Review: Hard Candy Sheer Envy Tinted Moisturizer

When I think of a tinted moisturizer I think of something that will add some hydration to my face with a tint of colour. Having dry skin, the idea of a tinted moisturizer in place of a liquid foundation is a great idea. I know tinted moisturizers are more popular in the summer (for sheer coverage on hot days), but I actually like them in the winter too for added hydration in the cold, dry weather. Recently, I tried Hard Candy's new Sheer Envy Tinted Moisturizer and was pleasantly surprised at the amount of coverage I could get with this product. This retails for about $8 CAD, and can be found at Walmart.

The Hard Candy website describes this product as "sheer, lightweight formula with a hint of color you can use in place of foundation for a natural finish and a healthy glowing complexion. With skin protecting SPF 15, the ultimate in anti-aging prevention.." I think having an SPF15 in this is great, however as many people say SPF 15 is not enough if you are going to  be outside for extended periods of time, so please use an additional source. I have it in the  lightest colour "Fair". I was debating to get "Light", but I am glad that I did not because I find this one to be quite dark already. I think because this product only comes in 5 shades: fair, light, medium, deep and tan it will be difficult for some people to find their right match, that is if you are really fair or really dark you have no hope in hell. And for the most part, drugstores do not normally provide testers so you are just guessing what your shade is. This comes in a squeezy tube with a flip top, I wish they would of added a pump, but oh well. You have to be careful how much you squeeze out as you only need a tiny dot.

Here it is squeezed onto my hand, you can tell it is quite dark in the "Fair" colour. I think drugstores have no idea what a "Fair" person actually looks like. It has a cream consistency, it's not watery at all. I have read that people have found the product to separate in the tube about 2-3 weeks and it becomes an oily mess, it hasn't happened to me yet. This does have a very strong sunscreen smell, and that may bother some people.

I blended it in slightly into my skin here, you can tell how it covers a wide area just with a small pump. This stuff feels nice on your skin. And since it's yellow (very warm) and not pink, it works well to neutralize redness. I appreciate the coverage that this gives, it's more than I expected since the back of the packaging does say "goes on sheer". I would say it's up there with a light foundation, giving a boost of colour, you will need a concealer with this of course and it will not cover problem areas like acne. If you have oily or combination skin, I would however totally NOT recommend this for you because it does feel quite oily and emollient. If you have dry or very dry skin, I think this could work well. I find that after a few hours this stuff wears off, but before that it looks really greasy and shiny on my face, which isn't a good look.

And sadly after wearing it for three days straight I developed an ugly acne crater on my chin and this was the only product that I introduced into my routine. While I like the consistency and coverage of this, I think something in it reacts badly to my shin, so please be warned. I may try it again, but I am afraid because when I get acne like this, it takes month and months to go away and I don't want to risk it. For me this is a total miss of a product, it did not work for me.

Have you tried Hard Candy's Tinted Moisturizer?