little white truths

It's been a while since I did one of these posts and I'm surprised that I haven't done one yet for tinted moisturisers or BB/CC creams, considering that they're probably my favourite beauty items and have been for a while.

Bases like these are my 'desert island' products: they even out skintone and the good ones contain sunscreen and skin-loving goodies like antioxidants, plus they tend not to make you look like you're wearing makeup because the effect is subtle.


I bought Too Faced's Tinted Beauty Balm a while back on Beautybay and got it very cheaply. I bought it not only because it was on special, but also because it had received a 'best' rating on Paula's Choice and I'd found some good reviews of it online. Plus the colour 'Linen Glow' looked like it would be just about right for my skin.

I won't say too much about it here because this post isn't a review post (plus I've only used this product twice because I opened it yesterday), but already I can tell that it's not a brilliant product - at least on my skin. I'm really glad I decided to open it: I wasn't going to because I have enough products open and I thought this would be a better summer colour, but turns out it's a little pale for me and I can only use it in the cooler months when my skin is less tanned.

I decided to use it as a test product for my 'how long does it take to finish?' series of posts, because I want to get through it while my skin's paler (and its expiry date is February next year), plus it's a good product for the test because it's in the middle in terms of consistency compared to similar products - it's not thick or thin but somewhere in between.


Some things to note about this test:

• The tube contains 45ml of product, so it's a little larger than your standard 30ml tube. I tend to get through about 15ml of lighter bases per month, so I'm predicting this will last about three months.
• I will use this once a day. If you reapply your base throughout the day, you will need to adapt the results accordingly.
• I apply lighter bases like these not only to my face, but also to my neck and dec because that ensures an even look (and I also rely on my BBs for sun protection if I can apply enough to get the benefit of that protection without looking overdone, and I can with this). So again, you will need to adapt the results if you only apply BBs to your face.
• With this product I need to apply two thin layers to get my desired level of coverage (and to ensure adequate sun protection). For those of you who only need one layer, your product will last twice as long.
• My skin is quite dry, particularly now that the weather is cooler. When it's dry, I find that I use more product because products tend to cling more when my skin is rougher. If you have oily skin, you may find yourself applying less than I do.