Is it makeup, or just good skin? (Stila Sheer Color Tinted Moisturizer)

Member Name: carly_pussycat

Product:	Stila Sheer Color Tinted Moisturizer
Date:	28/11/06 (1655 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks like you're not wearing makeup, gives a healthy glow

Disadvantages: Expensive at full price, might be shiny on oily skins

As a girl with good clear skin (most of the time!) and no wrinkles I hate wearing foundation. To me it seems pointless using it if all you have is a slightly uneven skin tone – it’s thick, either too dry/too wet, feels horrible and unnatural, and often creates horrible spots on my face due to my skin being unable to breathe. So…when I discovered tinted moisturisers I decided that was the way forward. Up until now I’d been using Shiseido’s tinted moisturiser from their ‘The Skincare’ range but having run out I scouted round strawberrynet.com where I bought it only to find they don’t sell my shade any more :( Stila’s equivalent seemed a sensible choice given that I’m short of money and it also won first prize in The 21st Century Beauty Bible in the tinted moisturiser category.


SHEER COLOR TINTED MOISTURISER SPF15

The only thing I own from Stila is a really cute looking lip gloss pen. Seeing as lip glosses are not as hit-and-miss as skin care products I really had no idea what to expect when I bought this. It was difficult choosing a suitable shade as there were 3 listed on strawberrynet and colours can vary on your screen depending on your settings but they all looked sort of suitable. Obviously you’d skip this problem if buying from a shop and would be able to choose from their full range of 10 shades. It looks like there’s a shade to cover most skin tones, except black skins. I opted for ‘Dark’ because I have an olive skin and it’d also give me a little bit of leeway for when I have a tan in the summer or have applied fake tan to my face. Whilst this is not advisable for foundations because you’ll look odd if your shade’s not bang on, I find that with tinted moisturisers I can afford to go slightly darker because it’s sheer and I also apply it thinly.

The product comes in a minimalist but uber cool brown cardboard box. I’m all for reducing packaging on products, but hey, at least it’s easily recyclable! Inside is the angular good looking 50ml silver plastic tube. Unfortunately from the squeezing-out-the-last-bit point of view it’s not as bendy as my Shiseido product, but I guess that’s not a problem as it designed to stand on its lid to drain the last bits to the top when it’s running low.


APPLICATION & APPEARANCE

If you’re used to applying foundation this will be so easy you’ll wonder why you ever bothered making so much effort! Squeeze it out and it’s barely more difficult than applying a normal moisturising cream – just smooth it onto your cheeks and forehead and anywhere else you have an uneven complexion. The great thing about tinted moisturiser is that you don’t need to do any blending or checking for the ‘tide mark’ near your neck because if you’ve chosen a sensible shade and applied it sparingly, there won’t be one. It also stops you looking like you’re wearing a perfect looking mask of skin as the look is natural and just slightly dewy (NOT greasy, thankfully!) As for my skin type, I have a normal skin which can get slightly slick on my forehead at times. I wouldn’t say this makes it worse but I should mention that I think this product has a slightly moister look than the Shiseido product I’m used to as that was demi-matte (?!) which I guess means more matte than moist. It would probably be bad for people with a genuine tendency towards oily/greasy skin.

There’s not much to say about wearing it because it’s weightless so it just feels the same as wearing a light moisturiser (nowhere near as heavy as wearing a rich cream). It’s slightly more moisturising than the Shiseido product so I don’t normally apply anything underneath it. It doesn’t have a particular appearance when I’m wearing it because it’s sheer and all it does it even out my skin tone and make me look like I’ve got healthy looking, slightly moist, bare skin.


SO AFTER ALL THAT, WHAT DO I RECKON?

Compared side by side there’s not much between the two products I’m used to using. It’s easy to apply products over both of them, as they both work well alongside my favourites: gel blusher (Origins Pinch Your Cheeks, love it!) and BeneFit’s High Beam highlighter on my cheekbones. The main difference is the thickness – Stila’s product is far thicker so I find it more difficult to apply as thin a layer as with Shiseido’s. Then again, the thickness of Stila’s product means I don’t have to apply anything moisturising/serum wise underneath…so I guess it just depends what suits you best. They are both SPF15, though I wouldn’t rely on either as a main sun protection if I intended to be in the sun all day and would layer something else on top. I‘m sure it’s good enough for every day wear if you’re going inside and outside all day though.

The most important thing to me is that it’s not given me any spots or adverse things happening to my skin. I seem to get spots from anything with petrolatum/mineral oil contained within them, so I was glad this didn’t make me break out in spots and it’s a massive plus point for me buying it again if I can’t get my usual product.

The 50ml tube normally costs £20 in the shops, and is available from upmarket cosmetics stores such as Sephora and Space NK. I managed to bag my tube from strawberrynet.com for £7.60 as it was reduced, then half price because it’s a best selling product and they had an offer on, then I got my 5% loyalty bonus on top of that!

If both products were at full price I’d have to opt for Shiseido again (£22) as that would last longer given that I apply less, but with a price difference of £14.40 when buying this one online I’d be happy to repurchase at this reduced price or anything up to about £12.

Thanks for reading :)

Summary: Decent enough, looks good, but too expensive at the full price