Coverage That Feels Like Nothing? You’ll Want to Try These
January 5 | 4 minute read
Words by Kaylah Joelle Baker
If you’ve ever caught yourself pondering this while staring at someone, then chances are you, too, are in search of a foundation that masquerades as skin. And with it being summer (cue: scalding temperatures), time is of the essence for lightweight foundations that achieve the much sought-after ‘no-makeup makeup’ look.
But how do you find the right skin-double foundation? Well, according to MECCA makeup education lead Sally, finding your skin’s summer fling doesn’t need to be hard.
“There’s a lot of terminology floating around, and most of them overlap,” says Sally, explaining that tinted moisturisers are the original sheer base, while skin tints are the modern version: “The easiest place to start is by looking for the words that line up with [the finish] you want: things like natural, dewy, light or sheer.”
A Dewy Look, Please
One product with a much-adored natural finish is Laura Mercier’s Skin Tint Natural Dewy. With 20 flexible shades and 24 hours’ worth of hydration (thanks to its prebiotic skin-strengthening complex), its newly improved formulation is for dewy-skin lovers.
Have combination skin? Try the lightweight, blurring, light-diffusing Charlotte Tilbury Unreal Skin Sheer Glow Tint Hydrating Foundation Stick.
Easy to apply, Sally suggests swiping it on the outer edges of the face (where skin is drier) for a natural glow, paired with a satin-matte base (like the MECCA MAX Life Proof Satin Blur Foundation) in your T-zone.
Yes, I Woke Up Like This
If you’re after a cult-coveted product that’s tried, tested and loved – and only needs sparing application – KOSAS BB Burst Tinted Gel Cream is the leading contender. Side-hustling as skincare, its plumping peptides and redness-calming zinc settle into skin so inconspicuously that you’ll forget you’re wearing anything.
“Skin tints work beautifully for a no-makeup makeup look because they give just enough colour to even everything out, without covering your skin completely,” Sally says. “Your base shouldn’t be responsible for hiding every dark circle or blemish – that’s what concealer is for.”
On this note, another pick (or rather, two) from the beauty bag: the MECCA MAX Off Duty Serum Skin Tint with the brand’s Off Duty Serum Concealer for heavier duty concealing. As foundation/concealer-serum hybrids (with skin-evening and barrier-improving ingredients like niacinamide), expect soothing and smoothing in a ‘I sleep eight hours and keep up my water intake’ kind of way.
Smoothing Skincare and SPF
“Skin tints now enhance the skin you’ve put so much work into and protect it with high-performance ingredients (and often SPF),” Sally says.
The Tower 28 SunnyDays SPF30 Tinted Sunscreen Foundation does just that: enriched with barrier-protecting prickly pear extract and zinc oxide (a mineral SPF), it gets the seal of approval from the US’ National Eczema Association, the Eczema Association of Australasia, and chronically fussy skin worldwide.
Similarly, the award-winning bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Skin Perfecting Tint is a professional multitasker (makeup, skincare, broad-spectrum SPF30). Bonus: it has a ‘water burst’ sensation – a dehydrated face’s dream.
Sally’s suggestion: avoid sponge application and apply your more serum/skincare-like products with fingers. (Bonus: warming the mineral pigments or zinc-based SPF formulations helps the product blend better.)
These products are secondary sunscreens, designed to complement your primary SPF as top-up protection.
Still Not Sure?
If you’ve always found comfort in heavier coverage and are unsure where to start your lightweight foundation journey, don’t fret.
“If you prefer hands-on help, heading into a MECCA store is always a good idea,” Sally advises. “The team can shade match you and talk through your skin type and what you’re wanting to achieve, and happily send you home with samples to try in your own routine and lighting.”
