What Is Skin Tint and How Do You Use It?

Simply put, a skin tint is a complexion product that offers some coverage, but a skin tint is not the same as a foundation or BB Cream, as there are some key differences. Technically, a skin tint falls under the umbrella of “foundation,” because it’s meant to be used all over your face, but it offers much lighter coverage. Some might even say that a skin tint is so lightweight that it’s undetectable on the skin.

In the same way that there are toners, oils, serums, moisturizers, rich creams, etc. that vary in weight and texture in skincare, there is a hierarchy in makeup. Skin tints are the thinnest, so they would be the lightest weight in comparison to a full coverage foundation, which would be the thickest.

Skin tints are perfect for someone who is looking for the most minimal coverage and a super natural-looking finish. If you’re a no-makeup makeup lover who prefers getting your glow from skincare rather than makeup, then a skin tint would be for you. Think of a skin tint as your ultimate ready-in-five-minutes makeup. You can smooth it on and be out the door with glowing skin no matter how many times you pressed the snooze button on your alarm. We call that a skin win!

Some formulas even have skin-loving ingredients in them–Maybelline’s Super Stay® Up to 24HR Skin Tint has skin-brightening Vitamin C in it– further proving the point that skin tints are a crossover between skincare and makeup. Other formulas might have SPF or additional benefits as well, allowing it to be your one-stop shop complexion product.

Now, you might be thinking to yourself, wait, there’s already a product like a skin tint and it’s called tinted moisturizer. Well, you’re not entirely wrong. So what’s the deal with skin tint vs. tinted moisturizer? Skin tints aren’t that far off from tinted moisturizer, but they’re more so sisters or cousins than twins. A lightweight skin tint will have much more of a liquid consistency than a tinted moisturizer. So, if you think about it in terms of skincare, a skin tint feels similar to a serum, which makes sense why many of them come in dropper bottles like Maybelline’s does. It’s also common for skin tints to be formulated with skin-friendly ingredients, so they fall more in the realm of skincare while a tinted moisturizer is considered more of a makeup product.

Now for the skin tint vs. foundation showdown. You can probably already put two and two together that if a skin tint is lighter than a tinted moisturizer, it’s going to be much lighter than a foundation. While both skin tints and foundations offer coverage with the goal of evening out your complexion, a skin tint has a sheerer coverage and gives you a more natural, skin-like finish whereas a foundation will do some heavy-duty covering and can give you a matte or even airbrushed look, depending on the formula that you use. If you’re someone who prefers a full face of makeup, then a skin tint probably won’t offer you the coverage that you’re looking for. However, it’s nice to have a skin tint in your makeup bag for those no-makeup makeup days when you still want to look polished.

You can use a skin tint anytime you want. For someone who prefers a lightweight makeup look, they may want to incorporate a skin tint into their everyday routine while someone who likes the look of a full beat may want to use a skin tint when they’re simply lounging around or running errands. If you’re someone who rarely wears makeup at all, a skin tint would be nice for you to use when you do wear makeup, so it doesn’t feel like you’re going from one extreme to the other. A skin tint is also great if you don’t want to be bothered too much by technique or tools– you can easily apply a skin tint with your fingers and call it a day.