Stila Sheer Color Tinted Moisturizer SPF 30 Oil-Free

Not long ago I never thought twice about foundations or coverage - sheer, medium, full...huh? - but then college hit. I went from having smooth, flawless skin with just the occasional hormonal breakout, to actually having to deal with covering up some mild acne scarring and an overall uneven skintone. With more to conceal, I turned to foundations with medium-full coverage. Now, my foundation of choice (as I've previously raved about!) is Revlon Colorstay, for its buildable to full coverage potential.

Now that the humid, sticky weather is upon us, though, I feel like my skin preparation should follow more of a minimalist approach. Liquid foundations can feel a bit heavy when the days are hot, and so I have tried to work with other options. Tinted moisturizers are great (especially when they have sun protection), but they generally provide more of a sheer coverage, which doesn't work out so well for me.

A month or so ago, while browsing the Stila display at Sephora, I came face to face (hello, gorgeous!) with their tinted moisturizer options. They had a few different ones to offer, and the Sheer Color Tinted Moisturizer SPF 30 Oil-Free quickly caught my eye. I had read on the Stila site that this formula offered more of a medium coverage foundation, and taking into account the sun protection properties it provided (twice as strong as the original formula), as well as the moisturization factor, I decided to give this one a try. For my super-ghostly-white skin, I ended up with the lightest shade (shocker!! lol), Fair, Light 01. This shade matched my skintone very nicely and blended in amazingly.



Sooo.....now for a little review of the product and some insight into why I think this product works for me. I have found that the formula of this tinted moisturizer, while it does feel a bit thicker than usual when you apply it (I use my fingers), absorbs nicely into my skin and does not leave my face feeling greasy. The result is a more even looking skintone; redness/blotchiness is minimized, while my freckles and beauty marks are still visible ;-). When I sweat, I don't feel like this is melting off of my face. I have been using the tinted moisturizer without a primer (I generally use one when I apply foundations) with an additional light sunscreen underneath - hey, you can never have too much sun protection! - (Right now my sun-protectant of choice is the Jan Marini Antioxidant Daily Face Protectant with SPF 30. See here for product review), and a light setting powder on top. The only thing I dislike about this tinted moisturizer is the packaging. It comes in a rather hard to squeeze plastic tube, which I can see having to cut open eventually to retrieve product (think Urban Decay Primer Potion).



Here are some photos from yesterday of me wearing this Stila tinted moisturizer (please ignore the extremely frizzy do!). I wasn't kidding about the minimalist make-up! This was a lazy day!

Products used:

Jan Marini Antioxidant Face Protectant SPF 30

Stila Sheer Color Tinted Moisturizer SPF 30 Oil-Free in Fair, Light 01

Smashbox High Definition Concealer in Fair (under eyes)

MAC Studio Sculpt Concealer in NC15 (around nose and a little on blemishes)

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin

Clinique Long Pretty Lashes Mascara in Black

The finished look after adding Laura Geller Blush n Brighten in Roseberry and Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Pink Whisper

For further swatches of this product (in my shade, of course), you can check out my previous Stila haul post here. The Sheer Color Tinted Moisturizer SPF 30 retails for $36, and can be purchased from the Stila website and from Sephora (as well as other locations Stila is sold). I recommend giving this one a look, especially if you dig the lightness of a tinted moisturizer with a little more coverage.

Have you tried this tinted moisturizer before? Any of the others from Stila? Are you a fan of any other tinted moisturizers? I want to hear about your experiences!