Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Tinted Balm

The Kevyn Aucoin base products are very popular within the beauty community and although I've tried quite a few of the colour products, this is my first experience of a base product from the line. I had read Visionary Beauty's review a little while ago and what initially struck by the ingredients list. It is a rather silicone heavy formulation and talc features high on the INCI, and I guess I was a little surprised by this from what I consider to be a premium brand.

Considering my reservations about the formula, you may wonder why I accepted a sample for review. Well, I will admit to being curious as I've been impressed with all the other Kevyn Aucoin products I've tried so far and I do have a penchant for tinted moisturiser type bases. I also thought it would be good to challenge my silicone snootiness for once.

I have surprised myself by really liking this tinted moisturiser and I have worn if almost constantly for the last three weeks. It offers good coverage (it's similar to the NARS Pure Radiant tinted moisturiser) and it evens out my skin tone without looking like I'm wearing foundation. It has a cream rather than fluid texture but feels very light on my skin. It provides a more satin finish than either the BECCA or NARS, but as with all tinted moisurisers, I do get a bit of breakthrough on my T-zone by mid-afternoon.

One thing I don't love so much about it is that it seems to accentuate the sebaceous filaments on the sides of my nose as it leaves an 'empty hole' over them. I have a feeling this is something to do with the silicone base.

Blended

I have been using the Sensual Tinted Balm in the shade SB02. There are a total of four shades and although I hesitated between the SB01 and SB02, the SB02 is a good match for me. You can see swatches of all four shades side by side on the Beauty Professor. From these swatches, I would suggest the range is currently suitable for only fair to medium skintones.

As I've mentioned the BECCA Luminous Skin and NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturisers, I thought it would be useful to include some comparison swatches. The BECCA Luminous Skin I have is in the shade Sand and the NARS tinted moisturiser is in the shade Finland.

Left to right: NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser in Finland, Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Tinted Balm in SB02 and BECCA Luminous Skin Colour in Sand.

One final word of caution about the packaging. Don't be a heavy handed klutz like me. I broke the plastic casing on my first use, mistakenly assuming this to be a twist off cap. It's not, it's a pull off cap. Oops! 

The Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Tinted Balm costs £35 for and is available from Mise Beauty.

Disclosure: PR sample

Sheer Coverage Bases including BECCA, Le Metier, RBR and Erborian

I've had this particular post in draft for months now. I'd already taken the accompanying photographs but my collection has grown since then, so I decided it was time to take some more pictures. For a lot of people, these are brands that are available online only so I hope the swatches and overview will be useful.

L-R: Second skin, PV in shade 01, RBR 041 Adansonia, Erborian, BECCA Sand and Illamasqua Light Liquid foundation in 135

With flash. L-R: Second skin, PV in shade 01, RBR 041 Adansonia, Erborian, BECCA Sand and Illamasqua Light Liquid foundation in 135

I've included Max Factor's Second Skin, as although it is a foundation, it has quite a sheer and dewy quality to it. It evens skin tone without giving detecable coverage. When swatched, it has quite pinky undertone but it it seems to react with skin to give a good match.

Le Metier Peau Vierge is probably best described as tinted anti-ageing skincare. It contains retinol with a patented delivery system and also has an SPF of 20. I have this in the new Shade 01 and as you can see from the swatch it is quite apricot hued. I find this provides enough coverage on it's own and this was the only base I took on holiday with me. For those of you in the States and have access to Le Metier, I believe they recently launched a full skincare range which also contains the patented Syntoc Actif system. It's an expensive line but I've heard good reports from people that ordinarily suffer with skin reactions to certain active ingredients.

I bought the Rouge Bunny Rouge Sketches on Water Tinted Moisturiser from a sales site last year. I have it in the lightest shade, Adansonia. I think it has quite a neutral undertone. I find it a touch pale on my skin but it's workable as it is a sheer coverage. I wonder if the shade Quercus might be a better match when I re-purchase. I have almost finished this tube and I think this really is my most favourite tinted moisturiser. It doesn't provide a lot of colour but it's enough on it's own for me on good skin days. It feels beautiful on the skin and, like Peau Vierge, it has skincare benefits as well as offering coverage. My success with the tinted moisturiser has made me even more tempted to try their Milk Aquarelle foundation.

BB Creams have been big news this year and I snapped up this Erborian BB Crème in a blog sale. Erborian comes in only two shades, Natural and Golden. This is the shade Natural. I have swatched all of these products on the underside of my arm where my skin is very fair. With age and sun damage, the skin on my face is not as pale. I would describe myself as fair but not porcelain and this just doesn't work on my summer skin. It has a pinky blue, almost grey tinge to it and when applied this gives my face a ghostly cast. So, unfortunately I can't give any thoughts on how this works as a base. I'm hoping that I can make it work for me in the cooler months.

I have spoken about the BECCA Luminous Skin Colour tinted moisturiser before. I like this as a base, it is very sheer though and I will sometimes use it with foundation layered over areas where I need more coverage. It gives quite a dewy finish and I find Sand to be a good match for me. However, I have found that I can't wear this everyday as seems to irritate my skin slightly if I wear it continuously. I really like the fact that it has an SPF of 25+ but it's possible that the sunscreens in it are the source of my skin reaction.

I was very kindly sent this small sample of Illamasqua Light Liquid Foundation by Mizz Worthy. This is in the shade 135, which the website describes as a match for light skin with golden undertones. Although this is a light foundation, it still contains quite a lot of pigment and offers more coverage than a tinted moisturiser. Like Skin Base, I find that this foundation tends to sit in my pores. It also requires more care in application than some of the other bases I have mentioned here.

I hope the comparison and overview was useful. If you want any more detailed information about any of the products or other colour comparisons, please feel free to ask. Do you have a favourite sheer coverage foundation or tinted moisturiser? I know My Lips But Better has me intrigued by the Clinique Moisture Surge Tinted Moisturiser and that is on my list to investigate.


Disclosure: Second Skin, Peau Vierge and Luminous Skin Colour were received as PR Samples. These are my honest thoughts about all of these products, irrespective of their provenance. There are no affiliate links in this post and the links are provided for information only.