Tinted Moisturiser is almost a relic from days gone by at this point, what with your BB and CC creams popping up all over the place. (Read about the utter confusion this has been causing here.) But where previous generations may have been little more than a sheer foundation, NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser (€38) has a lot more going for it than that.
This oil-free formula provides a sheer veil of colour, in addition to an SPF30 level of sun protection and also comes packed with botanical ingredients that claim to reduce the appearance of dark pigmentation to help brighten the skin, while also increasing hydration levels. I can't say I've used it regularly enough to test the skin brightening claims, but my dry skin can attest to the hydration it provides.
Now available in 11 shades, the shade I have is Finland, which was the lightest shade available when I got it. It's been joined recently by Terre Neuve, which is a light with a neutral pink undertone, where Finland is described as a light with a neutral balance of yellow and pink.
I do find Finland just a smidge to yellow for my cool neutral undertones, so if you're pale and yellow tones don't suit you, then I'd look at Terre Neuve. If you're darker you'll probably do well with the shade offering, but I don't know if super porcelain skintones will find what they're looking for here.
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The coverage here is fairly strong for a tinted moisturiser. But it can be blended out very easily on application, so where it looks quite dark and pigmented to begin with, I find it easy to sheer out to a coverage that suits me and looks quite natural on (I haven't blended it out completely in the picture above, so don't judge the coverage by that). If you're looking for a good sheer foundation alternative this is a great option, but if you really only want very slight coverage I'd say you could save your money and look elsewhere.
As I've mentioned a time or twenty on the blog, my skin is really, really, really dry, so I wouldn't ever expect to use a tinted moisturiser without an actual moisturiser underneath. I like my skincare to do one job and my makeup to do another. Even with all my moisturising, however, my skin can tend to look dry under certain foundations. Not with Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser, however. It has a nice slip when applying and at first I wasn't sure if I'd need to powder over it to take down the shine, but once on it seems to meld very well with my skin, so it doesn't look too shiny and yet feels very comfortable and doesn't highlight any dry patches.
At €38, this isn't an inexpensive option and I'd say you can probably find good alternatives at better prices (try Bourjois Healthy Mix or Revlon Nearly Naked), particularly if your skintone isn't too light (finding a good pale shade is always my issue with the more mainstream brands). But if you have the cash to splash, Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser is worth a try as we (fingers crossed) look forward to summer coming and wearing lighter bases.
