This Skin Perfector Is the Only Makeup Product I Want to Use Right Now

I probably wear foundation 10 times a year. Reserved exclusively for special occasions that I feel require just a smidge more effort in the makeup department, foundation is just not for me. It's not that I don't appreciate it or feel as though my complexion couldn't majorly benefit from its disguising, blurring powers, it's just that I don't like it. I don't like the way it makes my face feel dirty, I don't like the way it transfers onto everything from clothes to the screen of my phone, and most of all, I don't like the way it makes my skin look less like my skin.

When it comes to base products, I want something that becomes one with my skin—not a formula that sits on top of it like a heavy drape used to hide whatever's underneath. I want something that makes me feel better about my skin's natural flaws—something that brings out the best in it while still fully accepting its intricacies.

Above all, I want my base to both look and feel natural, and it's for this reason I have such a strong love for skin tints. Unlike thick foundation, a skin tint's primary goal is to act as a blurring veil that still allows you to embrace your skin's very best assets—and I think I've found the best formula out there.

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(Image credit: @SHANNONLAWLOR)

Shannon wears Summer Fridays Sheer Skin Tint with no other base products.

Summer Fridays is a brand dear to my heart. As far as I'm aware, it's never brought out a dud product. The newly launched Shadedrops SPF is easily in the top three best SPF products I've ever used, while the cult Jet Lag Mask has become a nourishing go-to for beauty editors and celebrities alike. So when I heard that Summer Fridays was launching Sheer Skin Tint, it's safe to say I was hyped. 

Promising weightless, sheer, but buildable coverage, the product comes in an impressively diverse ten shades, all of which are genuinely stretchable. Besides the pigment and coverage, Sheer Skin Tint is formulated with hero antioxidant ingredient centella asiatica (or tiger grass/cica, as it's commonly known) to deliver soothing comfort and plumping hydration. With the ability to take down redness almost instantly, the theory is that using Sheer Skin Tint will drastically reduce your need for other products, including concealer.

On top of that, it also contains hyaluronic acid and glycerin to help hydrate and plump the skin while nurturing its barrier function. The icing on the cake? An impressive nourishing concoction of squalane, vitamin E, safflower oil, and avocado oil to help give that super-smooth, skincare-like result.

When all of these things come together in one aesthetically pleasing bottle of skin tint, you get pure makeup magic. Sheer Skin Tint is the single best everyday base product I have ever used—no exceptions. I slap it on, brush up my brows, apply some mascara (if I want to), and I'm good to go. Forget layers of priming skincare, forget highlighter, and forget layers and layers of concealer—this product is genuinely the does-it-all, no-makeup makeup base I've been searching for my entire life.

If, like me, you dislike foundation and are in the market for a lightweight base that delivers subtle coverage with genuinely skin-like results, I urge you to give this a go. In fact, I've never felt more passionately about a recommendation in my life. While other skin tints and tinted moisturisers out there have been known to leave my skin looking shiny, oily, and sometimes flat, this stuff goes basically undetectable. It takes redness right down, blurs pores, and leaves skin looking naturally radiant without the need for powder.

Does it deliver heaps of coverage? No. If you like to use a full-coverage foundation every day, this isn't the product for you. But if you're looking to adopt a more laid-back, natural-looking approach to your makeup, Summer Fridays Sheer Skin Tint is the place to start.

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Freelance Beauty Editor

Shannon Lawlor is a renowned beauty journalist and has contributed to Who What Wear’s beauty content since 2020. As a leading beauty editor, expert and brand consultant, she has over eight years of experience working for some of the industry’s most esteemed titles, including Who What Wear (of course), Glamour UK, Stylist, Refinery29 and Fabulous. Having also worked behind the scenes with some of the industry’s biggest brands and retailers, Shannon has a unique insight into what people really want from their beauty routines. Understanding that beauty lovers seek honest, open and responsible advice, she has it made her mission to demystify the intimidating world of beauty, taking a no-frills approach to the most relatable topics. While Shannon is the first to admit she doesn’t hold the answer to every beauty question out there, she is dedicated to sharing her expert insights in a bid to help. As a self-proclaimed lazy girl, Shannon has an affinity for easy-to-use, foolproof beauty products and has made it her mission to scope out the best of the best. When she’s not working, Shannon is likely soaking in the bath or giving no-holds-barred beauty reviews on Instagram from her bathroom floor.