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Fresh-faced, no-makeup makeup is here to stay. But the minimalist trend is getting a nourishing upgrade with the emergence of skincare makeup hybrids that essentially fuse two products in one. We’ve been seeing these multitasking products everywhere over the last few years—notably, Ilia’s Super Serum Skin Tint, which caught our hearts in 2020. But thankfully for our skin, there are new iterations entering the market daily. To discover the best of the best, we’ve perused our favorite retailers and taken a peek into celeb beauty secrets.
Is Makeup Bad For Your Skin?
The novelty of skin-caring makeup leads one to wonder if traditional makeup is bad for your skin. It’s a complicated question, but let’s make one thing clear. Classifications like “clean” and “natural” do not mean that these formulas are safer for you. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has yet to make it clear what criteria constitute these claims, we see them as evidence that skin-friendly ingredients are at the heart of formulations. It’s all about understanding the ingredients inside each product in your routine—just as you would with the food you eat or the ingestibles you take.
It is this philosophy that has inspired many of our favorite brand founders to create products full of desirable, easy-to-understand ingredients. Saie founder and CEO Laney Crowell tells Vogue that she wanted to start her brand to offer makeup products that serve our bodies. “When you start formulating makeup with really clean ingredients that are good for you, you’re left with skin care,” she says.
What Is a Skin-Care Makeup Hybrid?
Kosas founder Sheena Zadeh-Daly shares a similar sentiment. “Great makeup needs to give you the look that it promises, look great for the whole day, and feel weightless on your skin so that it doesn’t distract you and you can focus on living your life,” she says. Ultimately, skin care is meant to provide a positive, measurable change in your skin over time—so a skincare makeup hybrid should do both of those simultaneously.
“As a professional makeup artist, I know that good makeup does not happen without good skin care as well—in fact, it is the symbiotic use of both that elevates makeup to a professional level,” notes Sephora beauty director David Razzano. “This philosophy has led to the creation of hybrid products that melt the artistry of makeup with the science of skin care so anyone can easily use and benefit from them.”
Razzano continues that these hybrid beauty products are trending right now thanks to consumers educating themselves on product benefits through social media and increased retailer guidance. “People want makeup that performs to the standards they expect and is going to help improve their skin along the way.” So, it’s no surprise that Sephora is seeing a growing fan base of this product category. To help inform your buy, we’ve tapped our experts and our personal beauty trials to curate this assortment of products that blur the lines between makeup and skin care. Read on to discover our edit—along with some helpful ingredient callouts and resulting benefits.
Kosas Revealer Concealer
This is Hailey Bieber’s concealer of choice, a Vogue editor darling, and what Zadeh-Daly considers her all-time favorite. “It has the perfect amount of coverage and the prettiest finish I’ve ever seen, and it stays put and doesn’t crease,” she says. What’s more: it blends like a dream (some people even wear it as foundation!) and is available in 28 shades so everyone can find their perfect match.
- Key Ingredients: A vegan, cruelty-free formula infused with caffeine, pink algae, arnica, vitamin B5, peptides, and hyaluronic acid—free of parabens, sulfates, silicones, and fragrance.
- Skin Benefits: Along with its concealing benefits, this works to brighten, soothe, and plump skin—similar to your favorite eye cream.
Chanel N°1 de Chanel Lip and Cheek Balm
From the launch of No. 1 de Chanel comes this multipurpose lip and cheek pigment. Available in six vibrant shades, the lip and cheek balm melts into skin to add a touch of sheer color wherever necessary.
- Key Ingredients: A 97% naturally-derived formula powered by the red camellia—a botanical rich in the antioxidant protocatechuic acid.
- Skin Benefits: Thanks to its antioxidant properties, expect this to soften and plump, while aiding skin barrier function.
Ilia Limitless Lash Mascara
Deemed one of the best mascaras, we’re repeat buyers of Ilia’s Limitless Lash Mascara for not only its buildable, flake-free formula but its ability to lift, curl, and volumize lashes with ease.
- Key Ingredients: A 99% naturally derived formula infused with bee and caranuba wax, shea butter, and keratin
- Skin Benefits: Gentle for sensitive eyes, this nourishes, conditions, and enhances each lash over time.
Tata Harper Be Adored Tinted Anti-Aging Lip Treatment
Prepare to pucker up with Tata Harper’s tinted anti-aging lip treatment in this versatile rosy, berry shade.
- Key Ingredients: A concentrated formula of botanical oils, vitamins, and minerals (like olive and green tea seed oil, cocoa butter, and calendula flower extract, to name a few), free of synthetic chemicals, toxins, artificial colors, and fragrance.
- Skin Benefits: Expect this blend to bestow youthful-looking lips over time thanks to its plumping, hydrating, and wrinkle-reducing properties.
Jones Road Miracle Balm
From acclaimed makeup artist, Bobbi Brown’s coveted beauty brand Jones Road expect clean, high-performance products like its Miracle Balm, which delivers the ultimate soft-focus minimalist pigment.
- Key Ingredients: A light-reflecting, weightless moisturizer powered by jojoba oil.
- Skin Benefits: This tinted balm can be used on its own or under foundation to hydrate skin, while delivering the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of jojoba oil.
Victoria Beckham Beauty Satin Kajal Liner
Luckily enough, Victoria Beckham’s eponymous label has cracked the code on eyeliner infused with skin-care ingredients.
- Key Ingredients: Known to be one of the best eyeliners in the market, this creamy number is enriched with chamomile extract, vitamin E, and panthenol.
- Skin Benefits: That said, this eyeliner is features eye-soothing and hydrating properties while delivering the vibrant pigment and long-lasting color you desire.
Westman Atelier Vital Skincare Complexion Drops
The weightless wear of Gucci Westman’s recently-launched Complexion Drops is only half the reason it’s destined to be a hit for people over 50.
- Key Ingredients: The lightweight oil is powered by a supercharged yet gentle blend of Tsubaki oil, a ginger root complex, ginseng, and pomegranate extract, alongside sunflower and almond oil.
- Skin Benefits: The result? Skin that appears brighter, hydrated, and protected against environmental stressors. Not to mention the re-texturizing and firming benefits of Tsubaki oil, which is cold-pressed from camellia japonica.
Merit Day Glow Highlighting Balm
Of Merit’s numerous skin-conditioning products, its Highlighting Balm is a cherished pick.
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- Key Ingredients: Dare we say this is the ultimate on-the-go highlighter? It’s a convenient stick formula that is enriched with squalane, olive fruit oil, vitamin E, and an amino acid blend.
- Skin Benefits: One can effortlessly tap the highlighter on with their fingers to build a non-glittery dewy sheen, while illuminating, moisturizing, and protecting the skin barrier.
Saie Slip Tint Broad Spectrum SPF 35 Tinted Moisturizer
One of Crowell’s favorite products, she considers this your skin prep and your makeup in one. This tinted moisturizer is available in 14 shades for lightweight coverage over, or instead of, your everyday moisturizer.
- Key Ingredients: “Slip Tint is packed with hyaluronic acid, elderberry extract, licorice root extract for brightening; those are just true skin-care ingredients,” explains Crowell of this sheer, dewy formula suitable for even acne-prone skin. “Then, of course, the mineral zinc oxide for SPF.”
- Skin Benefits: “The licorice root is really for lightening dark spots or any sort of discoloration that you have, and I’ve been wearing the product for two years now—my skin has completely transformed just in its appearance,” she notes. One more: this provides hydration, antioxidant protection, and SPF 35, too.
Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush
If we had someone name their favorite cream blushes, we’re almost certain Rare Beauty’s option would near the top of their list—especially if they are TikTok obsessed.
- Key Ingredients: Known to achieve sculpted, juicy cheeks, as described by senior beauty editor Lauren Valenti in her review of the viral blush, this imparts a radiant pigment infused with the brand’s botanical blend of lotus, gardenia, and white water lily.
- Skin Benefits: This means that while you’re buffing this formula in for a sun-kissed glow, you’ll be giving your skin helpful ingredients to stay soothed and conditioned.
Westman Atelier Vital Pressed Skin Care
Setting powders get a skin-friendly upgrade with this Westman Atelier pick; formulated as a micro-filled powder from supercharged skin-care actives that lock your makeup in place.
- Key Ingredients: A sheer, weightless powder featuring the brand’s Skin Defense Shield Complex composed of vitamin c, probiotics, and quinoa seed extract.
- Skin Benefits: While delivering the shine reduction and makeup setting properties you’d expect from a face powder, this helps minimize the look of pores, shield against free radicals, and control sebum production over time.
Saie Sun Melt Cream-Balm Bronzer
“This beautiful bronzer melts into the skin creating the perfect touch of warmth that can be applied all over the face or strategically where you want,” explains Razzano of what we believe is the best bronzer for a glossy glow.
- Key Ingredients: A lightweight, creamy bronzer featuring a blend of colloidal oatmeal, elderberry extract, and grapeseed oil.
- Skin Benefits: According to Razzano, “this formula is packed with skin-loving ingredients like Colloidal Oatmeal to help soothe and smooth the skin, Grapeseed Oil which hydrates and packs an antioxidant punch.” What’s more, the elderberry extract helps balance the skin’s microbiome.
Ilia Color Block High Impact Lipstick
“We often forget or neglect skin care for our lips , yet they are often one of the first areas to see the signs of environmental damage and aging,” explains Razzano. “So, if you love wearing bold, beautiful lipsticks, consider this formula which will also boost your overall lip care as well.”
- Key Ingredients: A vegan, clean, handcrafted full-coverage creamy lipstick infused with mango seed butter, apricot seed, and castor seed oils—available in eight nude, red, and berry shades.
- Skin Benefits: “The infusion of apricot seed oil, castor seed oil, and mango seed butter will lock in moisture, soothe, and smooth the lips, while helping to boost elasticity,” says Razzano.
Kosas Cloud Set Setting Powder
“Even face powders can now benefit your skin, like we see with this amazing powder from Kosas,” Razzano explains. “It will create smoother, perfect-looking skin while setting your makeup as well.”
- Key Ingredients: A clean, vegan baked setting powder featuring Chinese peony, bamboo stem, and passion fruit extracts. infused with hyaluronic acid and algae extract.
- Skin Benefits: “The skin-care ingredients help to absorb excess oil without drying, minimize the look of pores, and even help reduce the look of fine lines and wrinkles over time,” he notes.
RMS Beauty Luminizer
The best highlighters not only leave a luminous glow but like this RMS pigment, can support healthy skin, too. A cult classic for a reason, this delivers an effortless light-reflective highlight that’s neither greasy nor glittery.
- Key Ingredients: A sheer, luminous finish cream highlighter infused with vitamin E, coconut, and castor seed oil.
- Skin Benefits: This works to reveal youthful-looking skin through its moisturizing, smoothing, and anti-inflammatory ingredients.
Youthforia BYO Blush
Youthforia’s BYO Blush has long been a Vogue team favorite. Worn atop her eyes, lips, and cheeks, contributor Arden Fanning says this “is pH-reactive, kind of adjusting like a mood ring, and turns into a really dewy pink that smooshes around transparently without hard lines.”
- Key Ingredients: Think of this as a universally flattering, fast-absorbing blush infused with the brand’s proprietary Skin Chi complex, botanical extracts, as well as avocado and sunflower oil—supposedly gentle enough to sleep in, per Youthforia.
- Skin Benefits: Expect this to create a lit-from-within flush, moisturize skin, and reduce the look of fine lines wherever you place it.
Merit Shade Slick Tinted Lip Oil
Certainly one of the best lip oils to sport year-round, Merit’s high-shine variant is crafted to impart lightweight, buildable tint as a sort of lip oil-lip stain hybrid.
- Key Ingredients: A clean, vegan, cruelty-free formula packed with fatty acids, shea butter, rosehip, grapeseed, and jojoba oils.
- Skin Benefits: Thanks to the essential fatty acids and botanical oils, this gives lips a moisture surge that conditions and softens while providing a protective barrier to your pout.
Tower 28 Bronzino Illuminating Cream Bronzer
Get that summer glow year-round with Tower 28’s creamy color available in five shades for blendable, buildable bronzing.
- Key Ingredients: A vegan, silicone-free illuminating pigment made with 100% mineral pigment, along with mango butter and green tea extract.
- Skin Benefits: Along with that bronzy sheen, expect calming antioxidant protection and unmatched nourishment for a lit-from-within glow.
Sephora Collection Best Skin Ever Full Coverage Multi-Use Concealer
“This full coverage concealer can hide any imperfections or under-eye darkness with ease,” explains Razzano of Sephora Collection’s new full-coverage, natural finish concealer.
- Key Ingredients: A lightweight vegan concealer with the Sephora Clean stamp of approval infused with hyaluronic acid and algae extract.
- Skin Benefits: “The formula contains hyaluronic acid and algae extract, which helps boost your skin’s hydration and protects it from daily environmental damage,” says Razzano. “That added boost of hydration also helps the full coverage formula blend onto the skin seamlessly and create a smooth finish.”
Valde Beauty Ritual Creamy Satin Lipstick
A vibrant swipe of lipstick is often the ultimate finishing touch to any look. Whether you’re going for minimalist wear or red carpet-level glam, give your pout a conditioning treatment when you opt for Valde’s creamy formula.
- Key Ingredients: A vegan, cruelty-free satin finish lipstick enriched with hyaluronic acid and botanical extracts.
- Skin Benefits: Designed to deliver vibrant color in a single stroke, this leaves a cushiony, lightweight feel while smoothing, softening, and hydrating lips.
Rose Inc Blush Divine Radiant Lip & Cheek Color
“A good cream blush can be the perfect finishing touch to your complexion,” Razzano notes. “This clean formula has a smooth, creamy texture that feels wonderful while applying.” Founded by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, this versatile pigment is available in 11 modern longwear shades housed in refillable packaging.
- Key Ingredients: A creamy, buildable pigment packed with squalane, vitamin E, and hyaluronic acid.
- Skin Benefits: Per Razzano: “Rose Inc incorporated squalane and sodium hyaluronate (hyaluronic acid) to add deep hydration to the skin while also giving the formula its luxurious feel, and ceramides within the blush help to strengthen the skin barrier as you wear it.” In short, it’s ideal to treat dull skin.
Kjaer Weis FeatherTouch Brow Gel
Achieve your best brows yet with the help of eyebrow serums, or this tinted brow gel by Kjaer Weis that grooms arches into place with soft, flexible, long-lasting hold.
- Key Ingredients: A clean brow gel formulated with certified organic ingredients, including rice flour, lavender water, coconut oil, and chestnut extract.
- Skin Benefits: Its nourishing ingredients help condition brow hairs, which promotes hair growth over time.
LYS Beauty Triple Fix Serum Foundation
“This lightweight foundation can go from sheer to medium coverage, all while retaining a beautiful skin-like finish,” says Razzano of this pick from Tisha Thompson’s lineup. “This product also comes in a very large and balanced shade range (35 shades, to be exact) so everyone can find their perfect match.”
- Key Ingredients: A weightless serum formula featuring a blend of Ashwagandha, turmeric, hyaluronic acid, and avocado oil.
- Skin Benefits: “The added benefit of Ashwagandha and turmeric help to soothe the skin from daily stressors, even out skin tone, and minimize signs of aging. Hyaluronic Acid infuses the skin with plumping hydration that adds to the overall perfected look of the skin,” Razzano explains.
Róen Beauty Cake Mascara
We won’t soon turn down the chance to coat on a lash-conditioning mascara, especially when it comes from a gluten-free, cruelty-free, vegan collection founded by clean beauty advocate Tiffany Thurston Scott.
- Key Ingredients: A buildable, volumizing mascara formulated with plant-based ingredients, including olive oil, sunflower, bayberry, and carnauba waxes.
- Skin Benefits: With the brand’s fluffy brush, a swipe of this formula should lengthen and lift lashes—delivering a flexible hold and nourishing wear.