I freaking love Laura Mercier primer and loose powder, hence I broke my no buy rule felt that the Tinted Moisturiser was necessary, since it would:
1. Complete my Laura Mercier Base collection (primer, powder)
2. Be great for this hot weather which will last about, oooh a week
3. Its a moisturiser so I count it as skincare so THERE
So I plonked down £32 (sob) for the oil free version of the Tinted Moisturiser cos everyone goes on and on about it.
Funny story when I bought this from Harvey Nichols – the girl on Chanel was clearly extremely bored and was DETERMINED to serve me even though I wanted to talk to the lady from Laura Mercier.
Eventually cottoning on to my distress, the lady from LM comes over and goes “Yes THANKYOU < chanel girls name >” and off the scooted.
Anyway she said I looked oily (I was just sweaty) and recommended oil free in SAND which looked quite orange to me.
Urgh! I’d rather look like a bloodless corpse than an oompa loompa so I was a little unsure.
I have been looking darker than normal recently though, so what the hell I thought.
They say:
# Hydrating, oil-free formula softens skin offering a healthy glow
# Helps to prevent excess oil from setting on the surface of the skin
# Controls oil breakthrough while providing hydration to prevent dryness
# Buildable coverage for those hard-to-cover places
# Offers further protection from UVB rays and harmful effects of the environment with an SPF 20
# Ideal for troubled skin
Sand is too dark. I know this because I quite clearly had a tide mark on my face when I wore is the next day. (I am usually a NC35 – 40 in MAC):
Its also quite a red/orange base, I imagine it would work well for Indian type skintones but not for me, I am more yellow based.
So the colour is wrong but what about the texture?
URGH.
It was so dry it was hard to apply – I felt like I was dragging it across my face the hole time so I had to resort to patting it.
It felt nice and comfortable to wear for half the day, then towards the end of the day, my face looked sort of lumpy and oily. Yak.
On my face – admittedly I prefer a higher coverage and this is only a tinted moisturiser but I’d say even Bobbi Brown’s Tinted Moisturiser does a much better job:
Horror of horrors the next day, three large spots had arrived on my forehead on a cluster and many around my chin.
I certainly get spots sometimes but they are small and easy to deal with – I don’t get fat zits in a cluster – its just not my skin. So it has to be an allergic reaction and there was only one new thing….this tinted moisturiser.
Verdict:
Hello?! Have you read the review? What a waste of £32 I could’ve spent on something else vital, like a bread maker or a waffle toaster.
They don’t take returns easily over in the UK so I am stuck with this. Sob sob sob.
Sob
Sob
Sob
Used this? Had a different experience? Tell me in the comments!
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
please don’t cry sweetie x
there is always blog sale xx
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i hate that you cant return products easily in the uk as you can in the states!! what is up with that?!
sorry that it didnt work for you!! £32 down the drain must hurt! xx
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Hey Row, I’ve got my money back from YSL & MAC (the one at the trafford centre too!) in the past due to bad reactions. £32 is too much to let it go!
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I was thinking to buy it when i saw on pixiwoo channel, but changed my mind now!
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Hey row, Stila is selling TM for £7-9 on secretsales! If you want an invitation for the site, just email me your email
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i think if that’s the colour they recommended they should take it back cause its their fault! i’d try it anyway. I bought a laura mercier brush and the first time i washed it very gently it smelled really bad (all real hair brushes have a smell but this was so bad i had to fumigate the room it was in). they couldn’t prove it wasn’t due to something i did with the brush (it wasn’t but still) but they gave me a refund.
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Isn’t the acne a sign to a allergic reaction to one or more of the ingredients, and therefore it qualifies as a return? (Not entirely sure about UK return policy, but I heard somewhere that allergic reactions were something they have to allow returns on).
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Firstly, I *totally*feel your pain about breaking-out after using a new product. I recently tried the much-hyped Revlon Photo Ready Foundation – I loved way it looked and felt and I found the right shade for me (#3 Shell). However, by the end of the day I’d developed 3 quite large spots. It might have been a coincidence but I’m too afraid to use it again! However, I love Laura Mercier oil-free TM, I’m wearing it now and I wear it almost all-year round as I find it gives great coverage. However, I always wear a light dusting of either mineral foundation powder over the top (Laura Mercier Mineral Powder SPF 15 in Real Sand), or Bobbi Brown’s Sheer Finish Pressed Powder (Soft Sand) or something like Mineral Veil by Bare Escentuals. Personally I find this TM is thicker than others on the market and I have no problem blending it or obtaining a buildable coverage. It never pools in my pores and it doesn’t cause me to break out. However, we are all so different and I always bear that in mind when I read reviews on-line or in a magazine (I’ve hated products that others have loved and vice versa!) so I would recommend getting a sample first. Here in the UK sales assistants can be notoriously mean with their samples (and very reluctant to refund when a product is not suitable..grrrr). Fortunately, I normally have a good experience at the counters but just in case I always carry a new, clean plastic pot (l buy the mini stacking pots) so that if there aren’t any samples available I ask the SA to put some of the product into the pot so I can try it for a few days. I’ve never been refused.
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PS- should have added that I use the lighter shade ‘NUDE’. Also, agree with Kaoru that spots can indicate an allergic reaction to one of the ingredients and on that basis, your refund should have been authorised.
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Row, Do you know if EMMA still works on the Laura Mercier counter in Harvey Nichols? I had a session with her last time I was in Manchester and she was FANTASTIC.
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Urghhhh omg i hate this tinted moisturizer too! The colour match is horrible, and it oxidizes to an orangey color :/
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Hi Lola
YES! it did that to me too went orange :/
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So bad to hear you had a bad experience with LM tinted moisturizer… I guess the right color for you could have been fawn, but it will still cause you break outs.
I have that one in Almond (I’m like NC40-42) and I like it. Nevertheless, I must admit it doesn’t control much the shine issue, but I still haven’t found one that really does.
Better luck next time!!!!
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Hi Anne
What a shame! I do still really like Laura Mercier tho
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:O I TOO BELIEVED ALL THE STUPID REVIEWS FOR LM, but alas, they were all victims of commerce… but i will never fall for that again.
I found that it gets kind of “lumpy” while applying it; I never realized it the first time i used it, until a couple tries after. DISLIKE
Secondly, I did have the same problem as you – it did make my skin look more oily.
If it weren’t for these cons, I would have recommended it, but its not all that great AT ALL, and thankgod for your post, because I thought i was the only one!
I will try the bobby brown one though, ive heard good stuff about that one..
laura mercier fail .
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