York driver's license (and state of mind). He has resided in Berlin since 2018.
Adam writes about grooming and travel for numerous publications; in addition...
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