Find your tinted moisturizer soulmate

There are many ways to evaluate colored moisturizers, but at their most basic, they all fall somewhere on the finishing coverslip axis. They will never be completely opaque in terms of coverage (this is the base area), but some are more opaque than others. For example: the opacity difference between It Cosmetics’ CC Cream and Ilia’s Super Serum is a leap! Imagine buying one and expecting the other – it’s a recipe for disappointment.

The other axis is completion. A little dew in a colored moisturizer is a sure thing. But some dry out with a smoother, or more polished skin, while others have a dewy excess. Let’s use Laura Mercier’s Tinted Moisturizer as our true neutral – a classic with enough cover and a less dewy or matte natural look. Lancome’s Skin Feels Good has more cover, but is otherwise very close.

Colored moisture shaft
In the first quadrant of the completed coverage axis, you get almost complete coverage, not so much the dewy formula. The Ordinary’s Serum Foundation feels light (it’s actually liquid), but actually covers The most. You can dilute the pump in your daily moisturizer to adjust coverage and turn it into a more lotion-like consistency. For the SPF option, It Cosmetics’ CC cream comes out of the tube thick, covers like paint, and doesn’t dry with much shine.

Kosas’ Tinted Oil lies on the boundary of the second quadrant. Even with the “oil” in the name, the finish is not super shiny and has a fair amount of coverage. (In fact, some popular feedback is that it drags onto dry patches, which may not be the best option if you claim to be a piece of clay.

Quadrant Three has Super watery options for Perfecting Skin: Glossier Perfecting Skin Tint and Ilia’s new Super Serum Skin Tint, which both have a liquid consistency, feel greasy, and provide a little but not much Skin tone coverage. Ilia has SPF, if you like! Bareminerals’ Complexion Rescue is the closest recipe to an actual moisturizer (in this beauty editor’s opinion), but has more reach than the first two — and comes with SPF.

In the last quadrant, you’ll find Jan-Michael Vincent Gee Beauty’s Prime Skin, which is a little more dewy and less covering than Nars’ Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer. Thrive Causemetics’ Buildable Blur CC cream best covers blemishes while allowing you to keep dew on, and if you’re willing to forgo SPF, Colourpop’s Pretty Fresh is a great budget alternative.

Of course, there are many other colored moisturizers, but this chart serves as a good reference guide. If you have a favorite colored moisturizer that isn’t on this chart, please add its approximate coordinates in the comments. I like to hang out somewhere near (3,-6). How about you?