I Tried To Achieve The Glossier Look

When it comes to makeup, I’ve always fallen into the more is more camp, except when I’m in a room full of YouTubers because they’re on a whole other level, even in real life. I wore CoverGirl foundation in high school until I discovered Revlon ColorStay and from there it was only a hop, skip, and a jump until I was wearing Teint Idole while working at a Lancome counter in college. I love applying makeup, wearing makeup, and talking about makeup, so the whole concept of Glossier’s Perfecting Skin Tint is pretty foreign to me.

I am happy to announce that I have reached the point in my skincare journey in which I consider buying the glossier skin tint
— folu (@notfolu) February 19, 2018

Folu isn’t the only one from my internet circle to express this sort of “achievement unlocked” emotion when it comes to reaching a point where she’d feel comfortable wearing the Perfecting Skin Tint. If you’ve ever passed a model truly off duty in the streets of SoHo, she probably looked like she stepped right off the set of a Glossier shoot. The girls featured on their Instagram and e-commerce pages look perfectly real and are all at least a decade, if not two, younger than I am. I feel great about my skin, but I had to know if I had ascended to some new level of skincare and confidence where I too could comfortably wear the Perfecting Skin Tint. Pixi Glow Tonic does work wonders, after all.

Spoiler alert: I haven’t.

Hiding imperfections isn’t my motivation for wearing fuller coverage foundations. I love creating a perfected canvas where I can sculpt and create to my heart’s desire, and the inconsistencies in my skin’s tone, especially on my cheeks, is a frustration point with more sheer formulations. This is exactly what happened after I applied Skin Tint. I used at least twice as much of the runny, translucent formula on my skin as I would normally use in a foundation, so it seems like I’d use up the small bottle (although it does contain 1 oz of product, which is standard for most other products in this category).

I’ve only ever worn Skin Tint to the airport for an early flight and this experiment hasn’t encouraged me to add it to my routine beyond that. I added the Wet N Wild Photofocus Powder and L’Oreal Pro Glow Concealer for extra coverage but became frustrated when I applied blush because it was difficult to minimize the redness in my cheeks (without a color corrector or concealer) while trying to add a rosy tone on top. I kept the rest of my makeup minimal (details below) and although I didn’t mind wearing it for the rest of the day, it didn’t give me the same confidence boost as wearing makeup that feels like an expression of my personal style.

Although I haven’t tried many other Glossier makeup products, I loved Boy Brow and Balm Dotcom. Cloud Paints are high on my list of products to try, but the rest of the makeup doesn’t seem like it matches up with my personal preferences and that’s okay. It also seems like I’m in the minority, as Glossier just raised a whopping $52 million in venture capital funding, so they’re clearly doing something right.

Please leave your Glossier thoughts & product recommendations in the comments below, especially if you think I’m missing out on something!