The warmer weather and longer, sunnier (occasionally) days calls for lighter bases and as I like it, with in-built SPF. If we’re lucky enough to get sunshine (you’ll know what I mean if you live in the UK), the brighter light means your skin comes under much more scrutiny hence why bases need to be even more undetectable than usual. With that in mind, I’ve been eyeing up a couple of tinted moisturisers of which one of them was exclusive to an online retailer here in the UK, and the shade I wanted was out of stock for the longest time. The product in question was the Jouer Matte Moisture Tint in the shade Chamoumile.
Now what drew me to Jouer‘s tinted moisturiser offering was not only the general hype around the LA based brand but also the not-so-common matte finish of the product. Now I am not particularly an oily skinned girl and if you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’ll know that I’m more of a combination skin type where by the oiliness tends to reside strictly in the T-Zone area. However, it’s oily enough for me to reconsider products that promise a dewy effect and opt for one that claims to provide a more matte, less shine kind of a finish.
After a couple of weeks of stalking the Cult Beauty site to see whether their Jouer stocks had been replenished, I found out that the Blow beauty bar in Covent Garden also stock the product (despite it not being available to buy on their site). So of course I got my skates on the moment I found out and legged it down to their store one early weekend morning. To my disappointed, the shade I wanted was the ONLY shade out of stock. Just. My. Luck! So another few weeks went by and after much more (much, MUCH more) stalking of their site, there it was back in stock. Finally!
After much hassle and disappointment in trying to get my hands on the product, I thought to myself it had better been worth my while in the end. I’m sure you know what I mean when there is so much hype around a particular thing whether it’s a foundation, a film or a restaurant, and I know only too well that when it fails to deliver and live up to your expectations, it can be so damn disappointing. With the Jouer Matt Moisture Tint, I needn’t have worried.
First off, I’ll give it a round of applause for the sleek, matte packaging which is also very travel friendly. When I opened the tube and squeezed a blob of the product onto the back of my hand, I was quite taken aback at how pink in tone it looked. Now I am definitely more on the yellow side in terms of undertones so I suspiciously applied the product onto the skin with my ever trusted Real Techniques Buffing Brush. Once blended in, the pink undertone was not so evident and the colour match is pretty alright. Now what I did notice but no way in hell had expected, was the dry patches which suddenly appeared out of nowhere around my brows and under my eyes right beside my nose. I was not even aware that I had any dry patches and that’s because it’s not visible to the naked eye. I did however use a matifying moisturiser beforehand and coupled with a matte tinted moisturiser, the combination of the two totally wiped out any trace of oil within my T-Zone but also enhanced the dry patches around my face. So far, not impressed.
Now I like to give products a second chance and was determined to make the product work (and not feel like I’ve just thrown my money down the dirty drain pipe). I tried it the next day but this time using a regular, non-matifying moisturiser pre- application. This seemed to agree with my skin much more as the dry patches that were there from the day before, were no longer evident (at least not to the naked eye). The finish is definitely matte as expected with no hint of dewiness, shine or shimmer. What I like about this product is that it still looks like real skin, not flawless, not airbrush nor caked, but real life skin and therefore very natural looking. As you can probably see from the photo, my freckles still shows up through the product. The coverage is light so if you suffer from redness, blemishes and dark circles, you will still need to conceal but that’s expected with most of the foundation products I use as I definitely prefer more of a sheer to light coverage. What it does do is even out your skin tone so that if like me and you have multiple tones on your face, then you will appreciate it when even the lightest of products is able to create a bit more uniformity in tone but still look like real skin.
Now that I’ve sussed out how to use it (i.e. not with a matifying moisturiser prior), I actually quite like this product especially for casual weekends which calls for more of an “au naturel” look. I think this would work extremely well for those with oily skin and even those with a combo type like me. However, if you’re the combo type that struggle with dry patches then this will definitely cling onto them like a mofo so either moisturise throughly ( I cannot stress this enough) or steer clear. If you have dry skin, then I really wouldn’t recommend it but then again you probably wouldn’t even consider wanting a product with a matte finish (I could be wrong). It’s also worth noting that I found with this product that it did emphasise the texture of my skin so I can imagine that if you suffer from dry skin, this product won’t be doing you any favours. Maybe you might want to check out Jouer’s other end of the spectrum offering, their luminizing moisture tint.
All in all I think it’s a bit of an alright product and one that I will probably be sporting for mainly causal, relaxed weekends when you want to look groomed but not too done up. It’s the perfect undetectable base where the harsh daylight can be very unforgiving. The Jouer Matte Moisture Tint is available in 5 shades for £30.00 and can be found on Cult Beauty and at the Blow beauty bar in Covent Garden in London. So which Jouer product do I try next? Recommendations are more than welcome.
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