Makeup with skincare properties is a welcome evolution.
It started off subtly, first with products like foundations with SPF for sun protection or lipsticks with hyaluronic acid for extra hydration. But now, we’ve come to expect a lot more from our makeup. And why not? Skincare and makeup are not mutually exclusive. The overlap has been happening for years, sometimes seemingly by accident, but makeup with skincare properties is a welcome evolution.
There’s no reason why our focus on skincare should end the minute we switch our morning routine from cleansing and moisturizing to applying our makeup. Our best makeup days start with our best skin days, so having makeup with integrated skincare only helps our colour products perform.
Primers
Just as a well primed wall helps paint look better with fewer coats, the right primer for your skin concerns – oily? dehydrated? pore minimizing? – will make your skin a lot more comfortable throughout the day while helping your foundation look its best and possibly last longer.
Brand new this year is Charlotte Tilbury’s Brightening Youth Glow, an anti-aging, colour correcting, glow booster. With light reflective particles it immediately blurs and adds glow, but after four weeks of use, skin tone is lifted and brighter thanks to ingredients like chlorella (green algae), watercress extract, and vitamin V3. Hourglass’s No. 28 Primer Serum ($80) is named for the 28 key ingredients it contains that make this a treatment for skin: 14 essential oils, 10 lipid-rich plant oils, and four vitamins. Best for dry, dehydrated skins that need retexturizing and a moisture barrier. Skincare specialist, Dermalogica, offers three primers that each address specific skincare concerns: Skinperfect ($71) for anti-aging properties including Vitamin C and SPF30 in a mattifying formula, Hydrablur ($65) with fruit and mushroom extracts that plump skin leaving a dewy finish, and Redness Relief ($59) for a green-tinted base to neutralize redness.
Foundations
Probably the best known makeup-as-skincare product is the BB cream. Originated by a German doctor specifically for Asian actresses recovering from surgery, the “blemish balm” (hence, “BB”) was designed to nourish skin and help with healing while protecting it with a high SPF. The North American versions are much diluted in efficacy, many often being little more than tinted moisturizers under new branding. That said, there are a lot of foundations that do offer a potent cocktail of skincare benefits while laying down a smooth base.
La Prairie’s famous Cellular Swiss Ice Crystal includes a tinted moisturizer, Transforming Cream ($265). Health Canada regulations severely limit the ability for brands to mention SPF on packaging, including this one, but rest assured the Transforming Cream contains a broad spectrum SPF30 along with a host of skincare benefits that immediately combat signs of fatigue while building the skin’s resistance to skin-aging stress. ILIA’s Vivid Foundation ($57) includes a unique ingredient sourced from a tree on the Greek Island of Chios that naturally reduces pore size and mattifies. Hydration is not sacrificed, however, with the inclusion of coconut, rose hip, and cranberry seed oils to combat free radicals while keeping skin supple. If you’re battling blemishes, Clinique’s Acne Solutions BB Cream ($48) is a water-weight, oil-free formula that will help tame spots while preventing post-blemishes from darkening with broad spectrum SPF 40.
Colours
Colour products are usually the most fun so it’s easy to dismiss them as frivolous when it comes to skincare properties. But advanced formulas do an impressive job of pampering your skin without sacrificing pigmentation or performance. Plume began as a small, niche beauty company offering an all-natural eyelash growth serum. When the number of clients using this on their eyebrows started increasing, entrepreneur and owner, Lauren Bilon created Nourish & Define Brow Pomade ($38), a brow defining product containing the same growth serum. Growth serums need to be used consistently in order to see results, so infusing it into a product most people use every day is genius.
The matte lip trend continues strong, perhaps to the dismay of many pairs of dry, peeling, flaking lips everywhere. Matte formulas aren’t traditionally known for being kind to lips. But Bite’s Matte Crème Lip Crayon ($28) provides superior hydration that cushions lip’s thin, delicate skin while protecting with the anti-oxidant properties of resveratrol. But if a sheerer texture better suits your lips, Fresh’s cult-favourite Sugar Lip Treatment ($29) deeply moisturizes, protects and smoothes lips with sheer, buildable colour. As its name suggests, it contains sugar, a natural humectant, which pulls in moisture, and meadowfoam and black currant seed oils to help maintain those hydration levels. As for the “treatment,” these balms also include grapeseed oil and vitamins C and E, which are rich in antioxidants, protecting your lips from damaging free radicals while keeping them soft.
The Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush ($38) from Tarte is infused with natural clay from the Amazon, an ingredient that self-regulates according to your skin’s needs. Oily skin types will find that it minimizes oil around pores; dry skin types will benefit from the clay’s nourishing and hydrating properties; combination skin types can rely on its ability to self-adjust and maintain complexion harmony. Vita Liberata’s Self Tanning Anti Age Serum ($56) is a serum and tanning tint that you add to your own moisturizer. It delivers a customizable tan along with intense anti-aging extracts that plump and firm your skin.
Photos: Courtesy of products featured - social media pages, Sephora, prodermal.com